While Lupa was settling in the carriage with the head caretaker explaining away excuses to the duchess who simply nodded with disinterest. Feeling revolted by the man's behavior, she patiently waited until he ran out of explanations and the old duchess entering the carriage. Now, without any more nuisance she sat comfortably on the red cushions of the carriage seats as the duchess continues to observe her. Staring at this skinny, frail and beaten-up child. Her body looked weak and cowered but her conviction and the fierce look in her eyes says otherwise, like that of a soldier who had just won a great battle in war despite many losses. The duchess seemed to be confused with herself for she does not know why she had indeed chosen this child when her intentions were to look for someone with a physical resemblance to her husband, like the girl with the same hair color as his. She had finally found such resemblance on a child after looking for so long yet she found herself choosing another.
A girl with not the slightest bit of resemblance to her late husband, not their hair, not even their personality except for her eyes even though it's only a similar shade to his and yet she found her to be the closest image to him. She doesn't know what her own reason for selecting the child was and so she sighed out of wonder. Perhaps she would know if she'd observe the child further and if she continues to feel alight with her then her decision remains but if she would later find that it was nothing but a false spark of hope then she would simply return her.
Whilst lost in her thoughts she had realized that she was not the only one who had been staring, now meeting the cold gaze of the girl's eyes. For some reason, the child had a sense of eeriness around her that evoked such curiosity.
"You…what is your name?", she finally asked to break the silence as she relaxed in her seat.
"Lupa".The girl remained to look at her with a stern face, she thought that such a cold expression on a child is unnerving, like a child of war. Now she wondered what the young one must had been through for her to look in such a way.
"And your parents?"
"I killed them"
"..."
The duchess halted, taken aback by her quick and obnoxious response and so the carriage turned silent once more. Astonished by the child's boldness, she couldn't help but laugh.
'For the kid to say something like that, they must have been horrible parents', the duchess thought.
Still holding unto her stomach from her outburst of laughter, she asked, "Hahaha! And…how old are you?", cracking up in her seat.
"Five and a half", the girl replied with a cautious look, she could not understand why the duchess had found her answer to be humorous. She must have thought of it as a harmless joke but really, Lupa was honest.
After the duchess had laughed her heart out, she had to at last catch her breath before once again turning to the conversation.
"I like this one. What an interesting brat you are. So what do you say, want me to adopt you?"
"Is that not why you are here?", Lupa flattened her wrinkly dress and bravely looked at the duchess eye to eye, to which she continued to laugh that it can even be heard from the outside.
"You didn't even faze, well, no matter, Jhon already paid for you anyway so it was a useless question", she knocked on the side of the window to signal the horseman then the carriage began to move and they were on their way.
"Hm, should I start calling you grandmother now?"
"..."
"What?"
"It would sound weird if I were to call you 'Mother', after all you're almost three decades older than my parents. Grandmother is fitting", the girl thought.
Her parents looked to be of a young couple after all, most probably around the ages of 21 and 24.
"You little…Jhon take her back in--"
"It was a compliment"
"How was that a compliment and I'm not that old, I am only 59"
"Grand-mother"
"No"
"Alright, Mother"
"..."
"You're right, it does sound weird"
* **
As the carriage took off on its way, I glanced back at the orphanage once more. The caretakers seemed to be satisfied with their fat payment from my adoption, happily leading the other kids back inside the hall but I could still see Nicaise intensely glaring at me from the distance. I sighed and settled in my seat, finally I'm out of there.
It didn't took us long to depart from the carriage ride since the duchess is still, after all, here on vacation and traveling back to the south where her estate is would take about a week and a half .We got off at some luxury inn near the entrance of the town, the duchess insisted on staying there for a couple more days for some sight seeing but really it was just to observe me and… to thoroughly clean me. While we were on our way here all the old hag ever did was complain about my smell and dirty appearance, saying that if I was to live with her, I better not bring my grimy upbringing to her house.
The moment we entered the inn, her maids have already prepared a warm bath for me and carefully escorted me to her room upstairs though their first impression of me was clearly of pity. The 3 women introduced themselves and reassured me that I was now safe in their care. I didn't have any other belonging with me except for the scrapbook and the books which the butler stored away for me, I lied that it was something my grandparents, who were good to me, left behind and the only thing I could remember them by. Before going in to the carriage I was asked by him if I had any belonging that I wanted to bring so I dug out my books.
While the duchess sat on the couch and pouring herself a glass of fine liquor, I was getting ready for a bath. But when the maids took of my clothes, they all gasped in horror from what they have seen.
"Eck!", one yelled.
"M-maggots?!"
They pointed on my side and so I took a look at it. My eyes widened. I could feel my stomach grumble the wrong way, I did not want to believe it but there were indeed maggots on me, crawling around the rotting wound on the left side of my stomach. Just when did that get there? Was it that time I crashed on the rock? But it only bleed a little and my wound from the wolf's scratch.
"Oh my gods"
"How could this be…", one even covered her mouth in disbelief.
"There's…There's some on her head too!!"
"What?!"
'What…'
"Get it off of her, quickly!"
"Warm water and a towel!"
"Your Grace! The young miss is--"
"Call for a doctor, now!", the old duchess rushed to the room and quickly announced as she examined me herself.
They started panicking all around me but I found myself frozen in place. The wound on my side and head, so that was why I kept itching on those places. I didn't get to disinfect any of it. But I didn't feel them moving----of course, they were still tiny. It's winter and I haven't bathed in a long while, I've also slept in the dirty stables and ate rotting apples, not to mention I wrapped myself with the drying cattle skin in the shed so I must have accumulated and nurtured the germs from there.
'How long has it been there?' Suddenly, I feel disgusted with myself and nauseous until I could not take it anymore and felt the insides of my stomach rise up to my throat and I…
"BLEUGH!*"