Under the stars

Chapter 15

Yesterday's reality felt like a long lost nightmare. I woke up to the sun's rays yet again and let the warmth embrace me with open hands. I was still struck by his kindness yesterday and was having a hard time processing that we went out of his way to massage me and I know you all think that i am over thinking I mean at the end of the day he is the same person you inflicted this on me but you know for somebody of his demeanour it really struck me. Anyhow whether I like to admit it or not, this punishment really taught me about the new lifestyle I was expected to live and they seriously took no for an answer.

Looking back I understand why my brothers were warning me so much and I feel quite stupid for not listening to them in the first place. I shower quickly and when dressing I actually allow the maids to tighten the corset to the fullest as I am notorious for resisting so they actually seemed quite pleased with my change of heart. Santiago came waltzing into my room like he owned the place because in reality he kind of did but anyhow he walked in and I noticed all the maids drop into a curtsy. I was unsure as to if I would do that as well and my muscles were sore as hell so even if I was supposed to I was hoping he would let me get away with it.

"All maids are dismissed". "As for you I will leave today as an exception but other than that you are also expected to curtsy until we marry and until then you are no exception", "As for your corset it was applied horribly and I hope you work towards changing it in fact why don't I demo today as another pre-warning for the future." He spoke with an evil grin. I was scared and my body was totally against me today so I was unsure.

Unlike me the maids seemed frightened out of their wits as he just directly criticised their work and I can not imagine that happening everyday. I miss Esmeralda and Florence a lot I have not seem both of them since the first day which was quite sad and my current nurses always kill all the convo I start with them leaving us as just virtual strangers which is unfortunate because if they are going to be doing this everyday for me I at least want to get to know them a bit better but I now see that this is not in their future plans for us which I suppose I have to live with. He waltzed further towards me as I whimpered and backed up still scared but as per usual he did not take no for an answer.

"Come, lovely I will fix it, you will for once in your life wear it like a queen which really can't hurt you." He said that whilst his eyes traced down my body shape which kind of hurt me a lot more than I would ever admit. Did he really think I was that misshapen that I needed an extra tight corset to make up for it? His hands quickly reached behind and he rested his knee on the small of my back and within a split second he used all his strength to pull it. I felt like crying because he did it that tight. "See a bit better, I hope your maids take note and if not they will re-assigned or I will have to do it everyday. He quickly crept out of the room leaving me in agony and alone as my maids trailed after him.

I limply put on my dress and headed down stairs. I was already feeling light-headed and faint and the difficulty breathing was now hitting me with full force. I was struggling for breath but did not know what to do so I shut my mouth and went down-stairs for breakfast. As break-fast progressed I could not spot that girl anywhere which was alarming but at the moment it was the least of my problems. My breathing was off and it was tugged around me so tight that I could not even stomach any real food so I spent the majority of breakfast sipping water. Santiago took slight notice and whenever he did I tried my best to shove a piece of food down my throat but boy did the overly tight corset make it a challenge. He hastily dismissed everyone from breakfast per usual and summoned and led me to his room just like yesterday.

The vents were playing in my head and I made sure to double check my attire and attitude to try and avoid any punishments even though I had no idea what I could have possibly done wrong. "I see you putting my words in action. If you are interested in making positive changes towards your diet I could always get the dietitian in to assist you in a proper diet?" The way he just openly suggested it was odd and I was contemplating telling him the truth because I was starving as all I had yesterday was a banana and granola bar but I was unsure so I stood there confused, bewildered and baffled at the same time.

"Cat got your tongue lovely. Come on, tell me it seems you want to." He prompted me but I was scared and unsure so I just chose the easy-road. It seemed "no no it is all good just not feeling hungry right now maybe later." He seemed to have bought my lie until my stomach betrayed me and rumbled indicating my pure starvation. I looked down in embarrassment at both the predicament and the horror of pure lying to his face. It was like my body was laughing at me right now and making an absolute mockery of me.

"Lying again, I assumed my warning and yesterday's events taught you better than to lie to me, especially straight to my face. Do you need to be taught another lesson? I will give you one more chance to tell me the truth and if I find our your lying we can do a repeat of yesterday but worse. Much much worse and don't doubt me I am capable of it but I am sure you already know that". I was stuck on whether I lie or tell the truth. Well I mean he kinda already figured out the lie maybe I should probably just come clean. "Um, well the corset was kind of too tight and it hurts alot to eat so I just tried to avoid it as best as I can."

His facial expression actually softened for a moment before it turned back into hard cold and brooding in a matter of seconds but I could sense the underlying guilt in the air that moved around in waves. Let me see, I really doubt it was so tight you could not even eat like seriously every single woman in that room can wear it and I do not see how you are an exception?" I turned around giving him access to the back and I felt as if he unlaced it all the way down. I do not know what he saw but I noticed that the moment it was fully off he took in a sharp breath and left it off.