Chapter 3
Rose. Gyeongju took Rose’s free hand and kissed it. Rubbing her lips against the cold back of the hand, she begged for mercy. The grip that felt ready to tear her hair out gradually loosened. Feeling the shift, Gyeongju raised her kneeling body halfway and began to caress Rose’s neck.
Since it was not something she desired, she could never grow accustomed to it. Yet Gyeongju knew what her young lady wished from her, and for the sake of a peaceful day, she willingly performed what needed to be done.
“Liar. You are cursing me on the inside too, are you not?”
Gyeongju shook her head and covered Rose’s lips with her own. Rose bit down hard on Gyeongju’s lips. The dry lips crushed, spilling metallic blood. Gyeongju groaned in pain. Rose dragged Gyeongju’s body onto her bed and climbed atop her.
Ah, please. Gyeongju contorted her face in agony. She had desperately hoped it would end with a kiss, but Rose’s wrath ran far deeper than anticipated.
“Ah, Young Lady…”
“Rose!”
Rose corrected Gyeongju’s words and struck her cheek harshly. She would have slapped her cheek regardless, seizing upon any pretext. Resigned, Gyeongju begged Rose for forgiveness once more. To match that twisted, warped, and pathological temperament, she had no choice but to grovel and obey.
Rose Clovis, the stain of House Clovis. She was an illegitimate child born when Saxon Clovis, the matriarch of House Clovis, violated her own younger sister. A creature born of incest itself. Saxon confined Rose, the symbol of her scandal, to the attic of the grand manor to be kept as her possession.
Gyeongju had entered the manor when she had been hired by Saxon to attend to her daughter. Yet in truth, it was to monitor Rose so she would not commit suicide, and to serve as a plaything so she would not feel lonely. Thus, being beaten by Rose, surrendering her body to Rose, and embracing that body was merely work for Gyeongju. Merely a trade that allowed her and her younger sister to go on living.
Stripping Gyeongju of her clothes, Rose bit into Gyeongju’s chest. Feeling her cheek swell heavily, Gyeongju stared at the faint cobweb hanging from the attic ceiling. Now, she would have to endure watching that cobweb until Rose’s anger subsided. Whatever it took.
* * *
Gyeongju poured the last tin bucket of water into the bathtub. The tub in Rose’s room was quite spacious, so five buckets of water barely filled it halfway. It could stand to be a little smaller, Gyeongju lamented internally, suppressing the excruciating pain in her lower back.
Even for Gyeongju, who handled ordinary chores without difficulty, this task proved grueling. Yet like any noble incapable of considering a servant’s plight, Rose remained ignorant of Gyeongju’s hardship.
Soaking in a bathtub located in the attic meant that someone had to boil the necessary water, carry it to the fourth-floor corridor, bring it beyond the attic room, and pour it into the tub. The kitchen maid mainly boiled the water, while the manor gardener or stable hand carried it up to the fourth floor. Everything after that fell to Gyeongju.
The manor servants knew full well that Rose’s scandalous existence was to be kept thoroughly separate from House Clovis. Yet, so long as she possessed the protection of Saxon, the head of the house, Rose was undeniably a Lady of House Clovis. Unable to complain openly to Rose, the servants unloaded their insults and dissatisfaction upon Gyeongju, Rose’s handmaiden. Enduring such humiliation was also Gyeongju’s lot.
Aside from attending to Rose, Gyeongju performed various tasks that fell outside of any clear boundaries. Some days, she was summoned by Saxon to her study, and she enjoyed relatively free movement outside. Unlike other servants, she did not require permission to come and go from the manor.
At times, she rode a horse herself to go out rather than taking the manor’s private carriage. Furthermore, as Inju spent her days confined to her room in near silence, the air of strangeness surrounding Gyeongju grew greater by the day.
Indeed, the servants of Clovis Manor viewed Gyeongju as suspicious. They mocked and tormented her, and even inflicted physical violence in attempts to provoke her, but she never reacted. They lost interest in Gyeongju over time, and satisfied their curiosity by merely venting their frustration upon her occasionally.
“Young Lady, the bathwater is fully prepared.”
Rose, who had been lying on her stomach kicking her feet on the bed, smiled brightly and stepped down. Upon her skin, pale from lack of sunlight, the lip prints left by Gyeongju were vivid. Gyeongju lowered her head in an effort to ignore the memory.
“How adorable.”
In far better spirits, Rose laughed brightly and gently stroked Gyeongju’s cheek. Then, taking Gyeongju’s extended hand, she stepped inside the bathtub and sat down. Although the water was set to the temperature Rose favored, Gyeongju could not take her eyes off her, knowing that she might capriciously find fault, claiming it was too cold or too hot.
“You come in as well.”
“Is the temperature… acceptable?”
As if to demonstrate, Rose curled her body and submerged beneath the water’s surface. Her red hair, as brightly coloured as her namesake, swayed beneath the water.
Rising from the water with a crisp splash, Rose giggled merrily. She then extended both arms toward Gyeongju.
“If I enter, I fear the water shall become dirty…”
“Then we can become dirty together. Is that not so?”
If she shared a bath with her now, there was no telling when she might return to Inju. Gyeongju truly wished to decline her mistress’s favor.
“What was today’s lunch menu again?” Rose asked, wringing her wet hair with both hands.
She was not asking out of curiosity, but because Rose knew how fond Gyeongju’s younger sister was of beef pie. She also knew she could manipulate Gyeongju by using Inju as bait.
“I do not feel much like eating meat today.”
Playfulness filled Rose’s eyes as she stared at Gyeongju. She was rarely in such a good mood, so when she displayed such humor and offered generosity, it was easier to cater to her whims so that the moment might last a little longer.
Gyeongju hastily removed the clothes she had thrown on. She took off the loose dress, the thin petticoat worn beneath it, and even the drawers serving as undergarments before stepping into the tub. Sitting opposite Rose, she curled her body tightly. Bruises greedily left by Rose were scattered across her chest. Gyeongju covered her chest with both hands. As Inju grew, the day would come when she would no longer be convinced by the excuse that she had simply bumped into something.
“Are you going to just sit there like that?”
At Rose’s question, Gyeongju snapped out of her stray thoughts and moved. She began to feel along Rose’s body, rubbing and washing her skin. The cloth used to wash Rose’s body was of a completely different caliber than the one Gyeongju used. Feeling its velvety texture, Gyeongju busily moved her arms.
“Are you not curious about the vampire queen?”
Rose seized Gyeongju’s hands as they washed her body. Interlocking her fingers with hers, she leaned against Gyeongju’s chest.
“What good would it do for someone like me to hold an interest? Such matters belong to noble women like yourself, Young Lady.”
“…How dull.”
Rose pouted and splashed water onto Gyeongju’s face. Though she knew her maid was incapable of sweet-talking her, Rose inwardly regretted Gyeongju’s stoic and stiff nature in all matters. She seemed like a child who knew not how to smile, nor cry, nor how to be moved.
“Are you curious, Young Lady?”
“I already know too much to be curious. I merely wish to confirm whether what I heard is true.”
“What you heard?”
“Confined to this attic all day, what else is there for me to do? I simply read and re-read the books Duchess Clovis brings me.”
Reflexively, Gyeongju looked back toward Rose’s desk. There was a time when she had been terribly famished with a hunger for learning. Even if there was nowhere to apply it, she had simply wished to feel the joy of knowing. Though she had no trouble reading and writing basic text, such things were of no help in living as a maid. Swallowing that subdued hunger with bitterness, Gyeongju gave a slight shake of her head.
“They say the defining trait of the vampire queen is beauty. That the royal bloodline guarantees beauty.”
“…Could the queen really be as beautiful as you, Young Lady?”
At the muttered words, Rose brightened and turned back to look at Gyeongju. Coming from Gyeongju, who rarely uttered flattery, Rose’s joy was immense. Rose’s pale face flushed as red as her scarlet hair.
“Truly?”
“Yes. Not only within this manor, but even in Sierra Square, I have never seen anyone as beautiful as you, Young Lady.”
Praise for her beauty set Rose ablaze. Turning around completely, Rose climbed onto Gyeongju’s thighs. She wrapped both arms around Gyeongju’s neck and rested against her shoulder.
“I am so glad you are here. Had you not been, I surely would have died.”
“Young Lady.”
“Do not worry. So long as you remain by my side like this, I could never make such a choice.”
Please, I beg of you. Gyeongju embraced Rose, who clung to her, with an earnest heart.
Without you, my sister and I would be cast out from this manor. I am sorry for being unable to love you. Yet do not torment me with guilt any deeper than this. In any case, your affection for me is merely an obsession.
Gyeongju simply allowed Rose to kiss her blue eyes alternately. Yes, so long as my blue eyes continue to shine, no one else shall take my place. Gyeongju felt a surge of genuine gratitude for her eyes, which she had once considered a curse.
“I sometimes think that if I could only escape this manor, it might be better to be chosen as the vampire’s bride instead,” Rose whispered, stroking Gyeongju’s chest. “Who knows? Perhaps in that place, there will be no people to despise me or point fingers. No, should I call them vampires rather than people?”
“Should you become the bride, you too would become a vampire, Young Lady.”
“Yes. If the queen bestows an imprinting upon me, I might bear the royal successor and enjoy immortal power.”
Rose licked Gyeongju’s ear and whispered playfully. “But do you know what?” As the rough tongue touched her ear, Gyeongju flinched, and her shoulders trembled.
Suddenly, Rose’s shrill laughter burrowed into her wet ear.
“They say a bride selected and summoned to the castle undergoes a special purification.”
“A purification?”
“Indeed. To become a pure bride and be offered as a sacrifice to the queen.”
Letting Rose pinch and pull her nose, Gyeongju stared at her blankly, failing to understand.
