บท 34: Chirping at the dawn

Prudence gazed into Vincent's crimson eyes as he held her by her chin. She gulped before her breath fastened, looking at him this up close, and she could tell her heart was beating in her ears. "Do you get that darling?" Vincent asked in a charming tone and Prudence subtly nodded, trying to contain the adrenaline which pumped her fear up.

Vincent let go of Prudence as they went back to having dinner. There was no more word exchange between them, as the meal was almost done.

Vincent did not walk Prudence back to her room tonight. Instead, he ordered the maids. "Show Lady Prudence the way, and make sure she is ready tomorrow," Vincent looked at Prudence with mischief clear in his eyes, "Just like she was during the dining party." Prudence held her breath, trying to figure out his motives and there is only one answer she could reach to and that would be Vincent was sure to hold her as a scapegoat tomorrow.

Agnes dropped Prudence back to her room and helped her out of the dress. Prudence did not resist immediately, but when Nicola was about to help her into the nightwear, Prudence stopped her, "I will do that, thank you."

The maid was only glad to hear that from Prudence. Agnes totally disliked the behaviour which Prudence used to exhibit.

She had served girls and on some occasions even served His Grace with bathing and sometimes even on his couch but rarely on his bed. Agnes despised how Prudence was playing in front of the king. "May I say something, milady?" Agnes asked while her eyes were still looking down and her hands holding each other in front of her.

"Yes," Prudence asked, holding mildness in her voice. She had nothing against the maid. It was only Vincent whom she hated.

Agnes bowed before speaking, "Milady, you should be grateful for how His Grace is treating you. He has treated no one with this much care before. It would be better if you realise it sooner and not give a hard time to him. If you really don't like him, then you should get out of this place instead of staying." Agnes had spoken her mind, and she did not regret a bit about it. If Prudence was a snitch or any other lady who had come to curry favour from the Mafia King's, then Agnes might have surely lost her head tonight.

Prudence looked at the maid, a little taken aback by her words. "I-I am sorry?" She asked Agnes, as if she had misheard what the maid had just said. Prudence wasn't born yesterday to not understand what the maid meant.

Rather, the words of the maid were quite clear, but Prudence just asked to give her another chance to reframe her sentence.

Agnes sucked in a quick breath before bowing deep in front of the lady, "I am sorry if my words hurt you, milady. I just meant the best for you." Agnes did not want to end up on the wrong side of His Grace. His room was right in front of the room, which was given to Prudence.

"I think you should let me do the thinking of what is best for me," Prudence replied, "Please go out so I can change now."

Agnes was shocked at the reply which Prudence gave. The maid was under the impression that Prudence was one of the people who was overwhelmed by the huge estate and the power which Vincent owned, and so was here to get under him. Agnes thought that a maid like her could shake Prudence's beliefs, as she had done with previous few girls who came here from the lower family. Unfortunately, for Agnes Prudence had grown up with Abiona and had seen enough maids and butlers to be intimidated.

Prudence hated how everyone was now going to point fingers at her for trying to lure Vincent into her traps, while the reality was that Vincent had already spun his web around her and trapped her in here.

Fate was definitely not on her side, but what Agnes had said was the last thing Prudence had wanted to hear right now, with tomorrow's event on her mind.

"I am sorry about my rudeness," Agnes bowed to Prudence. No matter what, she was the one favoured by Vincent right now, and getting on Prudence's wrong nerve was like stepping on Vincent's wrong nerve. "I will be taking my leave then. Have a good night," Agnes wanted to hear words from Prudence, but all she got was a hum. Clenching her teeth, Agnes retrieved from Prudence's room and closed the door behind her.

Inside, Prudence still stood in her petticoat as she breathed in a deep breath. She made her way to the cupboard before pulling the nightgown out. At her house, she was not used to wearing different garments for different times of the day, but having lived with Abiona had given her enough knowledge and experience about it.

She wore the white silk gown and the translucent jacket over it. Walking to the bed, Prudence climbed on the level and today the atmosphere wasn't that cold as she had kept the windows closed.

She kept the candles in the room lit as there was a trickle of fear which was settling in the pit of her stomach.

If Don Sam was an average person or someone from where she used to live, Prudence would have surely slapped him that night. But unfortunately, he wasn't, and having seen the pistol twice, Prudence only feared it might fire one day. The day was close enough, Prudence thought in her mind as her eyes shut, embracing one night of peaceful sleep. Prudence was not sure why Vincent had brought her here, and now that she thought about it, it was probably to get revenge on Don Sam.

After all, Sam had mentioned that he was one of the favoured ones by the Mafia King. Prudence had a habit of overthinking everything related to the upper class, and with Vincent, her thoughts were bewildered.

The time went by faster than Prudence had thought it would. The night was getting colder, and she had no sleep in her eyes.

It took hours for Prudence to fall asleep, as the candles were still lit in the rooms. She drifted into her dreamland, where she woke up the next morning to be dressed up by her maids. She was dressed in a fine red garment and the maids took her to the dining room, where a feast was prepared for her. Prudence gingerly walked ahead, where Vincent raised his eyes at her with his charming devil smile on his lips. She gulped as she went to the table and took her usual seat.

On Vincent's order, she was well fed and the right way to describe it was overly fed with every cuisine made by the chefs. Vincent himself fed her with a fork while he sat there without eating anything.

Prudence heard the sound of footsteps coming from outside and slowly becoming louder. Just when she thought it was Drakos, another familiar figure emerged.

Don Sam stood in front of her, and Prudence felt as if she was stuck to the chair. She tried to move and get up, but all her efforts were futile. Don Sam walked to her and the closer he was getting, the faster Prudence's heartbeat was increasing. She turned to look at Vincent and he had kept his hand over her wrist to stop her from running away.

Prudence laboured with her breath as she saw Dan Sam climb the level where the head table was kept and pulled out his pistol, "Now pay for what you did." He held the back of her head and pointed the pistol right in the middle of her temple.

Bang!

Prudence snapped out of her sleep, drenched in sweat. Her hand went to her forehead, where droplets of sweat had formed even in the cold of the night. There was a shiver that ran down her spine thinking about the nightmare she had just seen. Prudence looked around and it was still the same night. Next was going to be burdensome for her.

The light in the room had dimmed as some of the candles had used up all their wax. To get her mind off the dream she had just seen, Prudence got up to go and blow out all the remaining candles.

The sheets were folded just as they were before, since Prudence had not used them. Coming back to the bed, which was now only lit by the moonlight, Prudence unfolded the sheets and wrapped herself into them. The fear which she herself had instilled in her mind was too heavy for her. Vincent did have a small part to play in it but at the end of the day, Prudence thought it was all her doing which brought such fate onto her and her family.

If Vincent was going to hand her over to Don Sam, then it was enough to end her life, thought Prudence in her mind.

After hours of a sleepless night, the birds started chirping at the break of dawn. It was too early for people to be waking up, as there was a darkness that still enveloped the skies. But Prudence was up and walking. She grabbed the towel and the matchbox to light the candles inside the bathroom. Today she had got herself ready quite early and when the maids had come in the room to wake her up, Prudence was already behind the wooden divider dressing up in her comfortable attire - blue skirt and a beige shirt.

"You are up early today, milady," Nicola spoke while going to the bed to fold the sheets. One of the worst habits of Prudence, to never make her bed after waking up in the morning.

"Yes," Prudence gave a brief reply, and Nicola did not ask her anything more.

Prudence was worried sick, and when she had stared at herself in the mirror, her dark circles had been pretty evident to her. She opened and closed her fist, trying to take good deep breaths to settle her erratic nerves. When Prudence did not come out from behind the wooden divider for some more time, Nicola started to approach her, "Do you need any help, milady?"

Before Nicola could see her nervous self, Prudence came out and Nicola stopped walking. "I am fine, thank you," Prudence murmured, and Nicola was a little shocked to see how the lady's behaviour had changed.

After some time, there was a light knock on the door before it opened. Agnes stepped inside and bowed, "His Grace has called Lady Prudence for breakfast."

Prudence did not offer any resistance and got up from the seat she was seated in. She was already tired, and the dream was still fresh in her mind. It was just a matter of time now as the morning of her fated day had arrived, thought Prudence to herself.