A sharp ringing went off in her head.
This leg… it could only belong to one man.
She was in such close proximity with the one person she loathed with all her heart. A man who looked the other way as his subjects killed rogues for fun.
The same man who swore to spearhead the hunt against her and her kind.
Suppressing her hostility, her knees buckled and she dropped to the floor, voice trembling in fear as she directly pleaded, "F-forgive me, my lord!"
But other than his heavy exhales and the intense gaze burning a hole through her back, he didn't say a word.
Staring at his muddy boots with crimson streaks spattered on them, she clenched her jaw tightly in realization of what it was.
At the same time, a knock sounded on the door, followed shortly after by the cautious voice of Ronan Dreadmoor.
"My lord, how do I proceed with the rogues?"
Axton Wolfe's cold baritone voice followed almost immediately.
"Behead them and have their heads hung in the town square and market square. Then throw their bodies into the streams and rivers flowing into the forest. Members of their dysfunctional community ought to know what happened to them."
"Yes, my lord."
Ronan then walked away, his heavy footsteps gradually fading.
A second later, Axton walked past her.
"Take the food away and run my bath."
"Y-yes, my lord." She promptly nodded and crawled towards the food trolley.
With her face still lowered, she got on her feet and scurried out.
Outside, her opal eyes darkened and she gripped the trolley tightly.
So his shoes were muddy not because he had hunted for small animals, but for rogues?
That beast.
Once she got Damien and the other rogues across the border, she'd make sure to end his life in the most gruesome way ever!
"What is this? Don't tell me you got scared and brought it right back!" She was yet into the kitchen when the maid who asked her to deliver the trolley, appeared by the door and yelled angrily.
She snapped out of her thoughts, stared at the maid coldly for a split-second before lowering her eyes back to the floor.
The maid felt a chill run down her spine and frowned slightly, glancing outside the kitchen window.
Did she imagine it?
It was as warm as ever in here, why did she suddenly feel so cold when the window wasn't even open?
Ignoring the maid's confused state, Aurelia spoke in a small voice, "I did go in, but Alpha Axton said to take it back. He also said to run him a bath."
The maid was startled.
"H-he did? He told you to run his bath?"
Leaving the food trolley in the middle of the kitchen, Aurelia nodded without raising her eyes.
When the maid said nothing else, she turned around to leave, but frowned hard when the maid suddenly stood in her way.
"Did he say you must be the one to run his bath?"
"He didn't."
The maid went silent again, eyes taking in Aurelia's features.
After a while, she waved her hand dismissively, "Go help out in the garden. I'll run his bath instead."
Aurelia didn't think too much of her reaction as she left obediently.
When she got to the garden, she wasn't surprised to see some of the new maids being cornered by pack warriors.
At a corner, older maids, who already bet on such things happening, were collecting the coins they won.
When they saw her passing, they naturally paused to look her over.
"What about her?"
"What about her? Look at her, does she look like the kind of girl they want? While she has a good body, men also like a pretty face."
"You're right. The other girls flaunted their looks the moment they came in while she's had her face lowered the entire time. Girl must be hideous."
"Tell me about."
"I'll bet 100,000 coins that she'll never find a man within this walls or even outside."
"I'll triple that bet. 300,000 coins that she'll end up with a drunkard."
"300,000? You don't have that much. You'll have to save your salary every month for ten years."
"You don't think I'm aware of that? That's to tell you how hopeless I think she is."
Aurelia paid no heed to them as she joined in the garden.
As she trimmed the flowers, one of the veteran maids walked up to her.
From her hindsight, Aurelia could see her cheeks stretch into a small smile as she consoled, "Don't pay attention to them."
But she didn't pause to acknowledge her and just continued trimming the flower bed.
However, the girl wasn't deterred.
"You should raise your head sometimes. Because you're hunchbacked all the time, they'll bully you every chance they get."
"Today it's them, tomorrow it'll be your fellow new maids. This will be my third year here, so I know what I'm saying."
Aurelia still said nothing.
The maid finally stopped and turned towards her.
Stretching her hand toward her for a handshake, she chuckled softly, "I know you're not mute, so I'll introduce myself now. I'm Gretchen. Nice to meet you."
Aurelia finally paused and turned to her as well.
She stared at the outstretched hand for a moment before she hesitantly reached out to take it.
"Aurelia."
Gretchen raised a surprised brow, tilting her head to the side, "You don't have a last name like me?"
Aurelia stared at her blankly.
"What do you mean?"
Returning her attention to the flower bed, Gretchen said, "If you don't have a last name, it's one of two things, you have a messed up father you've chosen to disown, like me, or you're hiding something. So which is it?"
"I'm an orphan. I never knew my parents." Aurelia simply answered.
Though she planned to lie her way through, Damien had told her she had no parents seven years ago.
Furthermore, not only was it convenient, it was also easier to tell more lies about her identity if she claimed to be an orphan.
Gretchen momentarily paused, a gloomy silence ensuing between them before she shrugged.
"So you're one of them. It's a miracle you found a job in the Alpha's residence. It's difficult enough for people with proper families like me to…"
All of a sudden, she trailed off and glanced behind her at the sound of approaching footsteps.
Aurelia did the same and frowned slightly when she saw a senior maid with three warriors.
For some reason, the number of the warriors made her uneasy.
The senior maid stared her down before she pointedly asked, "You're the one the Alphs asked to run his bath?"
A frightened glint flashed past Gretchen's eyes, but she didn't dare to say anything while an oblivious Aurelia hummed in response, "Yes, why?"
The words were yet out of her mouth when two of the warriors grabbed and shoved her forward.
"Luna Carmen will like to have a word with you." The senior maid murmured gloomily.
Aurelia was on the verge of becoming calm when they pushed her to the other end of the residence.
In an instant, she was stretched and strapped onto a bamboo bed.
The third warrior who came with them was muscular.
Only now when he stood over her did she realize he was holding a horsewhip.
Amidst her genuine confusion, she heard the senior maid order him sternly, "She tried to seduce the Alpha. Whip her!"