The Demon's Bride

Elise mulled a little almost finishing the last drop of her soup. The Lords of the Lands almost rarely gathered together and that was a true fact. Unless the yearly meeting that was held in the first month of the year, they never meet each other. Meaning, there must be a very important matter that was able to make them gather. This matter must be nothing else than the black sorcerers who have gotten out of hand, Elise suspected.

Vella shifted her glance at the woman and cursed under her breath. "Foolish women." Her voice penetrated the room that the women in the neighboring table quickly snapped their heads to her.

Elise glanced up and saw her sour expression and Carmen's awkward smile.

"Don't they know better than speaking anything of the Lords? If Mr. Maroon came their life would surely end." Vella continued to roll her eyes and slammed her bowl to give a very sharp glare at the three women in the neighboring table. Seeing the intense glare, even with their arguing expression, they didn't dare to do anything and shut of their mouths to look down at their food.

Seeing her friend's snapping at someone again, Carmen rubbed her cheek and spoke to Elise in a whisper. "She's like that because Mr. Maroon is too scary you see. It isn't that she feared the man but she's actually worried that they'll get fired or scold harshly by Mr. Maroon. Every time she tried to speak kindly, nothing good happens and instead, she angered them."

Vella who had been hearing Carmen blurting her nonsense nudge her side with her elbow and knit her brow. "You do know I'm hearing you all this time, don't you Carmen?"

"Hehehe." Carmen giggled naively and saw Vella standing up. "Wait for me!" Carmen sped up her eating and finished her entire bowl to follow her friend. Before they left, Vella swept her eyes over to Elise and spoke tonelessly. "You too. If you finished you should go now. Tardiness is unacceptable as White Mansions' maids."

Elise was still in the middle of forming her thought when she heard Vella's cold warning. She smiled back and replied. "Thank you."

Vella turned her head, murmuring. "It's nothing big to be thankful for."

Carmen from behind shook her head and whispered to Elise. "She's actually happy now because you thanked her."𝐟r𝒆ℯ𝘄𝑒𝒃𝚗𝒐𝘃e𝗹.c𝘰𝐦

"Are you coming or not?" Vella coldly brought back her friend from whispering.

Carmen whispered a farewell to Elise and waved her hand. "Alright! Alright! Wait please!"

Left alone at the dining room, Elise chuckled. Since her town is very small, there was no young girl of the same age as her thus speaking with people of her age was something new to her. It was a good thing, Elise thought and wished that she could befriend with Carmen and Vella with her job in the White's Mansion.

But suddenly Elise rose her brows. Mythical beings have a younger appearance than their real age. Then, perhaps Carmen and Vella are actually older than her?

"Elise." Mila stopped by the dining room and called her who had just placed back the food tray. "Let's go now."

Elise nodded and followed her from behind. Mila ushered her to the place. After they went out of the dining room, they stopped at the spiral staircase and from the intersection, they took the right hallway. The corridor was long and with only some light lighting the place, Elise saw the mansion as a beautiful yet somewhat dark place due to the scarce light. Is it wasn't because the dark curtain shielding the mansion from the ray of lights, the mansion will surely look a thousand folds more beautiful than it was. Curiously, she asked Mila. "Why does the Mansion rarely have lights?"

Mila turned her head. "That's a good question. Since you will be working here, you should know this. There are three things that the Lord detests."

"Three things?"

"Yes." Mila smiled, slowing down her pace so they would be able to talk side-by-side. "The Lord hates loud noise and rowdiness, intense light, and body contact."

Elise nodded at Mila's words. "I'll note that." Some parts of her mind asking why but she didn't voice up to her question as Mila also looked oblivious to why the Lord hated those three things. She only noted down to make sure she wouldn't do anything that would offend Ian who had saved her life countless times.

Mila saw her earnest expression and chuckled like a mother seeing her child's growth and patted her head. "You should. Angering the Lord is the last thing the servants in the house want to see. Remember to always see the Lord's expression, take a not of what he is thinking and leave when it's dangerous."

"But the Lord has an unreadable face. How can one guess what he is thinking?" Elise asked curiously, she thought perhaps Mila who had been working here for years would know the answer to this question.

Mila shrugged her shoulders then shook her head, implying she also doesn't know how to guess the Lord's thought. "I don't know how to ever guess the Lord's thought. However, it is very easy to know when the Lord is angry, and when it is your time to retreat. By time and experience, you will know. Just remember never to do anything or violate those three rules, no one would ever want to see the Lord's anger. When he's angry the last thing you would want is to be in the same room as him." She spoke solemnly, her dark brown eyes were deep with a strict warning. Her warning was brief but one could instantly guess what she meant by not wanting to be in the same room when Ian is angered. With how guarded Mila warned her, it was as though she feared Elise would do a great mistake and pour oil to the Lord's anger.

"Don't worry, Mila. I'll try my best not to violate those three rules and keep myself vigilant."

Seeing Elise's expression Mila still had her doubt but kept it to herself. She parted her shoulder and spoke again. "Just be careful, the Lord is a frightening man."

Elise nodded at Mila's first warning but couldn't agree to the second one. Somewhere in her heart, she held a solid objection to the thoughts of how frightening and easily-angered Ian was. The Lord is a very kind man unless it is an unforgivable mistake, he surely wouldn't do anything too harsh.

After passing the long hallway, she lifted her chin to see the ceiling and spot the beautiful carving in the roof. It was a beautiful and elegant pattern curving with a few stars and moon symbols. When she was still a child, she didn't recall anything on the roof and concluded it to be something that was added perhaps after she left the mansion.

Mila who had walked in advance noticed her footsteps alone and turned to see Elise standing while staring at the ceiling. She called, "Elise."

Elise turned her face and saw that she had been standing still. Immediately she ran to follow Mila's steps and heard her speaking, "Don't stray too far away from me, the mansion is astoundingly expansive and there are many hallways if you aren't careful you could lose yourself inside it."

"Okay.-" Elise sang her reply and quickened her pace to follow Mila closer than before.

"Now that I remember," Mila turned her face to her, "There was once when you lost yourself at the mansion once, throwing everyone in a panic. Thankfully the Lord was able to find you sleeping in the closet of one of the guest's rooms. How nostalgic." Mila chuckled.

"That's rather an embarrassing story." Elise murmured with a slightly flushed face and heard Mila laughing in content.

When they reached the garden, Elise's eyes wandered at the shadow under the cool-looking tree. It was the same bushes of flowers where she learned how to make flowers crown. Come to think of it, before she once gave Ian a flower ring. Did he remember it? But she rebuked her own thought herself. The Lord who lived with luxurious accessories for all the time in his life would remember the flower ring made by an eight-year-old girl? No matter how kind the man is, she didn't think that would happen.

Recalling the memory, now she understood how different their position was.

One a maid and him a Lord.

"Elise, let's go." Suddenly Mila called her from behind, catching her attention away from the garden. She smiled, shaking her head from the thoughts that filled her mind and trotted. "Alright, wait for me."