Protection (Lady Dimitrescu x Reader)

Chapter 3: Touchy Subjects

A month passed by without much incident after the talk between me and Alcina. I rarely saw the countess, but I when I did, she would have me sit and drink tea or play chess with her. Sometimes she'd take me to the music room and have me play the piano alongside her. Those moments were rare enough that I would constantly wonder if they even happened. Was she trying to bring herself to trust me? 

Snapping fingers appeared in my blurred vision, breaking me out of my thoughts. I blinked a couple times to clear my eyes and turned to Bela, who was sitting to my left, looking at me with an excellent poker face. "Y/n, that's the third time you spaced out. Is something wrong?"

I shrugged and sighed. "It's been a month since Michael and I have arrived and your mother doesn't seem to be warming up to me. Michael yes, me no. I haven't been anything other than, well, me."

A different voice sounded from the doorway, along with the familiar sound of giggling. "Mother really is trying, Y/n. She's been deeply betrayed before, as well as us." Cassandra sauntered in followed by Daniela with Michael in her arms.

I frowned and looked between all the girls, the two of which sat down facing me. Michael sat in Daniela's lap drinking from a juice box while he flipped through a picture book.

"What do you mean? Did a hunter betray her or...?"

Bela sighed from beside me and shook her head, staring into her cup of tea as she recalled what had happened,

"A couple years ago, we found a maiden of pure human blood walking through the village. Mother was with us as we were all on our way back to the castle from a meeting with Mother Miranda. As we'd walked past this maiden, she asked for directions to our castle and once she realized who Mother was, she asked for a job as a maid. Now, of course we were going to turn her into wine, but the more time Mother spent with this woman, the more unlikely she'd be taken to the cellar. After a couple of months, Mother declared that she and the woman were together and no harm would come to her. We all wanted to object, but the woman soon slithered her way into our hearts and minds and...it wasn't too long before we started referring to her as 'mom'."

I immediately noticed the hurt in her voice and how she went from calling this person a 'maiden' to 'woman' in a dejected tone. Bela took a deep shaky breath and continued, meeting my eyes as she did so.

"Once four months went by, we all started noticing this woman's strange behavior. She would disappear from Mother's room during resting hours and we would catch her reading Mother's documents in her personal office. At that point, I didn't think she was even trying to hide the fact that she wasn't who she pretended to be. We knew something was coming and a few days later, hunters somehow managed to get into the castle through secret entrances that only we knew of. Luckily, we managed to kill them all but we wondered how? And all signs pointed to mo-the woman." Bela quickly corrected herself. I felt pity as I studied the girl. She looked lost while she stared into the fire off to the side.

"Mother confronted her and she admitted to being a spy. She tried pleading her case, but Mother wouldn't risk our lives by letting the woman live, so she stabbed the woman through the heart and killed her." Bela then fell silent, reliving her painful memories.

Cassandra piped up quietly and hugged her knees to her chest as she closed her eyes. "Mother's scream still haunts us to this day. The pain that she radiated...it was a horrible feeling. The one person we thought would truly accept us into their heart made an attempt on our lives because of what she really thought of us."

I shook my head and gingerly wrapped a comforting arm around Bela's shoulders. She leaned into me, although it was barely noticeable. I glanced between the three daughters, noticing that Daniela was making a point to ignore us and instead focus on Michael, not wanting to relive any past memories. I couldn't blame her. I felt my own anger bubble up from the story and how similar it was to mine. How could anyone deliberately hurt the Lady and her children after they got so close to them? It made me determined to show Alcina just how much I...what was I thinking?!