Eve sighed as she remembered the past, a decade had passed since she became a servant and it felt like life had gotten better and would only be that way. She was happy working and spending times with the other servants.
"Eve!"
"Come quick, I am leaving for the market."
She heard her name from the door. She dropped the tray of drinks she carried on a marbled counter in the kitchen and rushed to the back door.
The whole mansion was decorated in pretty flowers and was booming with loud music. Servants were walking in and out of the kitchen pushing trolleys of food and drinks.
She was dressed in a white shirt tucked into a long black skirt with her hair tied in a black scarf. It was the dressing of the maids working in the Starkins mansion.
Eve met with the woman standing beside the back door, and they both walked out carefully, trying not to be seen by the visitors who had come to the after-wedding party of the young daughter of the household to the Duke's son.
To the outside world, the first daughter of the family had died due to the fragility of being a human and because of that, no one bothered to talk to her when she walked in the crowd to serve the drinks.
The cart with which the two maids came with was stopped in front of the market and the two came down. It was the time of evening, the best time the people of Vrussia believed to visit the market. The Head maid led Eve through the alleyways, dodging vendors and shoppers alike.
The bargaining voices of the merchants and customers filled the air, traders marketing their sales hoping to catch customers and good profit.
As Eve walked through the market, her eyes was fixed on every stall and its wares. Fascinated by everything she saw. It wasn't the first time she was stepping into the market with one or two other maids but she was always gawking at the wares displayed.
It was like the merchants discards old wares as she never saw same thing after coming back to the market two days later. On one side was a merchant selling pearls who caught her staring and he called out,
"Here are beautiful pearls you would like, lady. White, round and shiny, the necklaces would really suit your beautiful skin."
The merchant caught note of her maid uniform but he wasn't concerned with it, even maids earn more money than most merchants but Eve wasn't here to get anything for herself.
"I would rather not spend my money on what I won't ever use," she muttered to herself, she looked to her front to find the head maid in front of a fruit stall and Eve hurried to her side, she was listing out the fruits and quantity she needed to the merchant.
"Eve, can you please get the thyme leaves for tea?" Gwen asked, handing Eve few coins.
"Okay," Eve nodded and walked away from them, she remembered seeing a tea shop and she walked towards the stall.
"Good evening sire, I need a bag of thyme leaves please," Eve said to the trader.
"That would be two heart coins," said the man as he handed her the bag. Eve reached into the pocket of her dress and took out two coins. She turned to go back to the senior maid when she caught sight of a small white furry animal hopping around.
Taking interest in the small animal, Eve followed it in her bid to take it home as her pet. The rabbit as if sensing someone trying to steal its freedom hopped even faster.
Eve carefully maneuvered through the crowd, trying not to bump into anyone and also looking at the rabbit to avoid losing the animal.
It hopped into a dark alley and right on a carton box lying at a corner. Seeing it stay still, Eve stealthily walked towards it and just when she bent to pick it up, it jumped from the carton and hopped out of the alley and went into the bush
With the ground that was slightly muddy and the impact from the box falling, Eve slipped and bruised her leg on the wall.
"Aargh!"
She screamed and quickly stood up from the ground, her skirt had turned slightly wet and dirty and she hissed in annoyance. She looked to her front and noticed the rabbit had gone and she turned to go back the way she was coming from.
Hearing a low purr, she looked down to see a white kitten two feet from her, her dampened mood enliven and she walked closer and bent down.
"A kitten in exchange for a rabbit isn't that bad," she said as she picked up the little cat who raised up his black paw to lick it.
"Randomly picking up cats brings bad luck."
Eve heard a deep baritone voice suddenly which made her heart jump. The cat she held in her hands meowed at the same time, and she panicked, making the cat jump out of her hands.
She turned swiftly and crashed into a firm, muscular body and as sudden as it came, she felt herself pulled and her back crashing to the wall. Alarm bells start to ring in her head and she opened her mouth to scream but a gloved hand shot up to cover her mouth, preventing her screams from coming out loud.
The sun was getting below the horizon and the alley was a deserted one, this only had Eve worried more as she realized how no one would know of her being in danger. She struggled to get herself free but the person was too strong as he didn't move an inch.
"Be still, I won't harm you," his deep voice rung in Eve's ears and she slowly calm herself down. Taking the chance to look at the person, Eve found herself staring into a pair of red eyes.
Dark red eyes.