Chapter 25: Secret Of The Wooden Door
Samantha's eyes narrowed with her lips pouted, but it was barely noticeable. She was tempted to know where he was going, but she dared not question him. When he gave her a single glance, Samantha immediately lowered her head in a bow, reminding herself she was a slave that had no privilege to be maintaining eye contact with her master.
For strange reasons, her heart wouldn't stop beating, not when she felt those crimson eyes boring a hole into her skin. Her emotions were complex, but she will feel much better if he wasn't around, at least those prying eyes will stay away from her.
"I'll be away for three days." She heard him say, and her ears immediately perked up in delight, but before Samantha could say anything in return, she heard the door open, followed by his cat that got up and went after him, and then the door closed shut afterwards, signaling his exit.
Just like that?
Samantha was at loss. She looked at her wrist that wasn't chained this time around and thought to herself. He might have freed her since he won't be back until three days time, but if he won't be around to monitor her movements, this could be her only opportunity to find the best area of escape.
As far as she knows, no one else has their Vampire eyes on her, so she should be safe until his return.
Opening the door quietly after a minute passed by, Samantha stepped out of the room to begin action, but what she didn't expect was to find Ivan waiting with his back resting on the wall. Like a child caught in the middle of doing what she wasn't supposed to do, Samantha flinched back with her eyes round in shock.
His unforseen presence had startled her to the point she nearly ran back inside, but if she did so, he would catch up on her plan.
"Lord… Lord Ivan." She immediately tried to compose herself, but she knew it was of no use. Not with a man like him.
"You there." Ignoring his little lamb, he quietly snapped his fingers, gaining the attention of a passing maid. When the servant who was going up the stairs to the fourth floor halted in her steps, she quickly turned to the Lord who had called for her attention.
Samantha looked surprised when it turned out to be Lucy. Unlike how they interacted, Lucy's head was deeply lowered in a bow as she stood before Lord Ivan, not daring to look at his elegance.
"Your name?" He demanded, to both Samantha and Lucy's surprise.
"Lucienne, My Lord." She replied politely.
"I'm keeping you in charge of looking over my pet." He pointed at Samantha. "If she escapes under your watch, I will have your head separated three inches from your body."
There was this unusual iciness that flickered in those red orbs he possessed, as if frozen hard, and he added. "If she escapes, and I don't remember your face, all servants with the name Lucienne will be built separate coffins with their death days engraved on it. Understand?"
Lucy, who's face had paled drastically, could do nothing except nod her head at his command. His lethal words had cut through her skin like a knife, and she could already feel her neck itching as if the day her coffin would be built was just around the corner.
When he was done talking to the servant, he looked at Samantha, turning a blind eye to the disbelief written all over face, he said. "The life of a few servants depends on you. If you run, I will kill her, and then find you."
It sounded more like a promise, and Samantha could feel a cold sweat roll down her sensitive back.
When Ivan was done impacting enough fear upon the two of them, he turned to take his leave. Lucy remained rooted in her position till she no longer heard his footsteps behind her, and she wanted to cross-check to make sure he was truly gone.
"He's gone, you can stand straight now." Samantha clarified it for her, and Lucy let out a deep breath of relief, patting her chest lightly to stop her racing heart.
"Curse the head maid for bringing me down in the first place." She whispered through her teeth, then glanced at Samantha who looked just as worried as her.
"You don't have to worry, I have no plans of escaping...yet, at least till he returns."
"Shhh." Lucy shushed Samantha before looking around, "do you know where you stand? Someone can hear you and you won't be alive to think of escaping." She whispered to Samantha who wasn't aware of the gravity her words could lead her to.
Samantha immediately kept quiet, she looked around as well, hoping no one had truly heard her. After confirming, she held Lucy's wrist and dragged her into Ivan's room.
"What are you doing? I'm not allowed to be here." Lucy whispered again, already worried that Ivan might come back, but Samantha assured her with her gaze that all will be fine.
"I'm sorry, but you're the only one I can talk to and I need your help."
"Honey, my life is on the line here, ask for my help later when Lord Ivan returns. Okay?" She wanted to take her leave, but Samantha didn't let her, and her emerald green eyes looked pleadingly at Lucy.
"Please, can you hear me out first? I promise I won't waste your time." She requested. Lucy folded her arms, her gaze relenting, but after some seconds of making puppy dog eyes, Lucy finally dropped her guard.
"Alright fine, what is it? And you better hurry, I have things to do."
Samantha smiled, "thank you, I just need information on something. Will there really be an accolade celebration happening five days from now?" She asked Lucy who nodded her head in response.
"Yes, and this is the time of the month where I get extremely busy. If I'm found missing, I'll be in trouble with the gentleman Usher."
"I promise it won't take time, okay my second question, the castle walls, which wall is the lowest around here. I mean where can I find the lowest walls?"
"Uhmmm…. The garden walls, but why?"
"I'm going to escape during the celebration." She told Lucy her plan anyway.
"What??" Lucy was the one at loss now, "I thought we already talked about this? Do I need to remind you of Lord Ivan's truthful threat?"
"I know, and I heard, but my brother needs me. I don't know how he's being treated out there. Listen, I heard Lord Ivan will pick a bride during the celebration, he won't even remember I exist when he's found a bride for himself, and all will be forgotten."
"You remind me of a fly that follows a corpse to its grave, but I admire your courage." Lucy genuinely said, and Samantha looked on with an expectant look before she heard Lucy sigh again in defeat.
"Okay, I'll lead you to the garden, but that's it, I'm doing nothing more than that."
Samantha grinned, and her emerald green eyes lit with hope. If Lucy wanted to be honest, this is going to be the first time she saw her smile with a different light in her eyes.
"Am I free to go?"
"Ah! Yes! Sorry." Samantha moved away from the door. "But can I come with? I need to bathe, and I need clothes too. I don't think I'm allowed to use Lord Ivan's things, he will kill me if I touch his belongings, and I will need your help."
"Just come with me. But if I get in trouble, you're taking the punishment with me."
"Of course." Samantha didn't hesitate to nod, and she followed Lucy out.
With the help of Lucy, Samantha was able to get through the day without much trouble, except for the fact she had been questioned by the head maid and the high servants of her role in the Palace, but when she mentioned Lord Ivan's name, everyone seemed to keep their distance except Lucy.
Not that she minded, but whenever she turned away, she could hear murmurs from the servants, and some made it audible enough so she could hear their derogatory comments, but if only they knew how less she cared about things like that.
She won't stay in the Palace for too long, so it didn't bother her.
Turns out, Lucy was actually a servant in charge of the kitchen, but she had been promoted as a Chamberlain to take care of one of the princess's chambers on the third floor, which explains why Ivan ran into Lucy for him to call her.
Samantha, who had been glad enough to get through the day and know a little about the Palace, decided to head back to the room and plan her next action. She was taking a walk through the palace grounds, but a closed door at her left immediately stole her attention, making her halt in her steps.
"Hmm?" Samantha curiously gazed upon the old wooden door. She couldn't count how many times she's taking this part today, yet she failed to notice this door.
More strangely, not a single guard was stationed there. "Why is it left unguarded?"
Samantha knew she shouldn't press the red button in her head that told her to check it out, but she felt drawn to the room, as if there was something important hidden there.
Looking around to make sure no one was coming, Samantha approached the door with curiosity, her hand reaching forward to push it open, half-expecting it to be locked, but to her surprise, it opened easily, and she hesitated before stepping in, quietly closing the door behind her.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone