Villainess Reborn

Chapter Eleven

TATIANA LORIEL

The heels of Tatiana’s black shoes thudded against the marble-tiled grand staircase of the palace’s front hall. She passed under a large crystal chandelier that shone in the middle of the ceiling and down to the first floor. She couldn’t help but be in a daze when she saw the interior of the castle. Everything looked like it was made of gold and silver.

Everything looked so expensive that it made her want to knock a piece out of it and sell it online for a higher price. Even just a piece of it would buy food that could last her a month.

She shook the thought off of her head and concentrated on her goal for the day. She needs to be more familiar with the place and learn about the details during the process. She quickly ran down the stairs, keeping her head low every time a palace servant passed by.

Getting caught will surely cost her freedom, and she will be forced to be trapped in her room for a month or more. Tatiana didn’t want any of those things to happen since this is the first time she actually got a second shot at life. She just needed to avoid the servants that know her face, as well as Norma. If Norma sees her, then everything will crumble. She feels that Norma doesn’t quite like her.

“Okay,” Tatiana exhaled, “Let’s try our best not to get caught and be back in the room before the afternoon tea.”

William firmly told her that she must not get caught or else everyone around her would get punished.

“There you are!”

Someone grabbed her wrist and started running away along with her. It took her seconds before the situation made sense. All she heard was the clattering of their heels on the marble floor as they passed by large paintings and windows in the hallway.

“I have been looking for you! There are a lot of things to be done today! The hall is still a mess and the fabrics need to be dried!”

She wasn’t sure how to react. The person who pulled her was wearing the same uniform as she was. She could not see her face as the woman was facing in front of her. They passed through several rooms and into places that Tatiana had never been in before. After minutes of running in the hallway, they finally arrived at an open area.

Tatiana was out of breath by the time they stopped, but the clear blue sky and the grass swaying in the wind took the exhaustion away. The open space that looked like a field was surrounded by tall brick walls with towers every ten meters. There were also royal guards patrolling above the brick walls.

Many palace servants were also there. They were hanging up sheets of fabric—one servant holding one side of the fabric while the other was on the opposite side. The wind also lingered with the smell of rose petals and vanilla, probably from the detergent they used—Oh, if detergent existed way back in the timeline.

Tatiana shrugged, even if the author wrote this in a time period when detergent and fabric softeners didn’t exist, she could still write about it if she wanted to. But the fact that she is here now, inside of what’s supposed to be a book, is the strangest thing.

“What are you still daydreaming about there?! Come! There are a lot of things to do!”

The woman who pulled her out of that finally revealed her face. She looked like she was only a few years older than her. A woman with tanned skin, bright black eyes, and brown wavy hair.

Tatiana pulled a wooden basin made from planks with a while fabric sitting on it. The woman grabbed the fabric, so Tatiana did the same. They both stepped back until the fabric stretched enough for them to wave it to remove the excess water.

“I know that you are new here, but you should really be on your toes.” The woman started ranting, “the people here are scary and you will get punished if they see you not doing anything.”

“This is where you will be stationed from now on, the stationing can be changed if Mister William decides on it. I was previously a cleaner but I was transferred here. After the princess was poisoned, everything in the palace was turned upside down and it was stressful for the servants too.”

The woman was looking from side to side as if she was making sure that no one was listening and signaled Tatiana to move closer.

“Don’t tell anyone, but the queen is probably the one that’s the most stressed about it. I heard this from the others. Apparently, the queen was behind the poisoning.”

“What?!” Tatiana gasped, but the woman immediately covered her mouth with her palm and shook her head.

“Don’t tell this to anyone if you don’t want to be beheaded,” she warned and stepped back, “It isn’t that shocking. Everyone knows how much the queen and the princess hate each other.”

The queen was behind the poisoning? And they hate each other? Tatiana wanted to explore and know more about the palace secrets but she didn’t expect that this was the first thing he would know about. If the queen was behind the poisoning, then it wouldn’t stop there.

The woman eyed her and cleared her throat, “I apologize for the late introduction, but I’m Emma. You’re Maria, right? The new servant assigned to this station?”

Tatiana wasn’t so sure about how she would react and she felt guilty about lying but she could not let herself be discovered so she just nodded, her lips tightly sealed. She wanted to appear chill and normal, but her hands would not stop shaking at all.

“Why are you sweating? Is something bothering you?” Emma asked. She started to feel worried, since the new servant looked petrified. Her face was pale, her knuckles white, and when she tried to smile, it only looked forced, like someone was pointing a knife at her neck and threatening her.

“I-I-I—” Tatiana stuttered. This always happened with her even in her past life. Every time she was lying or trying to hide something, her face would automatically freeze and her tongue felt like it was tied.

Emma playfully hit her shoulder, but that made Tatiana freak out and jump. Emma shrieked in surprise. The other servants looked at them because of the sudden commotion.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m just nervous,” Tatiana whispered, but deep inside, she felt like her soul had left her body and her knees might give away anytime soon.

Emma laughed nervously at her. This is the first she met a servant that’s easily scared like this, not to mention that she freaked out with the slightest pat.

“I-I understand, you must be nervous on your first day here.” She laughed awkwardly, “don’t worry, Sir William assigned you to me so I will take very good care of you.”

“Emma! Emma!”

Another servant came running towards them, someone younger. Her black curly hair was tied into low pigtails. Her chubby cheeks were flushed pink from the heat, and both of her arms were resting on her knees.

She was panting before she could even utter a word. Emma walked forward and faced the girl.

“Lira, what are you doing here? And why were you running?” she asked.

After seconds of trying to regain her breath, she managed to talk.

“Sir William told me to tell you that he needs you to do an errand for him,” the girl named Lira inhaled a deep breath, “it’s to inform the captain of the knights about the survey they were about to do in the dark forest.”

“Now?” Emma asked, and Lira nodded.

“Yes, it’s important to notify them first. I was supposed to do it if I could, but I’m needed at the hall today.”

Emma looked conflicted. She looked down at the sheets that should be hung up. She looked around, but everyone was busy. This needed to be hung up today because it will be used tomorrow, and there wasn’t anyone available to take over the job. She just even managed to get extra help from Tatiana, who she still knows as Maria.

Tatiana inched away from the back. The word "knights" gave her a headache, knowing that Bjorn is involved. She doesn’t want to do anything that involves Bjorn, and she doesn’t want to see him either. The thought of meeting Bjorn again makes her blood boil.

She was about to run away and disappear when Emma faced her. Her body froze and turned rigid. Emma walked towards her and held both of her hands.

“Maria,” Emma called, “I need you to an errand for me. It’s really important.”

“What errand?” Tatiana squeaked.

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END