Sarina quickly made her way out of the room, closing the door of Kylina's room.
In the corridor, she casually made her way towards the domestic hall, with a tinderbox in hand.
With it, Sarina lit the candles atop the chandelier. Now the hall had been dyed with a warm glow from the several candles she had lit. She took a seat on the very sofa she had poisoned previously, picked up a newspaper from the table, crossed her legs whilst her feet hung on to the ugly leather slippers, and spread the newspapers.
She was now going to spend her time leisurely. Once the maids did their diligence, she would chat with them, then take a rest.
This was their usual routine of the three. By now, being reincarnated for more than a week, Sarina had gotten used to it.
…
The maids finished cooking and attending to the lords of the house. As the night descended, the maids had miscellaneous tasks that were quickly taken care of. Soon enough, about three hours had passed, and they found themselves in the place they would always hang around.
With a sigh containing exhaustion, Kylina expressed, "Ah, sometimes I wonder if this profession is worth it."
Sarina raised an eyebrow: "You don't seem to appreciate free housing and food, not to mention security."
"I know I know," Kylina answered whilst waving her hand in dismissal.
"Someone sounds very lazy. The life of a farmer is more troublesome than simply cooking and cleaning," Lisa reprimanded. She experienced this firsthand; her parents, like most farmers, were farmers.
"I know we are lucky, I was just joking," Kylina said as she put her hazel hair in a bun. She thought she had said something that pushed one of Lisa's mom modes on.
Lisa nodded in satisfaction. "As long as you know. Anyways, Sarina, all that laying around won't be any good for your hair. Why don't you let me style it into a braid?" As the hairstylist of the house, she couldn't put up with such unkempt hair that Sarina was beginning to present.
Sarina thought for a second before replying, "As long as you don't leave me looking like a particular someone." She then moved her eyes to look at Kylina.
"Hey!" Kylina noticed the subtle insult. "You know, I'm quite the looker."
Lisa teased, "According to who?"
"Who needs friends when I have friends like you all…" Kylina grumbled.
Lisa got up from the sofa, going around behind the sitting Sarina, sorting her hair.
"Seriously, Sarina, you gotta take better care of your hair. The friction from rubbing against the pillow is bad," Lisa said, as she examined her hair.
"You know you gotta learn from me," she said as she flipped her raven shiny black hair, showing it off without shame.
"We get it, Lisa…" Kylina quietly muttered.
"It must've been the stress." Sarina gave a perfunctory answer. She now realized that she had failed in one aspect pertaining to self-care. Back when she was a wandering demonic magician, she cared little about her self-image. At that point, she was in a stage where no superficial damage happened to the body. She only focused on obtaining power and comprehending the Magia.
Kylina laid back, putting her arms on her head and feet on the table as she said, "You know, my old man said that he went bald due to stress. I thought he was coping–"
Sensing something coming, Sarina looked at her. "And, where's this going?"
Kylina dramatically turned her head and blurted out, "Bald Sarina or should I say Baldrina."
Pfft
While splitting Sarina's hair, Lisa couldn't hold back making a sound at Kylina's remark. She closed her lips tightly in an effort to not let any laughter out and ridicule this recently poisoned victim.
Filled with her own joke, Kylina made a face that said she couldn't contain her laughter any further, and after seeing Lisa making such an ugly face she was about to explode.
Lisa looked at Kylina, the two gazing at each other as if in a contest of who would succumb faster. Like a fuse that was ignited, the two exploded.
"Haha."
At once, two sources of laughter spread all over the domestic hall, drowning it in a joyous atmosphere.
"Haha." Kylina clutched her stomach whilst she tried to calm down her laughter.
Lisa had stopped with her task in an effort to calm herself down.
"Sorry, sorry!" Kylina somehow managed to squeeze out such words while her voice only made laughing sounds.
Sarina dismissed her. Friends would often joke around with each other—this portrayed their closeness. This only made her disguise more convincing, so she didn't care about the remark. That is why she had made one in the first place.
"It's okay. I had it coming. Let's just hope I don't end up losing my hair." Sarina pretended to sigh just as she spoke.
Lisa managed to compose herself first, saying, "You know, as the big sister, I can only make things fair. Next time she asks for a style, I'll braid it super tight."
Sarina raised her head, bending her neck to look at Lisa who was behind. "Wait, didn't you laugh too, making you an accomplice? You should–"
Lisa cut her off. She grabbed the ends of Sarina's hair and draped it over her forehead, covering her eyes. "No I didn't, must've been the birds."
She slightly pushed her head down in an effort to make Sarina face forward and not at her. "Talking about animals, I still have that book I can lend it–"
"No." Sarina this time was the one doing the interrupting.
Just as she said that, footsteps from the entrance of the hall were heard.
Like three dogs who had heard something strange, the maids looked at the visitor in unison.
It was the Matron in her usual blue maid outfit. Her face was mature with a few wrinkles adorned with it, brown eyes, thin lips, and her black hair placed in a neat bun at the top of her head.
The Matron, with a look of nostalgia tinged with sadness, spoke: "Ah, you three, never lose those smiles that adorn your faces and the laughter you bring to each other, because one day it may be gone."
The three nodded seriously. "Yes, Miss Matron."
The Matron sighed. "No need to be so formal when out of duty. You can call me Misha. No need to be so uptight with me around."
The three grew slightly puzzled, slightly reflecting it on their facial expressions.
Lisa spoke first out of the three, saying, "Uh, Miss Misha?"
Misha nodded in satisfaction. "Yes, that's good. It may be a bit awkward at first, but this is a start. You know, once you get older like me, you start to think about your past actions. I realized how harsh and uptight I've been on the three of you. From now on, let's start to get to know each other a bit more."
The maids nodded slowly, as if they couldn't believe the situation.
"Yes, Miss Misha."
Misha continued: "Now, I don't want to interrupt the three of you any further. I'll get back to my room. You know I'm at the age where one prefers to sleep earlier." While saying that, she walked past the three onto the end of the hall, where her room was located.
The three watched the scene without saying a word, just looking at the Matron walk past by and leave.
It was only when she closed the door to her room that Kylina, in a low voice, turned to Sarina and whispered, "See, I told you Miss Matron changed! I can't believe it, it's as if someone replaced the real Matron."
Sarina made a surprised expression. "I didn't think that it would have amounted to this!"
In reality, she wasn't shocked. Misha had gone through a life-or-death scenario. It would only be natural to experience such drastic changes in one's personality. It would be rare if a person came out the same. After all, there was a saying that people close to death had always repeated: "Your life flashes before your eyes just before you die, so make sure it is one worth watching."
Lisa, who was slightly bent over to listen to what Kylina had said, added in a low voice, "Shall we repent for all the curses we spat at Miss Matron?" As subordinates who were directly under her, the three behind doors would make remarks to the Matron's back. She was seen as this unmovable bitter person—even Lisa, the most responsible out of the three, wasn't completely sin-free. Now that the Matron had rebranded to Misha, she felt extremely guilty for badmouthing.
Kylina whispered, "It's more like all our—curses no, our not so nice words—merged together to form this miracle. We are blessed!"
Lisa, seeing Kylina going astray to what she was trying to say, in a dismissive tone replied, "Okay…" Meanwhile, parting Sarina's hair.
"I guess it's Miss Misha now? Huh. Miss Misha…" Sarina said with some disbelief.
Kylina repeated, "Miss Misha, Misha, Misha, Misha…" Each time going lower and lower.
The always stern Matron had actually mentioned that she wanted to get close to them. For the three, this was groundbreaking news. Years of knowing her had cemented a certain image.
Lisa continued, braiding Sarina's hair, "Let's just be grateful for the change. Miss Misha, Miss Misha, Misha…" She too muttered her name, in order to get used to this new string of letters.
The three maids spoke with one another for some time. They finally started to get tired from their day.
Lisa finished off Sarina's hair quite quickly, making her a mermaid braid that encompassed her whole hair except their curtain bangs. The braid sat on her right shoulder.
The three said their farewells, accompanying each other to their rooms.
Once in her small room, Sarina laid on her bed. During the 'resting period' she had completed exercises to strengthen her body, including today, so it wasn't necessary at this moment.
In her nightgown, she put on a sleeping bonnet, took off her ugly slipper, and mounted the bed.
She laid down, pulled the blanket to cover most of her body, and closed her eyes.
She slept soundly.
…
Meanwhile, Kylina had lit the candle, engulfing the room in a yellow dim light. She was ready to go to the closet and put on her nightgown. Lately before bed, she had begun the habit of writing a little bit, as Sarina had mentioned to her, but from the corner of her eye she noticed something laying on her bed.
"What is this? A letter?" Kylina analyzed the shape of the paper, which looked like an envelope.
"For me?" She read the letter as she got closer to it, noticing that the letter was directed toward her.
She was filled with curiosity as to who could've been the sender. Normally, letters would arrive at the post of the Fangs — the maids would regularly check on them in order to keep their lords notified.
"Did Lisa or Sarina leave this here, and forget to notify me?" Kylina grew puzzled as she grabbed the letter, ready to reveal its contents inside.
She unfolded the letter and grabbed the contents inside — it contained two slips of folded paper.
Kylina wasn't unused to letters; often she would communicate with her family through them.
She sat down, crossed her legs, and began to read the contents of the slip of paper.
"Kylina Letchinson, I know who you are…" Kylina's heart palpitated from the unusual and eerie introduction.
"A worker of the Fang household, a young mortal girl of the Letchinson family, in one of the villages. Currently eighteen years old. Acquaintances: Lisa Marge, and Sarina Crimson."
Kylina's heart grew tense. It was unsettling how the letter had mentioned her family, where they lived — and her friends! Her eyes were widening with slight terror.
"As of now, I'm near, watching your every move. I'll be frank; I was the one to poison those two mortals."
Once she read this sentence, Kylina's hand started to shake. Sweat began accumulating on her hands and forehead, her body's temperature started to rise — she began to feel unwell. The scene from that incident was still fresh in her mind.
Her brows furrowed in terror. "Someone is watching!" She grimaced as she looked around in an effort to find the one who was spying on her. But then it dawned on her — a certain word the sender had written: "Mortal."
Meaning, the sender was a magician!
She stopped looking at once, lest she inquired the fury of the lord magician who laid within the shadows.
Huff. Huff.
She began to breathe heavily at the thought. At once, she ceased any intention of giving this letter to Lord Teren and the others. She was now scared for her own safety. She knew that she was at the mercy of whoever was near, and for now, the sender didn't have the intentions of harming her — seen by how she was still breathing. Their purpose was for her to read the letter they had composed.
She reluctantly and slowly lowered her eyes and began to read the letter once more.
It read: "Don't try showing this letter to anyone, unless you want your family and your friends to suffer a fate worse than death. Mortals are mere cattle in the eyes of us. Nobody would raise an eyebrow if a mortal family in a village suddenly went missing. I've been watching you closely for the past months."
"The most notable thing I've done is to give that friend of yours, Sarina, that book. I was the one who gave her those free books and told her about the joys of writing. What do you think? She was just at death's doors. Even now, one wrong move from you and she shall no longer exist. Hehe. I recommend not to throw that book away. Open and read the next slip of paper, that way you'll get a full grasp of your situation. Once read, keep it hidden under your room. If you dare disobey, I've written a copy of it. From it, I'll send it to your dear Fang patriarch."
"What…?" Finding herself aghast, she wasted no time. She hurriedly took the envelope from her side and unfolded the other slip of paper that was neatly folded.
With her shaking hands — that seemed to become paler — she held the paper right above her knees.
"Greetings Lord,
As instructed, I planted the poison to target one of the workers under the household. The unforeseen happened, and one of the other maids was struck by the incident. All suspicion has been cleared from me. I await your next orders, Lord."
"Wait… Isn't this my handwriting?" Kylina's face turned extremely ugly — her eyes moisturizing from the complicated scene. The sender was too insidious.
"No, no, I didn't write this! Why would they incriminate me for something I didn't commit?" Kylina couldn't begin to accept the situation she had found herself in, but the proof of her reality held right in front of her blurry vision.
The letter framed her — and if sent to the Fangs, what would they think of her? They would execute her for colliding with the other party! Her reputation would be shattered. Lisa, Sarina, the young masters — everybody would think that she was a traitor doing harm to the family.
She tried to compose herself, wiping the tears that flowed down to her cheek with the cloth on her forearm. Pausing for a moment, she continued to read.
"Don't worry, I will not let you go in harm's way without reason." Kylina's lifeless eyes, streaming with sadness, clung onto a piece of hope.
"I'll have you do some task every three days of the week starting today. At midnight, you'll come to this address noted below. You must listen to the man that you'll meet. Don't say more than you need to, and keep to yourself. You must fully comply and not ask. Once you reach him, give him that other letter I left to him. After you've memorized the contents of this letter, you must destroy it. If you go against my wishes, I don't mind making use of that Sarina girl. Think wisely."
Kylina, with a painful expression, muttered, "Why? Why…"
It hadn't been long since the poisoning accident, and now she was facing a threat not only to herself, but her friends and family. Not only that, the sender demanded for Kylina to comply with their demands — if not, the sender would utilize Sarina in her stead. And Kylina most certainly would be found as a corpse.
Kylina placed both of her hands on her temples, staring straight at the floor. After reading those terrifying words, the energy she had left was extinguished.
Tears flowed from her eyes quietly, softly hitting the wooden floor, leaving soft wet marks.
Plop. Plop.
The letter was like a monster formed by the darkest and most terrifying nightmare — she was a hostage to this nightmare fiend. It grasped her joyful heart, now staining it with the ugly marks of despair. If she cherished her life, she had no option but to let this monster control her fate. She was to be guided blindly by the whims of it, with no other option but to accept its terrifying grace.
She just wanted to collapse at this moment and tell herself that it was all a dream — a nightmarish dream.
"What have I done? To have such an ugly and terrifying future…? I— I…"
She wanted to wake up.
She wanted to wake up from this nightmare that she found herself in.