Layla was sound asleep in her bed. She snuggled up to her pillows. The constant chirping of birds woke her out of sleep. She groaned and rubbed the last of her sleep from her eyes as she opened them.
It was probably around ten in the morning. She quickly rose out of bed. With her eyes closed, her hand hovered over the bedside table for the bell to summon the maid.
But when she couldn't feel the bell, she turned around to look at the table. There were no bells, only one single vase with some white tulips. As her asleep mind searched for an answer, she suddenly remembered about yesterday.
"Oh, right. I am a kid now" she spoke in a quite voice as she rubbed her forehead. But that's odd. Shouldn't Jane or Henni come to wake her up? Did they just forget?
Ah, never mind, she must be busy.
She stood up and walked over to the window which she had shut last night before going to bed. It was a behaviour she had developed in a past life.
Because Leo's favouritism towards her, she became the subject of jealousy and envy. And some of those individuals would hire assassins to assassinate her. Once she went to bed without shutting her window because it was summer and she wanted a breeze to come in. And on that night, an assassin came to assassinate her, but she was saved by a knight.
While it was improper for any male to enter a woman's room, he did so nonetheless to save her. The knight did apologise for his behaviour, but she was too shocked to accept his apologies.
He was the reason she was saved at the time.
She doesn't remember much about him, just his armour and his striking red hair. She should have asked for his name at least.
The birds that sat on her windowsill flew after she opened the window. Her heart is always warmed by the sight of the garden. She should visit Mr. Warren occasionally to express her gratitude for his hard work. It was weird that her maids were nowhere to be seen. She should go and look for them herself. Maybe she could share some breakfast with Henni.
She opened the door to look for any servants. After a few seconds, a maid was passing down the hallway. Layla called out to her, who at first ignored Layla and second time answered her.
Layla ordered her to bring her some water for washing. The maid was fidgety. She still nodded her head and went away.
The maid brought the bucket and left it in her room and was about to leave the room, but Layla stopped her.
"Where is granny Jane? Wasn't she supposed to be here?" Layla said while dripping her cotton towel into the water.
"Umm..." the maid started to fiddle with her finger, while avoiding eye contact with Layla.
"I-I don't k-know. H-haven't seen her yet" the maid said with a forced smile.
Layla eyed the woman up and down. She has a feeling that something is wrong.
"Alright, you can go now" Layla said.
The maid sounded relieved, as she scurried off quickly after a quick bow.
She quickly completed her morning routine and got dressed.
The corridor was unnaturally quiet when she left her room. And she had been getting this anxious feeling in her chest since the maid left.
She needed to find those two.
Where could they be? Maybe the kitchen or the laundry room.
he headed to the kitchen. Her pace was quick, with every passing minute her anxiety was increasing.
Unlike other mornings, the hallway was strangely empty. With quick strides, she reached the kitchen.
The kitchen was also quiet, except for the three individuals chatting in the corner. As soon as they saw Layla, they all immediately resumed their work.
One of the worker tried to cover up their action by engaging in a small conversation with Layla. He cheerfully said "What brings you here young miss,"
"Sammy, have you seen Jane or Henni?"
Even though it was only for a split second, Layla observed Sammy's hands twitching. He then scratched the back of his head. "No sorry miss. I was cooking breakfast all morning, how would I know..." he continued, "Anyway, miss, you must be hungry if you came here. I will cook something for you. What do you want? Scrambled eggs or French toast"
He tried to brush over the topic and went over the stove to grab the pan.
"Sammy, I am not here for games. Tell me where are they", Layla demanded. Her voice was low, slightly threatening. Her eyes grew darker. She wasn't playing, and it was evident in her voice.
Despite the girl's smaller stature, the tall man in his apron was left dumbfounded by the sudden hostile behaviour of the usual sweet child he had known for years. Confused, he looked over at his buddies, who were equally shocked. They were all thinking the same thing; what would be the right course of action.
"I don't have all day" Layla, said. Sammy sighed. "G-go to the stables miss-"
"Sam!" his buddies spoke.
"-and please don't tell anyone you heard it from me", Sammy continued speak but Layla was already out of the room. As soon as she heard him say stable she started to run.
She sprinted as quickly as she could outside through the door, towards the stable. From the distance she could see the outline of the stable, and also a crowd gathered there. She was getting an ominous feeling.
"More strongly! What are you, a weak pansie? Hit harder!". It was the headmaid's voice.
A lot of people were in front of the stable. All of the servants were there, so, of course, the house seemed quieter than usual. And from the front Emily's voice came.
Layla tried to push the people to reach the front. The more closer she got, the more fearful she got.
Her heart dropped when Jane's scream echoed "NO! Stop!". Her anxiety increased.
Her heart sank as she was finally able to come out and stand in front of what she witnessed. Henni was lying on the ground with her wrists tied, bleeding, and Granny Jane was being held by two other servants and she was also injured. Another servant was standing next to Henni, with a sadistic grin, holding a whip and the whip was bloodied as well.
The servant was about to whip again, as he held the item high up in the sky, Layla screamed at them to stop. All of their attention was shifted to Layla.
She sprinted over to Henni and took up protective stances in front of the defenseless girl lying on the ground.
"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING!" Layla said, her eyes were filled with rage.
The servant snickered. "You better move, young miss, if you don't want to get hurt," the male servant glanced down at the girl, mockingly, as if challenging her.
However, Layla remained still and only glared at him, daring him to lay another hand on the helpless girl. Her challenging eyes irked the prideful man. He clutched his whip tighter. "Ha. What are you going to do, huh? I can throw you out with one hand" mockingly he said.
"Fred, stop" the head maid intervened.
"What is the meaning of all this, Emily," Layla yelled frantically, desperate for some answer.
The entire situation was being directed by Emily, who was standing in the shadow of a tree. She emerged outside and stood in front of Layla.
"What do you mean, young miss, you don't know what happened?" Emily said with a wide eye and a fake surprised face. "Alright, I will inform you. You see your beloved maid was found making fun of the housemaster."
Layla was confused at first hazed by anger, then slowly realised what Emily meant. It was about when Henni called her father bastard and how she would beat him up because he hit Layla. Layla didn't think anyone would hear it. Wasn't the hallway empty?
Emily smirked as Layla's face started to become pale. "And one more thing, lady. The master called for you at his office"
That could only mean one thing: someone reported everything to her father. And now she would also have to pay.
Layla bit her lip in anger. She was careless. It all happened because she didn't pay enough attention. Layla was self-blaming and buried in her own thoughts.
She was immediately pulled back to reality when she heard Henni groan. She quickly went over to Henni.
Henni was unconscious but was still groaning. Her wounded skin was visible through her dress. Blood shocked her clothes.
Layla started to tear up a bit, as she gently touched the bloody wounds.
"Let go of me", Jane, freed from the people's hold, came straight to Layla's side.
Layla wiped her eyes. "I want help lifting her up" Layla ordered, looking for someone to help her, at the crowd of people staring at the scene.
All of the servants avoided eye contact with Layla, so as to not get involved with her. It made her even more angry.
"Granny, I need your help", Layla said while freeing Henni from the rope that was so tightly wrapped that it made red marks on her wrist.
Once freed, Layla was about to grab Henni's one shoulder but Jane stopped her. "Wait Layla, I got this.".
Layla completely forgot she was small, not like her older self.
Jane supported Henni's whole weight on her and carried Henni to her room, with Layla following them.
Jane helped Henni lay down on Jane's bed. And tended to her injuries. Layla wanted to help but Jane stopped her and said she should visit her father first and not delay the meeting. They both know her father doesn't like waiting.