My Fair Lady

Den of Love

Life at home became extremely quiet after Titania left. There was some sort of emptiness and Juliet felt a little zoned out. Mrs Rosewood, after recovering from the initial shock, busied herself with preparing for Juliet's upcoming wedding.

One morning, whilst she was preparing for her daily walk, Juliet heard a knock on the door. Cautiously, she opened the door and found a woman wearing a tight, revealing green dress staring at her.

"Is this the Rosewood residence?" the woman purred.

"Yes." Juliet frowned. "I'm sorry but we do not welcome indecent women like you."

The woman snorted and gave her a once-over. Smirking, the woman said, "Don't get your knickers into a twist, m'lady. Our mistress wants to see you. Woman to woman."

"Who's your mistress?" Juliet asked a little puzzledly.

The woman licked her lips. "Caroline of course. The Seductress."

"I'm not going to see her," Juliet said firmly and closed the door but the woman blocked it with her hands.

"You do not refuse our mistress' commands," the woman hissed. "Do you not know how many people would kill to meet her? I mean it in every literal sense. She's the most powerful woman in this town. Asides from the Queen of course."

"Look here," Juliet hissed. "I do not have time for your mistress' childish games and I've no need to see her. We aren't even acquaintences."

"Turn up at Whitechapel tonight. Or you will face the consequences." With that, the mysterious woman disappeared.

Juliet stared at the empty space. For a moment, she thought of ignoring the stranger's words but there was lingering doubt in her mind.

In spite of herself, Juliet wanted to know who her love rival was and how she looked like.

And whether she herself was worthy of Edmund's love.

***********

That night, Juliet dressed down as a maid and put on a cloak. As her horse carriage clattered on in the night, she stared at the pale, silverish moon in the horizon and wondered what she had gotten herself into.

When the horse carriage pulled up infront of the sleazy establishment, the driver helped Juliet out. She thanked him politely and gave him a tip.

"M'lady, are you sure you should venture in alone?" the driver asked worriedly.

"Just stay outside. If need be, I will call for help," Juliet answered with a smile.

As she folded her cloak, she marched confidently into the tattered old building. Inside, people were gambling their lives and money away. There was the stench of booze and vomit.

Suddenly, Juliet felt someone grab her waist.

"Hey, 'lil girl." The drunkard slurred. "Do you want to have some fun?" His waist moved lower down her body.

"Get away," Juliet muttered and tried shoving away from him but his grip on her grew tighter.

"Come on, com-Oof." Within a split second, the drunkard flew away from her and smashed against the wall.

Juliet looked up to find a woman dressed in a revealing black dress standing next to her. "Get him out and make sure he doesn't step in here again," she growled to her two bodyguards who proceeded to drag the drunkard away.

When the woman turned towards her, she smiled, revealing a set of pearly-white, straight teeth. "Welcome to The Seductress," she said smoothly. "I'm Caroline. The owner of this den."