Summer, Year 1961.
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Lady Dimitrescu tapped her heel against the marble floor impatiently, her gaze watching the path to her castle's main entrance intently, almost without blinking. The Duke would be arriving soon, but she couldn't wait any longer.
The night that [N] told her about her whole family being tailors and seamstresses, she also mentioned her only family's business being a tailoring shop; whenever her parents had to work at the shop, her grandmother—also a now-retired seamstress—took care of her. Most times the two could be found playing around with the grandmother's porcelain dolls collection, and on more than one occasion [N] asked her granny to teach her how to sew. With time, she became just as good of a seamstress as her grandmother was, and began helping around the shop.
The maiden told her as well, to have denied her mother's offer of taking over the family's business definitely—she had seen an announcement by then, one that spoke of a royal lady requesting new maidens to work at her castle, located at a nearby village. Although she missed her old life with her family and the tailoring shop, [N] confessed to have not once regretted her decision of leaving everything behind to work at the Lady's castle.
She firmly stated to have found happiness within the castle's walls, and wouldn't dream of ever leaving.
Needless to say, Alcina had no words to describe what she felt after hearing such a confession. Elation, excitement; a mix of many an emotion that had her staring at the maiden almost with tears in her eyes. Hearing [N] declaring her fondness for her and her own daughters made her heart stop beating for a few good seconds.
Ever since that night, Alcina couldn't stop smiling. And her smiles only grew every time she saw [N]—she acted almost giddily around her, perhaps even with a hint of nervousness that she knew how to hide quite well yet it still had her heart thumping wildly in her chest.
It wouldn't take too long for her to realize she had to pay this maiden for every sacrifice she had made—leaving everything behind to begin anew in her castle deserved something special in return, and so Alcina soon thought of an idea. Idea which got stuck in her head for the past few weeks, and she so wished to have it come true—especially since the moment [N] confessed, just a few days after that night, to still have in her possession her grandmother's old journal, in which she had once drawn plenty of dresses' designs, and in which [N] herself drew her own designs as well.
The Countess only ever realized that, ever since [N] began working at the castle, she had had no chance of sewing, at all; she didn't have the materials and tools to do so, and it was clear she missed doing this just by looking into her [E/C] eyes every time she cleaned the Lady's wardrobe—she'd longingly stare at the large dresses, caressing them with such a careful touch that made Alcina almost melt in place.
Oh, Alcina remembered perfectly the longing that radiated from the maiden's facial expression as she told her about her family's tailoring shop, and the dresses they designed, and the commissions they often received from many royals, and not-so-royals. She missed this part of her life, and Alcina felt somewhat guilty after knowing she had left all of that behind to work at her castle; to work for her.
The Lady had had to wait some long weeks before she got the news that the Duke would finally arrive at the village, on the first days of Summer, and wished to be stationed at her castle once more; assuring her that he had acquired even more exquisite items that she would love to own. This picked up her interest, yet she also demanded him to bring quite a few things if he wished to make some coin upon his arrival and throughout his stay.
Her foot tapping suddenly ceased, a full-fledged grin appeared on her visage as her yellowed gaze finally fell upon the sight of the Duke's carriage approaching the castle. Ever so slowly, he arrived, and Lady Dimitrescu barely gave him time to settle down before she burst through the small door; with a demanding look in her shiny eyes, she had her fiery gaze already trained on the Duke's figure as she approached him.
She didn't want to waste any more time than necessary.
"Ah, Lady Dimitrescu!" The Duke happily beckoned her closer to his shop, and began rummaging through crates and bags. "I have brought what you asked for, my lady—feel free to take a look!"
There were four crates worth of tailoring tools and cloths, each one being more exquisite and unique than the ones before, she noticed as she examined all of the material. She grew excited upon the sight of all these crates, already imagining how happy [N] would be when she saw them.
"This is perfect as always, Duke." Alcina smiled warmly at him, quite proud of the acquisitions. "Let me call some maids to come get these crates to their rightful place, and I'll be back with you shortly with your payment."
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With the help of her dear daughters, Alcina had a room specially arranged as a sewing room, for her dear maiden; her daughters gladly and happily took care of organizing the crates' contents into the available dressers and chests, and giddily chatted about potential dress designs they could—and would—request [N] once the maiden got to see the sewing room.
Alcina smiled tenderly at her daughters before she left them to work on their own, and emotionally prepared herself for the next step in her plan; for the first time since she can remember, she would have to ask—although reluctantly—for Lord Heisenberg's help.
With slow, heavy steps, Alcina Dimitrescu left for her dear brother's factory. Once she arrived, she found herself in an arduous and quite demanding journey through said factory; after several minutes of wandering about, and being slightly annoyed by all of Karl's contraptions, Alcina managed to finally find her sibling. She kindly asked him to help her design mannequin bodies, and other useful objects that would help [N] while designing new dresses, and sewing them.
That part was most likely the most difficult to do, due to her fiery hatred towards him—and yet, this time she found it easier to speak with him. Perhaps Mother Miranda's presence did make him act up, or maybe Karl was just in a good mood. Whatever it may, Alcina would never know.
Although she did expect her brother to mock her in some kind of way, any way.
However, surprisingly, Karl didn't joke about her strange request; he did look slightly confused at first, of course. It might have been the very first time his dear sister showed up at the factory willingly, and, judging by the subtle pink hue her cheeks had turned when requesting all these objects, he just knew, whoever had made Alcina do this had to be really especial.
With a knowing smirk, as he quickly figured it all out and caught on the feelings his sister seemed to have developed for this ordinary human, he accepted her request. Whatever those feelings were, they made Alcina come all the way to his factory to ask him for help, and that alone had him smirking in delight; yet he did not feel like mocking her. Yet.
He was, indeed, in a good mood this morning.
And so, Heisenberg had what she had asked for ready and sent to her castle within that same day, much to Alcina's delight.
As it neared midnight, the sewing room was more than ready to be used.
By that time, her daughters had gone to sleep, tired of all the organizing and rearranging of materials. Alcina sat on an armchair by one of the corners, and observed the organized space; she was quite pleased with how the room had turned out, and couldn't wait to have [N] look at it. She had to hold the sudden urge to go up to her modest, tiny room and waking her up just to show her; however she knew [N] needed her sleep, more than anybody else in the castle.
She worked hard for her and her daughters, after all.
With a small sigh, the Countess left the sewing room, and headed to her chamber—she was also tired, and now only wished to have a good night's sleep.
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"Mother! Mother!"
Bela's urgent whispers awoke the Countess within seconds—she almost jumped out of her enormous bed, amber-colored eyes wide open and heart thumping wildly in her chest. She stared at Bela's uneasy form as she knelt by her mother's bed.
"The Moroaice are roaming the halls!" she whispered-yelled, panic lacing her voice.
Alcina almost jumped again on her spot; a sudden shiver shook her whole as she slid out of bed and stood up with ease, completely awake now. "What? How?"
"I don't know, Mother—Daniela and Cassandra are trying to make sure they don't get close to the maidens' quarters, but they're... loud!" Bela explained softly, and urged her mother to move faster.
Alcina didn't care much about putting on some decent clothes; she marched out of her chambers wearing her measly nightgown, barefoot, with her raven locks completely out of place. She could hear Bela following her, guiding her quietly through the grand halls whilst holding a lit candelabra.
As they neared the main hall, Alcina began to hear the Moroaice's moans and growls. She could only wonder what had happened down in the catacombs for these creatures to have made their way out, and in the middle of the night. As soon as she stepped through the door, she was immediately met with one of them—to her surprise and disgust, the Moroaicâ standing right in front of her resembled what was left of a certain maiden she had come to loath within the span of a few days.
"You again? Ugh, nuisance!" Alcina spat, slapping Stela's moldy form out of her way. With a swift movement of her hand, she grew out her sharp nails and stabbed the figure, killing it instantly. As she retracted her nails, Alcina huffed out and looked ahead; she saw Cassandra and Daniela rounding the Moroaice, preventing them from getting farther into the castle.
"Mother?" Bela appeared in front of her, inquisitively stared up at her.
"Yes, dear. Go, check the maidens' quarters and make sure none of them are missing, then help your sisters with the Moroaice." The Lady quickly ordered, and watched as the blonde immediately burst into thousands of flies and went away. "Daniela! Cassandra!" she called her other two daughters, stomping her way around the creatures.
The young ladies turned to face her mother and looked immediately relieved upon the sight of her. "Mother, this is madness!" Cassandra exclaimed.
"Someone must have left the gate to the catacombs open!" Daniela was quick to slice a Moroaicâ before it made it to the dining room.
"No matter now, darlings. You've got work to do: kill them all, and go get Tatiana—she'll help you dispose of them."
Alcina's voice didn't dither as she spoke. Her daughters nodded their heads and followed her commands instantly, slicing the remaining Moroaice in the main hall before buzzing out in search for more. The Countess was left standing alone in the hall, by the doors to her family crypt, almost trembling from all the stress and anxiety this caused—this is the last thing she needed; the Moroaice escaping their confinement. If this were to happen in the middle of the day...
She couldn't imagine what her maidens would do—or think. Or worse; what would [N] think?
Shaking her head furiously, Alcina stopped those thoughts immediately and headed straight down to the catacombs. She moved swiftly through the stone hallways, ducking down through doors, and went down into the cold cellar. Easily traversing the intricate path until she reached the catacombs, she stared at the wide open gate that, once closed and locked, ensured the Moroaice never made it any deeper into the castle.
Next to it, already melting with the blood-stained water and mud, the corpse of a villager—most likely an intruder—laid quiet and still, mutilated by the moldy remains of previous maidens. Alcina gazed at the body, a deep sigh escaping her lips; now she knew who had let the creatures out. She pushed the body with her foot, moved it further into the catacombs with a huff, and glared at it for a few seconds before she slammed the gate closed, and locked it tight.
"People need to stop breaking into my home, or else..." Alcina muttered under her breath.
With yet another tired sigh, the Lady made her way back to the cellar, making sure no Moroaice were left hanging out on the way. It was quiet and peaceful again; except for the sound of her feet stepping on the wet stone, silence seemed to have come back to reign once more throughout the night.
Lady Dimitrescu felt relieved once she made it back into the kitchens, and closed the door to the cellar behind her form. No other sounds other than her own footsteps could be heard; she deduced her daughters had already taken care of the Moroaice roaming the halls, and smiled once again in relief.
As she stood in the dining room and gazed out the windows, she noticed most of the Moroaice had vanished—most probably her daughters had decided to do the heavy lifting themselves as well, just as afraid as she was of the maidens' reactions if they were to witness such a scene.
To ensure this, she peeked out into the main hall, to see if more creatures remained there still.
Instead of the Moroaice, however, Alcina saw someone else; standing by Stela's skinny remains, completely dead on the marble floors where Alcina had left it, there was [N]—holding a candlestick in one of her hands while with she pressed the other against her chest. Alcina couldn't see the maiden's face clearly; not that she could see anything clearly at this point.
The anxiety burning up inside of her upon the sight of her most adored maiden, quietly standing by the remains of a once very much alive and hard-working maiden like her... Her brain seemed to have stopped functioning as she stood by the doors, yellow eyes wide open in shock and fear; she could feel her own hands trembling with anxiety, the blood in her veins freezing as time seemed to stop around her.
And then, the maiden turned around, finally allowing the Countess to see her beautiful face.
Much to the Lady's surprise, [N] did not look at all scared. She did look a little startled once she met the Lady's intense stare, of course she had not expected to see her in the middle of the night—wearing nothing but her nightgown, with her face free of make-up and her dark curls out of place completely. It was a sight worth dying for, if you asked her.
No. [N] did not look scared—she smiled shyly at Alcina, taking small and slow steps towards the large woman.
"Shall I clean this up for you, my lady?" She spoke softly, her voice sending instant shivers down Alcina's spine.
Once the meaning of her words dawned on the Lady, she let out the breath she hadn't noticed she was holding. Still feeling her heart beating fast within her chest, Alcina carefully approached the maiden, until she met her halfway. "You're... not scared?" she whispered as she literally knelt in front of the maid, wanting nothing more but to gaze into those [E/C] orbs of hers in search for a hint of fear, not yet believing what she was witnessing, such a calm and collected woman—she found no fear at all.
[N] smiled again as she shook her head, holding the candlestick to the side as she gingerly went to grab one of Alcina's cold hands. "No, my lady. I am not scared." She squeezed her hand softly, reassuringly, "I know what you are; and what your daughters are, for that matter."
Realization hit Alcina like a tidal wave, and she swore her heart had suddenly stopped beating at the maiden's next words.
"I already know everything about you."