Behind the Castle's Door [COMPLETED]

Twenty-First Door

The new servants have arrived at the castle, which means Clementine will have more time to spend with the girl and Alcina. She was with Ingrid today as they walked into the living room, chatting about Ingrid's promotion to head maiden of the castle, which she had not anticipated.

As her arms joined with Clementine's, Ingrid shouted, "I am thanking Mother Miranda for giving me this position I never thought to have."

"Hey! You deserved it, you've been here longer than I have and your blood has even been transformed into wine," she quipped.

"But, in all seriousness, I can already see that this work will give me a headache. One of the new maids broke a wine glass when cleaning the wine cellar earlier this morning, which made me very nervous, especially since Lady Cassandra was there to witness it happened," Ingrid let out a sigh.

"What happened to the maid?"

"Lady Cassandra slapped her."

Clementine nodded. She wasn't surprised any longer; the girls are always like this, which is why the staff is terrified of them, particularly Alcina; she was the only one who had never been treated in this manner, perhaps because she had become close to them.

"I'm not surprised," she shrugged, "Lady Cassandra still despises servants, and that includes me even if i'm their personal maid."

Ingrid pursed her lips and approached Clementine. "What exactly is going on between you and Lady Dimitrescu? You were seen holding hands in the vineyard by a worker a few weeks ago," she softly slapped Clementine's shoulder, murmuring and chuckled quietly.

"W-what?" Her pupils dilated.

"Oh, please! If you two ever have something, I'm not going to be mad at you because who am I to be mad? You're finally going to have a love life of your own. So, are you now dating?"

She burst out laughing. "There's nothing going on between us! What are you talking about?" Her cheeks were starting to heat from the thought, so she averted her gaze.

"Oh, come on! You have a crush on her, don't deny it," she slapped her arm again. "You never know if the lady will fall for someone else's spell if you don't move promptly."

Clementine's brows drew together. "What do you mean?"

The sound of heels clacking drew them to the stairwell before Ingrid could even respond. Alcina was on her way down the stairs, trailed by a maid with light brown hair and brown eyes.

Ingrid murmured to her, "That's what i'm talking about," she scoffed.

Alcina finally descended the steps and approached Clementine, her brows narrowing as she noticed Ingrid's arm intertwined with the woman's. Because she felt Alcina's glare on her arm, Ingrid pulled her arm away from Clementine's.

Ingrid bowed and said, "Lady Dimitrescu."

"Lady Alcina," she also greeted, bowing her head.

"I've been on the looking for you," Alcina murmured softly, referring to her.

"I'm sorry," she replied, "I just returned from taking Lady Cassandra to her music teacher on the west wing."

The girl behind Alcina looked at her, she had an innocent expression on her face and she was twitching her fingers, and Ingrid, who was standing alongside Clementine, made a sour face.

Alcina nodded. "Ingrid, please give this maid a tour of the castle; she went into my study thinking it was the laundy room before," she sighed frustratedly.

"My lady," she said softly, "My name is Vanessa."

Alcina snapped at her, "I didn't ask for it."