Valerian Empire

The meal was delicious! It was rich and full of ingredients as if the meal was prepared for elites.

Lord Alexander was nothing but generous, Katie thought to herself, God bless his mother's soul.

Once they were done with the meal which was prepared for the servants of the mansion, Katie and the others headed back to work.

As they walked, some of the servants rubbed their palms and hands due to the drop in temperature. As the servant's quarters was located in the underground of the mansion, the temperature was much colder.

Katie saw Dorthy shiver even though she had only changed herself to a fresh set of dress unlike her who was still in the same attire. Dorthy scrunched her brows, opening her mouth to let out a sneeze followed by another one escape.

"Damn this weather!" she said rubbing her nose with the back of her hand.

"I overhead that the temperature was going to worsen as the day goes by," Matilda commented as they came across a window that was closed to prevent water from coming in.

Katie went to stand near the window, placing one hand on the cool window pane. She looked outside to see the clouds had turned darker than before. Though it was the time of noon the mansion was lit with candles to brighten the place as it seemed like it was already night.

She wondered if Caviar and the others had food. Back in the servant's quarters during lunch, Katie had asked Mrs. Hicks if the meal could be saved for three of the servants as they were out on some duties. The feast wasn't something that was offered every week or month. Mrs. Hicks had a faint smile and she nodded, asking one of the maid to set aside the food.

"It's so much better than the scorching sun," Corey replied from behind and Dorthy sighed.

"The sun," they heard Dorthy mutter which ended with a sneeze.

"How was the weather at your place," Corey asked Katie as they continued to walk," I often hear the travellers speak about it fondly."

"It was. It was a never changing thing, a little rainy a little sunny and a little windy," she responded with a smile getting lost in the past.

"I never got the chance to visit the south or the north land," he said before his eyes fell on her hand.

Looking at the ink blue rose he spoke with a worried expression, "Katie, Lord Alexander might get angry if he sees you with that. He is very particular about the roses."

"Oh this..." Katie trailed wondering what to say but Cynthia was quick with her words.

"He is going to kill you," she chimed to which Dorthy glared, "What?" she questioned innocently.

"Actually I found it lying on the ground, it shouldn't lead to any trouble," Katie replied looking at Cynthia as the woman's smile faltered.

On reaching the corridor, Katie forgot she had the rose covered in her hand. She had lied about the rose not wanting to give away the fact that the Lord himself had given it to her but telling it so would only increase the gossip in the mansion. Her friends weren't of that sort but she wasn't sure about Cynthia.

"Of course, it shouldn't," Corey agreed.

"What are you lads doing here standing idle instead of getting back to work?"

It was Martin who had a disapproving look marred on his face. They quickly scrambled their way before he would top their existing work with new ones.

She placed the rose in a clean vase, she looked at its stem with thorns that was immersed in water. On a closer look she noticed the little red lines like roots around the stem which was barely visible now in the water.

She had never met men who took interest in gardening or flowers due to which she found Alexander's attachment to the plant more than unusual especially when the person was a vampire.

The part of the land she came from it had different views when it came to the vampires, the vampires were believed to be vile creatures with no emotions except for the lust of blood but men and women of Valeria broke that conventional image.

She ran her thumb over the finger she had pricked earlier and blushed at the memory of what happened at the entrance stairs. Her hands were dirty because of working in the shed but without a thought, Lord Alexander had placed her finger in his mouth like it was a natural thing to do!

Days passed by slowing the rain, bringing out the sun out of the clouds.

Katie hummed a music as she fixed her hair. Since a few days, she had been in a good mood. Most of the maids including Katie was thankful that the rain had stopped. The rain had hindered many people's task but now they could get to it smoothly. But that wasn't the reason why she was in such a good mood.

Five days ago she had received a letter from her friend Annabelle to let her know that her husband and she would be visiting Valeria to meet one of the merchants in the town and today was the day.

She had spoken to the butler regarding it.

Martin had a troubled look when she had informed him. She had an inkling that he was given orders on to keep her in the mansion and it slightly irritated her. She was a grown woman and not a child.

Lord Alexander and Elliot who had spent their time in the mansion during the rain had gone to visit the council head who had come to visit the nearby town.

Considering she wasn't a permanent maid here in the mansion she took the advantage of it and convinced the old man to say yes. It wasn't like she misused the fact to slip away from work. It was just for this one time.