My world froze for a moment when I saw that Rem and Alijah were both by the bridge connecting the castle to the city behind me. I was wearing a necklace that would help me hide my easily identifiable aura from them, but it was best not to linger near them.
Especially since I know how much you're hunting for me.
Luckily, they were distracted when a young black hair female Lycan with an eye patch joined them. On Alijah's shoulders, though, was a little girl with black hair and amethyst colored eyes with a short, fluffy tail. All she was missing was the iconic fluffy ears, which meant she was a recessive hybrid, like Rem.
Ah... that must be... your baby girl, Rem.
According to the reports, she had a baby luma, Luna, who was five years old. Uninterested in what they were up to, I kept walking towards the entrance as two guards, a human and a vampire, stopped us. They were checking everyone who tried to get in through the front gates.
"Excuse me, ladies, where do you think you're going?" the human asked, prompting Zoe to take the lead.
She was the one who had all the papers in hand.
Papers that took months to forge.
"Oh, we're new employees starting today." She answered, taking off her hood, allowing the guard to identify her with the fake identification we had.
However, the moment his eyes fell on the pretty witch, he was mesmerized. Even though we were using our standard names, our last names weren't the actual ones we had. Noticing his attraction to her, she unbuttoned the top of her blouse, allowing his eyes to glue onto what she had to offer.
"Sorry, it's a little hot here." She smirked as the human couldn't keep his eyes off her.
"Oh, that's okay. Please, let yourself be comfortable while we check the paperwork."
"Thank you." She twirled her hair, batting her eyelashes as the vampire shook his head.
"Where's the verification of employment?" He asked as his fellow was eyeing Zoe, as if she were a sweet treat to eat.
Men are such simple creatures.
"Yes, here," Zoe handed over the verifications to him.
Luckily, the only requirement for applying for this job was being a young female who could clean and cook.
Easy enough.
Though it took me a bit of time to learn how to cook, well, all we had to send was a fake resume with a picture of us, but I wished to be able to play the part fully. There was no doubt that the real reason they chose us was because of how pleasing we were in their eyes.
"Okay, can I see all your faces to make sure?" the vampire glanced towards Emma and me.
We did as he asked by taking off the hood we wore, yet the moment his eyes met mine, they widened before he undressed me with his gaze. It wasn't long until the one who was gushing over Zoe did the same.
"Holy..." the man sized me up.
I gazed at him, hoping he wouldn't get closer to me. Luckily, Emma stood between us to prevent that.
"It's not kind of stare at a woman like that. Don't you know your manors?" She huffed, glaring down at him.
"Excuse me, I-I..." he stuttered as the other one also stumbled on his words.
Disgusting...
I rarely ever interacted with men before this, but this was the usual reaction I had ever since I hit puberty. No male in the coven dared to say a thing to me, yet I could feel their gazes heavy on me when I walked by them.
Papa is the only one who is decent enough not to do that.
Those who did gaze at me for too long were met with the wrath of the women from the coven. Others got my father's attention, and after they did, I never saw they gaze at me again.
Clearing his throat, the vampire reached out to me. "Hey, beautiful, care to give me your number?"
Remember, always be polite... It's the best way to avoid trouble.
I tried to smile back at them. "I'm sorry. I don't own a phone or anything like it. If everything's in order, may we come in? It's chilly here."
I felt my muscles tired, too, as this mask was always hard to keep up.
Hurry...
Sadly, I didn't know if this was the right way to respond to these males. However, Emma and Zoe appeared to have fumes coming out of their ears as their eyes twitched.
"Uh... yes." The guard mumbled, handing back our paperwork.
Once inside, Zoe turned to Emma, still visibly heated.
"How dare they talk to Lady Vivian like that?! Do these men have no honor!" Zoe huffed, attempting to stay quiet as there were other people around us.
Luckily, they couldn't care less about what a group of girls was gossiping about.
"They're pigs! See pretty women and think it's okay to come at them! Like, what if we're married or into girls?! The nerve! We're here for "jobs" and they want to pick up the help!" Emma grumbled, causing me to giggle.
They suddenly stopped in their tracks, gazing at me like I had performed a miracle.
Ah... Crap...
Their eyes glittered before they swooned over me again.
"You're so gorgeous! Even your laugh is pleasant!" Emma smiled as Zeo quickly agreed.
"Please, try to watch your tone. Vampires have pretty good hearing." I sighed, walking past them.
Yet, I couldn't help but feel grateful for their silly attempt to defend my honor.
"Sorry." They both apologized for their behavior.
From there, we headed inside to where the other girls waited. It seemed the head maid was to meet us there, and we had to wait for her to come. Once the group was completed, a butler took us to a room with multiple lockers.
"Please, change. Gerta will be with you soon." He bowed, exiting soon after.
With a brief hesitation, I took off my clothes, causing Emma and Zoe to glare around me while I dressed. They were too overprotective, and it was only girls there, too. Not that I couldn't say that they weren't some of them were eyeing me down, but it was probably for different reasons than the earlier guards.
Unless they liked women too, yet their gaze was more welcoming to me than that of the males. After all, they had the same things I did, which made me more comfortable under their gaze. Once clothed, we wore the standard servant dress they provided for us, which was a long black dress that almost reached the ankles.
It also had long sleeves that covered up to the wrist. We also had white and black stockings to match the uniform. The shoes were black leather, comfortable slippers that had a grip on them to prevent any accidents from happening.
The dress also featured a white laced apron that fell over our shoulders and down to the bottom of the dress. I had never worn a dress like this before, especially one that had to be tied from the back. Though it was also beautiful and of excellent quality, they didn't treat their servants like trash, at least.
It was probably the most comfortable wear I ever had, too. After dressing, I tied my wavy, long hair up before placing the headpiece—a beautiful laced white headband that would keep our hair out of our way. The last thing I had to do was put on an onyx ring that was given to us before I placed the brooch on my collar.
The collar of the dress also hid my necklace as well as my bracelet. When I turned to Zoe and Emma, they both squealed, leaving me feeling skittish in their gaze. This fawning appeared to be a baseline for these two, and I was unsure if I could ever get used to it.
Papa, did you make the right choice with these two girls? I'm not so sure.
"Oh my! I wish I had a phone to take a picture with! You look so adorable! I bet your dad would love seeing you in that!" Zoe gushed.
Papa... I'm really starting to doubt your judgment.
Emma walked over to me, suddenly undoing the tie on my hair. Before I knew it, I was a doll for her, fixing my hair better than before. The way she touched me with no fear was also surprising, as her actions reminded me of Nene.
An ache rose in my chest, causing me to grip onto it.
Crap...
"It's a shame to pick up your hair like that. Now that's way better. Then again, you're always adorable and beautiful!" Emma smiled, prompting my cheeks to burn because of her compliment.
Other than Lilith and Dad, no one had called me that since Nene.
"Thank you," I mumbled.
With the new style, my hair reached my bum. Nene had always said that long hair always suited me best. So, I never cut it. Even if she never loved me because of who I was, I still loved her.
Dearly... You... will always be my Nene.