The White Lily

January 5th, 1941

Standing in front of the door, Ines remained silent, noticing how they all had yet to notice her presence.

"-…You three are always causing trouble. It is one thing to play pranks and mess around; however, this time, you three have gone too far," Sister Rosalie reprimanded, her voice stern.

Ines thought Sister Rosalie looked as red as her hair, a pretty shade of candy-apple red.

The two maidservants donned in black and white who stood by Sister Rosalie's side averted their eyes from the scene.

"Sorry, Sister Rosalie," Odette apologized, her voice hushed. Compared to the other two children, she was in a better state.

Sister Rosalie nodded, letting out a deep sigh. At least one of them knows how to own up to their mistakes and apologize, she begrudgingly thought.

The other two children, Noémie and Eugéne, remained silent; their eyes were narrowed and puffy.

Finally, Sister Rosalie looked away from the three. Looking back up, Ines and Sister Rosalie immediately made eye contact.

"Good evening, Ines." Sister Rosalie said. At the sight of the lone girl, she forced a smile onto her face, her eyes twitching as she did so.

Ines nodded in response to her greeting, then she curtsied. "Good evening,"

"Seeing as how you're alone, I suppose Sister Edith has yet to return. In that case, would you like Blanche to escort you back to the dormitories?" Sister Rosalie offered, pointing to the tall, lanky maidservant with dusk-colored hair who stood by her left.

Seeing her lady (Sister Rosalie) pointing at her, Blanche slightly bowed her head in Ines' direction.

Truthfully, Ines would have declined Sister Rosalie's offer if it weren't for the fact that she didn't even know where the dormitories were.

For the three days Ines had resided in the building, she learned from Sister Edith that it (the building) was composed of thirteen flights, and there were over a hundred rooms per floor.

The building's elaborate tapestry and baroque designs were hard to memorize as all corridors and halls had the same design, almost like that of a maze.

If it weren't for the numbered doors and the grandiose pillars at the end of each hall with different compositions and ostentatious colors that symbolized the keeper of that designated hall, Ines wouldn't even know which floor she was on.

On each floor, there are around six to twelve keepers. For some halls, there are multiple keepers, whilst some halls only have a single keeper.

Sister Edith had warned her the first night she was in the dormitory to not wander off, especially after nightfall. Unlike Sister Edith, not all Madams and Sisters were kind— some wouldn't take kindly to her offense of breaking the Head Mistress's rule.

Plus, certain halls and floors, especially the upper floors, were off limits; while certain floors could only be accessed with the presence of a figure with authority.

For this hall, Sister Rosalie and Madam Clèmence are the keepers.

Hence it's probably best not to offend either women; Sister Rosalie, who is in charge of security and has the key to every room on this floor, and Madam Clèmence, who is the primary (and the best) doctor in this entire building, Ines thought.

"Yes, it would be greatly appreciated," Ines said, smiling. Ignoring the stares from the three bloodied children, she accepted Blanche's outreached hand and curtsied.

"I'll be in your care, Mrs. Blanche."

Blanche's gaze flickered back to her Madam for confirmation before she turned back to Ines, "Likewise."

Sister Rosalie cracked a smile seeing the two all uptight. "Well then. Come back once you drop Ines off at the dormitory, Blanche. If anyone stops you from entering that floor, show them my badge— though I doubt that Sister Yvette will oppose your entrance, it is Lilian that I worry about— always sticking her stinkin' nose in my damn business."

Seeing the faint annoyance and worry on her Madam's face, Blanche froze momentarily.

"My lady-"

"Yes, yes. I know. Sister Lilian," Sister Rosalie corrected, rolling her eyes.

Seeing this exchange between the two, Ines noticed the close proximity between the two women. They seem quite close, Ines noted.

Compared to some of the other staff, Sister Rosalie and Sister Edith appeared to be some of the more open ones, while the others were somewhat… obstinate.

"Anyway, you two should get going," Sister Rosalie said, turning her attention back to the three bloody-and-sulky kids in front of her. "It's getting late, I believe supper passed half an hour ago, so the dining hall is probably closed. At this rate, you two may encounter Sister Lilian; she's on patrol duty tonight. Best hope that you come across Madam Yvette or my brother rather than that wenc— Sister Lillian."

Ines merely nodded in response and held out her hand to Blanche, knowing the latter half of Sister Rosalie's speech was intended for the maidservant, Blanche, to hear.

"Yes, my lady," Blanche said. After bowing to her lady once more, she took Ines' hand and left.

Watching as the two turned the corner and vanished from her line of sight, Sister Rosalie's smile dropped; her expression was no longer sweet and sunny but eerily cold and devoid of emotions.

"You three better fess up. What were the lot of you doing on that floor? You three aren't newcomers; you've been here for years, so you should already be aware of the areas that are off-limits. If you don't explain yourselves by the time Blanche comes back, it won't be me who will be in charge of your punishments, but the Head Mistress."

Finally, after hearing that the Head Mistress would be involved, Noémie cracked. "Sister Rosalie… We were just—"

"We?! It's you who suggested that we go there!" Eugéne screamed, pointing his finger at Noémie.

"Enough." Sister Rosalie said.

Placing herself between the two fuming children, she glanced at Odette who remained silent despite the dispute between her two friends. Right as she was about to rebuke the three once more for their behavior, the infirmary door opened.

"Sister Rosalie, it's good to see you again." Clèmence greeted. "Are these the three rule breakers you spoke of?"

"Yes." Sister Rosalie confirmed. Brushing away her stray locks of hair, she lowered her voice, "I was informed by the Head Mistress last week that you learned of a new method relating to the dream realm. I'd like to see it in action; I heard it reveals the inner demons and the true persona of the target, is that true?"

For a moment, Clèmence went silent. And then she smiled, revealing all thirty-two of her pearly-white teeth.

Her teeth were bizarrely sharp, like that of a canine's.

"That is true, Sister Rosalie."

. . .

"Excuse me, Ms. Blanche?" Ines said, breaking the silence. "Where exactly is the dormitory?"

Blanche kept walking, her posture one of melded perfection.

Finally, after a minute of silence, Blanche responded. "The dormitory where you children reside is on the left-wing."

"The left-wing? Where is that?"

"The left wing is a separate building connected to the main building."

"Oh," Ines simply said. They had been walking in silence for nearly ten minutes before, only now were words exchanged.

Along the way, Ines had been admiring the many artifacts, paintings, and relics that adorned the halls and different floors.

Now, after walking for nearly ten minutes straight, she could no longer entertain herself with the sight of the pretty art, so Ines instead began to search the corridors and halls for their differences.

For example, she noted that this floor had an assortment of white lilies and high architecture with plenty of silver-lined decoration, whilst the hall Sister Rosalie and Clèmence were keepers of had crimson red roses— it looked rather plain and compared to the floor she was on now.

The lilies look quite fresh; do they get replaced on a daily basis? Ines wondered, eyeing the stems that looked recently trimmed and the water droplets that hung off the edges of the leaves like miniature crystals.

However, right as Ines was switching her attention elsewhere once more, she bumped into Blanche who had suddenly stopped walking.

"Ms. Blanche-?"

"Madam Lilian," Blanche greeted. Despite her polite words, anyone with a pair of eyes could see the animosity brewing in her eyes.

Backing away from Blanche, Ines regained her footing and turned to look at whoever it was that Blanche had addressed.

For Blanche to show such respect to someone other than Sister Rosalie, it must be a person of great status, Ines thought.

The said woman, Madam Lillian (or Sister Lillian, based on how Sister Rosalie had addressed her) was a stunning woman— she was even taller than the noblemen from the West she had seen in the past.

Madam Lilian was about 187 centimeters tall, with long, straight platinum blonde hair that reached her hips; her hair looked so pale and translucent it could've been mistaken for the fancy gambiered silk from the East.

Slowly looking up, Ines froze at the sight of Madam Lilian's face.

Compared to her dainty image and the elegant white dress she wore, a long scar ran across her pale face— from her left earlobe, to across her nose bridge, to below her right eye.

Most of all, Ines couldn't help but gape at the sight of her eyes.

Madam Lilian's eyes are like gemstones, Ines thought. Her left eye was a light shade of honey brown, and her right eye was steel blue.

Madam Lilian smiled, her gaze drifting from Blanche to Ines.

"Good evening, Blanche." Madam Lilian slowly said, her voice soft and mellow like the finest honey. However, seeing the look on Blanche's face, Ines knew whatever would come next wouldn't be good.

"Shouldn't a mutt like you be at your master's feet? What are you doing wandering around in my hall when you should be groveling by that woman's side?"