THROUGH THE SCHEMES OF FATE

YOUR LIFE

"Come in!", Louisa ordered, just three seconds after the knock at her door. At that time she was comfortably sited on the sofa, her legs crossed and slightly exposed through her white lace gown. She had held a book which seemed to have been able to barely taken a quarter of her attention because she was able to reply to the knock that came soon after with Ermine's figure.

"Miss, I did as you had told me, everything had been set per your order in the external kitchen", Ermine reported

"Good.", Louisa replied, uncrossing her leg and walking towards the drawer where she pulled out a some few sachets of what looked like pigments.

She handed the sachets to Ermine who took it, though ignorant of its content.

"Miss, this is...."

"Pour this in a pot containing 1.5L of water and let it bubble, I'll be there soon."

Louisa ordered but as soon as she turned back towards her bathroom, she realized that Ermine hadn't taken a step forward or backward. She seemed to be hesitating over something, so Louisa asked.

"What else?"

"Miss, though I really want to help you with everything, I'm afraid others won't comply."

"State your worries.", Louisa said nonchalantly while she kept her hands busy with some equipments in the first aid kit. She not just oblivious about the situation but as well as taking things lightly, though Ermine was panicking over the situation. Ermine had realized that Louisa had been taking things lightly, compared to the past, she was more calm and wise.

~Ermine sighed

"The external kitchen as well as the internal and all the affairs about the hygiene and maids daily routine are all controlled by head maid Susan."

"So?"

"Well, Head maid Susan had been on leave the past few days that you had woken up and probably forgot about her, but she had always been very mean to you. Most of your hardship at the Woods were her doing. She usually made you eat left overs and even encouraged the other maids to bully you. So, I'm afraid she would try to make it things hard for us."

"I see, but I want to know just one thing, a head maid and the young lady of the Woods, who do you think has more authority or power?"

Louisa ask, ignoring everything that she had just said about head maid Susan. In the past she would be terrified at the mention of head maid Louisa, with her whole body shivering with fear. But she couldn't blame it on her weakness, but her low status at the Woods even though she should have been a respected young lady of the Woods.

"In logical terms, you own more power than the head maid Susan, but..."

"Fine, that's all I need, you can go ahead and do what I had told you.", Louisa waved her hand at Ermine ushering her to keep on. But Ermine hesitated and wondered if she should dissuade Louisa to avoid any trouble or just obey and trust the capacities of her new miss.

"As you wish, Miss.", At the end, Ermine decides to obey and follow Louisa's orders, even if she & thought it was absurd.

Left alone in her room, Louisa ignored what Ermine had said earlier and focused on her occupation which she found more important than the home disputes and the lousy maids with no respect. Though she wasn't scared of them or about what they could do, she still couldn't neglect Ermine who followed her orders without complaining.

"You impertinent maid!", just a step away from the door and Louisa could already tell the trouble makers had taken action, so she made her way in the external kitchen only to find out that a chubby aged woman who's hair had been tied into a bun was actually standing above Ermine.

At first glance, anyone could tell the current situation just by looking at Ermine's disheveled dress and her helplessness while she knelt on the floor. Two other maid in their uniform stood behind her and as soon as they saw her instead of taking step backward or lowering their head as they always did, they both ran to stand behind head maid Susan.

"What's happening here?", Louisa asked, though she knew exactly what was happening, but she only wanted to obtain the chubby lady's attention towards her.

"Miss!", Ermine exclaimed, lifting up her head and looking at her with few cuts beside her mouth and a palm print on her left jaw. It was obvious that the one who had left it didn't go easy on her.

"The piece of trash is finally here...who gave you the right to....."

Head maid Susan froze at the indifferent reaction Louisa had suddenly given her when she walked passed her and knelt in front of Ermine.

'How could she ....'

Head maid Susan couldn't believe that the girl who was hell scares of her actually walked passed her as if she was nothing more but just wind. More to that, she seemed to ignore every fact about her.

'Was this piece of trash looking down on me!', Head maid Susan gritted her teeth as she looked at Louisa carefully caress Ermine's face.

"It should hurt a lot."

"It's okay miss.", Ermine replied, trying to hide her face from Louisa, but Louisa delicately lifted her chin.

"I sent you to such a place and caused you to be beaten and humiliated, do you now resent me?"

"What!", Ermine exclaimed and she could comprehend what Louisa actually meant. It was true that she was sent by her and suffered in the hands of Head maid Susan, so she was partly responsible. But it was also true that she agreed to obey and compared to her betrayal towards Louisa, the casualties she suffered were far enough from paying her old debt towards her miss and only friend.

"I dare not, Miss, I had once caused you harm, so this little beating can't be enough to punish me. I don't regret following your orders and if I you asked me to do it, I won't hesitate. I'll do as you will, as long as you're happy, I'm willing."

"Willing hein! What about your life, are you willing to hand it to me?"

"My life?", Ermine asked with a startle, but after a few seconds of thoughts she reminded herself that if it hadn't been for Louisa saving her life few years ago, she would have been death. Yet she betrayed her, for her own selfish desires, so it should be fine to offer her life to her.

"My life is yours to take miss."

"...Remember your words, if I don't take your life, then no one dares, not even some uncivilized barbarians.", Louisa turned to glare at Head maid Louisa, causing cold blood to rush over her skin as soon as her eyes met that of Louisa.

"You, how dare you glare at me, have you forgotten your place after I left. Trash should stay in the trash can, I'm going to teach you a lesson and fix everything here.", Susan took a step further and lifted a heavy cane to hit Louisa with. It was probably the one which had been used on Louisa for years and the reason why they were traces of it on her skin, bone and system of her body. Even if the former Louisa hadn't died due to poisoning, the heavy beatings might have caused her death sooner or later.

"Let me teach you trash a lesson, you should learn to know your pla..."

~Slap!

The heavy echo of a slap had a repeated sound of Susan's face coming over some into a harsh contact with Louisa's wide open palms. The kitchen went quiet with stunned face and Susan's lifted whip fell to the ground, but not her chubby hand that was ready to attack. She still couldn't believe what her happened, but the hot pressure on her jaws work her up.

"You, how you...."

~Clap

Another slap echoed in the kitchen premises, causing everyone's jaw to drop. If it has been a told or said story of Louisa slapping Head maid Susan, they surely wouldn't have believed, but this was actually a life show.

"How dare an ordinary maid like you put on airs in front of me. I hope this slap help you regain your senses. You should know your place."

Her words went straight to the point, causing a feeling of panic though as sent as the stream water, but Susan couldn't help but shiver at the cold aura emanating from her body.

'Was she really that piece of trash she knew?'