Vow Of Silence

CHAPTER TEN

1st PERSON: Pelomina Lorenzo-Capiz

“Can I help you with anything, my lady?” she asked as I welcomed her in, I nodded at her vigorously and told her to take a seat on the chair by the vanity dresser, she looked uncomfortable at first and a bit confused but she took a seat nevertheless,

“Yes, Polly, as you know I have… a very weak body,” I started, making her scoff and look at me with a serious face.

“My lady… everyone knows,” she said in a firm tone as she looked at me intently her warm expression replaced with a cold look, “My lady, the farmers from the next town know about that, so please I beg you that if you ever feel the slightest ounce of discomfort, inform everyone, we’ll know what to do, you can depend on us,” she ranted, leaning closer with a worried and determined face, nodding at me,

I nodded back awkwardly, just how fragile is this body that the neighboring towns also know, well it doesn't matter at least we’re heading in the right direction, “That’s exactly why I need your help, Miss Polly,” I told her and she shifted on her seat to inch closer and listen intently,

“Yes, I’m listening,” she affirmed,

‘I could tell,’

“Well, that said I was planning to—“

“Pardon me, my lady, could you perhaps also take a seat, I feel uncomfortable just watching you stand while I’m seated, if only you don’t mind, of course, my lady,” she cut off, fumbling at her words, her shoulders raised and she’s also visibly perturbed by that so I took a seat, it’s no big deal.

I huffed and sat on the edge of the bed, “Right, where was I?” I started,

“You’re planning something, my lady,” she answered, and I whipped my head to her, eyes wide.

‘What did she say?’

“I-I’m sorry?” I repeated, could it be that she knows I’m planning to leave the castle? She’s not going to tell Lykus is she—

She paused, blinking at me with a confused expression, “You…you said you were planning… something my lady,” she replied, tilting her head at me and I realized she got that from what I said when she cut me off, we're really setting each other's nerves flared, huh?

My question was supposed to be rhetorical, but at least I know she’s paying close attention. With a sigh I continued, “Yes, I was indeed planning something, and that ‘something’ is my request to have you as my… personal company if you will,” I started, making her gasp, her hands clasped to her mouth.

“Now, if you’re not quite sure if you want to be—“

“I’ll do it! I will! However, am I truly fitted for this, my lady?” she replied with excitement, anticipation in her eyes. It seems like she was willing to do it. I didn’t even need to convince her. The real Lady Pelomina sure made a good impression to be loved this much.

I smiled at her and sighed in relief, “Thank you, Miss Polly, you only need to try and stay around me as much as I could in the case that I might need assistance for when I trip and collapse on the floor,” I began, trying to make light of the recent embarrassing events but she frowned with yet another gasp,

“Dear me, my lady please do not speak of such occasions. My heart races every time you get hurt or feel unwell,” she said in a hushed tone, tapping her chest calming herself down,

‘This isn’t worry, this is trauma,’ I thought,

Isn’t this too much? Is this body’s condition that life-threatening that a simple trip was enough to make everyone panic? That mentioning that mere event sends their nerves haywire? I shook my head, raising both hands to calm her down,

“Of course, of course, that won’t happen,” I replied, lying through my teeth about something that literally happened just very recently, “I’m simply making an example, but as a precaution for matters like that, it’d be best if I have you around,” I said making her take a deep breath and exhale, nodding at my words in full agreement.

“Nothing would put me more at ease, my lady,” she replied.

I clasped my arms, stopping myself from doing a fist pump. Now I have someone to guide me around, I could ask her to accompany me as I walk around the castle, I can map it out as we do, and since she’s been watching the real Pelomina of this world closely this whole time, she’ll help me strengthen my disguise until it’s time to bail.

‘Excellent,’ I thought, proud of myself yet somehow guilty that I’m taking advantage of this poor girl to achieve my personal goals. I’ll find a way to make it up to her eventually, but now it’s down to business. I’ll need to endure this head-on.

I glanced at her but now the excitement melted from her face as she pondered hard about something, whatever it is it must’ve been puzzling, she had a thumb on her chin and her brows furrowed close to each other, “but my lady,” she began before looking up to face me,

“How should we inform the lord Lykus of this arrangement? Have you already received the lord’s approval?” she asked, and I blinked at her with an empty smile,

“Of course,” I did not, “He already knows of this,” he doesn’t, but she doesn’t need to know that, maybe I can make it happen that we can go about with this plan without him taking note of it?

No, that’d be impossible. He hates me, he’ll notice every single thing I do and use what he gathers to torment me. I haven’t done anything good in his eyes yet. Maybe I could make this seem like it's something to his advantage more than mine? He seems to like the idea of being above me, so he has a nice view whenever he kicked me down.

‘That’s what happening until now,’

Polly sighed and placed a hand over her chest, “That’s comforting, then will I be starting tomorrow?” she asked, and that just made the cogs in my head turn faster. Tomorrow will be a busy day since Lykus is determined to bully me on-site and in real-time,

'Alas, 'tis the life of a devoted husband, you know,'

If he notices that Polly is keeping close contact, he might pull another separation move and tell her to avoid me.

Or something along those lines.

It’s not like I have a walkie-talkie to carry around to tell Polly how to act. How should I make this work…

‘Ah! I got it!’

I forgot the most important thing! Polly had always been watching closely. She’ll just need to keep doing that. What I initially thought was stalker-ish could actually turn into something useful! And instead of walkie-talkies, I could use subtle hand gestures. Alright, now we’re getting somewhere. Who would’ve thought I’d come up with something like this by myself? It must be because I’m using Pelomina’s brain to think.

I hummed, “Well, yes, let’s start tomorrow,” I answered as she did some tiny claps, “But, for now, I need to teach you a couple of hand codes that are exclusively on for the two of us,” I added, making her face focused again,

“Certainly, my lady, but what for?” she asked.

‘Oh no… I forgot an explanation for it, whatever, I’ll just lie,’

“Well, I just realized that I don’t want the other servants to think I’m playing favorites, which is why I’m altering our arrangement a bit,” I trailed off making her swoon,

“Ah~ our lady is so considerate!” she cheered, cupping her face,

‘No… not at all. This makes me guilty,’

I chuckled nervously, clasping my hands as I thought of the most basic and subtle fool-proof way to make these coded messages effective in all situations.

“So it goes like this Polly, keep watch from a good distance, hand gestures are only used when you think I could see you,” I started and he nodded, “And if you think I can’t see you, you can use code words,” I followed, making her grin with her eyes wide open,

“How covert! This is exciting, my lady!” she gushed in a hushed tone like someone was listening in on us.

At least she’s enthusiastic, could we both pull this off I get the feeling that maybe we’re both too airheaded to actually achieve the intended results, either way, this is my only chance if I want to stick to my initial not-yet-well-constructed plan.

“You’ll need to inform me about a few things, like Lykus’ presence and—”

“Why would I need to inform you about that, my lady? Could it be that you two are—ah, oh no,”

“It’s not what you think—”

“You two are fighting! Ah, marriage is never easy my lady….n-not that I would know, however, I’ve observed that behavior, yes,” she said with an awkward nod, fidgeting and shifting in her seat, it’s like I’m talking to a teenager. Which is probably the case.

I’m fearing she must be too energetic and too enthusiastic to perform well, I cleared my throat and raised a hand at her, “Polly, let me talk first, if you have questions save them for when I finished, you’ll need to hear the whole thing before you think about whether you’re still up for it,” I explained just so we could avoid getting sidetracked.

She nodded and straightened her back, dusting her clothes and placing her hands neatly on her lap, “Yes, my lady, my apologies,”

“Yes, thank you, but that said you’ll need to inform me about Lykus’ appearance if you happen to pass him before you meet me, take note of his mood also, I want to know if he’s mad or not just so I’ll know what I’m going up against,” I followed, she nodded but kept silent,

“Also, when talking to someone else, perhaps someone important, I’d like if you’re by my side then, I suppose speaking to other high-profile people makes me a bit flustered so it will mean a lot if you stay with me and help me navigate around conversations, would you be alright with such demands?” I asked with clasped hands as I looked at her straight in the eyes,

She blinked at me and pointed to her mouth, “Should I… should I reply now?” she asked in a faint tone making me chuckle as I nodded and she nodded vigorously, yelling ‘Absolutely’ and ‘of course’.

‘Good! At least I’m making a little progress. I’ll bring up walking around the castle some other time,’