Chapter 635
The encounter I had with Otto was now a month ago and I seemed to be getting more weary and tired.
My body all of sudden seemed exhausted.
Hildegard had noticed it when I woke up from bed and she had looked at me it’s cunning and suspicious eyes.
“You look tired.” She had remarked.
I sighed as I sat up in the bed one early morning.
My feet hurt and my whole body felt like I had been tossed all around by wolves in a game.
“I think it’s just the weather.” I said as I touched my neck.
“Perhaps.” She said as she looked at me. “But then you seem to be glowing too. I can not explain the whole business but you seem to be doing good and well a bit bad at the same time.”
I rose up from my bed and walked up to a mirror to look at myself.
She was right.
I did look tired.
And as for the glow I didn’t see any of it.
“Well you should rest.” Hildegard told me her hand gently on my shoulder.
“I’ll like to paint today.” I said with a smile.
Queen Rose had given me the opportunity to be an artist in the pack.
I had never known how talented I was and yet I had been able to paint so much artworks.
It was the one thing that kept me happy while i anxiously waited to hear from Otto.
“I also need to clean Auburn’s room today.” I said.
Ever since I had come to stay in the pack.
The King himself had told me I would earn staying in the pack.
I had taken up doing servants jobs.
Hildegard had kicked against it, but it was the only way I could be on his good side.
And for the King to have told me, the Queen must know too.
Hildegard’s face immediately twisted at the mention of Auburn’s name.
“Can’t wait for the mage to arrive.” She mumbled to herself in annoyance.
“What?” I asked.
She smiled at me and said a quick.
“Nothing.”
“Then you can do that later.” She told me. “But for not just stay. Okay?”
I was reluctant at first, but eventually I gave in.
She patted my head and got up to leave.
I sat back down on the bed and dreamed of meeting my mother’s family soon.
I knew that my mind had been sad from being away from the crescent pack and that most likely was why body was reacting in such a manner.
Nothing more nothing less.
After about an hour of resting, I very gently got up from the bed and got ready to clean up Auburn’s room.
Once I was done, I would go to paint.
As I walked down the halls, my feet hurt so much but I kept on walking.
When I got to her bedroom, I didn’t find her.
The princess’s chamber was just as I remembered: a soft scent of roses, curtains pulled halfway open to let the morning light spill across the floors, and fabrics in rich purples and golds draped everywhere
. It always felt like stepping into a world meant for someone far grander than me.
I tied the small apron around my waist and began cleaning.
I dusted every surface, swept the floors, fluffed the pillows arranged on her bed twelve in total, which I always found a bit excessive and folded the thin shawl tossed carelessly over the chair.
I made sure everything was neat, perfect, sparkling. It was the kind of room that made me smile despite myself.
How lucky she is, I thought, smoothing my palm over the polished vanity table.
A princess… she has everything.
As I turned to leave, something glittered on the table, so bright it caught the corner of my eye.
A necklace.
Not just any necklace.
A glowing string of diamonds so pure, so cold, so impossibly perfect that it looked like stars woven into silver.
I froze.
I had never seen it before.
Why would Auburn leave something like this out in the open? Even I knew this was far too valuable to be sitting on a vanity, untouched.
My fingers hovered over it.
I should put it inside the drawer… right?
But the moment my fingertips brushed the cool metal, something inside me tightened an instinct, a warning I couldn’t explain. I pulled my hand back.
“No,” I whispered to myself. “Let her handle it.”
I gave the necklace one last curious look, then turned and walked out.
By afternoon, the sun hung hot and bright, and I had lost myself in my paints again deep blues and spreading across the canvas like they were alive.
Hours passed without me noticing. It was only when a sudden burst of noise echoed down the hallway that my brush stilled in mid-air.
Voices.
Many voices.
Raised, frantic.
I wiped my hands on a cloth, confused, and walked to the door.
Outside, several maids huddled together in tight clusters, whispering in fierce little breaths. Their eyes were wide. Some looked scared. Others looked… eager.
“What happened?” I asked, stepping toward them.
One of the maids glanced at me, then at the others, before swallowing hard.
“It’s… Princess Auburn’s room,” she whispered. “Something happened in there.”
My heart lurched painfully.
Auburn’s room.
And I had been there earlier.
Without thinking, I hurried down the hall, pushing past the growing crowd gathering at her door. The murmurs, the gasps, the frantic whispers my pulse rose with each one.
When I reached the entrance, I had to stand on my toes to see inside.
Auburn was in the middle of the room, her golden hair wild around her shoulders, pointing at the vanity table her voice cracking in fury.
“It was right here! It was here and now it’s gone! Do you understand? Gone!”
Princess Cherry and Princess Coral were both beside her Cherry tall and cold, Coral gentler but clearly shaken.
“What is wrong?” Coral asked, trying to place a calming hand on Auburn’s arm.
“The royal necklace!” Auburn screamed. “The diamond necklace! It’s not here!”
My breath caught in my chest.
The necklace.
The same necklace I had seen hours ago.
I stared at the empty place where it had been, shock rippling through me.
But how? No one else should have.
Auburn whirled around, breathing hard. “I haven’t stepped inside since this morning! So whoever cleaned this room last… they must have taken it.”
The crowd gasped. My stomach twisted sharply.
Before anyone could respond, the Queen swept into the room her presence commanding presence.
“What is all this noise?” she demanded, her voice slicing through the chaos.
Auburn turned to her, frantic. “Grandma, the royal necklace someone stole it! It was on my vanity and now it’s gone!”
The Queen’s eyes narrowed, scanning the room. “Stolen? By whom?”
Auburn lifted her chin. “I don’t know… but the last person in here must have been the cleaner.”
A heavy silence fell over the room.
Then Princess Cherry’s gaze slid to the crowd by the door. “And who,” she asked slowly, “cleaned this room today?”
My throat tightened. My palms began to sweat.
My voice barely came out.
“I… I did,” I whispered.
And every head in the room turned toward me.