27 Miss Spoilt Brat’s Slave

"Why did you return late? Got into any more trouble after doing your punishment?" Courtney snarkily asked the minute after the door shut, marking Emma's return. She was sprawled across one of the living room's sofas, her phone in one hand, and her diamond-encrusted cup with god-knows-what in the other.

"I was...studying, and I completely forgot about curfew," Emma replied, not wanting Courtney to find out she was hanging out with James till this late at night.

"As if," Courtney said as she rolled her eyes in disbelief.

Winnie was nowhere to be seen, and while Courtney's behaviour was more than enough to anger Emma, she was more curious about Winnie's whereabouts.

"Where's Winnie? Sent her to do your bidding or your errands that you couldn't muster up the energy to do?" Emma asked mockingly.

Courtney let out a sound of discontent, her nose faced upwards as a sign of superiority.

"And why is that any of your business? You don't see me asking where your lady-in-waiting went, do you?" She remarked.

Emma placed a hand to her head.

The last thing she wanted to do was deal with Courtney's attitude at the moment.

When she didn't reply to her remark, Courtney raised her brow.

"Where is she anyway? Will she be staying here for the night? Or is she fraternizing with some guy?" She asked rudely.

Emma clenched her fist.

Thinking of Lily again, her emotions came flooding back.

She snarled.

"Like you said. It's none of your business. But if you must know, she's at the ZALE clinic. She won't stay the night here at our dorm," she replied, glaring at Courtney.

At this, Courtney gasped. Emma couldn't tell if it was fake, or genuine worry.

"What happened?" She asked, her face actually worried.

For once, Emma thought Courtney was worried about Lily but turns out, it couldn't be further from the truth.

What Courtney said next was absolutely unbelievable.

"Was it from food poisoning? What was it from? Did I eat the same thing as her? Am I going to get food poisoning? Am I going to die? I knew I should've brought a private chef! I'm too young to die!" She cried.

Emma was beyond shocked.

How selfish could someone be?

Lily was stuck in the clinic, unconscious, and maybe even fighting for her life, while Courtney's complaining about the non-existent chance how she might die.

During her moment of deep thought, Winnie walked out of her and Courtney's bedroom. She placed a green, opaque glass bottle on a nearby table, before approaching Courtney with some news.

"Courtney, I've prepared the arrangements. I'll be nearby, ready with the champagne if you need any refills, and I've made sure the water is just the temperature you demanded," Winnie announced as she plopped down on a nearby sofa, finally being able to rest after her physically-demanding tasks.

Emma's eyes widened.

'Is this how Courtney treats Winnie on a daily basis?' Emma asked no one in particular in her head.

Was this how royals treated their servants? Were they this needy and rude? Did ladies-in-waiting really serve this type of purpose to the royals they were supposed to assist?

Courtney rolled her eyes, not happy with Winnie's incompetence.

"And what about my request that made you take so long to prepare it?" Courtney asked rudely, demanding an answer.

Winnie looked at her feet nervously.

"Sorry Courtney, it won't happen again," Winnie replied nervously, scared for her life.

Courtney let out a noise of contempt before strutting to her bedroom's en-suite bathroom.

Emma stared at Winnie unbelievingly.

"Winnie, does she ALWAYS treat you like this?" Emma asked in disbelief, a look of shock and anger on her face.

To her surprise, Winnie shook her head.

"Not always," Winnie replied.

"Well, not after that incident," she muttered, barely loud enough for Emma to hear.

"What was that?" Emma asked curiously, not being to fully hear what Winnie had said.

Winnie opened her mouth, ready to reply, when a voice cried out from the bathroom.

"WINNIE! I NEED A REFILL ON MY CHAMPAGNE! STAT!"

Winnie hung her head.

"I have to go now. It was nice talking to you, Emma. But duties call," she said as she rushed to the bathroom, champagne bottle in hand.

With nothing else to do since most of her books were back at the library, and her exhaustion was taking a toll on her, she decided to quickly clean up.

After a relaxing shower, she changed into her sleepwear, or as Lily called it, 'pyjamas'.

Before heading to bed, being the good student she was, she read some books, laughing in the middle of her impromptu study session when she remembered a joke Lily had made when she was studying yesterday.

The thought of Lily made tears gather in her eyes. As a small way to make it up to her, Emma decided to help Lily keep up with the class once she awoke, or if she ever did.

As she made herself comfortable on her bed, she pulled the comforter towards her, and in a few minutes, she was drifting off to sleep.

While her body was in deep sleep, Emma was transported somewhere else, and that's, when she had the most...interesting dream she ever had in her life.