He Who Is Free ( Yandere x Reader)

The Papaver.

With a delicate curiosity in each of your footsteps, you make your way in your traditional maid uniform towards the Duchess' wing. She had written down some directions for you and had even given you a map, so there was no reason for you not to be able to find your way now. Holding in your arms a small basket full of fluffy, neatly folded ivory towels, you make your way down the hallway.

As you draw nearer to the wing, you notice that the part of the palace you were currently in was getting less and less grand the farther you proceeded and less populated. Eventually, you came across a large, wooden door reinforced with cast iron. Was this really the correct way?

You proceed to form a fist with your [S/C] hand before your knuckles gently knock on the door with an air of caution.

"Hello? Is this the Duchess' private quarters?" You ask, your voice eerily echoing throughout the ash-coloured walls, ruined with age and negligence.

"Yes. Who is it?" A sharp tone asks, sharp enough to cut through the silence painfully with confidence. You recognised this voice to belong to the Duchess, who spoke as regally as always, no matter what mood she was in. Her voice was fairly deep for a woman but was velvety and soothing.

"It's..." You pause for a moment, wondering how to introduce yourself properly considering you didn't want to call yourself Leonide's personal maid. "The new maid, [Name]. The one that you met in the ballroom yesterday-"

"Oh, it's you is it? Come in, come in," She beckons you, her voice now more free and lighthearted than before, her tone not as guarded and rather welcoming instead.

You proceed to reach for the circular-shaped metal ring attached to the door, wrapping your grip around it before pulling firmly, only for it to barely budge even by a centimetre. Slightly annoyed, you balance the basket with your other arm before yanking the door with too much force, causing it to go flying open and nearly bringing it with you as it slams against the wall.

"What an entrance," The young woman says, a light smile on her lips for the sake of being polite as her striking emerald hues pierced into you from afar. Looking through the doorway, you could see the Duchess' room was in complete disarray. It was round, considering she resided in a tower but her bed was not made, and instead, blankets and pillows could be found amongst crowds of scribbled upon parchment and clothing. The windows were large but concealed by large and opaque crimson red curtains that draped past the correct length, the fabric bunching together into a pile at the dark brown floorboards. The wallpaper was a beautiful gold depicting flowers and birds, which only to your dismay, was ripped in certain areas or written over with ink.

"What a room," You reply, stepping timidly through the door way as you were unable to rip your eyes away from the scene.

"I know, it's a mess. But it's always been this way," She reassures you, walking to a small maroon-coloured sitting area of two sofas and an awfully plain tea table which had upon it a beige pottery jug full of blood red poppy flowers. She throws herself sluggishly onto one of the two sofas before gesturing with her hand for you to sit on the other.

"Has nobody come to clean your room? Or perhaps have you not tried to clean it yourself?" You ask out of curiosity, setting down the basket of towels by the door before treading carefully through the maze of clutter towards the Duchess, who you could barely see due to how dark the room was. In fact, the only source of light was the sunlight spilling out from the small cracks between the curtain and the window.