Bright lights streamed through the large arch windows, and the curtains did nothing in stopping them from hitting a figure laying on the bed, tangled in its blanket with pillows strewn across the bed.
Aylin groaned in pain as one of her eyes cracked open and squinted at the sunlight that was beaming into her room, making her grimace. She turned her back to the window and shut her eyes, not wanting to wake up just yet but the throbbing in her head that felt as if someone had smashed the side of her skull against an iron pipe stopped her from getting back to sleep.
The light wasn't helping matters either.
Aylin sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to sleep anymore before rolling over onto her stomach, and staring out the window. The sunlight fell on her face and she shielded her eyes from the harshness of it. After some time, she turned away, propped herself up on her elbows, and looked around the room, her face scrunching up in confusion as she stared at every corner of the room.
This wasn't her room, what was going on?
A knock from the door broke her away from her thought as she turned to the door, her eyebrows furrowed as the knock came again.
Just when Aylin wanted to open her mouth to say something, the door swung open slowly and revealed a girl in a maid's outfit, who appeared to be a couple of years younger than her. Her brown hair glowed under the warm sun as her hazel eyes darted around the room until they finally settled on Aylin.
"I see you are finally awake, milady," The maid smiled, moving towards Aylin who lay still on the bed.
Milady? What the–? What the f*ck was going on?
And then it all came back, tripping, red–eyes, dungeon. All the memories came rushing to her head and she groaned.
So it wasn't a dream.
"Who are you?" Aylin asked, staring at the girl.
"My name is Jayla Milady, I'm a maid and I'm here to help you get ready," Jayla answered, placing the tray on the bedside table before grabbing a cup of water and some pills off the tray and handing it to Aylin. "You should take these, they will help your headache and make sure that you feel better," She explained.
How did she know that she had a headache?
Surprised, Aylin sat up, collected the pill, and took them, handing the water back to the maid.
"Thank you," Aylin muttered and the maid bowed.
"You don't need to thank me, my lady. The cause of the headache was because you slept for too long."
"Too long? What time is it?" Aylin asked as she pushed the sheets off her body.
"It's one in the afternoon, milady," Jayla answered with a bow, and Aylin's eyes widened,
"One in the afternoon? why didn't you wake me up?" How in the world did she sleep for that long?!
"Because Her Grace told us not to wake you up, she said that you needed more sleep and rest."
"Oh, I see..." Aylin trailed off before sighing, resting her back against the headboard. "She's right, I needed to sleep after everything that happened yesterday, I needed the rest. But I guess I slept too much."
"It's alright, the pill will make the headache disappear, I trust that you are already feeling better?"
Aylin nodded. "Yes, I am. Surprisingly," Or not.
"That's good, so would you like to eat first or bathe? I know you must be feeling hungry."
"It's fine, I will take a bath first," Aylin replied before sliding off the bed, placing both feet on the floor, and putting her hand through her disheveled hair before stretching.
"Alright, do you need any help? I could help you bathe," She offered kindly but Aylin shook her head.
"No, thank you there's no need for that," Aylin declined politely.
Help her bathe? No, thank you.
"Alright then, let me pick your clothes while you bathe," Jayla said, already walking to the closet without letting Aylin reply.
With a sigh, Aylin walked into the large and luxurious bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
She took off her nightgown and quickly stepped into the bathing tub, letting the warmth of the water hit her body. Closing her eyes, Aylin sank beneath the surface of the warm water. It felt almost heavenly and she sighed contently, letting it warmly soak into her skin.
After she finished bathing, Aylin pulled herself out of the tub and grabbed a fluffy towel, drying herself up before grabbing a bathrobe and another towel to dry her hair with.
She exited the bathroom clad in a long white bathrobe that reached below her knee, with her bare feet padding against the floor. Her thoughts went back to the previous night.
Kian… That was his name. Vague and attractive just like him. Aylin still had to think about how she would make him fall for her, something she knew no idea how and what to do.
Gods! He also wasn't making it easier.
In addition to his god-like appearance and body, he was cold and intelligent. He could tell something was going on between her and Andromeda. So if she began acting and getting closer to him, he would become suspicious! And God help her, she couldn't afford him finding out.
Besides, he was seriously making her dislike him. First, he ordered her to be thrown into the dungeon. Secondly, he pulled out the glass from her leg without warning her. Like, who does that?!
He was so heartless.
Walking into the bedroom, Jayla had already picked a dress for her, and as Aylin expected, it was a gown.
She picked up the dress and let her gaze roam the burgundy off-shoulder dress with two fabrics; the outer and the inner.
The dress was beautiful, Aylin admitted but she was all about her comfort.
Turning to Jayla, she asked, "Can you get me a pair of scissors?"
Jayla frowned. "Scissors? "
"Yes, scissors. Can you get it for me?"
"Sure Milady," Jayla nodded and left before coming back with a pair of scissors. "Here Milady."
"Thank you," Aylin collected the scissors.
She laid the dress on the bed and started to cut the inner silky fabric.
"Uhh, Milady? Why are you cutting the dress?" Jayla couldn't help but question.
Aylin, who noticed the stupefaction in her voice, smiled and glanced at her. "You will see soon." Was the only thing she let out and Jayla continued to watch her.
After cutting it to her liking, she assessed it.
Because the dress was a flowing gown, the slit she created wouldn't show much unless she moved and was also covered by the dark outer tulle material.
Satisfied with the way the dress turned out, Aylin put it on and turned to Jayla.
"How's it?"
The dress fitted her perfectly, the hem of the gown grazed the floor, with extended sleeves and a sweetheart neckline, which showed off her fair neck and collarbone.
Jayla's brow furrowed as she stared at the dress on Aylin. It looked the same to her.
"It's beautiful… "
"But it still looks the same right?"
"Yes," She answered now, wondering what exactly Aylin did to the dress.
"Good," Aylin nodded, strode to the dresser, and picked up a comb and that was when Jayla saw the difference.
"Let me help you with your hair," Jayla said as she collected the comb from Aylin and motioned for her to sit down.
Aylin sat down and allowed Jayla to brush her hair, letting the soft strokes and brushing soothe away the tension in her muscles and nerves. Aylin closed her eyes, allowing Jayla's gentle touch to relax her and wash away her worries. She liked it when another person helped her with her hair, it always felt good.
She'd have to ask Andromeda more about Kian or the Duke or whatever.
"What style would you like milady?" Jayla asked as she peered at Aylin through the mirror.
"You can do any style you like, and can you stop calling me my lady? Miss Aylin or Aylin would do just fine."
"I'm sorry but I can't call you by your name."
"Why?"
"Because Lady Andromeda told us to give you the same respect we would give her and the duke," Jayla replied.
"What?" Aylin asked surprisedly. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, she addressed all the servants and everyone in the mansion after the duke left this morning."
"I see..." Aylin trailed off, wondering why the woman said such a thing. Guess she would need to ask her about it later too.
As Aylin sat in front of the mirror, she went back to last night after her nightmare when she said that she would do everything she could to make The Duke fall for her.
Aylin couldn't help but sigh. Who the hell was she kidding? She couldn't do shit! She'd just said that the other night because she was still reeling from the dream… no nightmare she had. Besides, she didn't know the first thing about making someone like her not talk about love. However, if there'd been internet in this supernatural world she found herself in, maybe… just maybe it would have been fucking easier.
"Your hair," Jayla stated, pulling Aylin out of her thoughts as she finished braiding Aylin's hair, decorating it with some pins.
"Yes, is something wrong with it?" Aylin asked and Jayla immediately shook her head.
"No, it's very beautiful, I like it."
"Thanks," Aylin said, smiling at her before looking at her reflection in the mirror. Her black hair was braided with two white strands of hair at the front which was currently framing her face, a mixture of black and white silky hair cascading down her shoulders and back.
"So, how long have you been working here?" Aylin asked curiously.
"Since I was twelve and I've been living here for 10 years," Jayla replied.
"Wow, that's quite a while," Aylin muttered under her breath, making Jayla smile.
"Yes, this place is just like my home," Jayla agreed before moving back, a wide smile on her lips, "All done."
Aylin stood up and looked at herself in the mirror once more before turning to face her, "Thanks for helping me dress up."
"How many times are you going to thank me? I already told you, you don't need to thank me, I'm merely doing my job. Now let's go downstairs, lunch has already been served and I believe that Her Grace will have gotten tired of waiting," Jayla said, surprising Aylin.
"She's waiting for me?" Aylin asked confusedly.
"Yes, but I'm sure that she would have started eating by now. Now, if you follow me, I'll take you down there." Jayla said, opening the door for her to step out.
They both walked out of the bedroom with Jayla leading her down the corridor. Maids bowed and stared curiously at Aylin as they walked to the stairs and Aylin acknowledged their bow with a nod.
Good gracious, she wasn't used to this. Her head may even fall off from nodding too much.
She followed Jayla down the steps and towards the dining area and they stopped in front of a set of grand doors, the entrance to the dining hall.
Opening the doors, Aylin walked inside to find the dining area filled with a variety of different foods. Her eyes roamed the long and wide room, noticing some maids standing around the corner of the room.
Aylin's gaze landed upon Andromeda who sat on the first chair on the left side, she walked towards her as Jayla walked away and Andromeda's eyes lightened when she saw Aylin approaching, her gaze flitting to the slit in her dress but she didn't bother to comment on it. "Good afternoon dear. You look gorgeous in that dress, I trust you slept well?" Andromeda greeted happily.
"Yes, I did, and thank you for the dress, I love it." Aylin smiled gratefully at her before taking a seat.
"I'm glad that you liked it," Andromeda said as she poured Aylin a cup of tea and placed it in front of her. "We are lucky that the dress fitted you because I wasn't sure if it would, but it's good that it did. So now, we have to get you new dresses that will be tailored to your size and preferences, meaning the seamstress will be here to take your measurements and also how you would like your dresses to be, Is that ok with you?"
Aylin smiled at her, "Sure, I think I'd love that. When is it going to be?" Aylin asked as she sipped the tea.
She would absolutely love that.
"Tomorrow, the sooner the better, and There are other dresses of similar sizes so you won't have to worry about clothing for a week or two at least until the seamstress finishes sewing your dresses."
"Ok, cool." Aylin nodded, picking up a steak with her fork.
"So how's your leg?" Andromeda asked, making Aylin look up at her, raising an eyebrow, not expecting the question. Aylin didn't tell her anything about her leg or what happened the night before, so she was surprised when she heard the question.
"How do you know about my leg," Aylin blurted out before she could stop herself.
Andromeda smiled, "I know everything that happens in this mansion dear. Every single thing."
"Oh... Well, my leg is fine, It's healed." She answered truthfully.
"Healed? Did Kian heal your wound?" Andromeda's eyebrows furrowed in surprise, clearly shocked by what Aylin said.