Chapter 12: Lady Jade

Swan dipped her feet slowly into the bathtub. It was quite hot for her, who was used to taking a cold shower every day, even during winter. But it didn't take her long to adjust and dipped her entire body up to her neck.

She began reorganizing her thoughts once more as she realized that she hadn't been abandoned by Gale after he took her virginity. Considering how she was still allowed to keep her attendants, Myra and Maya, this meant that Gale still cared about her.

'But why?'

That question lingered in her mind.

'Why would he still care about me after he had what he wanted? What use do I have now?'

She had been living in the maid's quarter her whole life. She realized that once a maid wasn't useful anymore, be it getting hurt to the point of being unable to do normal servant duty or getting too old, they would be kicked out of the palace to live on their own.

Wouldn't that be the case for Swan as well?

"I don't understand him at all," Swan muttered.

Swan cleaned after herself in the warm bathtub, and once she was done, she sat on a stool, drying herself while staring at the reflection of her nude body in the mirror.

She had always been thin and petite even though she was already twenty years old this year. Aria was taller than her and had a fuller body, which made her look beautiful in any dress she wore.

Meanwhile, she had her rib cage protruding given how little she ate throughout the years.

There were many love bites and hickeys all across her body after last night's affair. She felt disgust creeping up in her. 

Not because of the hickeys and love bites.

Swan was disgusted with herself.

How could Gale—The King of Beasts—who had such an attractive face, would be lustful enough to give her so many hickeys? Was he drunk? Or he simply pitied her and didn't want to embarrass her while they were consummating their marriage?

Again, Swan had many unanswered questions about him, and she was left hanging, confused with the whole ordeal.

Swan saw the dress that had been prepared by the maids for her in the bathroom. It wasn't hers, because hers had many patches and were black and white colored, since they were just old maid dresses that she sewed together.

Swan grabbed the dress that had been perfumed. It was so soft. This kind of dress would fit someone with soft skin like Aria, not her.

But if she refused to wear it, Gale might be angry.

Thus, she decided to wear it.

Thankfully, she was used to doing stuff on her own, so she had found a way to wear a dress neatly without any help.

After she was done with everything, she used her crutches and walked out of the bathroom.

"Took you long enough, Princess."

Swan's heart jumped when she heard a voice coming from the corner of her room. She turned her head, and saw a beautiful lady wearing a purple dress, sitting at the table with all the assorted breakfast laid out in front of her. She sipped a cup of tea, looking as elegant as a noble.

But the meaningful smile reminded Swan of her mother, Queen Anastasia, who often smiled, but always had something devious in mind, and it triggered Swan's nervousness.

"W-who are you?" Swan asked carefully.

"The owner of this room, obviously. Don't you see my breakfast in front of me?"

Swan's heart skipped a beat. She got pale instantly, and she lowered her head, "P-pardon me, L-Lady. I didn't know this was your room. I-I will leave now!"

The lady chuckled, "So gullible. This is Gale's room. But he personally carried you here, so this room is yours now."

Swan was still unsure if this lady was playing a trick on her. She didn't want to suffer another beating, just like when Aria tricked her into saying something, and she'd call the guards to stomp on her legs as a punishment.

"Don't be so tense. Come and sit with me. I have a lot to say."

"B-but…"

"I will tell you about Gale since he and I grew up together. I'm sure you have a lot of questions about your new husband."

Swan was swayed by the idea, since she wanted to know her situation here and wondered if she would be eaten sooner or later.

Thus, she slowly walked towards Lady Jade and sat across her at the table. She lowered her head as it was the polite way in front of someone who was a noble.

"Raise your head, you are his new wife," Jade said with a smile, and Swan lifted her head slowly. Then, Jade commented, "You haven't put any makeup yet, I thought people in Holy Achate love their powders."

That was true.

She remembered how the maids would save up their money just to buy powders and perfume to make themselves look more attractive, and though Swan wanted to try them, it was too expensive and none of them refused to let her try.

Of course, she couldn't say all that, because her stepmother, Queen Anastasia, told her that she needed to hide what happened to her in the palace because if Gale found out about it, he would be angry at them for giving him coal instead of a diamond as a prize of his victory.

Swan didn't want to kickstart a massacre, so she lied, "I-I don't like wearing powder and perfume."

"Oh? You are the first one I know from Holy Achate not to use powder. I guess I should be more open-minded then," Jade said. "And about your dresses from Holy Achate. I was the one who checked it and saw many of them looked like they were sewn by an amateur. I also noticed patches. Are you sure it's yours? It looks more like a maid's wardrobe."

"I-It's mine, Milady," Swan lied again. She began averting her gaze as she wasn't good at lying, and Jade seemed to realize something, but she didn't confront Swan about it.

Instead, she shifted the topic, "First of all, you should have breakfast with me. Don't worry, I will make sure that everything should be what the nobles in Holy Achate used to eat for breakfast."

Swan looked at the assorted breakfast in front of her and confirmed that it was basically Aria's daily breakfast. Everything looked tempting, but she dared not to touch it because she would be beaten if she dared to eat anything, even the leftovers in the palace.

"I-I'm not hungry, Milady…"

"Don't lie. I'm sure you are hungry since you were very loud last night."