The Demon’s Bride

Elise felt her eyes lit up with delight, her smiles widened. She ascended the stairs and greeted, "Mila!"

Mila had been the closest maid to her when she had just come to White's Mansion. Being the only human maid in the house, she was very much like a figure of mother to Elise. After a long time seeing Mila again, he smiles became soft like a daughter to her mother. Mila who heard from the maid a new maid came didn't expect it to be Elise. When she saw the little girl had grown well into a beautiful lady, she gentled smiled, "Elise, so it was you who are going to start working here?"

Elise nodded, the delight in her eyes sparkled greatly. "Yes, it's been a long time, Mila. I'm happy to see you again."

Mila chuckled and rubbed her head, "Me too, come in the night is cold, we wouldn't want you to catch a cold."

"Okay." Elise followed her steps from behind. She looked across the room within the mansion and as expected nothing had changed. They stopped at the intersection in front of the circular stair when Mila turned her face and spoke, "It's a very tiring journey to here isn't it?"

The journey from Runalia to Warine took two days without a single rest at any inn due to the fact that there was nothing than a green landscape. Although it took two days, Elise suspected it to be the fastest ride the coach could take.

Elise replied, "It's not really tiring, I didn't do anything than sitting in the coach. The coachman must be the one very tired now."

Mila chuckled, "There isn't much who are worried about the coachman. If Mr. Pann hears this, he must be very delighted. Oh, that's right!" Mila turned her body fully, "Before we go to your room, are you hungry, should I prepare you something light first?"

Elise shook her head and turned her eyes, "No, thank you. I have eaten on the way here."

Mila nodded gently, "Alright then, let's not stand here for a long time, come with me to your room."

Then Mila resumed their walking. From the intersection, they took the far left of the building and went to a very long hallway. Elise turner her gazes around, looking at the hallway. The hallway was very long and wide, to the point that perhaps six people could walk altogether side by side without having to push each other or feeling crowded. Due to the nature of the Lord, the White Mansion was very unlike its name dark and always dimmed with scarce light, there were only candles hanged on the walls beside the walls to light up the hallway. Yet even with the dimmed room, the place was still beautiful and at some point, it even enhanced the beauty of the mansion.

If someone put it in a bad way, the house seemed as it was mourning, but in a good way, the house was beautiful even with its eerie vibe. Afraid that she will lose Mila in the dark to lead her the way, Elise fastened her steps to follow Mila very closely. When they reached the corner of the hallway, they took a right turn and walked down another long hallway before eventually stopping at the door of a room. Mila rummaged something from her pocket and took the key of her room to pass it toward her palm.

"I still have something to do tonight, take a good rest tomorrow I will show you the places in the Mansion."

Elise's glanced down at the key on her hand and looked back up. "Thank you, good night."

"You too, have a sweet dream." Mila returned while rubbing her head and turned to leave.

Elise heard Mila's wishes for the night and felt warmth. She recalled in the past whenever she was going to sleep, Mila would always say the same thing before putting her to sleep. It was a warm and nostalgic memory for Elise. She was without a family who care deeply for her and when Mila showed her kindness she had thought her as her own family.

Elise remembered she was still in the middle of the hallway and turned the doorknob to enter her new room. Lighting up a few candles, she was quite surprised by her room. It wasn't as large and luxurious as the other mansion in Runalia, however to Elise the room was very large and beautiful. Unlike the hallway with wooden railing and dark color walls, the room where she was had white walls with simple golden patterns. She also thought that working as a maid in White's Mansion, she would have to share rooms with the fellow workers but unexpectedly the room had only one large bed in the middle, showing a sign that she wouldn't be sharing the room with anyone.

Elise took her time to see the room and found the bathroom inside and looked down at herself. Since the journey to Warine took two days, it had been exactly two days since she took a bath. She remembered that she had been staying inside the carriage in jitters, afraid that Ian would think she smells bad and now seeing the bathtub, she couldn't be more than happy to take one before she sleeps.

She searched for a dress to change and opened the closet to find one. Seeing the dress, her thought about Lord Ian being a very considerate person grew again. When she finished changing her dress to a new one, she blew off all the candles on the wall and took a seat at her bed.

In a blow, the fire candle extinguished.

The next morning, Elise woke up early and followed Mila's instruction to take breakfast with the other maids in the room with two long tables and seats. As Mila had her work, she apologized for being unable to accompany her with breakfast, and Elise being alone felt a little awkward. She pushed the door of the room, take the tray for her breakfast that consisted of bread and soup, and walked to take a seat at the empty place. The maids seemed to have their own group, perhaps by friends or due to them sharing rooms. Because she had not yet adjusted herself in the new place, Elise couldn't muster her courage and talked to them first.

She sighed. At the same time, while Elise was mulling what to say with the maids whose origin was different from her, a young lady with a heavily curly brown hair spotted her from afar. Besides, her other woman with beautiful black hair had also just entered the servant's dining room to see Elise sitting alone.

"Vella, there's a new maid!" The curly hair woman named Carmen spoke.

Vella heard her exclamation with a sigh and chopped Carmen's head with a frown. "Stop screaming on top of your lung, Carmen! If Mr. Maroon is here I wouldn't help you!"

Carmen ignored Vella's warning and continued, "I haven't heard that there would be a new maid coming here."

Vella turned her head and saw the girl with a long burning red hair like sunset and nodded. "I did hear that the Lord brought in someone too but I didn't guess it was a maid."

Carmen took their shares of food and passed it to her friend. "Let's eat there then!"

Vella agreed, sitting in the corner of the table she guessed Elise to be in a very awkward position now. "Alright, but she's a new maid here so don't surprise her too mu-"

Carmen strode off with haste, the soup that was filled to the brim to her wooden bowl shook and made it hard for people to see as they were afraid it would spill all over. She slammed the tray, gaining Elise's surprised guess and greeted with a wide grin. "Hello, I'm Carmen! Are you new here?"