The Castle's Cleaning Lady - Twisted Wonderland Reader insert

Chapter 29: Blot Besties

[Name] jerked up with a coarse wheeze, eyes darting around as she found herself regaining consciousness in a cloud of twigs and leaves. Her collar was gone from her neck! She pulled a confused face before she began to manoeuvre herself out the bush, only to stop and hiss.

"Ow! Fufufuck-" Her shoulder was fucking killing and her sore body was slow to cooperate. She figured she must've pulled a muscle from throwing that nasty paint can, which she briefly thought would be a hassle for when she would next have to clean the castle. "Great."

In spite of the pain, and with much difficulty, she still managed to roll herself out and onto the ground with an "oof!" and sit up to face seven stunned faces looking her way.

Everyone was in a messy state: tousled hair, scratched and dirtied up faces but (to her relief) no one seemed to have severe injuries. But probably the most notable change was Riddle, and though he had the beginnings of an unpleasant bruise forming on his face from Ace's punch as well as looking worse for wear like the others, he was back to normal, awake and alive. All traces of blot vanished and he was missing his crown and gloves, which she figured were lost in the chaos.

"Uh... Yo," she waved.

"[NAME]?!"

"[Name]! You're alive!" Grim was the first to react, sprinting over on all fours before encircling his arms around her neck and squeezing tightly. The hug was brief as he pulled away, his ear flames oscillating an irritated orange and paws placed on his hips, or at least the equivalent of hips for a magical monster. "Where did you go!? Don't scare me like that, henchman! You should be grateful I was really worried about you, you know!"

"I'm glad you're safe too, Grimbo," she laughed at typical Grim, with a quick scratch behind the back of his ear quickly pacifying him. She gazed at the others. "Is everyone alright? Wait, Riddle, are you okay?!"

"Yes... I'm quite alright..." Riddle answered absently, though [Name] could tell by the well he was staring at her, almost hyper-focusing on every detail on her face, something clearly was on his mind. Did he remember her from the white room?

"You gave us quite a scare, we were all panicking where you could've run off too!" Cater sighed, though the gentle look he was giving her indicated his relief. He happily helped and steadied her to her feet with both hands. "How did you even get in that bush?"

"Beats me."

"Don't give such a casual answer!" Ace frowned, pointing a finger at her with a slight growl in his voice. "What the hell [Name], you vanished without a trace!"

"I looked away for one damn second!" Deuce cried. With a fist against his chest, he bit his lip and looked away indignantly. "[Name]... please forgive me, you could've been seriously hurt..."

"Guys... It's fine, really," she dismissed. "All's well, ends well."

"I'm so glad," Crowley hummed, leaning his pale cheek into his golden clawed hands. "[Name] has been found and Riddle came back to his senses. What a positive outcome!"

"Still, there's no need to think about it now," Trey said, who was kneeling next to Riddle with a hand against his back, moving slowly around him. "Just relax, Riddle."