5 His Return

The original story described Raphael Ashter as a crazy and obsessive tyrant who liked to abuse his younger sister while pretending to be overprotective of her in front of others. And while the readers were appalled by both Raphael's cruelty and their father's averted gaze, no one could deny that such abysmal treatment turned Rosalie into the only villainess in the entire story with whom the readers could sincerely sympathize.

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"While it was obvious that Raphael was obsessed with his younger sister, only a few readers could really understand why. He was sexually attracted to her. And the constant abuse that he was afflicting on Rosalie was stemming from his anger and frustration – he could not have her the way he wanted to, while other men could, and it was torturing him."

Rosalie recalled all the comments that people had left on the novel's page, discussing all the possible things that Raphael could do to his sister, and it made her blood run cold. The readers' imagination sure ran wild, but Raphael was one of the cruelest characters in the entire novel, thus, the girl figured that she should probably prepare herself for any kind of abuse with Raphael's imminent return.

'I'm so scared... My heart is about to explode.'

Lady Ashter checked her reflection in the vanity mirror, then looked out of the window, hugging her bony knees while sitting on the broad windowsill, noticing the dark night sky, generously beaded by the tiny sparkles of the stars, and let out a long, tired sigh. She was hoping that the growing dread of anticipation would slow down the flow of time like it usually did, but that did not happen – the night approached almost unfathomably, and it was only a matter of hours before Raphael would knock on his sister's door.

"My Lady, the bath has been prepared."

Aurora invited Rosalie to the bathroom with a rather mournful expression on her pale face. The room greeted the girl with a strong, almost sickening scent of Jasmine mixed with the hot steam and fumes from the perfumed bathroom water, and every time she took a breath, her lungs would tighten, and her head would spin from the rising feeling of uncontrollable nausea.

'I have been taking baths every single day here, but this is a whole new level of odor. It is even more suffocating than both the corset and Rosalie's father's company combined. Just why in the world does it have to be Jasmine?'

With a somewhat disgruntled grimace, Lady Ashter took her clothes off and immersed under the hot water, mixed with the white Jasmine petals, in a wide rectangular bathtub surrounded by candles and stools, intended for the maids.

"Is the water okay, My Lady? Not too hot?"

Rosalie was so busy thinking about her impending encounter with Raphael that she did not even realize that the water was indeed way too hot, as the fresh scar on her right palm was now stinging almost unbearably. But the temperature of the water was not really important, and the girl only ended up shaking her head and going even deeper, the fragrant water nearly covering half of her face.

'I wonder if Rosalie ever thought about drowning herself in here. The bathtub is surely large enough to do that.'

She wiped her entire face with her wet hands as if in an attempt to get rid of such ridiculous thoughts and let out another tired sigh.

'No, she was in love with Damien to the point where she was ready to give up her soul just to be with him. I have to be just as strong and endure everything. This life now belongs to me and I will be sure to save it no matter what.'

Rosalie slid her left thumb over the scar on her right palm and closed her eyes.

'There is no way back anymore. If only I woke up in this body a little bit earlier... No, truthfully, I would have preferred never waking up here in the first place.'

"Lady Rosalie, it looks like you have lost even more weight. Are you still feeling sick? Would you like me to ask the Head Butler to get a physician or a Priest?"

Aurora touched her lady's thin upper arm with her big rough hand and Rosalie noticed how easily the maid's fingers could wrap around it; the girl's body was so thin, it was not surprising that she appeared sick to others.

But Lady Ashter could only shake her head in response.

"No need. Father will be annoyed, calling either a physician or a Priest costs a lot, he would not bother to spend that much for my sake."

"But My Lady..."

Aurora's distress was understandable but she could not argue with the fact that Rosalie was right – Lady Rosalie Ashter had a limited budget allocated to her on a monthly basis, and she was only allowed to request additional funds in case of extreme necessity, and poor appetite was not regarded as such.

'According to the book, Rosalie liked sweets, especially chocolate, but Raphael never allowed her to have any because he liked her skinny body. Every time he would notice that she gained weight, physical punishment was inevitable, thus, Rosalie ended up developing a severe eating disorder and was genuinely scared of eating anything that might alter her appearance.'

Rosalie watched as her maid was folding a small, white, soft towel in her hands, preparing to start washing her body. She then walked up to the girl, went down on her knees, leaning over the bathtub, and said rather seriously,

"Lady Rosalie, please straighten up a little, I will now start washing your body."

"No need. I will do it."

Both Aurora and Rosalie winced and turned around to the sound of a low male voice, widening their eyes in utter bewilderment as they recognized its owner.

"Hello, my dear Rosalie. I came as soon as I returned from my trip. Did you miss me?"