Chapter 2: Useless
"Another ruined dress? Heavens, Lord Constantine must have expended half of your dowry replacing your dresses nearly every week! What an extravagant use of funds!"
Vira, the youngest maid in the manor, appointed to attend to Aideen from the day she entered its premises, appeared to be the sole individual among the help who showed a modicum of consideration toward the princess.
This preference likely stemmed from Aideen’s recurrent practice of bribing the girl with funds Count Crueder parsimoniously allocated to her each week. Aideen viewed this allocation as the minimal cost necessary to garner even a grain of respect within the desolate confines of her new abode.
"I apologize for causing such inconvenience, Vira. The blame rests solely with me, as I ventured about when cognizant that the maids were in the midst of cleaning the hallways."
Aideen offered the maid a subtle, apologetic smile, prompting the latter’s response—a long, audible sigh accompanied by a reprimanding click of the tongue.
"Each day unfolds in the same manner, My Lady! Trouble seems to follow you incessantly! You are but a child residing within the form of a twenty-two-year-old woman!"
Vira shook her head in a display of disappointment, then stood behind her lady, initiating the process of loosening the ribbons securing Aideen’s corset.
With each loosened ribbon, each unfastened button, Aideen sensed a gradual alleviation in the burden her body bore—an emancipation from the relentless pain it endured day after day.
As the dress fell heavily to the wooden floor beneath the princess’s feet, Vira momentarily halted her ministrations. Her discerning gaze observed her lady’s body—marred by no fewer than a dozen sizable bruises, exhibiting hues of black, blue, and purple, akin to peculiar blossoms scattered across her skin.
’Diligent, as always. Never in places where others can see. It is a miracle she can walk at all when she is constantly being beaten to a pulp.’
Another protracted exhale escaped the maid’s lips, prompting Aideen to turn her chin to the right in a gesture of concern.