章 9: Missing pieces
[A couple of days later, in the kitchen of Rosenbloom estate--]
It was already an hour past noon and the servants were in the kitchen having their lunch. As the kitchen was already stifling from heat emitted from the large stove, the wooden windows were opened to allow the cooling summer breeze to blow in.
After hours of working vigorously since dawn, the one hour break was welcomed. It gave the servants time to rest and enjoy a meal together. It was not as if it was impossible to do so later in the night when most of them would be off their shifts. However, by that time, the whole day of work would have fully taken a toll on their bodies and no one would be in the mood to do anything other than to just retire for the night. Moreover, it is during lunch breaks that the servants would be able to gossip in the privacy of the kitchen-- away from ears of the Duchess.
Margaret Rosenbloom may be the epitome of elegance, but she was not one to be trifled with. Behind closed doors, she was stern and even harsh when someone crossed the line. Punishment was always swift and merciless. In some cases, the servants will be fired without a letter of recommendation-- which would be costly as those servants will never be able to serve any aristocrat or noble household again. Whereas in other cases, a corporal punishment would ensue but not by the hands of the Duchess. No, she would often order one of the guards to do the dirty deed.
Even so, the Duchess was not in reality a bad person. When the Duke had passed away, the Duchess had to fully take on the burden of being the Head of the Rosenbloom Duchy. There was no shunning or ostracizing from the relatives; not even an objection when it was time to decide on who would become the new Head. However, it was a heavy responsibility to fulfill. As the Rosenbloom Duchy was one of the strongest allies of the Emperor's faction, there was unsaid expectation for the success and stability of the Duchy.
Thus, the once kind and cheerful Duchess began to turn to the stern and solemn person she was today. Many other factions were just waiting for a slip and that was all it took. Once the ever- perfect and well favoured Duchy fell, all the power and authority was up for the taking. As a result, all of the servants in the Rosenbloom estate inevitably walked on eggshells. The Duchy and their livelihood depended on it. The Duchess may not be malicious in any way, but she had no tolerance for indiscipline or insubordination.
With that said, the short sixty minutes break in the afternoon was always welcomed as it was also a time that the servants could breathe at ease. In the medium sized space that was filled with boxes of freshly delivered perishables and cookery utensils, the cramped space became a place for small gatherings and joy. The Duchess had never once called upon them during their break nor did she even leave her room for most of the time. The constant need to fill in paperwork and account for the upkeep of the Duchy, kept her busy.
'In many ways, my Lady is exactly like her mother, the Duchess,' Sadie thought to herself and she took a slice of sourdough bread.
"Sadie, I noticed that you have been taking plenty of writing parchment and ink from the supplies. Are you by any chance eating it all?" one of the servant girls teased. She was plump in size and had her mouth half-filled with bread and mushroom soup.
"No, those were for Lady Isabella," Sadie replied.
"You've been taking stacks of parchments and bottles of ink for the last two days!" a scrawny servant girl remarked.
"Seriously?! The Lady must be writing a novel or something. She had used up supplies that would usually take months to finish," a servant boy said in between him spoonfuls of mushroom soup.
"Yes, the Lady has been in her room, writing away the last couple of days. I fear that she may not even be resting well," Sadie replied sadly. She had tried persuading the Lady to rest and take it easy but to no effect. Lady Isabella had been feverishly scribbling onto the parchments as if her life depended on it.
"Do you happen to know what Lady Isabella has been writing about?"
"No, I have absolutely no idea," Sadie sighed.
"Hmmm... I wonder why the Lady is acting like this," the scrawny servant girl said.
"Hah! Maybe it is to a secret lover?" the plump servant snorted at her own joke.
"Mindy! Even if you meant it as a joke, that is treasonous of you to say that! The Lady is to be the next Empress!" Sadie half yelled.
"Y-yes, and w-what if the Duchess hears you? W-what would you do then?" the timid looking servant stammered and looked around as if to make sure that the Duchess was indeed nowhere near to have heard Mindy.
"Next Empress? Why do you say that? It was only announced that the Lady is one of the few candidates to be the next Empress. What makes you so certain?" a lanky boy servant asked.
"Hah... I guess that some people really do live under a rock," Mindy said and sighed as she lifted a hand to her forehead in a dramatic way, "What ever should I do?"
Sadie rolled her eyes and suppressed a smile. Mindy was one of the many servants who had just started working at the Rosenbloom estate a couple of months back, yet the girl acted like she was a senior servant. The girl was cheeky and loved to gossip. Mindy especially enjoyed it when people hung onto her every word. The girl can be quite obnoxious at times but it was also funny to watch her act all dramatic like this.
"Ahem. Hmm, Mm, Hmm! Where shall I start?" Mindy asked playfully.
"Mindy! Just get to the point! We all have work to return to!" another male servant said impatiently.
"Okay, okay! Hold your horses! I'll make this quick…Now, we all know that the Lady has been undergoing training and special classes since her powers had surfaced when she was still a child."
"Yes… So?"
"Well, all Rosenbloom women who had power would eventually be selected to be the next Empress."
"What? Weren't there Empress candidate selections in the past?" the scrawny girl servant asked.
"Yes, but it was out of formality that they held it. Everyone knows that a Rosenbloom woman who has been bestowed with power by the Gods will always be selected as the Empress. There has always been peace and prosperity when a Rosenbloom woman helped lead the nation-- which is why the Rosenbloom Duchy and ruling monarchs are in frequent contact with one another. The royals have been keeping a close eye on the duchy for the next Empress."
'Whoa… I did not know about the last part. I had always assumed that it was because the duchy was a loyal and strong ally of the Emperor's faction,' Sadie thought to herself.
"--And that is also why the Duchess who is of 'outside blood'," Mindy said while making air quotes with her fingers, "was appointed as the Head of the Rosenbloom Duchy."
'Okay, I definitely did not know about that,' Sadie thought to herself.
"Holy-- Wait... How would an ordinary servant like you know so much?!" one of the male servants voiced out.
"Oh, I'm not ordinary and… let's just say that I have my ways~" Mindy giggled with an index finger to her lips.
Sadie rolled her eyes again.
***
[Isabella's bedroom--]
The warm sun rays streamed into the bedroom and the translucent golden curtains swayed as the breeze from the opened window blew in. It was peaceful and the only sound that could be heard was the occasional fluttering of pages.
Propping up her head with her left hand, Isabella continued to flip through the pages of a thick book that laid up open in front of her. There was a faint shadow under her eyes from the lack of sleep.
Despite the hours of research and reading, there was no clue as to the person she was looking for. Stacks of thick, leather-bound books were heaped on the side of her study table. All that knowledge and information, yet nowhere near to even connecting the bits and pieces together.
Isabella sighed.
'I've looked through every ancestry book that can be found in our library but the effort was all for naught. This is exactly as it was in my past life when I'd exhausted all resources and checked every written document in the royal records. It is as if such a person never existed in the first place… But I know they--no, he did. I remember him confirming that he was a vampire and displaying inhuman strength and speed.'
As Isabella frowned as she pondered further.
'It's strange that I remember so much and yet only in parts. Is it because the ritual was not performed properly? Afterall, I should not have returned to the past.'
Picking up a few parchment paper she had written on for the last couple of days, Isabella glanced through the scribbles. She had been noting down everything she could remember from the previous life. Her brows furrowed.
'Yes, I am indeed missing pieces.'
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