Chereads / A Villain In Red / Chapter 5 - A Cursed Manor: Echoes of Isolation and Despair

Chapter 5 - A Cursed Manor: Echoes of Isolation and Despair

Veronica Henderson was the only child of Vincent and Melody Henderson.

A product of an empty and loveless marriage. Spent most of her life in isolation before she met Damien and Erick. She lived in a desolate cesspool know as the Henderson Manor.
Her father Vincent had forced himself on Melody and married her. Melody had no feelings for him and despised him for his evil deed. Melody did everything to terminate the pregnancy but against all odds the child survived. When Veronica was born both parents had finally had enough. Melody refused to acknowledge the child and left her to the care of the maids.

Vincent turned to his work to avoid the tense situation in his home. Veronica stayed with the maids and was taken care of by the Henderson head butler Franklin.

Both parents later died, Vincent of an incurable disease and Melody who hung herself. Come to think of it she did have a pretty sad backstory.

I almost feel a bit sorry for her now that I'm thinking about this. Maybe if her parents had treated her warmly she would have changed. Nothing I can do about that now. Somewhere along the lines Veronica met the princes or something of that sort, and even falls for Damien.

There is a knock at the door again.

"My lady your breakfast is ready will you have it now" a maid informs me.

My stomach lets out a large growl, I guess I'll have a meal while I try to figure things out. I open the door to a maid with light brown hair and blue eyes.

She must be Anna getting a good look at her, She should be around forty to forty-fivr years old.
She gives me a curtsey and beckons for me to follow her.  I follow her through a series of empty halls. It's so quiet I can hear her breathing. I'm eventually lead to the dining hall with a long table with three seats.

Two maids stand at a corner their eyes unfocused and elsewhere.

Anna leads me to my seat and another character enters the room. A man brings in a plate of food and places it in front of me.

"Please have a nice meal My lady"

I just nod my head and look and the food infront of me. It looks delicious, I pick up a fork and take a bite.


Yum! It's pure Bliss. I'll have to thank whoever made this. The only sounds I can hear is the clinking of the fork against the plate. Why is this place so quiet?! It's like a graveyard. I cleary throat and call for the maids in the corner. One of them approaches me,

"I'm thirsty if it's not too much trouble I'd like some water" I ask of her.

"Of course my lady"

She left the room and I was back to complete silence. If I remember correctly she was a duchess that recently came into power. What kind of things do duchesses do?
The same maid entered the room carrying a small jug of water. She came closer to me and in an attempt to bring the cup closer to her. Our hands collided and the water went flying everywhere.

She immediately starts bowing and apologizing. I'm still confused until Anna intervenes and leads the maid away.
I stand up and leave the large hall. I need to know what timeline or exactly what part of the story I'm in.

And to do that I'll need to see the underground study. This place is huge and I don't know where I'm going.

"My lady where are you going"

I turn around to see Anna observing me intensely.
"I was just about to go the study underground"

I see her face tense up as she avoids my gaze.

" I see..."

Judging by her reaction I can tell. Something unpleasant is down there in the study.
"Is anything wrong" I ask innocently.

"No my lady I just wished to remind you of Prince Erick's coming of age party"

"And what about it!" I say harshly.

"Well it's today and his majesty has requested that you are present" she replied unfazed by the edge in my voice.

"Huh!"

Erick's coming of age party wasn't mentioned in the novel Katie gave me. Will something bad happen? No wait calm down. If it wasn't mentioned it then nothing significant happened. Then it's okay for me to go right?!

"Okay I'll head up to my room and get ready"

I turn tail and dash away. My first interaction with one of the male leads.
Once I'm back in my room I shut the door and slump against it.

Maybe I shouldn't go?

Yeah I'm probably not wanted there and if I can avoid male leads I'll have a greater chance at surviving this game.

But I don't know what will happen if I go against the original story. Worst case scenario something worse other than my exile will await me.

Guess I'll go to the ceremony and see what happens. I'm kinda curious about what I'll be like.

"My lady please hold still...."

I'm trying but this corset is a death trap any tighter and my insides will sprawl out on the floor. Having the maids dress me up is a chore. They twisted her hair and pulled it different directions all in the name of styling it. My dress is a dark red and embroidered with beautiful golden thread.

"My lady please have a look"

I look at myself in the mirror shocked by my transformation. My long hair is in a braid and draped across my shoulder. Veronica really is a beautiful woman.

"My lady the coach is downstairs waiting for you"

"Thank you all for your hard work"

I wave goodbye to them and I exit the room with Anna.

"My lady are you alright? You seem quite anxious" she asked perherps sensing my anxiety.

"Yes I am quite nervous about going"

"You look beautiful so you have nothing to worry about"

"Thank you Anna"

I reach the carriage and I wave goodbye to Anna. The coachman helped me into the carriage.

"We'll be off my lady"

The carriage sets off and I'm once again left to my thoughts. Will the heroine Charlotte be there? What about Damien will he be there?
Silly! Of course he'll be there it's his brother's birthday. My first meeting with the game's characters I wonder how it will go.