Chapter 21: Expectation vs Reality

Yobab, the overseer, raised his eyes to meet the old man whom a guard had brought over. There wasn't even the least bit of interest in his beady eyes.

Was there anything to gain from this person who just barged in without prior notice?

"Cordelia Sashnu? Never heard of the name before," the overseer replied nonchalantly to his earlier inquiry. "There are hundreds of slaves in this area alone. All of them are the same to me."

The fat man snorted, wiped his oily face with a rag and then returned to his work – doing nothing but gloating on the slaves' misery.

Henry felt dejected. He came a long way for the maidservant and now the overseer of the slaves just said he knew no one of the name he mentioned.

Truth be told, if he was the overseer himself, it would be quite a feat to remember everyone's name in the encampment.

The old man released a long and deep sigh.

He wouldn't be surprised if the slave actually changed her name too.

Sometimes in order to survive in the harsh world of enslavement, people would even change their names and try to leave the past – permanently.

Suddenly, a tiny detail was brought to mind.

"Ah, yes," Henry muttered under his breath, "I just remembered my master's wife specifically said she was tall and broad, with hair as white as snow."

Yobab side-eyed Henry, and the old man felt insulted by his snob demeanor.

Sensing that the overseer wasn't really giving him the attention and help he needed, Henry fished out something from his pocket and flashed it to the man.

It was something Prince Aleksander authorized Henry to use in cases such as these – the crest of the royal family.

The big chunk of meat flustered when he saw the familiar emblem of the Ardorleans. He immediately corrected himself, fumbling with his hands as if asking for forgiveness.

It was a bit hilarious even, and Henry scoffed as the overseer almost fell off the horse he rode.

The poor animal was suffering enough with his weight, struggling to keep both of them upright as the fat man tugged wildly at the reins.

"M-Maybe I do remember someone who looked like that," Yobab said in a rush after regaining his composure.

The fat overseer scratched his head, thinking for a while. He gestured for Henry to follow him towards a group of women, and the old man promptly did so.

There was no time to waste here.

Henry looked into his pocket watch, and noted that his master was just about to awake in a few hours.

Most of the slaves had their backs towards the two men, but the women all looked pretty young.

Henry's hopes rose.

He prayed the woman named Cordelia was young enough for the prince's liking.

"Anyone named Cordelia Sashnu here?!" the overseer shouted, flinging his whip hard to the ground with a loud crack.

All of the women flinched with his thunderous roar, obviously traumatized by the overseer and his choice of weapon. Nobody replied to Yobab's question, but whispers were abuzz.

"No one? Tall and broad, white hair," Yobab repeated what Henry described a while ago. "This man is looking for her, and if nobody speaks, I will have you all work until you drop dead!"

"There!" someone screamed, terrified of the threat of more work, "that must be her."

Yobab and Henry looked over where the woman pointed at.

At the other end, there stood a lone woman tilling the soils. She plowed and plowed as if there was no tomorrow.

Henry wondered if she even thought of how much strain she was giving herself with every blow to the rock-hard soils of the vampire kingdom.

"You over there!" the overseer called out to the woman, "Are you Cordelia Sashnu?"

She stopped the second the overseer called out to her; the hoe stuck high in the air. Gradually, Cordelia turned around.

Her eyes were devoid of life, dark circles surrounded them like black holes. Her face had wrinkles from over-exhaustion, her skin tanned from the scorching sun that blazed above.

Henry's mouth hung open as he looked at Cordelia from head to toe.

He didn't expect the woman to be much older than he assumed. Would Prince Aleksander even want to drink her blood?

"You are Cordelia?"

"Yes," Cordelia replied as calmly as she could.

She watched as a guard approached the overseer, and then whispered something to his ears. Yobab bowed down to the other man, excusing himself over something that needed his attention.

"Cordelia Sashnu?" the old man spoke as if unconvinced of her identity.

Cordelia squinted her eyes as she wiped a large bead of sweat away. She was confused why the man was wasting her time.

Who was he even?

There was neither an introduction of who he was and what he wanted from her. Why was the overseer with him too?

Cordelia felt apprehensive – what if she was to be taken away like the princess? What did she ever do wrong?

"You… are Cordelia Sashnu, right? I am not mistaken, am I?" the old man asked again.

Cordelia replied with an audible grunt for him to hear.

The heat was sweltering today, and here he was asking for the third time if she really was Cordelia Sashnu.

"If you don't have any other business aside from asking my name, then I humbly ask you to step aside sir," she said as politely as she could, "I have much to do."

Cordelia heaved, and then swung the hoe towards the hard ground, making loose dirt scatter about. Some had even hit the man, making him flinch in surprise.

She gave him a quick side-eye, gauging him and trying to guess who he might be and what he wanted with her.

They were about the same age. Perhaps the man several years older, maybe in his early fifties. He wore a pince-nez on his nose, and had a moustache that needed a bit of trimming.

The former noble lady of the North tightened her grip on the hoe she had in her hands.

Cordelia tried to hold herself back from smashing the man's face.

She didn't have the patience to be disturbed right now.