Forbidden Mating With The Alpha

Chapter 6

Falling asleep that night was not a particularly easy task for Lucy. It was earlu in the evening when she changed into her night dress and got into the large bed. Countless thoughts and emotions kept her awake for hours until she finally fell asleep at midnight after twisting and turning to clear those thoughts from her mind.

For some unexplainable reason, she felt frightened. She was no longer excited by the prospect of a prince asking her to marry him because he was in love with her, nor was she jealous of the idea that there were other women in his life any more. All she felt was fear of what would happen to her in future and what had already happened that she was not aware of.

At some point, she was too scared to even close her eyes for more than a minute to fall asleep. She knew nothing about herself besides her name and other unimportant facts. How she arrived at that willow tree was a mystery and she did not want to fall asleep because she might wake up in a strange place again as she did earlier that day.

But that did not change the fact that she was exhausted from the day's events and her eyes soon closed on their own and she fell into a deep slumber. As though to confirm that her fears were irrational, when she was woken up by a knock on her door the next morning, her body abruptly sat up and she found herself frantically looking about the environment to see where she was.

When she recognized the familiar scenery that was the expensive inn room she fell asleep in last night, she did not hold back her sigh of relief. When another knock came about, she was startled into tossing aside the bed covers to place her feet on the floor and stand up. She rushed to the door and opened it, expecting to see Karena waiting but it was a different person entirely.

Not only did she see a young woman dressed in a long sleeved, black dress and ruffled white apron, the typical outfit for a maid, she saw that the outer room had become busier because there were other maids wandering about as well.

"Good morning, Miss. Rose. I am your designated personal maid, Ida. I hope you slept well?" Lucy was hardly paying attention to Ida's formal introduction. The room had become a mess in comparison to how it was the previous night. On the tables, she made out a variety of items that ranged from jewelery boxes to makeup brushes.

On the floor, she saw shoes of different colors and a number of clothing garments were strewn on the chairs and sofas. The minimal amount of sunlight flowing in through the windows indicated that the time was a little over a dawn. As she observed the scene, another maid walked into her field of view pushing clothing rail were a number of dresses were hanging.

"What's going on?" Lucy was confused and it showed in the low tone she spoke in. Ida kept her head lowered as she should before anyone in a position superior to hers.

"We're here to assist you with preparing for breakfast," the maid said, baffling Lucy. Was that what the royal life was about? Being assisted with getting dressed for a small event that was breakfast? She could do that herself without anyone's help.

She was about to object to the maid offering to help when she saw a red-haired woman walk to the center of the room when a maid tailing behind. It was Karena, who, that morning, was completely unrecognizable from the previous night. Not only had her wounds faded to leave no evidence of ever being hit by Layla last night, she had changed her hairstyle and now wore a beautiful apple-green gown that was fitting for nothing less than a ball.

Lucy watched as the maid tied a sheer belt that went with the dress around Karena's waist. For a brief moment, Lucy's heart cracked. Karena was one of the women she would be competing with and she was already certain that she did not stand a chance against her. When Karena noticed Lucy, she flashed her a warm smile.

That smile made Lucy feel bad for even thinking about Karena as a rival.

"You're awake. I asked Ida to give you an extra hour of sleep so that you can recover," Karena spoke brightly, as though she had not been involved in a terrible argument the previous night. Well, what happened yesterday would remain in the past and Lucy smiled knowing that Karena was considering her health. After all, she would not have received Layla's wrath if she was not trying to stand up for her.

"Should we get to it? I prepared a warm bath for you, right this way-" Ida motioned to the other side of the living area where the baths were located and was about to lead Lucy there when she was suddenly pushed aside in a not so gentle manner.

Before Lucy could react in time herself, Layla assertively walked into the frame and pushed her shoulder aside with her hand. Ida managed to catch herself by resting her hands against the doorframe and while Lucy stumbled a bit, she remained standing. Both of them were in shock as Layla walked into Lucy's room, her own maid obediently following behind.

She stopped before the wardrobe and pulled open the doors with so much vigor that they would have broken off the hinges had she exerted any more extra force.

"This one! This is the dress that I want!" Layla pointed her index finger at one of the dresses in Lucy's wardrobe and her maid walked closer to retrieve it.

"You can't take that dress. That's the one Miss. Rose has to wear at the table," it was Ida who spoke as she entered the bedroom. Lucy caught what seemed like irritation in Ida's voice, and she did not quite understand why. A dress was not something to fight over. Lucy did not feel that she owned any of those dresses and if Layla wanted them, she was free to take them.

"I want to wear it to the table, so I will take it. Bring it out," Layla said to Ida before telling her own maid to bring out the dress. It was a long, black taffeta dress with a sheer hem that sparkled under the light. It certainly was a lovely dress.

"I beg your pardon but these dresses are tailored to fit Miss. Rose-"

"What? Is there really such a contrast between my body and hers?" Layla asked with a snarky tone. She averted her gaze to Lucy, who was unobtrusively standing to the side. Her blood began to boil because even in a simple night dress, Lucy could outshine anyone wearing a lavish dress.

"It does not matter whether it will fit me or not. I want it. Do you have a problem with that?" Layla's question was directed at Lucy, who quickly shook her head.

"Please, take it. You'll look better in it than I will," she said. That did not help ease Layla's anger because she believed that Lucy's humble words were of mockery. She scoffed and grabbed the dress out of her maid's hands and walked out of the room as Ida gave a disapproving look.

"You should not have allowed her to take it. She'll walk all over you," Ida said but Lucy simply smiled.

"There's no point to starting an argument over a dress. There are many more to choose from," Lucy said, and indeed, the wardrobe was filled with more dresses than she knew what to do with.

"Even if the prince requested that you wear that specific dress?" Ida's words surprised Lucy but her smile did not drop either way.

"I'm sure he won't mind if I wear something different. Where are the baths?" Lucy asked, changing the subject because she did not want to dwell on it. Ida held in the urge to sigh and walked out of the room to lead her to the baths.

Lucy liked Ida. She seemed friendly and stood up for her when Layla came into the room to take the dress. But Ida was willing to do almost anything for Lucy, as that was her job. Lucy preferred to bath on her own but despite her objections, Ida insisted on helping her so that she would not have the slightest of a hard time in the bath.

She washed her back when Lucy could not reach her arms all the way around, and when she struggled tremendously with her long hair, Lucy had to give in and admit that she required help on that part. Managing lengthy hair was too difficult because her hair used to be too short to cause any problems.

Apart from washing her hair, it was drying it off with a towel and styling it that proved to have been more difficult. They could not decided between tying it up or any other regal hairstyle until they saw that it was better to let it hang loose and drape off her shoulders. Her hair was more beautiful when it was parted in the center and flowing down to her waist.

The corset came afterwards. It was not easy to move around in that constraint and Lucy had to beg Ida to let her go this one time without wearing it. Ida considered it and finally agreed because she was only going down to have breakfast. It was not a major event where she would have to worry about proper posture or looking slim.

One thing Lucy learned that morning was that Ida was very loyal but also strict. She could not have been older than twenty-five and she was also pretty, though she rarely smiled. She took her devotion to being Lucy's personal maid so seriously that it bordered on a form of friendship that Lucy enjoyed. Life was beginning to brighten up because there was another person who had come into her life besides Creed and Karena that she felt she could trust.

When she was dressed in the red, short-sleeved and opened shoulder satin dress that flowed down to her ankles, she stood in front of the mirror to gaze at her transformation. The dress was lovely, but not as lovely as the one that Layla stole from her. But she would not complain. She would wear it only for a short while.

"You're very stunning, Miss. Rose," Ida said as she admired the work from behind her. For the first time, Lucy suddenly noticed the way she referred to her and looked at Ida's face reflected in the mirror.

"Why do you call me that? My name is Lucy," she asked and Ida raised her left eyebrow for a moment to signify her confusion.

"I was instructed to refer to you by your name. The prince kept referring to you as Rosalie," she explained and for a moment, Lucy wondered once again what the significance of that name was. She figured that she just had to accept that Rosalie was the name Creed preferred to call her by. After all, he possibly knew more about her than she did.