CRIMSON LILY [To Be Published Under PAPERINK]

CHAPTER 7

THE NEXT MORNING WASN'T great at all. I was forced to sit with them during breakfast. It would've been okay if it was only with the duke. This sucks.

"Do you have any plans for today, Elisse?" The duke asked.

I wasn't sure if he was already aware of the chaos I caused yesterday with that head maid, but I better tell him soon. He might stop this fatherly act when he finds out how bad his daughter behaves.

"I'm planning on going outside today with my servants, your grace." I smiled at the duke while I cut my steak into bite size pieces.

I could hear Caspian clicking his tongue, and the other bastard's glare seemed to bore a hole in my head.

I know, I'm being petty. But I should piss them off.

Pandora and I agreed that most humans are trash, and I should act out a little as a repayment for the stress they're giving me.

"My dresses seem to not fit me anymore, your grace. That's why I'm looking for some cost-efficient ones to replace them," I said, pouting a little to add up to the drama I'm trying to cook.

The duke looked surprised, well, I would be too. This was the first in a while that I acted like a cute little child. And it's starting to make me puke.

"Can I also request for my servants to be moved to the other maid's quarters that's close to my room?" I added another request, which caught the duke's attention more.

He wiped his mouth with his napkin and drank from his wine glass. "Why? Is there something wrong with their current quarters?" The duke inquired.

And this was my queue.

I sighed softly as I placed down my silverwares, making the duke look at me with worry in his face. "It seems like the servants dislike sharing a room with them just because they were serving me."

The atmosphere in the dining room suddenly changed. I could feel the maids serving us, who were also the head maid's accomplices, turn their attention to me.

The duke was bewildered with my statement. And before he could question my words, I immediately blurted out the answer for him.

"You see, your grace, I slapped the head maid yesterday after she hit my maid, Marina. It started when I visited the servants' quarters yesterday since Marina didn't come to my room to help me. And I. . ." I trailed off, lowering my head as if I was about to cry.

I could feel the duke shifting on his seat, then he placed a hand over mine. "You can tell me everything, Elisse," he said reassuringly.

I kept my head lowered as I continued. "I heard the head maid insulting me with vulgar words, while she bullied my maid. The other maids were watching her, and I felt extremely embarrassed that my initial reaction was to barge into their room and slap her." I sobbed as I finished my story.