Bride To His Darkness
Chapter 100: The Rumor Mill

Chapter 100: The Rumor Mill

Walking past the familiar path that no longer seemed to be threading with the tendrils of a vine, Samantha’s gaze lingered on the wall where she had caught sight of the green growing vines, but now that she was staring at the wall up-close, it didn’t look like a place where any vines could grow on as the walls were made of hard concrete, yet she couldn’t help decipher the sudden mishaps cause she knew exactly what she saw, not once, not twice had she seen it.

Moving her skeptical gaze to the long shadowy path ahead of her, Samantha wasn’t ready to believe it was just her mere imagination and began walking down the path, as if she could sense something was over there, she could feel it, but she could also feel it drifting away whenever she came close.

"We shouldn’t go too far." Herbert’s voice had Samantha stopping in her gait, and she had almost forgotten that she requested for his escort down the path. She knew what Herbert meant when he said they shouldn’t go too far, this part of the Palace wasn’t just any place she could freely step into, but in order to prove she wasn’t insane, and that she knew exactly what she saw, Samantha stubbornly kept moving, ignoring Herbert’s deterrent words.

"I knew what I saw."

When she got close, an unexpected wave of dizziness instantly swept through her, forcing her to stop, and her eyes spun.

"Herbert." Her steps faltered as she managed to get his name out of her mouth, and her eyes blurred momentarily, whilst causing her body to sway precariously, but before she could stumble and fall backward, Herbert had caught her just in time, and a look of pure concern flickered in his eyes when he sensed her pulse was weak.

"You shouldn’t stress yourself knowing your body can’t handle it, it is best if we return. So far we’ve seen nothing here, and my Lordship will not find your situation appealing when he returns tonight." Herbert frankly suggested, and he only let go of her after confirming she had regained her composure to stand on her own, and somehow, he pitied the servant.

"Bless my eyes, isn’t that Lord Ivan’s servant? Oh! And the bodyguard? What are the two of them doing here, alone?" One of the three maidens who were peeping from the entrance, whispered to the remaining two maidens who had witnessed Herbert reaching out to catch Samantha, and the sudden display left them staring wide-eyed, their curiosity piqued, unfortunately, they couldn’t lean closer to eavesdrop on the conversation they were having.

"Yes, they’re the ones." One of the servants named Gwen replied with an austere voice, and her eyes narrowed with evident dislike at the sight of the maiden. She hadn’t forgotten about what that tricky servant did to her and Anaïs, infact, that little entertainment she pulled had left a scar on her name, but she never got the chance to avenge since the servant had Lord Ivan’s green buttons, but if she causes a scandal with this news, it will be sure to upset Lord Ivan and he might just punish the servant for breaking one of the Palace rules; having secret affairs with a royal bodyguard, which is very much prohibited.

"Are they meeting in secret?" Another maiden had asked, the intrigue in her eyes was hard to miss, and Gwen couldn’t let this opportunity of causing a scandal skip her by, and she nodded.

"They must be lovers!" Gwen added conclusively, sparking the imaginations of the three maidens, "you know the rules, a servant and a royal bodyguard can’t be seen having any intimate relationships in the Palace, and to think she’d fool everyone with her guileless nature. Don’t you think she has gained too much of His Lordship’s attention? Imagine what will happen if he finds out his trusty bodyguard and servant were actually in one behind his back? Wouldn’t you call that a betrayal to our future King?"

"Are you being serious?" The three gossiping musketeers exchanged panicked looks, and apart from what Gwen just said, there was nothing more accurate to explain why a servant and a royal bodyguard would be meeting in the loneliest part of the Palace, and with an information this juicy, the maidens couldn’t resist the allure of spreading the rumors amongst fellow servants.

"Let’s go, we should let the love birds be before they get exposed." Giggling silently to the evil plotting they had come up with, the three maidens quietly left before Samantha and Herbert could notice them.

Samantha, who was unaware of what was about to befall her had regained her composure, still baffled by her unforeseen vertigo. She guessed it was due to her injury since she had lost a good amount of blood from last night, including this morning when she had slit her own wrist to get a reaction from Queen Carina - not to mention she hasn’t had anything to eat all day.

Glancing at the path ahead, Samantha finally gave in since she didn’t have the strength to continue further, and if she dared to take that risk, there was no mistaking the fact that her body would be found lying unconscious here. For now, she would leave, and when she’s recovered from all of this, she’ll surely come back to figure out where the vines are coming from.

"There’s nothing here, we should return." Saying this, Herbert nodded in agreement to her words before the two of them turned around to leave. Once they were out of sight, the green rooted vines that hid in the shadows gracefully slithered in a retreating manner, its tendrils tracing through crevices until it squeezed itself into the keyholes of the double door, leading to the orb room.

—-

"It’s a lie! Did you really see them?"

"That can’t be true, Samantha wouldn’t do something that... indecent, would she?" The servant’s voice held skeptical inquiries. "Herbert does not portray himself to be the kind of man that would meet a woman in secret."

"You don’t even know them personally, why take their side?!" Another servant uttered, her voice dripping with condemnation whilst everyone else agreed.

Whispers and hush conversations soon rippled through the maidens quarters as the story of Samantha’s affair with the bodyguard reached eager ears. Some speculated over her near-fall, wondering if she had gotten herself pregnant and chose to tell Herbert in secret, while others pondered on how long the relationship must have been if she was indeed pregnant. The rumor mill churned as each maid added their imaginative touch to the growing narrative, and it only got worse as the day went by.

Lucy, who also heard the rumors, didn’t believe a word of it, but when it reached her ears that her friend almost passed out, she quickly paid Samantha a visit with a glass of warm milk and some food she had masterfully stolen and packaged from the kitchen.

"Drink this. Are you perhaps coming down with a fever?" Lucy asked out of concern as she placed her palm to Samantha’s forehead, and as expected, her temperature was gradually rising, and it was not in a good way.

Samantha dropped the empty cup on the table before using the back of her sleeve to wipe her mouth. Noticing her friend’s pale condition, Lucy didn’t think it would be wise to tell Samantha about the vile rumors that were being spread about her outside, and when Lucy looked out the window, the day was slowly drawing to dusk. Returning her gaze to Samantha who was proceeding to lie down on the bed, Lucy kind-heartedly assisted her before taking notice of Samantha’s bandaged wrist.

"Sam! What happened to your wrist?" Taking hold of Samantha’s hand so she could look at her wrist, Lucy’s eyebrows knitted worriedly as she asked. "Did Lord Ivan do this?"

When Samantha shook her head in response, Lucy let out a breath of relief, but she frowned afterwards. "Who did this to you?"

"That has been settled." Samantha weakly said to Lucy, "thank you for coming here, I didn’t have the energy to step outside and like a guardian angel you came, but how did you know I wasn’t feeling very well, did Herbert tell you?"

Lucy opened her mouth to speak, but then if she did, she was going to curse those servants who came to spread the rumors about Samantha’s condition instead of helping her. Smiling instead, Lucy gave her a head pat before helping Samantha pull the duvet over her body.

"You said you’d be coming to see me later in the day, and when you didn’t, I decided to come myself - a guardian’s instinct is what I’d call it." Lucy playfully winked, and Samantha’s smile broadened as she closed her eyes so she could sleep.

"I wish there were more people like you in this world, it would have made the place a lot easier to live in." Samantha quietly uttered, and Lucy stayed with her till she eventually fell asleep.

Unbeknownst to Samantha, the whispers of her fake affair had already reached the ears of the Palace staff as night approached. The story took various forms, each one more embellished than the last.

"She collapsed right before me!" One of the maids who wasn’t even a witness uttered to her fellow maidens whose eyes widened in shock. Lucy, who was passing by after leaving her sick friend to rest, had heard this, and she could hear the rest servants giggling at the news.

It got on her nerves to hear them gossiping about a sick servant, and even if the rumors were indeed true, they had absolutely no right to bad-mouth her because of it, and maybe it was time to put them in their rightful places.

"Theresa dear." Lucy sweetly called her name, but it gained the attention of all three maidens who glanced in her direction, and their gigglings stopped upon sighting Lucy approaching the stairs where they stood.

"Did you know one of our fellow servants is unwell? If I hadn’t shown up to check on her, she would have passed out, probably died, who knows, whereas you three are using your bad breaths to spread rumors about someone who can barely get out of bed."

"Uhm why should we care?" Theresa, who felt slightly offended by Lucy’s rude tone, couldn’t afford to let herself down in front of her friends. "The only reason you’re bothered is because she’s your friend."

"And the only reason why these two are hovering around you like confused monkeys is so they can pick out your secrets and share it with the rest of your gossiping committees. You didn’t know?" Lucy revealed with a smirk, and she noticed the way Theresa’s face blanched along with the rest of the two maidens.

"W-what?"

"Mhmmn." Lucy pointed to a particular maid named Islinda. "She told everyone in the Kitchen during supper that you wear a red-laced corset to bed. She told Mariam that if she ever wanted to commit suicide, she would climb on your ego and jump down to your IQ level, and do you know the worst part, I heard the two of them making fun of your face when you wore make-up, they said it looked like it caught on fire and someone tried to put it out with a hammer."

"They said what?!" Theresa turned her angry attention to the two maidens whom she never knew were gossiping about her behind her back. "Is she speaking the truth?! Did you really say those things about me?!"