Innocence of the Shadow(A D-Gray Man Fanfic)Wattyawards First Place Winner 2015

Chapter 9

A.n. Phantomauthor, I am posting this chapter just because you kept asking. I was going to wait for a few days.

"Oh my. Young maiden, you look exhausted." A gentle voice said. I turned to the voice and saw a woman with a blue gown on and her red hair pulled into elegant curls around her head.

"I am." I sighed.

"Are you alone?" She asked me. I nodded with a sad expression on my face.

"You poor thing." She sighed, taking my hand. I smiled at her as best I could while still looking depressed and exhausted.

"You can stay with me and my husband." She smiled. I nodded and followed her to a carriage pulled by two brown horses.

"Who is this, Grace?" A man said. He was dressed in dark blue and green attire and had a kind expression.

"This child is all alone." Grace explained.

I curtsied and said "My name is Raina Kuro." as sweetly as I could. When I stood straight again the man bowed and helped Grace and myself into the carriage.

"Why are you all alone Raina?" He asked me as the carriage began to move.

"After the death of my family I was sent away to some family friends. Tragically, they died in a carriage accident just two weeks ago. I have been looking for a place to stay until I can live on my own ever since." I explained, filling my voice and my expression with mock pain, hoping that it was convincing.

"You can stay with us, our daughter has moved on to live with her new husband now." Grace explained happily.

"Oh thank you." I replied, acting relieved.

"We welcome you to the family." The man said. I smiled at him and the carriage stopped. A servant opened the door and helped Grace then myself out of the carriage.

"My lord, Gregory, a letter came from your daughter Amelia." A butler said.

"I shall read it in my study." Gregory said. The butler bowed and led us into a large estate.

"Madeline, lead Raina to Amelia's old room." Grace ordered. A maid quietly came to me and bowed. She was tall, thin, had golden blond hair pulled into a tight bun on the back of her head, and a black dress with a white apron on. She looked like the everyday upperclass maid, but she had uncommon beauty as well.

"Yes My Lady. Please follow me." The maid said.

"If she requires a new dress one of Amelia's might fit her." Gregory sighed. The maid bowed and I followed her through a maze of hallways and into a large room. The walls were white, a large balcony was outside a set of large glass doors, a bed with red drapes sat against the wall beside the doors, a massive closet was opened to reveal multiple elegant gowns, a wash room was beside it, and a desk with a mirror was beside the bed.

"This is where you will be staying my lady. Would you like a new dress?" Madeline said sweetly.

"Yes please. I would like to have an entirely different look." I replied. She bowed and walked into the closet only to return a moment later with a simple red gown. It had sleeves that ended at the shoulder and a matching set of heals. She helped me change into the dress and sat me down in front of the mirror. I had left my mask at the order and was glad I did too. Ko'lae laid on the bed and watched as the maid cleaned my old makeup off and applied new, put red jewel earrings on me, a ruby necklace, replaced the red lip stick I had with some of a brighter shine, and slid gold bracelets onto my right wrist along side of the bracelet I currently had.