Vow Of Silence

CHAPTER FOUR

1st PERSON: Pelomina Lorenzo-Capiz

When morning came, it sounded of singing birds and a loud knock on my door. I woke up and instead of the butler, like before, it was the handmaids that bailed on me yesterday the moment Lykus appeared. Java, Keion, and Eustace walked in with a basin to wipe my body with again and Eustace immediately runs to my wardrobe.

“I’ll pick the dress!” Eustace declared,

“You picked yesterday,” Keion noted,

“Hah, yesterday’s not counted!” the former denied,

“No, I pick today, Eustace brush the lady’s hair and Keion do the wiping, I need to pick because it seems like the lady will be participating in helping around the castle,” Java reminded, and only then did my brain do some sort of rewiring because every emotion I felt yesterday was at full steam once again.

Lykus, that big intimidating bully! I do feel less active and strong compared to when I was in my real body, but if he thinks he’ll break me down with some housework. He’s gravely mistaken. I lived in an Asian household! I have confidence in my work ethic when it comes to cleaning, only because my mother would antagonize me whenever she comes home from a tiring day at work to a messy house with no food on the table. Which was understandable.

I only have my mother back in my real life, my father… I don’t really know what’s the deal with my father, I don’t even know who he is, he might be part of the reason why I have really low expectations of men.

Lykus proved that ideology correct. He’s only high standard if you gauge him by the height, seriously how tall is that man? I’m pretty tall myself—or at least my original body was pretty tall, but that man is on a whole new level. He’s not just tall, he’s huge!

My mother used to tell me that keeping your hair long would stunt your growth, but that seems not to be the case in this world because Lykus' bright silver hair reaches past his waist, not to mention they're shiny and the unbraided sections of his hair are pin-straight. It’s healthy and long, and it obviously looks so cool. I wonder if it’s silky smooth. That would make me so jealous.

I burnt my real hair out with bleach and hair colors. Not this one though. My hair in this world is at par with Lykus’ luscious locks.

‘Hey that’s a tongue twister… a mediocre one, but still.’

Before I noticed it, I was already pulled up to a standing position with the corset, slowly taking my breath and life force with every tight pull,

“Wait!” I wheezed, tapping on Java’s hand repeatedly to stop her.

“Too tight, my lady?” she asked.

“I ca—ahh I can’tbreatheplease—” I breathed out in the few oxygens that I retained and they loosened it up to the point it’s just tight enough to give me shape. Now I know why this became so outdated.

“Better?” Java asked and I nodded,

“Thank you very much, I believe I’ll be moving around all day, I want to be able to breathe properly,” I said, and she nodded with a smile, placing a hand on her chest.

“Our lady really is a determined woman,” Keion noted with a smile, tucking a stray strand of hair from my face. My hair was already in a French braid, a good choice that keeps it from flying around whenever I move. I’m also wearing something really light compared to what I wore yesterday.

It was a simple and rather thin, flowy forest green dress with embroidery of golden thread that formed flowers and leaves. Albeit modest-looking, it’s amazingly elegant. The sleeves were loose, tightened by a golden ribbon right at the elbow. It’s not restraining and is comfortable. I knew I could trust Java with things like these.

“This is perfect,” I said as I spun, it’s like I’m living every day as a princess, seeing a different face when I look in the mirror was still startling, but I’m trying to get used to it, I felt like I was given a new chance of experiencing life with the privileges of being beautiful.

Purple eyes, jet black hair, rich complexion. This body also had a pretty thin stature, I think I’m actually not as tall as I was in my actual body, there’s obviously some work to be done on these muscles, I looked sickly too.

Well, either way, I’ll nail today’s task. I’ll show that man that miscommunication feuds can be clarified with civilized discussion and not an abuse of authority with petty demands. I wore some flat and equally comfortable shoes and headed out to the kitchen and started there, I could have Polly tag along so I won’t get lost and blow my cover.

“We wish you good luck, my lady!” Java whispered, the others nodded with the same determined expression and I returned the look with a nod before entering the kitchen.

Once I walked in, the demeanor in the room changed. It became silent and I could make out hushed conversations. It seems that not only five people work in the kitchen because the number of people in the room was even more than twenty, and yet since it’s spacious, it didn’t look cramped.

They nodded to me as I walked in, looking for the familiar five women that I spoke with yesterday. I wish they would wave, or even just a nod was enough to set me at ease.

“Where’s…Where’s Miss Polly?” I asked, approaching a man,

“Her circle’s moved to the gardens, will you be helping in the kitchen first, my lady? The lord already explained it to us,” he replied and I blinked once as I leaned back a little.

‘That tyrannical brute!’

His intentions are at full display, but a minor setback like this would make me weak. I nodded at the man, “Yes, how can I help?” I asked,

“Follow me, my lady,” he said gesturing at me as he led me to the corner of the room and handed me an apron, “Also, please be at ease, we won’t exhaust you and you could just take over the minor tasks,” he assured with a nonchalant but mildly nice attitude, like a kind block of marble.

I smiled as I nodded and he brought me to a table, which seems to be the baking faction of the kitchen since they were kneading dough. I smiled and nodded at each of them and they were kind enough to return the favor, all except an older man with a thick amount of mustache shaped like the monopoly mascot. He huffed, his pupils barely visible under his downcast eyes and thick bushy eyebrows. He looked like any other fatherly stereotyped look.

Only he didn’t feel fatherly, then again, what do I know? I’m not exactly raised with good reference material.

“I… would just prefer if you stood to watch and not bother with our work,” he noted.

I paused and looked across the people at the table, who all seemed to be averting my gaze. I’m not new to disagreeable adults, I just don’t know how to go about it in this world where I’m supposed to act court and polite and gentle, or at least that’s what their image of the real Pelomina of this world would be.

“I would appreciate it if you gave me something to do, even if it’s just washing the utensils…” I started, “I don’t want to get in your way but I would also want to be useful to you,” I finished clenching my fists on my dress, in case I overstepped a bit and now I’ll have to deal with negative comebacks. As one would’ve guessed, I’m terrible with authority figures, with terrible meaning borderline hostile.

I don’t want to create a dispute this early on, but it’s like a conditioned reflex by now.

He hummed in a deep voice and the notion I made seemed like it entered his left ear and out his right one. Like it wasn’t worth listening to. The others remained silent while still continuing their tasks. I clenched my jaw.

“Please, I would like to hel—”

“knead them out…” he said, cutting me off on my next minor outburst gesturing to the bits of dough on a tray that he tore apart from the bigger batch, he pointed at the brick wall of a man that gave me the apron, “Copy what Limwei does,” he followed,

Breathing in, I smiled as I nodded and began pressing and dragging them upwards and repeating that same motion for as long as the man, apparently named Limwei, did until I got them to this round shape, they eventually turn into a dome with the dough’s consistency and they were left to rest again.

And from there, I just did that until the big batch of dough was all gone.

“Now we wait and fire up the oven, then we cut the bread,” Limwei said in his monotone voice that I’m growing to be fond of. It’s such a bland quirk that it seemed like comedic gold to me.

“I can’t wait,” I replied. It’s my first time doing something like this. I wonder what the bread was going to taste like. I bet brick over baked bread tastes better or is that an outdated myth? Either way, I’m excited.

I helped Limwei and another woman to alight the brick oven. I helped carry some firewood that Limwei immediately took from me and just told me to keep watch.

“Why’re you taking my firewood, Limwei,” I asked in a hushed voice as I pointed to the pile on the corner of the room, “You can take some from there,” I told him,

I heard a few chuckles in the room. It seems like the other workers heard me,

“Don’t take the lady’s firewood now, Limwei," someone called out, and I turned to face them with a stern nod,

“Right? One cannot just go around taking firewood from another,” I added and another set of chuckles from elder women filed the room along with some snorts, at least the room was starting to warm up back to its bustling and lively setting before I walked in.

“Don’t turn my own people against me now, my lady,” Limwei said in a monotone, still expressionless and that cracked me up making me laugh out loud, his face was funny even without doing anything, like a comedian who’s naturally funny no matter what he does.

‘This place isn’t as intolerable as I thought it’d be,’