Chapter 16 Mysterious creature
She stared at the duke, who held her gaze. She didn’t even blink. Her eyes and soul were fixed on him.
“Do you even know how to make bloodtea? You’ve been here ever since you were a kid and haven’t learned anything else about cooking. Are you that dumb?”
He scolded her as a father would scold his own child.Evan didn’t bother saying a word to him. She just kept admiring his beautiful eyes, which were glowing red from the reflection of the fireplace.
“Has the housekeeper ever taught you how to cook or do any chores?” he asked as he waited for the girl’s reply. Sadly, none came. He was a bit surprised why she was staring at him as if he were a statue.
“Are you mute now?”he asked. He took another sip from the glass of blood and then placed it back on the table.
“You can leave.Go to your room and get some sleep. You don’t know how to do anything, and you’re not even obedient. I guess your blood is the only good thing you possess,” he said, shaking his head as if he couldn’t believe it.
Evan’s eyes finally moved as she walked out of the room.
When she was outside, tears welled up in her eyes. She went to her room, crying bitterly. The duke had never been rude to her. He had been so nice and warm. These words he spoke seemed to hurt her badly.
She went to her room,hugged her knees, and cried as if she had just lost something incredibly special, like a treasure. Evan was never used to being treated harshly. She had always been treated warmly by everyone until Mrs. Caviar died. That was when it all began.
She wished she could speak to Isabella,but she didn’t even know where to find the girl.
She hugged herself and cried until it was morning.
All junior servants were told to go down to the stream for washing of clothes. The clothes were many and had to be finished in the duration of time given to them.
Evan was very exhausted after washing so many clothes.They used sticks to beat the clothes until they were clean. It was a very stressful process, and she hadn’t eaten since morning. All of them were in full concentration on washing the clothes so that they would finish quickly and finally get to eat.
“Hurry, everyone, let’s hurry!” someone said. Evan could hear her belly grumbling. Her moves were weak.
“Hey you,why are you acting so weak as if you’re not a maid? Do you think the duke will come to your rescue?” someone mocked.
“Oh no,perhaps she thinks he loves her,” said another maid, and they all laughed.
“Come on,everyone! Work nonstop!” the leader said as he used his own washing stick to beat the cloth harder.
Evan’s breathing was harsh. Her eyes were watery, on the verge of pouring tears down her cheeks.
“Stop!”she screamed powerlessly.
“Hey you!What do you think of yourself? Just because you followed the duke everywhere he went, you’ve gotten some nerve?” a girl came out. She was plump, and the next thing Evan knew, a slap landed on her face.
“What will you do?Huh? What will you do about that? Why not summon the duke to help you?” And all of them laughed. Everyone even took some of their clothes, adding them into Evan’s own.
“There, work more. You haven’t been doing anything lately, so work!” the girl screamed.
“Yes,work!” all of them screamed. They all stood up, adding their unwashed clothes to Evan’s own, one by one. And they all left after they were done. Evan’s eyes stood open.
“What are you looking at?You don’t want to work?” one of the boys said, who was putting his own clothes on Evan’s unwashed pile.
He landed a quick punch into Evan’s face, sending her into the stream water.
“Yes,drown! When you die, you can continue your romantic love with the duke,” he said as they all walked away. She struggled in the water until she managed to come out. The punch was painful and bruising. Tears rolled down her eyes, and she just squatted at the corner of the stream, crying. Whenever she was crying, she always remembered Mrs. Caviar. The woman had been so warm to her. The world sure is harsh, thought Evan. She hugged herself, crying until it was evening. She stood up and walked deeper into the background of the compound.
It was very dark, and she could barely see her hands. Her eyes were fixed ahead as she tried to notice what was ahead.
A cold breeze blew heavily.She was trying to see the end of the Donovan compound, but every step she took led her to another turn. She wondered if the path had no end.
She got to the point where she started hearing weird voices. She was never frightened when it came to things like this, and people like her, with no fear, die the most.
She suddenly stepped on something.She had no light, so she paid less attention to it. However, as she reached a certain point, she noticed something on her chest was shining yellow. She immediately dipped her hand into it and brought out a glowing pendant.
If she remembered correctly, this had always been on her neck since she was a kid, and she had never used it for anything; after all, it was useless.
“What the hell is this?”she said as she brought it to her face. It glowed yellow, lighting up the entire surroundings, leaving her mystified.
“Wow,”she stared deeply at it. “Haha, so pretty!” she giggled excitedly.
“Welcome, haha welcome, my food. I’ve been trying to summon you here. Finally, I succeeded!” she heard a voice in front of her. Looking up and pointing the glowing pendant toward it, she saw a creature, sleek, bloody wet, with dark black eyes and guns on its head.
“The lord of heavens,”she muttered. The creature was short, and its body was like stone. Its lower body was covered with hair. As it spoke, Evan shivered; goosebumps formed on her skin.
“Let’s see, me and him—who will have you?”