Chapter 7

“Who has arrived?”

Duchess Salvatore looked up from a mountain of documents to her long-serving butler. The butler had been in the House of Salvatore since the duchess was a girl. She always wore a small smile, faithfully serving her.

“Miss Leslie Sperado, ma’am. She is waiting at the front gates.”

At her words, Duchess Salvatore rose from her chair and approached the large stained glass window of her study. Brushing aside an expensive red curtain, detailed with intricate patterns of gold, she could see a skinny little girl by the gates.

“She’s… tiny.”

“Indeed, ma’am.”

Hmm. the duchess tilted her head curiously. The girl seemed so tiny. Was she nine or ten? It was hard to guess since her own children have always been at least a head taller than the children their age, more muscular and stockier, too. The girl, in comparison, seemed so small that the duchess couldn’t tell her age.

“Sperado, huh... I remember the idiot who came to see me some years ago. But he didn’t seem like the type to send his children to be a messenger.”

The duchess is a hard one to meet. The requests were usually delegated to the butler to be declined and unless she was going to the imperial palace, she rarely left the mansion. So, nobles tried all kinds of ways to meet her in person. Some sent their own children, standing at the gates alone in the cold, just like how the girl is now. Their fathers sat in a warm carriage, waiting to slip in when the gates opened to let their children in. Bringing out pity and sympathy was a popular strategy.

But of course, that never happened. Instead of pity, stern faces of the duchess’ knights came forth along with the city guards. Upon their approach, the nobles quickly snatched their children into the carriage and went away in haste.

“And he had another daughter?”

The duchess wondered in a small voice. The butler nodded her head and continued.

“Yes, ma’am. I was informed that she is the child who spilled tea on the Crown Prince when he went to visit his betrothed, the first-born daughter of Sperado. It was an accident. Apparently, she wasn’t feeling well that day. Nonetheless, the child hasn’t been seen in public since. Rumors say that the child was born with fragile health.”

Marquis Sperado.

He was a typical noble who always seemed like a fine gentleman but was corrupt and greedy inside. They all wore a mask to hide their true desires to a great length and he was no different. At one of the society’s parties, the duchess overheard the marquis boast about his first-born daughter. She remembered his voice was so loud, which was unusual for him.

‘My lovely Eli is like a goddess of spring who will restore and bear new wealth and fame to the House of Sperado!’

His head held high and voice ladened with so much pride, and his boasting rang throughout the main hall. He was in a jolly mood and his sentences carried laughs.

‘Yes, Miss Eli is quite beautiful.’ Another noble complimented, playing along.

‘Indeed, indeed! But she’s more than just beautiful. She is special, destined for greater things! You have no idea how happy I felt when we learned this.’

At his mysterious comments, the other nobles urged him to spit out what made the girl so special. But the marquis merely laughed, turning his head slightly to glance at the duchess. His eyes gleamed in the light of the chandelier as they stared at each other.

‘Is it... the power of the house?’

Most noble houses of the empire lost their powers over the years. If some still remained, it was faint. But Duchess Salvatore’s powers withstood the test of time and became stronger with each passing generation. So, many despised the House of Salvatore, including Marquis Sperado. So for him to look the duchess in the eye with such joy, it’s not impossible that the powers have resurfaced in the House of Sperado.

Also, the four marquis Houses always competed against the two Houses, the House of Salvatore and the House of Altera. They believed that with the two houses gone, they could rise up to take more control of the empire. They wanted their sense of balance to be established.

The duchess looked down at the girl idly and then returned to her chair. ‘I had hoped, but it’s just as usual,’ the butler silently sighed. The duchess didn’t go easy on the girl just because she was a small child.

“What shall I do?”

The butler asked as the duchess picked up her feathered quill. ‘What to do with such a tiny child, out in the cold and alone?’

“Her carriage is waiting and the day is getting colder. She’ll leave soon. So, pay no mind to her.”

The duchess commented, turning her eyes to inspect the documents again. Her mind was already off the girl. There was too much to do, documents to sign and proposals to review. She had to get back to work.

“Yes, ma’am.”

The butler sighed inaudibly this time as she turned to leave the study.

It was many hours later that the feather quill was put down. The duchess read over the documents once more then massaged her temples. She slowly got up from her chair and stretched her legs.

There was plenty of work. In order to prepare for the inevitable future, she had to be on top of everything. She needed to employ new talents for her plans, reinforce the defenses of the duchy and fix up the reservoir for the rainy season. From small to big decisions, all were piled up for her to finish.

‘I wish I could just let someone take over all the work. A vacation would be nice.’

She could technically share the work with her two sons, but she didn’t feel comfortable entrusting them with such big decisions. Her first son was a silent type, rather blunt with his words. The second son was like a bull in a china shop. He was unpredictable and, therefore, untrustworthy at times. At the thought of her sons, her brows furrowed.

The sun was setting behind the duchess. The red and orange light was bleeding through the gap in the curtains.

A couple more hours and it will be dark.

“My, oh my.”

The duchess had lifted the curtains to see the sunset and saw the little girl still standing, waiting for her. She tapped the frame of the glass window while watching the girl.

‘She’s still here,’ the duchess marveled. The carriage was now gone and she was all alone. Despite the distance, the duchess could see the girl shaking from the cold. But the girl’s back was straight and her eyes were stubbornly fixed on the gates.

She looked cold. Perhaps it was her hair. Her hair was the color of white snow in the stormy winter. Under the light, it made the girl’s skin look even paler.

‘Strangely, the House of Sperado’s second and third-borns die young.’

The duchess remembered a story her grandfather used to tell her when she was a little girl. A curious, mysterious story that was never told in full detail. The girl had caught her attention and the duchess was now fully interested, inclined to find out why the girl was so stubborn or perhaps desperate.

‘There's no harm in listening to what she has to say,’ the duchess concluded as the doors opened.

“Duchess, your dinner is ready.”

The duchess turned to the butler and prompted.

“I will dine in a bit. First, I would like to see to our guest. Bring in Miss Sperado to the guest room.”

At the sudden change of mind, the butler was taken aback, albeit never showing the pleasant surprise. She merely smiled as usual and awaited further instructions.

“Shall I make her wait in the main guest room on the ground floor?”

The waiting room on the ground floor was the most frequently used space. Rare occasions of business meetings were held on the ground floor, but more personal meetings, including the ones with the members of the imperial family, took place on the third floor near the duchess’ study.

The duchess went back to the window and looked down at the girl and commanded.

“No, the one on the third floor.”

Leslie was led up to the third floor guest room. Her reddened cheeks felt numb from the cold, and it felt like sandpaper as she tried to rub them warm. From late morning to late afternoon, Leslie stood at the gates in the out-of-season, thin linen dress. Her whole body was frozen down to her core.

Though the dress was one of the thicker ones in the closet, it wasn’t enough to keep her remotely warm. Especially without a coat or fur-lined inner dress, it was impossible.

Leslie wasn’t sure how she got the duchess’ attention, but it felt impolite to see someone of her status with a red face, whipped by merciless autumn winds. So, she kept rubbing them, trying to restore the color as best as she could while waiting. Just then, with a gentle knock on the door, an older woman came in.

“It’s very cold outside, isn’t it?”

At first glance, the woman looked a lot like Leah. The woman set down a steaming cup of tea in front of Leslie.

“I wish I could bring in a mug of hot chocolate, but... my masters are all grown-ups, so unfortunately, we don’t have any. Instead, I brought some tea with lots of milk and sugar. Please, Miss, help yourself. I hope it’ll help with the cold.”

“Thank you.”

It was warm. Leslie carefully wrapped her fingers around the cup and breathed in the sweet aroma of the tea. The heat and smell, all were so tempting. Her mouthwatering, she lifted the cup to take a sip but failed. Her frozen fingers were clumsy and so numb that she didn’t realize that she wasn’t securely holding the cup.

Clang. Although thankfully the cup didn’t break, it landed on the expensive rug and ruined it with a large ugly stain. The stain trailed, leaving a long tail as the cup rolled to the other end of the rug.

“I... I’m so sorry!”

Leslie panicked. ‘I’ll be punished, I’ll be punished!’ Memories flashed in Leslie’s head.

Though she had let go of familial expectations and desires to be loved, her body remembered the trauma. She was trembling like a sinner on the guillotine as memories of painful punishments and disappointed, angry faces kept flashing in her mind.

Something like this would earn her terrible physical discipline. She was usually whipped on the back of her legs with a thin branch. Leslie’s body worked on an instinct and prepared to be punished. She was fixed on her spot, unmoving and unbreathing.

“I’ll clean it up!”

After a harrowing silence, tears began to well in her eyes. Leslie finally moved, kneeling on the floor to wipe the stain with her dress. The woman also moved and called Leslie softly.

“Miss, it’s alright. The rug can be washed, and the tea can be made again.”

And she held Leslie’s small hands, cupping them together. The woman’s hands were warm and her voice was ever so gentle.

“I apologize, Miss, I should’ve known better. With your hands frozen like this, it was bound to happen. Here, keep yourself warm while I go and get you another cup of tea.”

Then the woman slowly lifted Leslie from the floor. She led the girl back onto the sofa and covered her with a thick, white blanket made from martens. At the woman’s kind gesture, Leslie’s eyelashes fluttered in confusion.

Leslie’s eyes were fixed on the blanket. She remembered Eli pestering the marquis for ten days for the blanket. But it was so expensive that the marquis couldn’t buy it in the end.

Leslie carefully rested her hands and began to pat the smooth fur. It felt like she was brushing through the clouds, so soft and ticklish. She was utterly fascinated by it.

“Haha, do you like it?”

“Y-yes...”

The woman smiled at Leslie’s fascination as Leslie answered in almost a whisper. Such an adorable girl, the woman softly chuckled. While Leslie was distracted by the soft blanket, the door opened, and the duchess walked in with long strides.

“I apologize, Miss Sperado.”

Leslie’s jaws dropped again at the sight of the duchess. It was a tall woman with long, black hair. Her face was half-hidden with a delicate white mask.

‘Wow, she’s even taller than the marquis.’

Naturally, Leslie’s only comparison fell to the marquis and then to a faceless knight in her memory who patrolled the Sperado gardens. Her world was small and the duchess was the tallest of all the people she had ever known.

The woman and the duchess smiled at the same time upon seeing Leslie’s reaction.

“Oh my, what an adorable young lady. And it seems like you’ve stolen my butler’s heart.”

The duchess grinned as she took a seat opposite Leslie.

“Your butler?”

Leslie asked. The duchess glanced at the woman, and the woman smiled again as she took a polite bow. Her short hair brushed her neck as she straightened up.

“Pleasure to meet you, Miss. My name is Jenna Dorantes, the butler of the House of Salvatore.”

‘She wasn’t a maid.’

Leslie blinked fast at her mistake. She had assumed that the woman who brought the tea and greeted her into the guest room was a maid. ‘Should I apologize? What should I say? I should be apologizing,’ Leslie pondered.

“Haha, it’s fine, Miss. It isn't common to see a woman in charge as a butler. Most are housekeepers.”

Jenna kindly assured Leslie who was so conflicted that her eyes dotted around busily. A maid silently entered the room and set up two cups of tea and some snacks. When it was done, the maid left the room. The duchess leaned back in her seat like a satisfied lioness.

“Now, Miss Sperado, let us discuss the reason you are here at the House of Monsters.”