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I leaned my head against the doorframe and slid down until I hit the floor. I was exhausted, overwhelmed, and still vibrating with the phantom fear of the possible thing that could happen; here I am, terrified of tomorrow. But as I watched the silver-haired boy curl up on the pillow by the fire, his small body finally uncoiling from its defensive knot, I knew one thing.
I had survived Day One.
The [TRUST: -50] from the System, glowing in my vision, was a grim reminder of the mountain I still had to climb. I had fifty more points left, just to reach zero. Just to get to neutral and no longer be a threat anymore.
I sat there on the plush, warm rug for what felt like hours. The adrenaline that had kept me upright during my confrontation with the Duke had drained away, leaving a bone-deep, heavy, aching exhaustion in its place.
I watched Kaelen. He wasn't asleep, I could tell from the way his shoulders tensed every time the fire crackled too loudly. He was resting, but he was listening too—a small, traumatized animal testing a new, safe cave, but he wasn't letting his guard down yet. I couldn't blame him.
My own body was screaming at me. I was clean, yes, but I was still hollow and starving. The warning was still glowing faintly in my vision.
['MALNUTRITION' STATUS: CRITICAL] [CURRENT STAMINA: 12% - SHUTDOWN IMMINENT]
I was supposed to be in charge. I was the "Guv'ness." and a Governess needs a plan.
[NEW MAIN SCENARIO QUEST: 'A GOVERNESS GOVERNS'.] [OBJECTIVE 1: ESTABLISH A ROUTINE.] [OBJECTIVE 2: REDUCE WARD STRESS LEVELS]
I looked at the boy and the fire. "A routine," I whispered, my voice a dry croak. "Okay. Step one should be fuel."
I dragged my aching body up from the floor. Kaelen instantly flinched, his eyes snapping open. He saw me standing and tensed, his hand curling into a fist against the rug, ready to bolt.
"It's okay," I said, my voice low and soft, holding my hands up palms-out. "I'm not doing anything. I'm just hungry. And you must be, too. The Duke- your Uncle… I mean the 'Bad Man'..."—I used his own words—"...said he'd send dinner. For two."
Kaelen just stared at me, his magenta eyes wary, tracking the movement of my hands as if I were hiding a net.
As if summoned by the mention of the Duke, there was a firm, polite, and terrifyingly competent knock-knock-knock at the door.
Kaelen shot up and dove behind the massive, four-poster bed.
"No, no, Kaelen, it's okay!" I hissed. "It's probably the food!"
I took a deep breath, smoothing the silk of my dress. "Y-you may enter!"
The door opened, and an older woman glided in. She had steel-grey hair pulled into a severe, perfect bun and wore a pristine black dress that made the other maids' uniforms look like rags. Her face was a mask full of neutrality. Utterly, completely, terrifyingly professional ice. She was carrying a massive silver tray with an ease that belied her thin frame, as if she could hold the weight of the entire Ducal household if she had to.
"Governess," she said, her voice a crisp, cool monotone. She dipped her head in a short, correct nod. I'm sure this Lady wasn't just a maid.
"I am Hannah," she stated. "The Duke has 're-assigned' me. I am to be your 'interim' personal attendant. And the attendant for the young master."
My heart skipped a beat as I realized who she could be. She was the Head Chambermaid. In the hierarchy of this house, her role was just below the Butler, but she's clearly on par with him. The Duke Zander hadn't just given me a servant; he had given me his most efficient observer, a high-ranking one.
[SYSTEM ALERT: 'INTERIM ATTENDANT (HANNAH)' ACQUIRED.] [STATUS: NEUTRAL (LOGICAL)] [NOTE: This is not a 'friend'. This is a 'warden'. Behave. WATCH YOUR PROTOCOL.]
Hannah glided to the table near the fireplace and set the tray down with a rhythmic, soft clink. "The Duke has ordered dinner. For two. And 'remedial' supplies."
She lifted the silver dome, and the smell of real food—roasted chicken, steamed vegetables, and herb-crusted thick bread—filled the room. My stomach screamed, letting out a vulgar, hollow roar. Behind the bed, I saw Kaelen's silver head poked out. He smelled it, too.
Hannah then unpacked the "remedial" supplies: thick towels, lavender-scented soap, a large ceramic basin of steaming water, and a set of small, clean, high-quality boys' clothes.
She turned to me, her eyes flicking over my silhouette, then over to the soot-stained fireplace. Her face betrayed nothing. "The Duke has ordered that the young master be 'remediated' to your standards, Governess."
Was he mocking me? He was using my own logic to remind me that this was now my responsibility. If the boy stayed dirty or wild, then it would be my failure. Oh, he's so weird.
"I see," I said, my voice tight. "Thank you, Hannah. That will be all."
"Very good, Governess." Hannah nodded once and glided out, closing the door as silently as she had entered.
The room was quiet. It was just me, Kaelen, a mountain of food, and a sort of bathtub.
Kaelen crept out from behind the bed, his eyes glued to the chicken. He looked at me, his face a silent question, clearly asking permission. Can I? Is it a trap?
"Yeah," I whispered. "It's for us."
I looked at his matted hair and the soot still streaked across his forehead. He is filthy."But," I said, my voice soft despite trying to sound firm, "New rule. From the 'Guv'ness'." He flinched at the word. "We don't eat when we're filthy. We wash." I pointed at the basin.
Kaelen's face dropped. The light in his eyes died, replaced by a sharp, jagged panic. He looked at the steam rising from the basin, scrambled backward, panicked.
[KAELEN VORONOFF: 'FEAR' +20!] [TRAUMA DETECTED: 'COLD WATER ABUSE/FORCED CLEANSING' ]
He recoiled, hissing like a cornered cat. I realized with a jolt of horror that "remediation" in the servants' wing probably meant being scrubbed with Iye and freezing water
"No," I said, holding my hands up. "No, no, Kaelen, it's okay! It's warm!"
He shook his head, glowering at me. I was just like them.
[SCENARIO: 'THE FIRST BATH'.] [1. FORCE HIM (RESULT: 'TERROR' +50. 'TRUST' -20. ...DON'T. JUST... DON'T.)] [2. BRIBE HIM ('NO BATH, NO FOOD.') (RESULT: 'DISTRUST' +10, STRESS +15)] [3. IMPROVISE (???)]
I looked at the panicked child and the warm water. I chose Option 3. "Okay." I knelt by the basin and dipped my own hands in the water. "See?" I said softly. "It's warm. It's nice just like the sun."
I took the lavender soap and washed my own hands, slowly, letting him see the bubbles. I washed the soot from my own cheeks, scrubbing the grime from under my nails and sighing with genuine relief at the warmth. It felt so good, washing after a while.
I then looked at Kaelen. He hadn't run. He was watching me, his magenta eyes wide and filled with confusion. He had never seen this, someone enjoying being clean.
I took a clean cloth, dipped it in the warm water, and held it out. "Your turn," I whispered. "I won't touch you. I promise." I was about to put the cloth in his hand, planning not to touch him.
He flinched, shaking his head. No. No. No.
"Okay," I said. "Okay. I won't touch you." I placed the warm, wet cloth between us and sat back, giving him space. "Then... you... can do it."
The room was silent, filled only with the crackle of the fire and the smell of chicken. Kaelen stared at the cloth. His stomach let out a tiny, cute growl. He looked at the chicken, then the cloth, the at me. Finally, his pale hand darted out and snatched it.
He didn't run. He just looked at me, daring me to move. I didn't, offering only a small, tired smile.
Hesitantly, he wiped the cloth across his cheek. He stared at the grey dirt left on the white fabric and blinked in shock. It left a clean streak on his cheek. Then, with a sudden, desperate energy, he began to scrub. "Ohh.. gently…" I mumbled.
He worked like a mad boy, cleaning his hands, his face, and his neck until the water in the basin was grey.
When he finished, he dropped the rag and looked up. Without the grime, he was a beautiful child—skinny and pale, but striking. And there, on his cheekbone, was a dark bruise. My hands curled into fists. Thorne. Eliza. And whoever else was involved. I'd remember those names, such people.
[TRUST: -45 / 100] [A 5-POINT JUMP! ...NICE WORK, PLAYER.]
Kaelen saw me staring and flinched, thinking I was angry. "No," I whispered. "No, I'm not... angry. At you." I was about to pat him, but I stopped myself mid-air.
I then stood up and walked to the table. I tore a leg off the chicken, placing it on a plate with bread and a glass of milk. " Dinner," I said, gesturing to the small, child-sized chair. "Come on."
Kaelen looked at the chair with something akin to terror. He looked... scared. To him, a "proper" place was a place where you were judged for your manners and punished for being a "monster." He shook his head and retreated to his pillow-nest on the rug.
I looked at the table. I looked at him. [...Inefficient.] I thought, mocking the Duke. I sighed. "Okay," I muttered. "The floor it is."
I gathered my expensive silken skirt and sat cross-legged on the rug right next to him. Kaelen froze. I had broken another rule. I wasn't looming over him. I was on his level.
I held out the plate. He looked at the food, then at me. "...Guv... ness...?" he whispered.
"Yeah," I said, my voice thick. "It's dinner, Kaelen. ...Eat."
He grabbed the chicken and ate like a wolf cub, tearing the meat from the bone with a desperate, focused hunger. I smiled, sitting back on the rug with my own plate, and we ate together in silence, in the golden glow of the hearth.
It was the first meal we shared, as a team, maybe.
Later, much later, the fire was low, casting flickering orange shades across the room. The food was gone, and Hannah had come and gone like a shadow, taking the tray without a word of judgment, her face betraying no emotion at finding us both on the floor.
I was in my nightgown. Kaelen was in his clean nightshirt. He was drooping, his eyes heavy. But he wouldn't sleep or lie down. He kept looking at the door, then at me. He was afraid that the moment he slept, I would either vanish back into the tower or leave.
"I'm not going anywhere," I whispered. "I live here now."
I walked to the hearth, my bare feet sinking into the plush rug. I found a heavy, iron poker leaning against the stone. I carefully poked the logs, ensuring the embers would last through the night, breaking up the red-hot embers and pushing the remaining wood into a safer, more contained pile. It would last for hours—a warm, glowing guardian against the cold.
I looked at the massive, empty bed, then at Kaelen on the rug.
"You can sleep on the floor, if you want," I said softly, giving him the choice. "It's warm and safe."
He just looked at the bed. I sighed. I was so tired. "Or..." I said, "It's a very big bed."
I climbed in, crawling to the far edge to give him as much space as possible. I got under the covers and turned my back to him. "Goodnight, Kaelen."
I waited. A long, silent minute passed. I pretended to be asleep, which wasn't hard. Then, I heard it. A tiny scuffle. A small thump of knees on the mattress. A rustle of blankets. A small, warm, clean body settled on the absolute, farthest edge of the other side of the bed.
He was as far away as he could possibly be. But he was in bed. He was not on the floor, but he was there.
I lay perfectly still, my heart hammering. He's here.
The System pinged softly in my head.
[TRUST: -35 / 100] [NEW STATUS: 'PROTECTOR' (LV 1) ACQUIRED.] [NEW MAIN SCENARIO QUEST: 'A GOVERNESS GOVERNS'] [OBJECTIVE 1: ESTABLISH A ROUTINE.] [OBJECTIVE 2: SECURE PERMANENT 'GOVERNESS' STATUS.] [OBJECTIVE 3: ... ...SURVIVE LADY ROSALINE.]
I froze. Survive... Lady... Rosaline?
My eyes snapped open in the dark. ...Who... was... Lady... Rosaline? ... ... ... ...Oh. ... ...Oh... no.
I remembered. The novel. "The Black Rose's Heart."
Rosaline. Lady Rosaline Ashworth. The "Saintess". The real heroine. The woman who was supposed to marry the Duke and "save" the boy with her holy light.
I wasn't a "starter villain" anymore. I was an obstacle. I was the false heroine. In that story, I was the starter villain she defeated to prove her worth.
[SYSTEM NOTE: THE 'UNORIGINAL FEMALE LEAD' IS DUE TO ARRIVE IN... THREE MONTHS.]
My blood ran cold. I had just survived my execution, but the System had just started a new countdown clock. And this time, I wasn't just simply fighting a staff or any supporting character. I will fight the heroine herself.
(End of Chapter 14)
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