Year 3988, 30th Day of the 7th Moon
Ember Isle, Fliamma Kingdom, Continent of Humana

STIRRING IN the bed, Elise woke up in a room that was slowly becoming familiar. She quickly rose up after remembering what happened earlier. How did she become so weak-hearted?

"Miss."

She twisted to the source of the voice. Two women, loomed at her bedside with their heads down, dressed in a traditional maid's outfits with a long skirt reaching their ankles. It was in all black with dark red trimmings on the collar and sleeves and layered with the same shade of apron.

"Greetings, Miss," the two women greeted simultaneously.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Elise bombarded them with questions right away.

"I am Aya and this is Dell, Miss. We are assigned to be your lady's maid by the Rei, Miss," the woman informed and looked up.

It was a rare sight to see ordinary faces after her encounter with the siblings. The one who spoke had short trimmed black hair and dark brown eyes with freckles across the bridge of her nose. As for the other one, she had brown curls swept into a low bun with big doe eyes.

Sensing the lack of response, they stepped back to open the curtains and a bright light illuminated the room.

"Hold on. It's morning already? What happened last night?"

"You fainted, Miss. The lords and ladies could not wake you up so they ordered us not to disturb you," Dell replied.

"What?" Elise got up and they swiftly went to assist her like she was frail. They had helpers in their house but were not so fussy as them.

"The bath is prepared, Miss," Aya notified, minutes later.

"Breakfast will be ready at the dining hall after an hour, Miss," Dell added.

But Elise simply stood there. Her fingers played with her right ear while she struggled to keep up with all the abrupt changes.

Aya prompted her once more before leading her to the bath.

Lavender scents with hints of jasmine permeated her nose after stepping inside. A slight fog clouded the room, growing denser at the claw-foot bathtub at the far end.

A hand landed on her back, her laces slowly untied. She appreciated the help but when they tried to pull it down, she jumped away.

"Excuse me? Can you leave?" Elise asked as politely as she could.

Questions filled their face.

"I think I can handle this myself. You can wait outside," she added.

Their head sank lower and ignored her words.

"Please."

"We cannot do so, Miss. Mr. Gerald may scold us," Aya stated.

Elise's eyes squeezed close. She breathed in, trying to subdue the rising temper. This was not her place to act unruly.

"Okay, but you stay there." That was her last compromise.

AFTER THE bath, the girls already had clothes prepared. This time, their help was gladly welcomed since there was no way she could dress in these kinds of outfits.

"By the way, where are my clothes? The one I wore before?" she inquired.

"They were thrown, Miss," came Aya's reply that made her eyes almost bulge out from their sockets.

"What?"

She was dumbfounded. Her outfit did look simple but they were all from famous brand names except for the jacket she had. Most of all, her wristwatch was a present from her parents.

"Where were they?"

"We don't know, Miss. The housemaids were in charge of you yesterday."

She let out a frustrated breath. She glanced at them again and noticed that Dell had several garments in her hands.

"Does that mean I have to wear that?"

They merely nodded and helped her get dressed.

After a lot of grumbling, she was now wearing a short-sleeved dress that reached up to the floor, all while, the corset was suffocating the air out of her. The light blue silk made her whiter as if all blood had rushed to her feet.

'How I missed wearing sweaters and shorts.' She complained inwardly.

WITHOUT FURTHER ado, they led her to an extravagant dining hall. A long table expands from end to end with a total of six seats on each side and one in the center. Elise's eyes immediately focused on the two faces fully copy-pasted. 

If she had not met Brennan and recognized how he parted his hair, Elise would have confused him with his twin that had a slicked-back hairstyle with few loose strands. 

But then again, just them sitting there, anyone could notice the contrast. Brennan was busy talking to the other siblings while the other one had their back straight while eating.

She was suddenly reminded of her older brothers. They may not be twins but they were often mistaken as one. Her brothers were both mischievous and could drive any sane person mad, especially her.

No one could best bring out the childishness in her except for them. Well, that was not totally right. Her whole family could convert her into a mush of pettiness since they knew where to strike her best.

"Ah. To be graced by your beauty so early in the morning." Erkhan's cringy words quickly brought her back to reality.

"Good morning," she greeted, nonetheless, while glancing around for an empty seat.

On Brennan's side was Dryann, Faylinn, Hadrien, while opposite to them was only Erkhan.

"Elise, come sit beside me," Erkhan suggested as if she had a choice. He pulled the chair between him and the twin with a grin so wide that it was unnerving.

"That's not her seat!"

As usual, their annoying sister would not let a day pass to antagonize her.

"Well, it's rude to have a guest seated after an empty one," Faylinn stated with a smile.

"You can sit wherever you want," Brennan's twin muttered.

In the end, she took the seat Erkhan pulled earlier. When she looked up, they were staring wide-eyed at her for unknown reasons except for Erkhan whose smile grew wider.

Brennan leaned on his twin. "Is this alright, Brother?"

"As I've said, she can sit wherever she wants," the twin said nonchalantly, his spoon inches before his mouth.

She started to eat despite the glances that were directed at her. Much to her relief, their food was the same as her own world. The bread tasted the same but their ham was much more delicious. She took some more until her plate was full.

"You must be hungry," Erkhan commented seeing the quantity of her food.

She gulped down before answering. "Part of it. I'm honestly quite a big-eater."

Though, that was a developed habit from her line of work. After all, she did not know when she could again due to her hectic schedule.

"Ah! A woman whose appetite matches mine. Will it be bad if I confess?" he teased.

She shrugged off his remarks — the best defense for someone like him.

"That reminds me, I'm sure you're not formally introduced to our brother," Brennan interrupted. "He's Aricson."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Elise Johnson."

He acted like he was not interested in her name but his eyes quickly turned to her as soon as she finished speaking.

"You have a family name?"

She could see the evident surprise on his face, exactly how Erkhan reacted yesterday.

"Yes, why?" She mumbled, her brows furrowing.

Aricson suddenly stood up and grabbed her hand. Without saying anything, he hauled her out of her seat.

"Wait. My food!"

But it was too late, she was out of the room. Still hungry and confused but definitely pissed.