"I thought I could take care of the matter without Father not being aware. Don't you agree sister?"
I say facing Letitia who looks annoyed but is not uttering a word. She gives me a small smile before facing her mother.
"Vivian is right mother. The only mistake she made is not letting you know before firing her. Please calm down."
Countess Della stands up from the table and heads towards the door.
"Peasants like you don't know where they belong and that's ruining the society. One more thing! Don't ever call me Mother. I'm not a mother to something like you."
She exits the room after her words. You can hear angry footsteps as she walked through the hallway.
Letitia stands up to leave also but says something before leaving.
"You've really changed in the past few days Vivian. It's nice to see you being lively but I'll advice you don't overdo it. "
With that, she leaves the room.
"Of course, an apple doesn't fall far from the tree."
I smile and continue my food which I must say;
"It's really delicious."
~~~~~~
I head back to my room after seeing Mother in her room and making sure she's a little calm.
"Don't you think Lady Vivian is crossing the line? How dare she fire the head cook?"
I signal Edith, my personal maid to stop talking.
"Be careful of what you say, the walls have ears."
She nods and helps me change into my nightwear.
"Do you need anything else before I leave, lady Letitia?"
I smile gently at her and lie on my bed.
"You can go rest for the night, I'll see you in the morning."
Edith bows and leaves the room and closing the door. I look at the moon through my window and the anger I experienced a while ago came back.
"That vixen, who does she think she is to order someone round in the house."
"She's always been like this, trying to use father as her shield and always getting his attention."
11 YEARS AGO, COUNT SULLIVAN'S MANSION
"What's going on over there? what's causing a ruckus?"
10 years old Letitia asked seeing some workers moving things and making a lot of noise.
"The Count is making a garden I wonder who it's for."
Letitia smiles to herself happy at the fact that her Father is making her a garden after gifting her a horse and pretty dresses for her birthday.
The small girl runs inside the house to tell her mother the happy news. She stops walking when she hears her father's voice and decides to go play with him instead.
"Vivian you see that place being built right?"
Letitia stops her actions and decides to peek at what's happening inside her father's study through the little space from the open door.
"That's a garden I'm building for you. You can bring your friends to play there and also take care of the plants and flowers as well."
Count Jude says carrying Vivian in her hands and looking out the window. 8 Years old Vivian starts clapping her hands and gives her father a hug.
"Thank you, Father! You're the best!"
Letitia closes the door gently, the smile from earlier is now gone from her face.
"Why would he build someone like Vivian a garden?'"
Squeezing her small fists together in anger, Letitia walks to her room.
PRESENT DAY, LETITIA'S ROOM.
"Father even got her a cat for her 16th birthday. That beast is lucky it never showed itself in my presence."
It's not that I want a cat or a pet. The fact that my father got it for Vivian is annoying. The child of a mistress doesn't deserve any of those things.
"She's been acting out of normal for the past week."
"If she's trying to grow wings, I'd better cut it off."
~~~~~~
2 WEEKS LATER
"1, 2"
"1, 2"
I raise my leg up and down carefully because Uncle Squid thinks it's the best place to stay. My cat finally leaves my legs alone and crawls down to my stomach. I rub it's back and it grunts slowly.
This is the chillest cat I've ever seen in my 27 years of living. I've been here for three weeks and I'd say I've gotten accustomed to the way of life here.
"I haven't left the house in two weeks, I'm so bored!!!"
"Am I a housewife or something, why don't we ever go out!!"
Mary and Ruby chuckle at my words as they go through the clothes that were delivered from Grace's tailor shop to sort them out. I and Mary have become friends over the past weeks and now she comes to my quarters in her free time.
The mean head cook was fired and luckily for her, she left within the time frame I'd given her. The other servants seem to respect me a little now and they also talk to me. Things are going nicely except for the fact that I'm still stuck here.
My eyes wander to my wrist, I look at the silver and emerald bracelet.
"It's really beautiful. Ruby said Vivian's mother left this for her."
"I miss my mum too"
I whisper to myself. Uncle Squid pats my cheek with his paw like it understood what I said.
"Aren't you a gentleman"
I say giving him a kiss on the forehead. The cat leaves my embrace and then jumps off the bed.
"I should go for a walk around the house."
Ruby and Mary stand up to follow me but I stop them.
"You can finish what you're doing. I'll be back after walking around a bit."
I leave the room and walk through the hallways when I see a girl around my age standing in front of the guest lounge. It seems like she's hesitating to go in.
"Didn't I tell you she won't show up. I wonder what's happening in their family."
"Or are the rumors that she's pregnant true?"
The voices from inside the guest room say laughing loudly.
"I guess she's the lady Stefany's daughter they were talking about at the tailor's shop the other day."
I think to myself before going towards her.
"Are you going in or leaving?"
I ask her with a small smile. She looks embarrassed and leaves the door handle alone.
"Would you like to take a walk with me, it's quite suffocating indoors."
~~~
"This is the first time we're talking to each other even though we've seen each other a lot. I'm Elmira Bates."
She smiles at me and I reciprocate the smile.
"I'm Vivian Sullivan."
My answer might have been funny to her because she starts laughing.
"Aren't you going to ask me? You must be curious if the rumors are true."
I stop walking and sit on one of the benches placed in the compound.
"It'll be a lie to say I'm not curious but won't it be rude to ask?"
She sits beside me with a sad smile on her face.
"I think it's obvious but I'm not pregnant, the reason I've not been attending social gatherings is because my family almost went bankrupt."
"After my father died 7 months ago, my uncles and aunts tried to take over his properties. It wasn't the best time to go to social gatherings."
"Thanks to my brother, we've been able to retrieve more than half of his properties back."
I didn't know what to say. Even if this world is not real to me, to Elmira, it's real to her and a life she must live.
"It must have been hard. I'm glad everything worked out well for you."
I smile and stand up from the bench.
"Would you like to see my garden? It seems that's the only interesting thing here."
She smiles and stands up. We start working towards my garden when the gates open.
A man walks towards me and bows when he reaches me.
"Hello my lady, You've been invited to the charity event this year. It would be an honor if you could attend."