Chapter 23 - Arousing Suspicions (2)

Chapter 23 – Arousing Suspicions (2)

“Vianut is apparently suspicious of his sister and hired a person to look into it. I heard he’s looking for the horseman that served me the day I brought her in,” he said as he slightly glanced at Gris meaningfully. Then turned back to look at the small puppy.

“Your owner’s head is about to be slain; oh, I don’t know what to do, do you know what to do Teer?” he asked in a slight grin that made Gris feel disgusted.

Stephan’s voice was soft as he delivered the grim news, this made Gris’ stomach turn at the irony of it. Gris could only stand frozen by her bed. Vianut started to get suspicious…. Did he notice something at the party yesterday? It was only a matter of time–she will be discovered and lose her head soon.

“Is…is that true?” She was barely able to squeeze the question out of her throat.

Gris wanted to ask more, but she found the words stuck on her throat. She felt like she was falling into a dark pit to hell. Her lungs ran out of air, but she couldn’t fill it no matter how hard she tried to breathe the air around her.

She only wished to go to the church, pray and hide in the house of God. She didn’t want any of this mess. She was tired of imagining her body parts being ripped apart by the hands of Sir Byrenhag himself. These thoughts sent shivers that reached her bones and she felt her body grew cold as if it was already dead.

Her hands that gripped the bed rails slipped away as the sweat started pooling on her palms. She lost balance then and fell down to the floor, her hands reached out to wipe her forehead, which was also covered in sweat. Stephan from the distance just watched her.

“Your face has gone paler,” he told her.

She knew he wasn’t simply studying her pale face but she didn’t dare ask him any questions. She would only be taken in by his subtle, yet troubling words, she would only grow more troubled. Stephan dropped Teer on the ground, and approached her. He then crouched beside her while she remained seated on the floor. Gris watched as he pushed her jawline with his index finger, she tried to keep her head dropped to the floor, she wouldn’t look him in the eyes.

“You are beautiful. Any man would agree with me.”

She had heard these words numerous times in her life, but the words coming out of Stephan were particularly unpleasant. Other men had at least tried to hide their lustful intentions, but he didn’t bother to. Gris turned her head away.

Stephan smirked as she watched her and mumbled to himself.

“You are beautiful, but not enough to deceive Vianut. Well, no woman will be enough. Unless they came straight out of the bible.”

By this, he meant that Sir Byrenhag was only interested in holy figures. In any case, Gris did not have the ability to seduce a cold man like Vianut, nor had the will. Her head was full of thoughts on how to escape this deadly mansion with her head attached to her body. She just wanted to live.

“Please send me back before he figures out who I am. I would rather prefer that,” she begged.

Her racing heart triggered her anxiety. She imagined Vianut chasing after her. She can’t bear to stay in this house anymore, she would die either by Vianut’s hands or out of her own fears.

“There’s no doubt he would find you and kill you even if you were to leave.”

Gris couldn’t answer, she knew Stephan was right, Vianut won’t be forgiving.

“He might even feed you to his beasts.”

Stephan was good at picking out words she feared the most. It was almost sadistic. She hated him and his words.

Gris was furious of Stephan, treating this as if it had nothing to do with him. It was his fault she was sitting on the floor, sweating and fearing she might be killed by Sir Byrenhag, whom she would have never met if Stephan left her alone in the whorehouse. How could he feel no guilt of putting an innocent woman in danger?

That is right she was blameless, she was just trying to survive, this was all his fault!

His intentions were quite apparent to her. If his plan was revealed, he could simply blame it on the whore and walk away from it, while she would suffer the consequences.

Gris shuddered on the thought of Stephan enjoying the sight of her being fed to beasts. What could she do? Her body trembled with fear, but she was also filled with anger. Then Stephan opened his mouth to speak again.

“But there is also good news.” His words suddenly calmed her down.

“W…What good news?” Gris snapped back at him in desperation as she took a deep breath.

She was sensitive now that her life was at risk. But to Stephan, she was merely a frantic little animal he was playing with.

“The horseman that transported you from the whorehouse to the mansion, I put him on a ship and sent him far, far away,” he told her, and Gris did not know how to respond.

“After you showed up, my mother rose from her sick-bed. This is good for Vianut, too. There surely must be a man in politics, but there also needs to be a lady in the house.”

Listening to him, Gris placed her hands on her forehead and took a couple of more deep breaths. One, two…. She counted and when she reached ten, her heart finally beat back to its normal pace.

“So… what do you intend to do now?” she asked him, as she slowly stood up.

She loathed Stephan but there was this unexplainable feeling that tore her heart. If it wasn’t for the Tallulichis, she wouldn’t be dealing with this hooligan of a man.

Her heart filled up with hatred, unsure of for whom these nameless feelings were for. Perhaps it was all directed to herself for being such a helpless person in a circumstance that offered her no choice.