Sansa's Pov
"Did prince Lucien really order you to be punished?" a voice spoke suddenly making me jump in fright and turn sharply to look at who had spoken.
Standing there was a brown-skinned girl with curls tied neatly to the back, and fully clothed in her maid attire. Her eyes were wide, but there was an unmistakable curiousness flickering in them.
"Jeez, girl, you almost gave me a heart attack." I said as I tried to steady my racing heartbeat.
"Sorry," she said immediately, lowering her gaze.
Seeing how apologetic she looked, I waved a hand dismissively.
"It's fine,"
My gaze averted from her as I glanced around the room, checking to see if anyone else was there. But there wasn't. It was just the two of us.
Which meant she was my roommate.
She must have owned the other bed. It looked like she had just come from that side of the room.
How did I not notice her before? I wondered.
"I still can't believe Prince Lucian would do something like that to you. He adores you and is freaking obsessed, it doesn't make any sense." she said, pondering over what she had said.
But it only made me frown. I bit back the scoff that almost left me.
Obsessed, my foot. Maybe he was. But not in a good way to give me butterflies. It made me wonder how much she knew but I didn't want to ask questions now knowing I needed to get going if I didn't want to be hurt.
"Well, he did and I am over it. If you'd excuse me I have work to do before I get ordered to be beaten up again by the bastard." I said frustratedly but I was caught off guard by my roommate's sudden gesture.
"Shh!" she whispered immediately, her eyes widening in alarm, enclosing the space between us and closing my mouth with her hands. "Do not let anyone hear you saying that."
The urgency in her voice made me uneasy for a moment.
Then my gaze left her face to her hands covering my mouth and then her face again.
She removed her hands immediately realizing how uncomfortable and irritated it made me, perhaps?
"Uhm..Okay." I muttered. "But, I have work to do. I don't want to keep talking about Lucien and what he did. So.."
"Yes, yes, I understand," she said quickly.
But my gaze wasn't on her anymore. I bent down to check underneath the bed for something to dry the foam.
But there was nothing.
I grunted in frustration.
"How the fuck am I supposed to dry the foam if there's nothing to dry it with." I muttered frustratedly as I stood up from my awkward bent position.
"Here, take this," my roommate said, making me turn to face her immediately.
She held out a neatly folded napkin.
"Gosh! I could hug you right now. Thank you!" I said excitedly as I took it immediately.
I placed it carefully on top of the wet spot and pressed it down gently so it could absorb the moisture. After a few seconds, I flipped it over to the other side, pressing again, hoping it would soak up more of the water. So I could hurry up and go about the day's business.
Just then, I noticed my roommate's posture suddenly stiffen.
She was listening to something. Her wolf was alert.
I froze. What was going on? My heart immediately began to race.
Was the chief on his way already? The thought only made my heartbeat quicken.
"Hurry," she said suddenly, her face turning serious. "Go change into your maid wear. I'll get this cleaned up."
I stood up at once.
"Thank you so much," I said quickly.
As she took the napkin from me and began cleaning the foam more aggressively, I turned to head toward the bathroom—
Then stopped.
I had no idea where the bathroom was.
"Sorry… where can I— you know…?" I asked awkwardly.
She looked confused at first.
"The bathroom. I don't seem to remember a lot right now." I said laughing uneasily even hoping she doesn't find me weird even though I was being so.
"The bathroom, Sansa?" she asked, as though perplexed by me.
But I couldn't say anything more. I couldn't.
"There," she replied, pointing toward a small door at the corner of the room.
"Right," I said, walking toward it.
But I stopped again as another realization hit me.
"What about clothes? I mean… I know where they are—yes—but at the same time, I don't know where they are. If that makes sense. My mind has been feeling foggy lately." I tried to explain without sounding strange.
Her brows furrowed in confusion again, clearly not understanding me or perhaps confused by the thought of me not knowing where I keep my things.
Which was understandable but there was no way I could have explained my situation that she would understand. So I'd rather have her look at me that way like I was spewing gibberish.
Yes. It was definitely gibberish.
"The wardrobe, Sansa," she said slowly, pointing towards it. "There. It's right next to the bathroom. Just pick your things and get changed, for crying out loud."
"Right. Thank you again," I said hurriedly, not minding her tone.
I rushed toward the wardrobe, opened it, spotted my maid attire, grabbed it, and dashed into the small bathroom.
The bathroom was tiny, but at least it served its purpose.
What followed felt like fifteen minutes of pure torture. Every drop of water that touched my skin sent sharp stings through my body. The wounds on my back burned viciously, and I had to bite down hard to stop myself from crying out.
Usually, bathing took me nearly two hours. Applying skincare and my haircare products.
But not right now when you were running out of time. Not when punishment was waiting for you if you delayed.
I stepped out shortly after, fully dressed.
When I looked toward my bed space, the cover had been removed. Only the bare foam remained.
"Don't just stand there, Sansa," my roommate said urgently. "Go get your equipment for cleaning and moping. There's no time. A meeting is going to be held in the throne room in less than an hour."
"Right—right," I said.
But I didn't move.
I couldn't.
Because I had no idea where I was supposed to go.
And panic was starting to claw its way up my throat.
"What's going on with you, Sansa?" she demanded. After a while. She looked visibly pissed and distressed. I figured she must be a good friend of Sansa for her to care so much about me.
"You're still standing there. Are you not scared of what the chief is going to do to you? Fucking move, Sansa. Get going already."
"Yes," I said quickly, fiddling with my fingers, agitation creeping into my voice.
"The thing is… I don't know where to get the equipment. I don't know what exactly I'm supposed to do. I don't even know where the throne room is."
Confusion flashed across her face as she stared at me.
I swallowed.
"I think it's because of the beatings," I added hurriedly. Hoping she buys what I am saying. "I've been losing track of things lately. My head feels foggy. So if you can just help me… I know it's inconveniencing you, and I'm really sorry for the stress. But I need help."
She looked like she wanted to say something.
Her lips parted slightly.
But then she bit back whatever words were forming.
"Come on," she said instead. "There's no time." She turned and hurried out of the room.
A deep sigh escaped my mouth "Thank you." I said as I followed her quickly.
We headed out together.
We passed several maids and workers along the way. I could tell who was who because of their uniforms. That was a trick I had picked up back at my mansion whenever a worker came in and I didn't know what they were responsible for, their uniform always gave it away.
And right now, I was wearing the cleaning uniform.
We stopped at the storeroom. She opened it quickly and began grabbing what she needed.
I just stood there.
I wanted to join her, to pick up something, anything but I didn't know what to grab. Time was moving, and I felt useless. So instead, I watched carefully, trying to memorize what she was doing so I could imitate it.
My roommate noticed. I saw the irritation flash across her face.
Before I could say anything, she shoved something into my hands.
A mop.
"Your stuff," she said curtly, handing me the rest of the cleaning items she was carrying. "You'll need them to mop the throne room and clean it before the meeting commences."
I nodded quickly, trying to keep track of everything she was saying.
Just then, my stomach growled loudly.
I bit my lip, trying to suppress the sharp wave of hunger that hit me.
I hadn't eaten.
I didn't have dinner last night because my friends left me at the diner angrily, and I had gone to bed badly beaten with no food. And now it was morning. Still nothing because of my punishment.
How will I survive?
Yes, I have been eating less lately to avoid gaining weight.
But this wasn't dieting.
This was starvation.
"You have to hurry, Sansa," my room mate urged when she noticed I had spaced out. "There's no time."
"Yes," I replied quickly, even though I had no idea where I was supposed to go or what route to take.
"Please," I added in a lower voice, "I know I might be disturbing with my constant questions, and I'm sorry about it. But can you at least tell me where to go and what exactly I should do with the mop when I get there? I really don't know. And please don't find this weird. It just feels like my mind is blank."
She looked at me — agitated… maybe irritated. I couldn't quite tell. She always had that expression whenever I said something strange.
But I didn't care about that right now.
My life was at the mercy of the chief.
If I messed up again, I would be beaten.
And who knew? I might actually die this time.
And the truth was I didn't want to die. I had thought carefully about it and was happy the moon goddess didn't grant my request.
Even if the reality I thought I knew wasn't the same anymore… I still wanted to live.
"Clean the ground first, then clean the seats," she explained, speaking quickly. "Do not drag the mop straight from the bucket. Wring it properly, then clean. Make sure the floor isn't slippery."
She continued giving detailed instructions while I tried to absorb every word.
"Do you understand?" she asked once she finished.
"Yes. Yes, I do," I answered honestly.
"Good. Start going."
I picked up my things and pushed the storeroom door open but my heart nearly leaped out of my chest when I noticed my path was blocked.
The chief was standing right there.
And he did not look pleased.
"You're still here?" he asked calmly. But I could see the rage that burnt in his eyes.
I swallowed.
"I'm about to head there, sir— Chief," I corrected myself quickly, my voice cracking from fear.
"I suppose I need to teach you a lesson about being on time," he said coldly.
Then he turned to my roommate. "Go to the throne room to get it cleaned, Lisa she will meet you there."
He was talking to my roommate I now know as Lisa nodded slightly, avoiding my eyes, and walked past me quickly.
I couldn't tell if my heart had stopped beating or if it was pounding so fast that I couldn't hear anything else.
Nothing made sense.
I was terrified. Truly terrified.
The way he looked at me it was as though he was deciding how much damage he could inflict without killing me.
Suddenly, he grabbed my wrist and started dragging me away.
"Please! Please, Chief!" I cried, stumbling behind him. "I was about to go. Please, I'm sorry! Just give me a chance. Please, don't hurt me. I'll do everything now. I swear I will!"
Tears streamed down my face.
I had never been this afraid in my entire life.
But he ignored me completely.
"Please, Chief—" I tried to beg again when suddenly His hand struck my face hard.
The impact sent me crashing to the ground. My ears rang. Pain exploded across my cheek.
"Are you mad?" he snarled.
"You're starting to feel yourself too much, aren't you?" he said coldly. "I heard rumors that you were trying to run away. Is that true, Omega?"
"No—no! I would never. I would never, I promise!" I cried.
His hand struck my face before I could finish.
The blow was so hard that I tasted blood immediately.
"Please," I choked out. "Please, that isn't true."
"Are you saying the information I received is false, Omega?" he asked calmly his tone not matching the chaos he was releasing to my body.
Another slap landed across my cheek.
Then another.
"I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't forget," he continued. "After all I've done for you, you're trying to run away? Is that why you didn't attend to the prince? Because you were too busy planning your escape, Omega?"
"No! That's not it!" I tried to explain. "I'd never do that."
But he had already snapped the mop stick in half.
Before I could react, he swung one broken half at me. It connected with my arm.
I screamed so loudly as Pain exploded through my body.
"You dare lie to me?" he growled.
Another strike came down this time against my shoulder.
I screamed.
The pain was unbearable, spreading across my skin fast.
"No, please!" I sobbed. "I'm innocent! I'm telling the truth! I never intended to run away!"
He lifted the broken stick again.
And from how high he raised his hand, I knew this next blow, this final one would not be like the others.
It would break me. Maybe even kill me.
I squeezed my eyes shut as his arm began to descend.
"How dare you?!" a voice thundered making my eyes snap open.
"How dare you touch my mate?!"