The inside of the bathroom had been bigger than she initially anticipated, but once she thought on the first few pages of the novel, she remembered that the bathroom was very spacious to enable the maids to clean up all at once, so they wouldn't waste any time getting to their duties.
Unfortunately, Judith's admiration for the bathroom didn't last long, when her priority was shifted to picking up a long plywood that was leaning on the threshold and placing it on the latch that held it in front of the door. This way no one could get in.
Though a faint fear had taken root in Judith's heart, concerning the integrity of the paper and bamboo door that was protecting her from any 'intruder' she remembered that it was described in her novel that one: the doors were not translucent even though they looked that way, and two: this was not just a historical Chinese world, but one of fantasy and magic, which meant those doors were more sturdy than it looked.
At least sturdy enough to defend against anyone that wasn't a Tethered or a Cultivator.
Now feeling the heat of the sun more than ever, Judith pulled off the rags she had been wearing at once, made her way to chair not too far from her and dunked a cup-full of water on her head.
After a sigh of relief, Judith had opened her eyes, picked up a sponge and dipped it into a bowl of liquid soap before she began to scrub away at her filth.
It pained Judith that she didn't and or couldn't take the time to revel in this bath, as it had felt like bliss once the water had touched her skin.
But due to the fear that lingered in her heart for the captain, she didn't want to waste any time in here, at her most vulnerable.
As she continued to scrub, her finger had smashed into the manacle she had seemingly forgot was on her wrist, so her finger nail tore off, drawing blood.
"Ow." Judith exclamined as the pain in her finger had hit her nervous system.
She instinctively pulled her finger into her mouth and began to suck on the blood, soap and all.
A slight annoyance had caught her as she stared at the manacles.
"Why didn't I remove this damn thing first?" Judith had wondered to herself, as the tinge of pain in her finger began to eat into her.
Without wasting anymore time, Judith had picked up the key, which was on top the pile of clothes, which in turn was on top another chair a couple of spaces away from the chair Judith sat on.
Once the key was in her had, Judith found her frenzied motion slow to a crawl, as she began to think on the key's presence and who it had come from.
As her thoughts lingered on the key, it also lingered on prince Lee.
Realization had struck Judith once more than the prince would fall in love with her.
Of course this was not guaranteed, if she were to change the events of the story and thus the trajectory of his emotions toward her.
Not to mention she wasn't the same person as Sarah, at least not mentally anyway.
But still, she felt that the world would draw him to her, and this made her unsure of herself and how she felt about it.
'I mean, he isn't exactly hard to look at.' Judith had thought, bringing her memory back to the prince's long white hair, his black eyes, pointed nose and chiseled jawline.
And to top it all off, he was tall and had a nice semi lean and semi broad body build.
Exactly how Judith liked.
If he were to be someone this world had preordained for her, she wasn't exactly going to complain. Especially because he was going to change later on, to be a chivalrous, kind and heroic Tethered.
Judith smiled, forgetting her current and immediate predicament.
She reached out the key into its slot in the manacle and with one twist, relief take taken Judith when the manacle had clanked open and fell to the ground.
She did the same for her right hand, and then her neck.
After which she stretched and twisted the parts of her body that had been incarcerated for what felt like an eternity.
Once the relief of her superficial freedom had washed over her, she proceeded to actually wash wash herself as fast as she could.
While doing so, Judith had noticed the wound on her nail completely nonexistent. Seeing this, Judith had raised her brow so high they could have been caught on her hair.
She was sure she had wounded herself, no, it wasn't even a question of sure. It definitely happened, so why...
Thinking on the sudden and very strange disappearance of her injury left Judith uneasy. But at the same time, somewhat glad?
If the wound had disappeared, then it meant she had been given some kind of healing ability as a perk. Or something to that degree.
Or perhaps she was just crazy, and she never actually got wounded. Judith didn't really know, but right now, she didn't want to test it out by wounding herself. So for now, she didn't think on it and continued her shower.
Once she had finished up and gotten into the eastern clothing she was given, she felt a semblance of joy to be in these clothing. Though it was one specially tailored for maids, it was an eastern clothing nonetheless.
Which was a type of clothing she had always wanted to try out, but never got the chance to.
'Well, now you'll wear them for the rest of your life.' Judith had thought, highly emphasizing the life part.
She smiled for a moment as another joy had taken her. But her joy quickly faded once she remembered her 'life' was in jeopardy.
She was given a second chance at life, now she just needed to keep it.
Judith shook her head, then made her way to the door, where she stood for a moment, unsure why.
She didn't think of this odd attitude of hers and proceeded to remove the plywood from the door, whilst ensuring to hold onto it just in case.
With the plywood in one hand, just slowly slid the door open, so she could peek inside before deciding if she should let go of the only weapon she possessed.
Once enough of a slit had been made, she peeked through and her eyes widened when she saw a figure staring at the wall.
It had taken Judith a moment, probably because the sun was obscuring her vision. But after said moment, she realized the figure was just a child, a girl probably no older than eleven.
At once Judith let go of the plywood and made her way into the room, still on guard.
"Hello?" Judith had called out to the little girl, who had opened the wall that Judith had just realized was a wardrobe and or closet. "Are you lost? Or, you're also a slave?" Judith had asked, praying the girl wouldn't say she was the latter.
The little girl turned to Judith with a smile.
"Judith, it's good to see you again." The child had said, freezing Judith in place.
"Why are you acting like that? Don't tell me you don't remember me." It had taken Judith a second, but when she finally realized it, she gasped.