Chapitre 2: Chapter 2 - The Mask
Before she could ponder further, she noticed the cream-white mask on top of the bedside table.
"No way… don't tell me...".
Maya remembered one strange setting in the novel. Noble ladies are given masks at birth that grow along with them.
This option is given to parents after the baby's first shriek outside of the womb. Hence, not all noble girls wear them.
Parents with very attractive babies would opt out as they want to match their daughters at the early age of 12 to families looking for marriage partners as well. Some parents also don't want to burden their daughters with the responsibility that comes with wearing a mask.
She was not sure about Malia's parents though. They could have done it with a pure heart, or they could have despised her at birth.
These masks can only be removed once they turn 17 years old and they will be removed by the High Priest or Priestess at the end of the year.
The mask would turn red if it was intentionally removed and a maiden's face was seen by anyone, regardless of gender or blood relation. It would turn green if removed by the High Priest or Priestess only at the right age. It would also turn a light purple hue if it was removed by the maiden, and someone accidentally looked at her face.
The good thing is, no one else can remove this except the maiden wearing it and the High Priest or Priestess. Hence, no one can sully the maiden's dignity by removing the mask by force. The same thing happens if they engage in adult practices outside the church vows and prayers, which are usually done during a wedding.
This means that even if the mask was already removed at the age of 17, it will still be used during the wedding as it would indicate purity or something that she doesn't understand and was vaguely explained in the novel as well.
She now understands why the old woman outside didn't dare to get inside her room earlier.
Thank God the knights were far from her room when she tried looking outside through the glass door.
'Alright, anything is better than death. It's going to be okay… everything is going to be okay.' she said, trying to convince herself. Denying the reality of the situation is just a waste of time.
"Is someone outside?", Maya asked in a serious voice.
"Miss, it's me, Lily. I'm waiting for your orders.", a young voice responded.
"Alright, Lily, can you tell mother that I won't be joining breakfast. I'm not feeling well, and I know she'll understand what I'm feeling right now".
Maya knows that she can use the engagement cancellation to avoid the people in this world for a few days while she's trying to adjust. But she can't always use this as an excuse, so she needs to practice quickly, and she needs to know more about Malia.
Malia was not even described by the author. How is she supposed to know?
"…I understand Miss, but shall I bring your food here instead?", Lily also understood the lady's predicament.
"That would be great. Thank you, Lily," Maya said blankly.
She doesn't know if Malia was considerate to her maidservant or malicious towards them; but just to be safe, she'll try to be cordial or just neutral, as she doesn't want to walk a villainous path that could result in her second death.
Lily left and within a few minutes, her food and beverage were ready.
Lily knocked and asked if she could come in. Maya quickly took the mask and put it on her face. There was no need to tie anything as the mask would automatically glue to her face.
'Ooooh, so magical and it's quite comfortable,' The mask was like fabric-light covered with intricate lace designs. It didn't feel like she was wearing it at all. She was preoccupied with the enchanted mask when she heard another knock. She totally forgot about Lily.
"Come in, just leave them on the tea table on the balcony".
Maya followed Lily and was observing Lily carefully. She looks like someone between 18 and mid-twenties with brown hair and very dark-yellow eyes. She looks kind and respectful so far. Her aura and presence were also very comforting to her. Lily placed three plates and a chocolate drink on the table from the tray trolley.
"Thank you, Lily", She said blankly again. "Oh, wait, Lily, can you change this drink to a coffee instead?", she asked.
"But Miss, you don't like coffee---"
"Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just that I want to try something new. And I'm also trying to lose some weight", Maya said, with a hint of panic in her tone.
"… I understand Miss. But… I don't want to sound meddlesome, but, Miss, you don't have to lose weight, you are in fact thin for your age and height ", Lily said politely and with great concern.
Maya looked at her wrist. 'Right, this girl is already thin, but not really skin and bones.'
"Uhm, I'll finish this, this, and this, just give me my coffee, okay?", she said, pointing at the plates she was served.
Lily nodded and smiled a little, "Alright Miss, if you promise to eat everything here then I'll go get your coffee".
She then went to the kitchen and requested a freshly brewed coffee. Within 8 minutes, Lily was back with her coffee and placed it on the tea table as well.
"Thank you. I'm good for now. You can come back after an hour to clear out the dishes.", Maya was graciously smiling. Lily nodded and closed the door of her lady's room.
"Alright, time to dig in!", Maya was very eager to devour her meal.
She was served with hams, eggs, nicely fried sausages, crostini with shrimp toppings, and her nice warm coffee. 'Ehk, this coffee needs a creamer! I'll just ask some other time', she was happily eating her breakfast while enjoying the view and clean cool breeze.
"Ahh, so peaceful… so this is what air smells like without air pollution".
She quickly finished her meal and leaned slightly on her back to give her stuffed tummy a little rest. 'This is so disgraceful, but who cares, I'm alone anyway.'
After relaxing outside the balcony for more than half an hour, she suddenly stared blankly and started softly sobbing.
'Mooooooooom, daaaaaaaaaaaad, sisssssssssy… I'm sorry!!! I died stupidly without giving back and repaying you for all the love and care I received all my life. I was never the best at anything, but you guys never stopped supporting me. You all tolerate my indifference, and I was never a good daughter or sisteeeeer!' "huuuuuuuuh" T_T.
Maya tried crying without making a lot of sounds, she covered her mouth to muffle her cries, which sounded so painful. She was unaware of the worried pair of eyes in the distance.
*****
"What's wrong with your sister?", Ian said, looking at Matthew. Ian is Matthew's best friend, who was visiting to spar practice with him when school starts in three weeks.
"The duke's son, Cedric Cromwell, broke off their engagement", he said, still looking at his sad sister on the balcony.
'We were never close due to her coldness and not really showing much emotion. However, it also pains me watching her cry, keeping it to herself and enduring it without asking for help.'
"Oh? Yeah… I kind of suspected that he'd break off the engagement with her anytime---", Ian was interrupted.
"What do you mean you suspected?!", Matthew frowned at his best friend's statement.
"Well, you don't know this, but I always caught him staring at Andrea during training or class. He would also follow her or bring her food. I thought it was just infatuation but hearing him break the engagement now tells me how serious he is", Ian confessed.
Matthew slightly smiled. "Why are you smiling? Aren't you supposed to be sad for your sister as well?". Ian asked.
Matthew sighed, "I don't know. I just know Andrea as well. She's loud and outgoing. If that was Cedric's type, then my sister really cannot do much with that and I can't see her suddenly changing into a loud or outgoing person either, it's just impossible. I'm just glad that Cedric's cancellation was not about my sister's black hair.", He knew that with his sister's personality and Cedric's type of woman, it would be a miracle for his sister to change into a different character overnight.
"Yeaaaaah, her hair… tsk tsk tsk. She's a little bit unfortunate to acquire that hair from your great-grandmother. She's white as snow but her hair would make other men stay away from her... HOWEVER! She also has a cold personality! She's even cold to me! And we've known each other for years!", Ian scoffed, remembering those times Malia would ignore him when he tried to befriend her or those times when Malia would change directions when he would try to approach her.
"I think she hates me! Hahahaha".
"Right! She's avoiding you like you have an incurable disease. ", Matthew said, almost shouting.
Then they both started laughing. Matthew glanced at his sister once again. 'Maybe I'll punish Cedric for my sister. Even though she doesn't like to smile, her emotionless face is still better than her crying appearance.
--- end of chapter 2 ---
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Other details about the mask:
Compared to the book cover, Malia's mask actually covers her entire forehead to the top of her nose. :)
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