Vow Of Silence

CHAPTER SEVEN

3rd PERSON P.O.V: - -

Light chatter filled the dining hall. At the same time, the servants exchanged side-eyed glances, gesturing at the lady of the house who seemed to be enjoying her meal even with being surrounded by the castle’s staff, the knights were also curious enough to take a peak as they take their rations.

Pausing at their steps and making sure that they saw correctly but there was no mistake. The lady’s vibrant clothes stuck out of the scene, contrasting against the dull and washed-out colors of the servant’s uniforms.

“Is that alright?”

“I hope the lord won’t punish us for this,”

“She’s prettier up close,”

“I heard she could speak now,”

“She started speaking now, didn’t she?”

“I heard her speak when I passed the kitchen,”

“I wonder if her silence is just a ruse,”

“Why now?”

—were only some of the many phrases and comments Pelomina heard. Some servants were trying to hush their voices, but some weren’t even considering doing so. It’s like a volume control within her radius, five meters further away from her, and the voices started to get louder, and within her vicinity, the servants acted meeker and calm. The further tables away were jeering and laughing out loud.

“Back to being an outcast, huh?” Pelomina whispered to herself as she brought a spoonful of the dish she helped cook in the kitchen, the flavors melting in her mouth making her moan in delight as the savory taste of home-cooked meals took her by surprise that it muffled the crowd’s noise.

“My lady, is the meal to your liking?” an elderly servant lady with warm, wrinkling almond eyes, who’s seated rather close to her, asked after noticing the blissful expression on her face, not minding that the lady’s presence was somewhat perturbing to some,

Pelomina covered her mouth and tried to gulp down her food before replying, “Ah, yes, I love it… it’s delicious,” she replied with a smile, and the old lady hummed, giving her a warm smile before gesturing at Pelomina’s cheeks that are stuff with the dishes that she couldn’t gulp down,

“It’s great to see you so eager to eat, it’s been years since then,” she noted, making Pelomina pause,

“I’m sorry, years?” she repeated, quite scared of the fact that she’s supposed to be playing the role of someone she didn’t know in front of a woman who’s known her for years.

“Yes, if we start from the moment you were brought here, ever since the day of your marriage, it has been… shockingly six years have passed, my how time flies,” the servant remarked shutting her eyes as she resumed eating in silence with a smile.

The elderly woman is Miss Vivian. She’s one of the few servants who served under the previous lady’s reign. She’s seen things that others only speak of. Frankly, she was suspicious when the rumors around the castle flew about the lady being able to speak again. It was truly a celebration-worthy moment. However, this servant had been watching her closely. She could tell that Lady Vaustero wasn't someone who was fond of loud gatherings and extravagant events.

And now… The elder woman seems to doubt her judgment.

Uncertain whether it’s just her misinterpretation but now, the Lady Vaustero, seemed more lively and albeit hardly noticeable, she’s acting rather crass, a subtle difference to be seen by only those who know what to look for, the curl of the lady’s fingers, the flick of her wrist, her posture….

The list goes on, but there are merely some of the notable changes. Miss Vivian has seen this same noble lady in her weakest, fighting for her life in a cold cushioned bed, and saw her frolic about in a garden made especially for her while the esteemed husband watches from a distance, and yet the Vivian couldn’t say she’s seen this side…

The unapologetic, liberated, and outspoken Pelomina, who actually maintains eye contact with those speaking to her. She’s amused and glad that such a thing was something the Lady Vaustero now knows how to do. The scene almost got her thinking that perhaps she’s looking at a different person and not the actual Pelomina Vaustero.

‘But that would be just ridiculous. The changes are not too dramatic to make such a dubious claim,’ Vivian thought.

Unbeknownst to her, her suspicions were correct: that another person is now inside Lady Vaustero’s body and that she’s looking at a completely different person.

A person who’s currently forming beads of sweat on her forehead, suddenly wary of the servant’s serene expression. She was nervous the moment the servant started talking to her. It triggered a long stream of internal panic, foremost because she’s afraid this servant will be seeing through her and would reveal to everyone else that she’s not the real Pelomina.

But she took a deep breath and got in touch with her rational thinking, ‘How would she even know that, she’ll probably think I’m acting different but that’ll be it,’ she thought, placing a hand on her racing heartbeat, that worry made her blood pulse as it flowed.

What made her more nervous was the fact that it’s been six years. The real Pelomina Vaustero was in this castle for six years, in other words, married to Lykus Vaustero for more than half a decade. Knowing that didn’t put her at ease, but she did hear her handmaids mention that Lykus was also gone for two years.

‘Gone for two years and the first thing he does is torment his wife with accusations of cheating,’

Pelomina thought, feeling more and more pity for the real Pelomina. It seems like the names were truly the only thing that had similar, because she, Pelomina Capiz, will not sit and take this kind of treatment if it weren’t necessary for her cover.

She started to lose her sense of taste the more she thinks and let her mind wander off to topics involving Lykus and her current situation.

She was nearing the end of her meal and the noises are starting to pick up now that the other servants were getting more comfortable in the noble lady’s presence. Some servants seem to even consider approaching and striking a conversation with the Lady of the house, but before they could even execute their plan, a loud banging noise startled everyone.

The sound of slamming doors that set every nerve in her body flared. The sound echoed throughout the large hall, the wide venue not even being able to hold the mysterious gush of wind that came at the same time the doors opened,

“Pelomina!” Lykus’ deep voice thundered, stunning everyone in their seat, making them cower in silence and lower their heads.

The lady in question, however, straightened her back at the mention of her name. Her eyes darted at the entrance of the said hall and the towering figure of Lykus was at the doorframe, very menacing and very angry.

‘Oh, now what?’ She thought as she bit her lip, mentally cursing as she stood up, “Yes?” she called back in a much-mellowed tone,

The colossal figure of Lykus stormed to her and stopped in his tracks, standing a few feet away from her, his features now more clear up close and his knitted brows forming creases deeper than the Marianna trench,

“Do you truly intend to insult me?” he asked,

Pelomina, taking a deep breath to calm herself down in an attempt to detach her confrontational urges from the conversation, “What do you mean?” she asked, truly confused as to where this man was bringing the conversation to.

He gestured to the entirety of the hall, “You’d rather eat with the servants… than with your husband?” he bellowed, inching closer to Pelomina.

Confused and frankly surprised, that’s the first notion he takes. She didn’t even know he wanted to eat with her in the first place. After all, he acted with utmost hostility when they passed each other in front of the kitchen.

“I… I didn’t know you’d want me to, I couldn’t tell with how you…” She trailed off, debating whether the next words were worth her life, with the man’s track record and public reputation, it wouldn’t be off for him to decide on the spot that he wants to execute his wife,

He huffed, “Follow me,” he hissed as he stormed out of the hall. Pelomina glanced at the room and cursed a long string of words after surveying the gravity of what atmosphere Lykus’ left it in. She lowered her head and followed his steps, giving an apologetic look to the rest of the servants in the hall.

“Were you intending to let everyone in the castle know that we’re having a dispute?” he asked, leading the way back to his study. However, the path was a long way to go,

Pelomina, unfortunately, couldn’t enjoy nor absorb the rich scenery the castle has to offer when her mind simply clouded by frustration, “That’s not my intention, I thought you would like to eat alone since you asked them to serve your food to your study,” she retorted making Lykus frown at her,

“I always eat at my study…and you are more fitted to eat at my study than in the servant hall,” he argued, pausing at his tracks to point an accusing finger at her,

“I just wanted someone to talk to now that I can speak, is that so wrong?” Pelomina argued, with small hints of anger, almost overpowering her fear and wariness,

Lykus’s frown deepened, and he nodded his head to gesture for her to follow him again, back to their route to the lord of the castle’s study where their discussion will resume. Lykus didn’t want to talk about such a heavy conversation in a place where every passerby would hear them.

Pelomina at this point was losing grip of herself, albeit she knows just how Lykus would punish her, the thought that this would be yet another one-sided confrontation where he would give her the same blame over and over gave her a looming sense of dread.