Bound by the Curse

Taking My Mother's Place

ALEXA

CRESCENT PACK

I haven't told my mom about me taking her place at the palace. She was clearly not fit to go and work for a while. I knew that she wouldn't quit if I told her to and I don't blame her because my business was barely enough to pay the rent.

She uses the salary to not only pay the rent but also pay Danny's school fees and buy groceries, so technically, I only do little and it's not my fault. I'm not a college graduate and I've tried looking for a job all around but no one was hiring me.

I had no choice but to just settle for selling stuff like a scrap dealer. It didn't pay much but it helped to support my mom a little and I just want to work harder so that once Danny is about to enter his final year of high school I would have saved enough for college.

He was our only hope right now and I've been saving for his college for a long time now, so I can't afford to make any mistakes.

"Good morning dearie," I heard a voice and turned to see my mom. She was all dressed up in her work attire. She looked weak and was clearly not fit to work.

" What? Where do you think you're going?" I asked with my voice a little sassy.

" To a circus," she said with sarcasm before letting out a light giggle.

"I'm going to work, I can't miss a day, or else Mrs Kim will kill me," she said.

I didn't like Mrs Kim at all. She has always been rude to my mom since the day she started working there and always overworked her. Even when she asked for leave to rest, she still didn't give hers and now she's in a worse condition.

"I know you have to go to work, Mom, but you're clearly not fit to work. Just stay home and rest," I told her.

" I can't baby, she'll fire me at once without even listening to any excuses," she said.

I can't believe that Mrs Kim is so naive and how she got the post of head maid was still surprising. My mom has been working very hard and never misses a day, but she can't just grant her a week's leave.

She was obviously a very wicked person and I hated her guts.

"I…I would go in your place Mom,' I told her.

"No, you can't," she refused.

"Why not Mom? I can't let you work, you need rest and I'm sure that Mrs Kim won't complain if I take your place for a while," I told her.

"I know, dear, but you don't know how wicked that woman is. I don't want her to do anything bad to you, so let me just handle it," Mom told me.

I knew that she didn't want me to go through what she was going through, but in this case, her health comes first and if she can endure it for years, then I can for just a few months.

"I love you Mom and you know I know I've never gone against your decision, but I can't let you do this one. I need to do this and it's just for a while," I said.

She looked at me before heaving a big sigh and slowly nodding her head. I jumped out of joy and hugged her because I thought convincing her would be harder than this.

"I know you're right, I need rest and I'll call to inform Mrs. Kim," she said, and I hugged her.

I knew that she was weak even though her wolf had lived for hundreds of years and he wasn't too strong to support her right now, so all she needed right now was all the rest that she could get.

************

NEXT DAY

PALACE

I resumed work at exactly seven am and it wasn't much of a problem because I'm used to waking up early and this was just a piece of cake.

I didn't have the maid's attire and my mom's own couldn't size me so I just wore a simple skirt and blouse. It wasn't that pretty, but it was decent.

It took a long time to convince the guards to let me in until they called the headmaid. She took a long time before coming outside and when she finally did I was surprised.

" Are you Leila's daughter?," She asked and I nodded in response.

I still couldn't believe what I saw. She was so beautiful that it was hard to guess her age and had this kind of young physique, but I heard from my mom that she was in her early forties, not too far off from my mom, who was in her late forties.

"Come in," she said, and I immediately followed behind.

She has the kind of aura of power and I could sense just from her aura that she would be a very rude person.

" Assemble," she yelled, and all the maids immediately assembled.

"Good morning Mrs. Kim," they all greeted her with a little bow. I didn't know she owned that much authority.

"This is Leila's daughter, so she'll be taking her mother's place for a while and I'm assigning Stella to tell her what to do," she said, and a girl who I presume to be Stella nodded in response.

"You can all go back to your duties," she said, and they all scurried back with no hesitation.

"So there are some rules you need to follow. First and foremost, you can't wear that. I'll ask Stella to give you a maid's attire," she said, and I nodded in response.

" You must always be punctual. Don't come late and be respectful, so your duties would be to take care of the kitchen and you'd be living here," she said, and that part shocked me.

" Live here?" I asked and she nodded in response.