Bab 2: A Mere Object
The novel did not really say much about Rosalie's relationship with Raphael, however, after having lived in the Ashter mansion for a week, it was clear that she was treated like a worthless object there.
The House of Ashter used to be somewhat influential and rich. As the original owner of several profitable mines, Ian Ashter was one of the most successful businessmen in the whole Empire, gaining respect and support from the Emperor himself.
Unfortunately, his son Raphael got involved with a rather shady organization that was doing human and drug trafficking, and lost a lot of the family money, which eventually resulted in Ian Ashter selling all his mines, forcing the family to survive solely on what was left of the money left by Rosalie's late mother, and almost nonexistent income from her father's random and not always successful business ventures.
Ian Ashter did not seem to care about his daughter at all. He would talk to her out of mere duty ad a parent and never exchange more than a few sentences with her, even if it were out of necessity alone, whereas her older brother Raphael found it entertaining to torment Rosalie both mentally and physically whenever he got a chance.
For Rosalie Ashter, a girl of only twenty-one, her own house was her own personal hell.
***
"Lady Rosalie, are you awake?"
A low, raspy voice seeped into the girl's room from behind the closed doors and made Rosalie wince. It was Clara - one of the maids assigned to Raphel - a despicable, rude, and inconsiderate creature who liked to think that she was above every other maid in the mansion simply because Raphael favored her, for reasons unknown to anyone but him.
'Why is she here today? Where is my personal maid?'
Rosalie was beginning to feel nervous and was reluctant to let the maid in, especially because ever since she woke up in this body, the only maid that had been helping her was not standing behind her doors today, yet she figured that she had been silent for too long already and not letting Clara inside would not really change anything.
"Yes, please come in."
The heavy wooden doors opened with a quiet creak, inviting a tall, rather skinny young woman who looked suspiciously similar to Rosalie herself, having only one major detail separating her from Lady Ashter's incredible looks - a pair of big, pale blue eyes that were able to fake an innocent, almost childish-like look on demand, and did not quite go with the overall ensemble that she was trying so hard to mimic.
"Oh, Lady Rosalie! If you were already awake, you should have called for someone to help you get ready! It is almost breakfast time and you know how Lord Ashter does not like to wait!"
Fake, seemingly patronizing voice, perfectly befitting a disgustingly fake smile, cutting the maid's pale face in half, and a fake kind gaze meant to pierce a person with one direct look instead. Her mere presence was sending cold shivers down Rosalie's spine.
"What happened to Aurora?"
Lady Ashter could no longer hold back her soaring anxiety. According to the novel, Aurora had been the young mistress's maid for years and was the only person in the entire household who genuinely cared for her and treated her like a proper human being. Even when Meiling first found herself inside Rosalie's body and was acting suspiciously out of character, alerting everyone around her, it was Aurora who protected her Lady by coming up with a believable lie about Rosalie's catching a cold during her last outing, which succeeded in convincing even the stoic and skeptical Marquess Ashter himself.
Still busy organizing Rosalie's dress, Clara let out a somewhat irritated sigh and blurted out a nonchalant reply,
"Aurora is running an important errand right now. Oh my, Lady Rosalie, are you, perhaps, not satisfied with me? Should I send someone else in my stead?"
Clara turned her whole body around and put on a fake look of concern on her pretty face, clearly trying unbelievably hard not to smile instead. She knew that even if Rosalie was feeling whimsical enough to actually ask for a different maid, no one would come, and that alone was a great source of entertainment for someone as vile as Clara.
Lady Ashter shook her head and stood in front of the maid, indicating that she was fine with her assistance, and as Clara began to take the girl's nightgown off, Rosalie was starting to feel restless again, and finally voiced another question,
"What kind of errand is she running? I do not remember ordering her to go out today."
As if annoyed even more, Clara carelessly threw the nightgown on the bed and replied in a somewhat cold voice,
"Aurora... Went to the Fragrance Boutique to get more oils for your bath."
'Strange... I don't think I have already run out of fragrant oils. And wasn't she supposed to inform me about something like this? Even though the contents of the novel are still fresh in my memory, when it comes to dealing with the help, I still have absolutely no idea how these things should be handled.'
With a few more clearly intentional pricks of the pins and several painful tugs on her beautiful brown locks, Rosalie was now ready to leave her room and share a rather unpleasant meal with her heartless, expressionless father.
The girl stood in front of the tall mirror in the thick golden frame and estimated the final result of Clara's reluctantly scrupulous effort - Rosalie's gorgeous hair was carefully styled behind her thin and elegant neck, the heavy locks supported by a dozen of glistening silver hairpins; her porcelain skin was shimmering with a touch of powder, crowned with a light pat of pink, outlining her cheekbones, while her voluptuous lips were smeared with red lipstick, matching the color of the ruby necklace, which was landing right in between her collarbones.
Her dress was simple yet still extremely uncomfortable - the dark-green velvet fabric felt heavy on Rosalie's petite body, while the tight corset was nearly crushing her ribs, making it extremely difficult to breathe. Even standing perfectly still seemed uncomfortable in such attire, thus, the girl could not help but wonder how on Earth Rosalie was able to survive up until now with her insides being constantly squished like that.
'No wonder she is so thin... But I cannot deny it - Rosalie Ashter is insanely breathtaking. And yet, perhaps it is her beauty that is the reason why she is being treated as nothing but a mere object.'
With that unpleasant thought in mind, Rosalie walked out of her room and followed Clara to the mansion's dining hall. Another day was about to begin.
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