What's that thing they say about a rose by any other name?

Chapter 5: She who Pray to The Gods but fell for their lies

No One's P.O.V:

Yumie was standing in front of two double doors as she was messing with the long sleeves of the dark blue dress that she was forced to wear by the maids. She has always hated wearing dresses, no matter how many times people have told her that she looks great. She prefers her black turtle neck sweater, grey pants, and black boots. She took a breath before releasing it and opening the doors slowly to see a few people in there, with someone sitting on a throne made of ice. 

She recognized two of the 11: The Regrator, who smiled at her, and The Doctor, supposedly her father. "It seems you just arrived on time, Miss Yumie," Pantalone said with that same smile. "I'm glad you're wearing the outfit I brought you." She shivered from the way he smiled at her. Wait, did he buy this dress for me? Yumie thought as she looked at The Regrator and slowly curtsy at him. I should probably thank him.

"I didn't realize you brought this for me, M-milord," She said with a soft yet nervous tone. "I cannot pay you back for such a kind gesture." She heard footsteps coming towards her, and she kept her head down. Don't look up, keep your head down, and stay calm, Yumie thought as she felt someone lifting her chin to make her look at them. "You are quite different than your father," Pierro said, holding Yumie's chin and making her look at him. "But dangerous, nonetheless." He could tell she was trying to stay calm before him; not many people can do that. Suddenly, everyone heard an echoing voice; it was the Tsaritsa. "Jester, walk her to me," she bellowed.

All the harbingers turn to look at The Tsaritsa, who looks at Yumie motherly. Pierro lets go of Yumie's chin and starts making her walk to the throne, which causes Yumie to stumble in her steps as she curses the heels she has to wear. The Tsaritsa sees how Yumie is shaking from fear and how forceful her Jester is. Pierro makes Yumie stand in front of the Tsaritsa, and he sees how she is messing with her sleeves almost like she is afraid of meeting the Tsaritsa.
She shouldn't be that afraid unless she is hiding something from everyone, Pierro thought as the Tsaritsa made me go stand next to The Doctor.

Yumie's P.O.V:

"Child, you're shaking. Are you afraid of me?" I heard the Tsaritsa say as I looked at her and shook my head. "I'm not worthy to meet you, Your Highness," I said as I felt my hair change and quickly grabbed the hair strands to hide the snakes. I believe that you would rather have someone better than me. I'm just a simple florist. I am no warrior nor Diplomat."

"Don't hide them. I promise you that I will not judge you," the Tsaritsa said, gently touching my hands and removing them from my hair. The snakes came out, and I felt everyone staring at me. Stop looking, I pleaded to myself. "You kept your secret hidden all this time; you shouldn't be scared of something that made you more beautiful," the Tsaritsa said as she petted the snakes. "I don't think I'm not Beautiful, Your Highness," I said. "You're way more beautiful than the stars in the sky."

She stops petting the snakes. "Dottore, I want you to learn about her," she said. "After that, I will put her with Pantalone." I looked at Dottore, who seemed to be hiding his anger that I wouldn't be living with him. "The Tsaritsa has spoken," Jester said. This meeting is over!" I feel Father grabbing my arm and dragging me off. I look back at others, and I keep stumbling in these devils' shoes. "Um... f-father-"

"Shut up. We'll talk when we get to my lab," Father said, shutting me down quickly. He made me nod as we walked down a dark hallway before letting go of my arm. I rubbed my arm gently and walked behind him. "Your hair... were you born that way?" I heard him say as he opened the door to a metal door, and I saw a lab that smelled like it had been deep cleaned. Hey, I asked you a question." The snakes hissed at the smell of chemicals, and I looked around. I look at him and shake my head no. "No, I wasn't born with my hair like this," I said as my snakes nuzzled my cheek gently. "Mother made my hair like this when I was seven."

"Is that so," he said as he grabbed a pair of gloves and other medical equipment on a side table. "I will be honest with you, I don't remember your Cunt of a mother."

"That's alright," I said as my snakes hissed at Father, trying to touch them. "I'm not surprised that you don't remember her."

"And it seems to me that you avoid talking about her," he said, looking at me and doing a basic checkup. "Get on the table for me. I need to examine you as you answer my question. Now, what types of snakes are these?"

"Black mambas, they keep me safe," I said as I hissed from the light being shined in my eyes as my snakes started to go away. Father turned the light off and then petted my head. "Good job. I just need to run a few more tests, and then we'll stop," he said, and I nodded. I think Father's going to keep me safe here, I thought.

Time skip to 3 hours later.

"This is your room, Milady," the maid says as she shows me where I'm staying. Lord Pantalone will be back later tonight to have dinner with you."

"R-Right," I said, holding a book that Father had given me. "I guess it wouldn't be too much to ask if I could be alone for a bit, please."

"Of course," the maid said, bowing as she walked off. I sigh before I sit on the bed and then open the book, which is filled with pages about many different types of flowers. I told myself that some of these flowers were from Sumeru. How did he know that I liked flowers? I gently touched the pages, sighed, and put the book down. Then, taking off my heels, I started to walk around the manor. 

"I wonder if he even has a garden," I mutter to myself while looking at the decor, and I see one painting in the hallway's centerpiece. It was a woman with snakes in her hair and almost a peaceful look on her face. But her eyes-

"Her eyes tell you that she accepted her faith in being a monster." I turned around quickly to see that Pantalone was smiling at me. "I'm glad to see you're finally here, Miss Yumie. I feared Dottore would keep you in the lab for several days." He said as he looked at me while I looked back at the painting to avoid looking at him. "I bought this painting three years ago in an auction in Fontaine. The owner told me that this painting was cursed. He said whoever had this painting would be turned to stone within two weeks. what do you think of that silly legend?" He said as I felt him looking at me like I was his prized possession, and I started to pull the sleeves of the dress a little bit.

"If I had to be honest, Milord, I believe that the legend could be true, but it depends on who first spoke of it," I said as I kept pulling the sleeves. "I don't think she accepted that she's a monster; rather, she accepted that she will be forever alone."

"Don't Pull on the sleeves, my dear. You'll ruin the dress faster that way. Do you want to know what this painting is called?" Pantalone said as he pushed up his glasses before gently taking my hand and tracing over the little scars on my hands. Why is he being so gentle with me? I thought he would be rougher with me.

"W-what is it called Milord?" I asked with that damn stuttering of mine, and I looked at him with a curious look as he got close to my ears and whispered this making me shudder from how his voice made me feel like I belonged next to me.

"Medusa; She who Pray to The Gods but fell for their lies"