Victoria stood up from her hiding spot and kept staring at the closed door of the cabin. Oscar, who was still kneeling, looked up at her. "What are you doing?"
Victoria didn't answer him and stayed quiet. Questions run through her mind constantly.
Does she tell her father? But she has no proof of her mother's adultery. Why would her mother do this? Does she hate Victoria and her father this much? Is her mother in love with Mr. Thyne?
Victoria tried giving her mother the benefit of the doubt. Even though the proof is right before her eyes, she is an idiot. A fool. But she can't help it.
"Ms. Victoria?" Oscar called out her name, but she stayed silent for another few minutes until she finally opened her mouth to speak. "Do you think those two love each other?" she asked him.
Oscar was silent at first and looked back at the cabin door. "Who knows? It is impossible for a noble and commoner to be together." He tells her.
Impossible. A noble and commoner could not possibly be together. It will be hard, beyond hard, for the two to be together.
"I see," was all that she said as she took a step back. "Are you in love with a noble? Did seeing them kiss do something to you?" He asked her, and she looked down at him.
"I am not in love with a noble. Nor am I in love with a commoner. Seeing them kiss is embarrassing but it is only a mere kiss." It was not only a kiss, but she was telling her first truth when she told him she was not in love with anyone.
"I only care about books and want to live life as my own," Oscar hums while listening to her speak. "Is that so?"
"Of course," she says, and he finally stands up. "Well, it's not uncommon for a Doran's daughter to read books. But if you want to live life as your own, act like a full-blown commoner. Don't follow the rules; make your own rules."
"You want me to be wild?" She questions with a tilt of her head. He crossed his arms and leaned against the tree, "Yes." That was all that he said. "Is that what you do?" She questioned him once more. "I do what I please. If I want to be blunt with someone, then I'll do just that. The nobles may say that I have a pathetic upbringing but I don't care what they think, and neither should you."
"You're a baron's daughter, so you should do what you like most of the time," he says with a shrug. "I want to do many things," she confesses. "I thirst for knowledge. I love learning, but I also love reading novels. I was to do horseback riding, and a part of me wants to fight," Oscar listened intently to her.
"You look a bit weak, but there are other ways to fight," he tells her. "I know," she agrees. "I can't fight with a sword; I never touched a rifle; I am far too weak to fight. There is only one way for me to fight, for any woman to fight," she then looks at him "Of course, that is a secret." She grins.
"I was about to ask if you need some teaching, but it seems to me that you don't need help fighting your battles. Well, whatever hidden weapon that you have, I'm sure it'll come in handy." He says with a shrug.
"But besides fighting, you should do what you want without worrying about what others will say or do. Being a puppet to someone is quite boring." He tells her as he stops leaning against the tree and looks up, "The moon is telling us that it is time to leave. I don't think we will see those two any time soon."
Victoria nodded. "You are right. Let us leave this dark forest," the two began walking away from the cabin. "Ms. Victoria, do you need help getting back to me?" Oscar asked once they made it out of the forest.
Victoria shook her head "No, thank you. I can find my way back home. Thank you for the offer," she thanked him as the two said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
Victoria's walk took longer than she expected; was it because she ran to the forest? She doesn't have the energy to run anymore. She wants to close her eyes and sleep.
After some time, she finally made it to the gate that she squeezed through. No one was around, and if she weren't so tired, she would complain why there wasn't anyone guarding.
She squeezed through the bars and went to the side of the building, where her room was, and the sheets and blanket rope were still intact.
She began climbing, and the closer she got, she could hear two people arguing. It may be muffled, but she knows that they are arguing.
She finally made it to the room, and that's when she heard, "You cannot go in the lady's room, Robert! She is resting!" Alice yelled in frustration.
Victoria broke in a cold sweat, and she hurriedly brought the sheets and blankets up, untying each one and losing it from the headboard.
She tried tidying her bed up and stumbled to her closet, grabbing a random nightgown and changing as fast as she could, stuffing the brown dress and cloak under her bed.
She went to open the door but stopped in front of her vanity mirror. Seeing her hair still neat, she decided to mess up her hair to give her bedhead.
Once she was satisfied, she finally opened the door and narrowed her eyes at the butler. "Why are you here, Robert?" She questioned him, and he only looked down at her. "I saw someone sneaking around here."
"Then tell my father this information," she says with crossed arms. "I do not want to bother the master," but he feels the need to bother here instead.
"What good would it do to tell me this? Go tell the guards and find anyone who was sneaking around," she orders, but he just stands there. "The person is exactly your height, and I saw them in your room. Tell me, my lady, what are you doing?" His question was almost demanding.
She chuckled. A cruel chuckle. "Are you accusing your master?" She asks in a cruel tone. "Robert, you do know the consequences for accusing your master, don't you?"
Robert stayed silent. "You say that you saw someone but no one else did? Not even the guards who were supposed to do their job? You were supposed to bring dinner to my mother's room; I never told you to watch what goes on outside the mansion or guard the place. You should not go against your masters' orders," she continued speaking harshly.
"If you tell my father this accusation, who do you think he will believe? His loving daughter? Or a mere butler who is always close to my mother and acts questionably when it comes to her?" His eyebrow twitched, starting to get annoyed.
"My lady, tell me this: why is Alice standing in front of your door instead of sleeping in the maid quarters?" He questions her back.
"You should know that me and Alice are close. We are like sisters, and I trust her more than anyone in this mansion. I asked her to watch my room because who knows when a certain butler will come rushing and try to stir up trouble," Victoria answered. "Now leave. Thanks to your arguing and yelling, I woke up. Go do what you were told and let me have my rest."
"I see. Very well then. Enjoy your night, my lady," the butler walked away from the two, and Alice shook her head. "This is like deja vu. He pulled the same stunt earlier." She was very displeased, and Victoria let out a sigh of relief.
"My lady, are you okay? Did you do what you needed to do?" Alice asked in a worried tone, and Victoria nodded her head. "Yes. I will also be visiting Mrs. Johnson tomorrow. Apologies for keeping you up, Alice. You may go and sleep." She tells her.
"Okay. When you feel the need to be ready, tell me what is bothering you. Only when you are ready," Alice tells Victoria while hugging her. Victoria hugs back, and the two let go. "I will. Once I get everything sorted, I will tell you." Victoria promises.
Alice walks away from the room, and Victoria closes the door. Everything is now a mess. She only mentioned the butler and her mother being extremely close as a way to get him to back off. But the longer she thinks about it, the more she feels suspicious.
Is her mother like that to the butler as well? Victoria went to sit down in the middle of her bed and hugged her knees close to her chest. "I should ask Mrs. Johnson if she has an empty journal." Victoria should start writing her thoughts down. Keeping it all inside would make her explode, but she could not possibly burden anyone with this information.
She will have to burden a journal with this information instead. She needs evidence of her mother's adultery before she brings this up to her father. She would like to say that he'll believe her, but despite the fights, he loves his wife far too much to even consider a divorce or even think about her mother cheating.
She feels like a lost child, not knowing what to do. What should she do? What can she do? God, please tell her what to do.