Relaxing....

Dina is in her room. Her back is glued to the mattress while she processes what the boy just told her. They left the last floor after August told her his plan. Now she overthinks helplessly.

'Sealing away Sebastian …. he says ….' The thought is bouncing like a ball in her head. Doing that was something she thought before but now that he says it … it seemed more palpable. With his help as she once planned, this was possible.

She looks absently at the pure white ceiling. Nothing interesting ….in fact too simple. Too simple to catch her attention, yet she was looking at it. The emptiness of that white is giving her space to think …. unlike other things that sparkle or are more interesting in shape or color.

'Emptiness ….is the beginning of something ….' Her thoughts make a connection between the white of the ceiling and her thoughts.

Indeed, emptiness is where you can create something new. Without erasing you can't fill the page with something new and better. 

Dina rolls over her bed and wishes to not overthink everything for now. She has one week and a half till the wedding so she has time to relax for a bit. All these new things she discovered and all the stress she went through the past few days make her feel drained.

With sloppy stature, she drags herself to the bathtub. A hot bath is one of the things that might make her feel relaxed for a time.

The tub is full and steam is filling the bathroom. Her clothes are left on the floor without a care and she looks in the tall mirror on the left wall. A wooden frame keeping the mirror safe while also making it look nicely decorated catches her attention.

She shifts her eyes from the frame to her body which is reflected in detail. Her eyes observe the body with empty eyes. 

Her hair which was once medium is longer, reaching her belly. Strands covering her shoulders. Her breasts seem to decrease in size and her waist is now more defined. The scar on her thigh is missing, a sign that her skin regenerate given her vampire blood. 

A frown appears when her body that she knew once was looking like a different one. Where are her scars and her scratches? 

She , herself felt like an empty page from a new book. 

Shifting her eyes from the mirror, she mumbles," Here I am overthinking again ….." Her feet step in the water. 

"Hmmm…. this sure feels too good to be true …" Her body was in the water, her head leaned on the bathtub and her hands on the edge of the tub…everything felt relaxing as she wished. 

How long has it been since she took a bath …the thought makes her giggle subtly.

After a while, she has sweat on her face as the steam increases. Her eyes find a soup on the shelf near the tub. Her hand stretches to take it. The soap is slippery escaping from her hands. With a frown, she searches in the water after it. The girl is on her fours searching after the 'damned soup 'as she calls it now. 

When her hand presses on the soap, seemingly that she found it finally, her hand slips on and she goes underwater.

With her hair wet on her face she rises from the water, the soap in her hand, squeezed with all her strength. 

"This little thing destroyed my relaxing time ….." Her mumble is heard in the bath.

In the end, she gave up on the idea of throwing the soap somewhere, and with care, she washed her hair and body.

The bathroom door is opened and steam bursts into the room. Dina breathed deeply the cold air splashing her rosy cheeks, the hot air in the bath made her dizzy a little.

"Pfw ..." Her body is covered with a towel. With a second towel, she has her hair wrapped and twisted, making it look like she wears a turban. Dina tosses herself in bed. 

"What should I wear now? "She lets her thoughts out while remembering that soon will be dinner. Sebastian will be present and she no clean clothes. 

"Should I go in the towel?" She inspects herself looking down as the towel wraps her body prettily. 

Her laughter fills the room and she rolls in the bed for a while. The heat must have got to her brain. She has no more strength to think straight. Her eyes feel droopy and she feels like her body losing to gravity.

Her eyes close as she stares at the window. 

The clock in her room ticks six in the evening. Her breath slows down as she loses her awareness falling into deep sleep. 

...

The maids are moving careful to not bump into each other. Soup boiling in the oven and the smell of bread freshly cooked fills the kitchen.

"Madam, the bread, and everything is almost ready. "A younger maid is talking to the older maid who watches the food put on the serving table that rolls on wheels. The plates are nicely arranged.

"Did you make pudding?" Her eyes look and can't seem to find the pudding.

"No, madam …We made that for breakfast …. I thought that we shouldn't make any more. "The maid is fidgeting under the glare of the older one.

"Didn't I tell you that the young Miss is liking pudding? She is just like our precious late Madam; god takes care of her …Isn't that awesome? Our young Lord will have a nice girl." The older woman is glowing with excitement. 

Another maid, who hears the discussion, says," Do you think any woman who eats pudding is nice, Mary?" The age between her and Mary was close, so she permitted herself to mock the woman.

"You don't know, Lily! Pudding is liked only by sweet people. Why would bitter and evil people eat puddings? Is clear that the Miss is a good person." The pout and explanation of Mary made the other maids escape giggles. The woman was known for her remarks.

"Was late Madam a good person, Mary? Sleeping around mindlessly was making her a nice lady?" Lily frowns and puts the bread on the big table situated in the center of the kitchen. 

Other maids feel their hearts sink. Whenever the two older women were arguing, the air would always be heavy, especially when it was about the late Madam Cassandra. The kitchen will be a battlefield till the two will make up.

All maids let out a sigh and for diverse reasons, they left the kitchen.

"You don't know her real self, Lily. She was a poor soul in need of being loved …." Mary makes a sad face as her white hair caught in a bun is arranged by her hand. A few strands of hair are put in place by her wrinkled fingers.

"You mean she needed to have her hole 'in her heart 'full always?" Lily tossed the towel she had in her hands as she mimicked with her fingers the quotation marks.

"Yes! That's what I mean! Her heart was so empty …. Imagine that you are taken from your true love and forced to marry Lord Sebastian, who isn't the perfect gentleman…." Mary replies innocently, supporting her idea." Don't ever talk about her like that …she was a great woman." 

Lily sighs exasperatedly and puts herself on a chair." I know she helped you, but she wasn't too fine of a madam. You have to open your eyes, Mary!"

"If she did that, her heart was good. No one would help a baby thrown in a trash bin like I was. I would never accept you talking bad about her." Mary frowns and gets defensive.

Her life story was a true miracle. As the newlywed Lady Cassandra was walking on the street she heard a baby crying in the trash bin. She quickly decided to take her, and she named the baby Mary. Sebastian was against adopting her but Cassandra convinced the man to let her raise the little one till she works as a maid for them. Mary was like a child to Cassandra. After a few years when she was murdered by the Lord, Mary was around ten years old and August was younger them her.