Capítulo 24: Plans To Escape
When Samantha carried the heavy bucket of water up the never ending stairs, she couldn't decide if her life had gotten worse for the better or better for the worse. She barely knew where she stood, but she was well aware that any slight mistake on her part would result in either severe punishment, or even death, and that was something the royal Chevalier family was fond of.
They killed like it was a game.
From the third floor, she had to go all the way down to the ground floor to fetch this water. All the taps were running fine, but a certain devil wanted the one from the ground floor as if it made any difference, but Samantha failed to muster up the courage and fetch from one of the rooms nearby. She was even more afraid of going into the room and finding someone in there since the third floor belonged mostly to the royals, so her chances of getting into trouble with someone of royalty doesn't look that far.
Struggling to hold the heavy wooden bucket, Samantha made her way through the corridor. The servants had already begun duty, constantly wiping the floor till it sparkled, some handled the railings, three female servants took care of the stairs, and everyone did their job as if their life depended on it.
It made Samantha curious to know what role Lucy played in the Palace too.
"Hey, have you heard?"
"Huh?" Hearing the unfamiliar feminine voice, Samantha stopped walking and whipped her head to the right, only to see the three servants at the stairs whispering to themselves.
"The Queen Mother is holding the usual accolade celebration, and it's happening five days from now." One of the maids whispered in an intriguing tone. "But I heard it will be different, because Lord Ivan is going to pick a bride from the princess's attending."
"Princess Mallory and Prince Ivan, it has to be the two of them." One of the servants dropped. "During the last event, I heard they were quite close, and they spent quality time together…. Alone." She whispered, emphasizing the word like there was a deeper meaning to it, but the third servant brushed it aside, her face twisting in displeasure.
"That is nothing but your dirty fantasies playing tricks on you." Came her witty remark. "Lord Ivan hasn't shown interest in women since his mother died, he's more asexual than we think."
"We'll know in five days time, won't we? But now we have to hurry! You know we have to do this quickly and leave before the Royals start coming outside."
Samantha, who continued walking and made it to the third corridor, was able to grasp their conversation. She hardly paid attention to what was being discussed. She only thought about the celebration, and a glimmer of hope reached her eyes.
With everyone busy on that day, it would be the perfect opportunity to escape from here. Lord Ivan will be occupied, and he won't notice her disappearance immediately. Samantha didn't think of how struggling it would be if she successfully made it outside, but she was willing to face the challenges as long as she finds her Younger brother so they can leave EmptyHollow for good this time.
"You can do this Samantha." She inwardly motivated herself.
Since it was her first time in the royal Palace, Samantha had difficulty retracing her steps back to Ivan's room, and It took help from the servants walking by for her to find her way back to the young Lord's room. When she stepped in with the bucket, she found Ivan laying on his bed, but what cut her off guard was the black and white cat that cradled itself beside Ivan on the bed.
A pair of crimson orbs, and eyes that reminded her of honey looked in her direction.
"I've brought…. I've brought the water." She quickly said, still half-stunned by the cute cat that laid with him on the bed. When Ivan got out of bed, the cat quietly remained, and he walked up to Samantha, towering in front of her that she had to look up to meet his gaze.
"Drop it."
Her gaze instinctively lowered.
"Follow me."
With his hands tucked in the pocket of his loose white pants, Samantha picked up the bucket and followed him into his bathing chamber.
The first time she stepped into his bathing chamber, Samantha was awestruck by how massive it was. The space was apparently big enough to be used as an extra room, and the first thing that came to her mind at that moment was turning and leaving, as she may have stepped into the wrong chamber by accident, but the tub in the middle of the space clarified it for her, and just like his bedchamber, the bathing chamber was equally another shade of darkness.
The only source of light was a trio of flickering candles placed on a silver tray behind the sunken bathtub. The transparent black curtains on the window also gave the morning light an opportunity to seep into the bathing chamber, but the matte black walls seemed to absorb any light that dared shine upon it.
From the beginning, she could tell he had a strange but unique taste for these two contrasting colors.
As Samantha's eyes adjusted to the shadowy darkness, she could make out the ornate carvings that adorned the pillars supporting the ceiling. They depicted scenes of dragons, mythical beasts and warriors in intricate details.
The air was thick with the scent of exotic oil and perfumes. It smelled just like him.
As they both stepped in further with their footsteps silent on the obsidian tiled floor, Ivan waited behind while Samantha moved forward to the smooth ebony-stone bathtub that was still heated with water, a deep contrast to the white fluffy towels hanging on a golden rack.
When she got close, she poured the cold bucket of water right in, seeing the water rise as she did so. She turned to look at Ivan who just stood there, and as always, his eyes were undoubtedly on her. She felt like an experiment he was taking into study, and she didn't like how intense those crimson red orbs became whenever he looked at her.
She felt small and dominated from just looking into those eyes.
"Your bath is ready." She said with a quick bow, and Ivan, who had remained rooted to his spot, took a step closer to her till he was just a gap away, and Samantha's breath immediately got stuck to her throat when his cold index finger tipped her chin up so she could meet his gaze.
"Keep up with this attitude, and you might get a chance to live longer." When he smirked, Samantha could feel her face burn, and she silently cursed at herself. Just like that, the smirk vanished and she felt the absence of his finger on her chin.
"I shall leave you to your privacy, My Lord." And she bowed once more before turning to leave.
"Little lamb." Hearing him call her by the nickname he had officially given her, she halted in her steps, and when she turned to look at him, he was already taking off his shirt, exposing his torso, but with his back facing her.
Her eyes went round, and she immediately turned away. "If you spot my cat on the bed, check the third wooden cabinet, you'll see its meal there along with its bowl, I want it fed before I'm done."
"Of course, Lord Ivan."
Samantha quickly responded before leaving the bathing chamber in hurried steps. As he heard her footsteps receding followed by the door closing shut behind him, a devious smile lifted the corner of his lips.
To Samantha's relief, when she stepped out of the bathing chamber, the cute cat was already standing close to the cabinet Ivan had told her to check, and when it "mewed" at her in an adorable way, Samantha couldn't resist the cat's cuteness and quickly moved to the cabinet.
"I know Lord Ivan says he's possessive of his things but… it wouldn't hurt to…" her hand reached forward, and she stroked its head tenderly down to its back, feeling its soft fur beneath her palm.
"I was wondering why you were so quiet, but you're afraid of your Master right? I am too, but it will be our secret." She shushed the cat before rising to her feet to get its meal from the cabinet.
By the time the cat was done, Ivan stepped out of the bathing chamber, but unlike the princely outfit she was expecting to see him on, her eyes widened when he wore something entirely different.
Samantha could hardly believe her eyes for a second, the black hooded cloak he wore hung from his broad shoulders in an intimidating way, while the leather armor he wore underneath made him seem even more powerful.
The Prince's black pants were tucked in his tall leather boots, which were adorned with silver buckles. Samantha's eyes raked him from head to toe, even though it was improper for a peasant to stare at him like this.
Her one question was, why is he disguised as an assassin??
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