To Embrace the Devil - Chapter 5
A maid handed a dagger to Fabio. Kneeling, Yelena watched the blade inch closer to her.
‘I can’t have any cuts on my face…’
If that happened, the head maid would scold her for making the Marquis’ residence look unfit.
Murmurs rose behind her.
“Like a witch…”
“Creepy.”
Yelena didn’t resist their insults anymore. She was used to it. She had always been an outcast here.
When she first arrived, she didn’t speak the continental tongue and couldn’t communicate properly.
No one wanted a stammering Frostborn maid around.
They all avoided her, talking about her unknown birthplace she couldn’t even remember. They said she deserved such treatment. She wasn’t supposed to be here at all but was allowed to live and work only because of the young master’s mercy.
It all sounded true.
“Daydreaming again without saying a word?”
Smack! A thick palm struck Yelena’s cheek. The man’s hand was rough.
Her head snapped sideways, and she swallowed a mouthful of bitter saliva. Her vision blurred, but she made no sound.
If you cause trouble, the young master who brought you here will suffer later… She’d heard those words countless times.
Though she didn’t remember her parents, she clearly recalled the day Diago saved her. The first person she ever saw after being ‘born’.
From that moment, she could only revere him.
“Fabio! Cut her hair off quickly!”
A maid shouted nearby.
Fabio began roughly hacking at Yelena’s silver hair. When the blade dulled, he grew irritated and yanked at the strands, almost tearing them out.
“Uh!”
Yelena flinched. Her scalp ached painfully, and tears welled up naturally. Through blurred vision, she saw chunks of silver hair scattered.
Her hair was a mess. Sticking out unevenly in jagged tufts.
“St…stop…”
She whispered weakly. The hair needed to be long enough to tie back so her hood could cover it neatly. If her silver strands showed, hateful words would surely follow.
“Stay still!”
When Yelena twisted her shoulders trying to escape, the maids blocked her. She was held tightly, unable to move forward or back.
Her hair was now cut short near her collarbones. In the stale air, loose strands fluttered about. Several clumps stuck to her delicate upper chest.
Fabio glanced down, then, with an excited expression, kicked her hard.
“What are you staring at!”
“Ugh!”
Yelena held her breath as the man’s foot crushed her abdomen. She gagged on an empty stomach, her mind swimming.
After that, time blurred.
“Ha… huu…”
Yelena moaned, blinking slowly. Her back, stomach, and shoulders ached all over.
She couldn’t remember how long she’d been beaten. The maids finally stopped the violence by pleading with Fabio not to kill her.
Curled on the cellar floor, Yelena struggled to breathe. She needed to get up and return to her quarters, but the pain felt like her lungs were ripping apart.
The bullying had worsened, making life at the residence harder by the day.
But leaving wouldn’t be much better. Maybe living in the residence was the only reason she was still alive in such a dangerous time.
Three years had passed since Diago left the mansion.
In truth, she hadn’t suffered such abuse while he was there. Only now did she realize how great a blessing it was to serve him.
Yelena cleaned his bedding, swept his room, washed and ironed his clothes along with the other maids.
Her conversations with Diago were few and far between, just simple orders and replies. Their relationship was strictly master and maid, nothing more, nothing less.
Still, no one dared touch her then.
Diago’s name carried weight. Being his maid meant no one dared lay a hand on her. Just whispered insults and ignored her.
But as Diago ventured out to sea to build his reputation, things began to twist.
‘Why did the young master make me his personal maid?’
A scrawny, sickly girl.
She’d never asked him. Back then, they couldn’t even communicate well.
Now, she spoke and understood perfectly. She even learned to read, carefully choosing books with simple words.
Hoping someday to properly thank Diago, Yelena secretly studied. She scraped together her bonuses from consecration days and bought used textbooks.
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