𝙴𝚌𝚕𝚒𝚙𝚜𝚎𝚍

Chapter Five

By the time I had arrived at the manor, it was well past lunch time, and I had already hurt my own feelings more times than I could count on one hand.

I had spent the entire ride wallowing in self-pity, fawning over unattainable things, knowing I had been better off letting it all go. But instead, I just kept deepening the hurt of not being able to shift and widening the rift that had already begun to grow between myself and my siblings.

The sound of us coming to a stop shook me from my thoughts. I peered out of the window confirming that I was in fact home, then let out a deep sigh. Part of me wanted to ask the Coachman to ride me around for another hour, but I had important things to discuss with father that could not wait.

When I exited the carriage, the two maids, who had come outside to help me carry in the groceries, stopped in their tracks once they saw how disheveled I was.

"Goddess. . ." Sera exclaimed, "What happened to you, Young Miss?"

"I bumped into the wrong person and was punished accordingly." I tried to brush off their concern with a half-smile, "We ended up getting more cheese than usual due to Katie and her wolf's odd affinity for it. Since there is so much, if anyone is in need of some extra food, for any reason, have them take some. Oh, and I picked up some extra meat for Mira as well, so please, have the kitchen cook all of it tonight if you will."

"Young Katie has awakened as well?" Audrey's eyes widened, "She's only ten. . . is-is that possible?"

"Indeed, it is a rather rare occasion, so we must celebrate." I fought hard to keep a happy look on my face, trying my best to power through the conversation. I was exhausted, so much so that I wanted to tell father what had happened and then retire to my room for a few hours. But I did not want to make them feel as if they were bothering me, because it was not their fault that my day had not been a good one. "Where is father? I have something I need to urgently tell him."

"He and Mira are out hunting." Sera started to collect the baskets from the carriage, "I assume Luci and Katie are out doing the same?"

"Knowing Luci, she and Katie have most likely already found father and Mira. I am sure the four of them are all hunting together as we speak." I started to walk towards the front door, then turned back around to look at the two of them, "Just in case they all return from their hunt without an appetite, tell the kitchen to hold off on preparing dinner until after they arrive."

"If they are not hungry, would you still like them to make enough for you?" I could see the pity in both of their eyes as they tried to avoid acknowledging the elephant in the room.

"No, there is no need in all of that if I am to be the only one eating. I will just come down and grab something small for myself if that is the case." I forced a smile, "Oh, and please have someone leave a change of clothes for all of them on the front steps for when they all arrive. Thank you."

"Of course, Young Miss. Shall I inform you once your father is available to talk?" Sera carefully ignored the tinge of hurt in my voice. She and Audrey had finished collecting everything from the carriage and were making their way up to where I was standing on the porch.

"Yes, I would greatly appreciate it." I nodded my head in thanks. "If that is all, I shall leave the two of you to it."

They both lowered their heads to me, and I nodded in return. I had hoped it had not been that obvious to them that my feelings were indeed hurt by the situation. But I knew even if I had done a good job at hiding it, everyone in the house had already assumed my feelings for me. For many of them were mutts after all, and it was not that hard to see how unintentionally isolated I had become.