Eloise slowly opened the door first to check the premise. The cost was clear. Letting out a breath of relief, she snuck into their room.
"Where have you been, miss?" a soft voice came from her side.
She slowly turned to the side to see her mum and Odette standing close to the door with their arms folded together.
"Ah… didn't see you guys there. Hi~" she waved at them with an awkward smile.
"That was not the question, miss," Odette peered at her in all seriousness.
Eloise sighed. "I was teaching some kid how to work out and get tall."
"oh my god, Eloise, are you saying you met someone else? Who is it? Does the duke now?" her silent mother suddenly bulldozed her way and held her shoulders. "You must betray the duke's trust… but the man did mention that he had no interest in marriage. Maybe it is a good thing you meet someone else…" she mumbled to herself with a deep frown.
Eloise placed a hand on her frowning forehead. "It was a child! A boy. It's illegal."
"How old?" Madam Ayles looked up with a thoughtful look.
"Eighteen or so. Poor kid has a bad growth spurt. He looked so sad crying his heart out."
"Eighteen and cries... he is an empathetic person then. He might be a good match for you. Introduce him to me. I'll see if he is worth your time or not,"
Eloise chuckled. "You're being a hilarious mum. Are you trying to match them with an eighteen-year-old? tsk tsk…"
Madam Ayles stood tall and patted her head. "of course, even if you both are the same age, it's okay. The man you marry must love you unconditionally. That's all I want."
Eloise froze. momentarily she had forgotten that she was in ancient times. Child marriages were so common. Men get married by eighteen and women by sixteen. Her body's real age also seems to be in that range. 'oh my god... this is not good... I don't want to get married so soon…'
She slowly backed away. "I'm going to head to bed."
"Wait for miss, not too soon," Odette walked up to her and stood in her. "What is that on your skirt miss." She said with ever so kindly smile.
Eloise lost her smile though. Her whole skirt was stained with wine. It was good as ruined to be honest. Not even the best washing can get this out.
Gulping, she walked away. "This…. I.. I had my periods…."
Odette ran after her. "Why is it at the edge of the skirt?"
"Its…. I sat on it?" she smiled widely. Even her cheeks started to hurt with the number of fake smiles she had to give this young maid.
Odette raised a brow.
Eloise had to give in. "I'm so sorry, it's wine."
Sighing, the young maid nodded. "I'll get it sorted out. You can't keep spoiling your clothes miss. Last night you tore one of your inner skirts and corset and now this. We are working on a limited amount of fabric here,"
"Odette, its fine. We have ordered a lot of skirts for her to wear. a few clothes is okay," madam Ayles intervened.
The pouting Odette had to back away.
Eloise sighed. "Thanks for the save mum. I'm going to sleep now. Bye."
"Wait!" her mum grabbed her by her shoulder. "Did you forget? It's miss Yumi's birthday. She had sent us an invite…"
She understood the underlying words her mum wanted to express. Seeing that her own mum looked so unsure, Eloise sighed. "Well attend it."
"Great ~ Odette, prepare the bath. We must get our young miss sparkling in no time/"
Eloise froze over. "Wait when is this ball?"
"Tonight, silly. Get ready!"
Odette was more than happy to push her into the room.
"No! I want some time to mentally prepare myself." Eloise shook her head.
Odette just weirdly smiled up at her. "We have all the time we need. Let me get you into the tub fist miss~"
"No not the tub…." Eloise ran to her room but like a ghost, Odette followed after her and closed the door.
"yes, it's the tub. I even prepared special lily soap for you miss~" Odette happily stripped her down and made her sit in the empty tub while she filled it with warm water.
Just like that, poor Eloise was scrubbed and polished until her skin was literally shining like a diamond.
Sitting before the mirror, she gazed at her own reflection with a sigh. her skin was red and raw. 'My poor skin. If this goes on I will develop skin problems in my thirties... why does bath time ritual have to be so intense! Next thing I must develop a good loafa!' she glared at the rough bristles brush reflected on the mirror. 'I will make you extinct you scratchy thing. I will revolutionize this world!'
"muuhahahahahaha!!!" she let out loud with her hands raised up.
"Stop moving so much miss, we have to get your hair styled," Odette lowered her raised arms. "Why did you cut it so short, miss? Look, I can't even do my classic buns.."
Eloise let out a deep breath. Odette classic curly bun takes at least two hours to finish. But that darn thing doesn't even last ten minutes on her head. Her frizzy hair would come out and in the end, she would look like a freaking hen-pecked crazy lady.
Weirdly so, her mum and Odette seemed to prefer that complicated hairstyle because 'it was on the trend'
"Just tie a ribbon or something." She touched her shoulder-length hair.
She had never been so glad that that pirate cut of her hair. If not, she would have had to deal with two hours of sitting on her ass until it got sore.
In just ten minutes her hair and makeup were ready.
After she had mentioned Odette to stop using the white face powder. Even her mum had stopped using it and they only used a mix of cocoa butter and a bit of corn flour to mattify the look.
It gave her a natural yet dignified look.
Odette picked up the powder box with a sigh. "Do you really not want this? miss, the other ladies would outdo you. What if the duke loses interest?"
Eloise rolled her eyes. "Duke has different interests. Just don't bring that anywhere closer to us. That thing can eat our skin."
Odette immediately dropped it. "Is there an insect inside?"
"No, something far worse. Poison." She casually whispered, sitting up from her vanity.
"p-poison! Madam!! Madam!!! Someone tried to poison our miss!" she ran out frantically shouting.
Eloise was stunned. "What the heck? Hey, Odette no one tried to hurt me," she ran out after her.
Right at the parlor they met Fred and that blond-haired guy. He weirdly seems to be sitting comfortably on their sofa with his legs stretched out.
"oh, you're ready." The boy gazed up. "Um, do you require time?"
"I'm ready. But why are you here?" she looked at Fred questionably.
The man shook his head with a sigh. "I have no clue."
The blond guy stood up and held out his hand. "I came here to call on you."
"Call?" Eloise's eyes fell on her mum, how was holding back a squeal. 'oh darn... what have ii done….'
Putting on a fake smile Eloise peered at him. "I… I don't seem to be feeling good. why don't we take a rain check on this ball…"
"Why? You look fine to me. You look healthier than those pale-faced girls out there." he stepped up to her and stood in her way. He held her soft palm and kissed the back of her hand. "Or are you afraid to dance?"
Eloise weirdly did not feel any form of disgust in his behavior. "Dancing is not my forte,"
"I'm surprised. The last time you danced so well. I reckoned that you would be good at it."
Eloise thought about it for a second. The last time she went to a ball was when she discovered that Raymond was the duke. He had asked her to dance with him. She stepped on his toe at least fifteen times. The poor man was limping by the end of it.
She then gazed at the young boy's feet. "you're brave to ask me for a dance. but by the end of it your feet is going to be crying for even making such a ridiculous decision.,"
"I'll handle it. Come," he held up her hand and dragged her out.
Eloise gazed back at her mum.
"You go ahead dear, we'll follow along," her mum happily waved at them. Odette gave a proud smile.
Eloise sighed. "What is your name?"
The boy's blond brows went up high. "You don't know my name? Wait, do you actually know who I am?"
"No clue." She shrugged.
The boy chuckled. "That explains why you were so audacious." He gripped her hand softly. "Wonder how you will react when you learn of my identity."
"I don't like mysteries. Come on, tell me who you are?"
The boy shrugged. "I'm dom. That's all you need to know for now. It's a pleasure to meet you, miss Eloise Ayles."