Raven

Chapter 13

Raven's POV

"Close your mouth or you might get a fly inside it." Lily reminded me while reading a magazine.

I looked at her shockingly. How can she be so calm?

We're currently riding a limousine and my face is a mixture of incredulity and excitement. Gosh, I look like a country bumpkin.

As you can see, it is my first time riding one. I didn't know this was this big. The limousine was so spacious, I could probably lie down in the middle and sleep.

"Uhm, Lily? Quick question." I said while rubbing my lower lip.

"Hmm?" She looked away from the magazine she was reading.

I pointed at the seat and continued. "Uh, who owns this limousine?"

"You'll meet them when we get there." She said then returned to the magazine she was reading. "Take a short nap. With this traffic, we might arrive there late."

I pouted and slumped on the seat. "That was a useful information, thanks," I mumbled.

Our stuff was already delivered yesterday to our new home. When I was out with Lala and Mathilde, Lilibeth went there together with the movers.

Yesterday, my two bestfriends took me camping in the mountains. They rented a cabin and organized a scavenger hunt for me.

They gave me gifts, where we had a bout of 'accepting-refusing' skit first before they impatiently shove it on my bag when we went home.

Why did I try to refuse their gifts, you ask? Here's why.

Mathilde gave me a set of first edition books from my favorite author, and a limited edition ragdoll from Matryoshka. The ragdoll looked the same as the imitated one I had when I was 10. I must have lost it when Lilibeth and I kept moving from place to place.

Pricey.

Lala, on the other hand, gave me a set of equipment for my game. That includes headphones, keyboard, mouse, controller, and a new VR helmet. There were also a bunch of games that were still in the beta version. She wants me to join and try playing it, to give my comments, suggestions, and remarks to further improve the game. In short, she just made me a beta tester for the games that Arcane Linker and the other developers made.

Very pricey.

Now, if you're the one who received these kinds of gifts, would you accept it directly?

I think people would hate me if they know a poor girl like me owned this kind of stuff and privilege casually.

I also told them abou the moving thing and they just congratulated me. They were not worried since we could still call each other and just told me that they'll call me whenever they're completely free from their jobs.

We left the house early and we're stuck in traffic right now. I fell asleep when Lily handed me a pillow and a blanket. I woke up to an already setting sky.

I yawned. "Are we there yet?"

Lily hummed in response. "Almost there."

I rubbed my eyes and looked outside the car window. All I could see were trees. "Where are we?"

Before Lily could talk, I already knew the answer.

The car slowed down and in front of us was a vast garden of roses. The roses were in full bloom and a combination of white, red, and pink. The rose garden. Further away, there stood a majestic mansion that I only found on television or the internet.

Man, I knew Lily's master was rich but I didn't know they were this rich!

There was a big fountain with an eye-catching statue in front of the mansion. The statue was of a lady with huge angel wings, holding a scythe.

"The Angel of Death." I gasped.

The car came to a halt when we arrived at the entrance of the mansion. The limousine was opened by a butler and there were maids on the staircase.

They were all wearing the conventional outfit for servants. The suit for the butlers and the black-and-white uniform for the maids.

A tall pretty woman greeted us on the steps of the stairs, giving Lilibeth a bear hug, "Welcome home, Lily."

She then turned to look at me and offered her hand for a handshake. "You must be Raven? I am Grycamoiree de Lucca, the housekeeper of Rose Mansion."

"Rose Mansion?" I shook her hand and smiled. "Nice to meet you."

"Yes. This is called Rose Mansion because of the vast garden of roses outside, as you can see." She explained, gesturing at the garden.

She smiled at me and turned to Lilibeth again. "The young lady is outside with the triplets but they'll be home for dinner to join you. Please, come in."

Miss Gryca led us inside. My jaw dropped as soon as I saw the interior.

"Are we really going to live here? Am I dreaming again? Please pinch me." I whispered to Lily.

She held my arm and gently pinched it. I let out a yelp, making Miss Gryca look at us amusingly.

I could only laugh at her. "Hehe."

When we arrived on the third floor of the mansion. Miss Gryca stopped me before I went with Lilibeth to the fourth floor.

"Lilibeth's room is above. Yours is on this floor. Come this way." Miss Gryca said as she pushed me gently towards the east wing.

"Who's rooms are on this floor?" I randomly asked when I saw various portraits of a triplet. They must be the one Miss Gryca mentioned.

"This floor is occupied by the young lady and the triplets. The east wing is occupied by the triplets and you. The west wing is occupied by the young lady and my nephew. Lilibeth's and my room are on the west wing of the fourth floor." She explained. "Here we are."

The moment she opened the door, I was once again awed.

"Is this for real?" I squeaked excitedly.

Miss Gryca laughed and went inside. She turned on the lights and set the inverter to 22 degrees Celsius.

"Do you like it?" She asked.

My jaw dropped as I looked around. "Like it? I freaking love it!"

The room was like the presidential suite of the famous five-star hotel in F Country. There's a lounge area and a mini kitchen. I ran inside the room where the bed is and was shocked to see the walk-in closet inside the huge bathroom.

She laughed as she walked to the door. "If you want anything, just use the intercom. I will assign someone to be your personal maid. Rest first and I will call you for dinner." She said goodbye as she shut the door behind me.

I quickly ran towards the bed and made a dive. "If this is a dream, I don't want to wake up." I paused. That came out weird. "No, scratch that. I don't want this to be a dream." Then I fell asleep.

It was around 8 when someone knocked on my door.

"Come in," I yelled groggily.

The door opened and came in a maid. She looked like someone around my age. She brought in a basket of toiletries and a new set of towels.

"Good evening, miss. My name is Yumiko. Miss Gryca assigned me to be your personal maid throughout your stay here in Rose Mansion." She said as she curtsied. "Miss Lilibeth told me to call you down for dinner."

I was speechless. I can't believe I have my own maid! "P-Please, no need to be polite when we're alone."

Yumiko shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we're not allowed to do that."

I sighed. "A-Alright." I fumbled on my blanket when I remembered what I wanted to ask. "Yumiko?"

"Yes, miss?" She asked.

"If Miss Gryca is the housekeeper of the Rose Mansion, what was Lilibeth's role when she previously worked here?"

Yumiko was thinking quietly. "I've only been here for five years, miss. It was my mother who knew Miss Lily back then. But I heard among the senior maids that Miss Lily was the young lady's personal maid before she was assigned to look after you."

"Really?" That must be the reason why she's obsessed with tea sets.

"Yes." Yumiko bowed. "Let's head downstairs now, miss. The young lady is waiting for you."

I froze. "Why didn't you tell me sooner???" I said as I ran to the bathroom and quickly changed into casual clothes.

"It's alright, miss. The young lady told me to let you take your time."

"N-No, no. That's not alright. I don't want the owner of the house to wait for an insignificant person like me!" I pulled Yumiko out of the room and we ran downstairs.

"Miss! Please, don't run." Yumiko said helplessly. I stopped running when I also realized I don't know where the dining room is.

When we arrived at the dining room, it was lively. I could hear voices of children bickering. When Yumiko opened the door to the dining hall, the warm lights greeted my eyes and the delicious smell of meat sifted into my nose. I roamed my gaze on this huge hall, only to be welcomed by a familiar grin.

"You???"

The dining hall became quiet for a second before three kids came running to me and inspected me excitedly.

"Hi, I'm Nyx." The kid with a red ombre hair introduced, waving his hand.

"I'm Noir. You must be Raven." The kid with an orange ombre hair said while offering a handshake. With a face filled with confusion, I accepted the handshake.

"My name's Nova. Welcome home." The kid with a brown ombre hair and the only girl of the three said.

Miss Gryca's voice filled my head with what she said earlier. "The young lady is outside with the triplets but they'll be home for dinner to join you..."

They grabbed my hands and pulled me towards the chair on Miss Harlequin's right side.