Early the next morning, Anna was already done preparing herself for the day. She wore the uniform of a maiden and band her hair before stepping out of the room to see Marcos full dressed waiting for her.
He was holding the bag of her old skin in one hand.
"Did you wear all that make-up to impress me or what?" Marcos eyes narrowed to look at her red lips.
"I did?" Anna looked at him. She must have allowed her inner self get ahead of her to the point of applying makeup when she was just a maid.
He moved closer and brought his hand to wipe small amount of lipstick.
"See...." He said to her.
"I never did my makeup because of you." She defended herself.
Anna quickly went back into the room to wipe off the makeup on her lips before walking outside.
"Alright then." He brought his hand to cover the yawn. Just then, a maid approached him with a briefcase.
"Madam Charlotte asked to give this to you." The maid bowed her head before bringing the bag to Marcos but he rejected it.
"Give the bag to Anna." He told the maid calmly.
Anna frowned looking at the maid's hand before she teared her gaze to stare at Marcos.
"I am only a maid here. My job is not to work for you as assistant or guard but to cook and clean." Without waiting for his response, she walked away.
"Did she just walked out on me?" Marcos glared at the maid who was still holding the bag with confusion.
"Yes she did." The maid nodded.
He watched her back as she walked down the stairs and he moved from there making the maid run behind him.
"Young Master... You forgot the bag." The maiden told him nervously.
"Take the bag back to my room. I won't be taking it with me today." He said before walking downstairs to meet Anna who stood close to the carriage.
In a low voice, he whispered to her. "You must have a lot of nerves to walk out on me."
Using the same tone he used on her, she spoke calmly. "Like I said....,I only came here too cook and clean. If you need a personal guard to help you carry your personal things, then please hire one."
"Where are we heading to?" Anna asked.
"The council house. I hope you know where that is located because—"
"I know." She chimed. "I've gone there a couple times to defend my Mom about something that happened some years ago."
"Well then.... I hope you have a safe journey." He smiled at her before stepping into the carriage.
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"Just a little punishment for walking out on me." Before Anna could react to what was happening, Marcos told the coachman to drive and the carriage move with speed.
Anna bit her bottom lip, stopping herself from crying. Was it in their family genes to be this cruel? There was no ounce of remorse from him. He drove the carriage not allowing her to enter, knowing fully how long the journey to the council house is.
Someone had to walk more than an hour to reach there. Anna did not know if she should turn around and leave but considering that her skin was with him, she decided to walk there.
She has been careful, heeding to the words of her roommate not to go near Marcos unless she was serving him but it looks like trouble found it's way to her. There was no way out for her. She continued to walk down the straight road leading to the council office. Her body was drenched in hot sweat and her legs had turned numb from walking for too long.
After walking for more than an hour, Anna caught sight of the council house located near a small river.
The council house was a tall building with white painting. It was a place used to hold criminals for their wrong and to judge their cases. The council members help in running the Town smoothly to take hold of any criminals. The council house was owned by the Windsor family. They had bought it previously from a man, to avoid people in the town from reporting them to the council house each time a maid died.
Reaching there, she heard her name being called out and Anna turned around to see Marcos standing behind her with a smile that didn't reach his eyes.
"That was so quick of you." He commented.
Anna chose not to say anything cause if she did, she might end up being put in one of the cells here.
"Curb your anger, Anna. That was only a small punishment to show you who the Master is." He walked closer. "You are only a maid. Don't get ahead of yourself too much."
Just then, one of the council members came to Marcos.
"We only know of one suspect who might have killed the man." He began.
"Peter spoke to us that he saw the man's lover speaking with the deceased an hour before his death." He continued. "Since work here is full, we want you to go alone to investigate more on the death of the man."
Marcos nodded and the both of them watched the man enter the council house.
"Looks like today would be a long day." Marcos muttered.
"We're going to Median Town." He told her before walking to the back area of the council.
There was boats at the river shore to carry people who wanted to cross the river.
After making the payment, both of them entered the boat and it moved into the river. This was the first time Anna had entered a boat as she had never traveled in her entire life.
"Are you not going to come in?" Marcos tilted his head to look at her.
She was hesitant at first but seeing the bag in his hand, she took his hand and stepped into the boat to sit with him.
As the boat continued to move in the water, Anna felt Marcos gaze on her. She turned to look at him and even though she had caught him staring at her, he didn't move his eyes from her.
How shameful, Anna thought.
Suddenly, Anna stumbled towards Marcos due to the strong impact of storm on the boat. But before she could fall on him, Marcos used his elbow to block her.