3. Just a Substitute

The sharp eagle-like eyes stared at Helga, making the girl feel awkward. She wanted to avoid him, but Zean didn't seem like he would let her go. What made Helga most uncomfortable was that the soap foam covering her naked body disappeared. Helga hoped that Zean would just leave immediately.

"Clean yourself, I'll wait outside," Zean finally said while standing up straight. "Just five minutes!" After saying that, Zean got out of there, making Helga get out of the bathtub rush to clean herself and grab the towel that was there.

Five minutes was not enough for Helga, no matter how fast the girl cleaned herself. It took Helga longer to get out of the bathroom and was greeted by a similar gaze from Zean. But the man approached Helga, paused for a moment and went back to circling Helga's body which was only wearing a towel. The girl gripped her towel tightly when Zean stood right behind her.

Once again, Helga held her breath as Zean's breath behind her blew and touched Helga's slender shoulder. In her entire life, Helga had never been approached this close by a man other than her father only to leave a blow on her body. Helga's eyes closed as the breath got closer.

"I said breathe, don't die."

Helga took another breath and opened her eyes.

"Don't imagine, you don't know anything. What do you think I'm going to do?" The whisper pierced Helga's ear, making the girl's cheeks heat up.

Zean moved away from Helga's body, returned to the hadith and stared at the beautiful face decorated with bruises from Helga's father's beatings.

"Come in!" Zean ordered the person out.

A woman entered the room with three maids who had previously served Helga.

"Please sit down, Miss."

Helga was confused and uncomfortable with everything that was so sudden to her. Zean did not explain anything at all and only gave orders to the strangers.

After a few moments, the woman who looked so charming smiled at Helga and helped her up from the chair. That's when Helga realized that Zean was no longer there.

"Come on Miss, we'll help you wear the dress," said the unknown woman.

Helga was even more confused, confusion was visible on her face when two maids brought a luxurious and beautiful ivory white dress. As a woman, Helga had dreamed of wearing the dress at a sacred event. But who would have thought that Helga would now wear the dress without knowing anything?

"Wow. So beautiful." The woman exclaimed happily as soon as Helga finished wearing the dress.

Now Helga was faced with a large mirror showing herself. The girl's eyelids widened. Not believing her reflection in the mirror.

"That's me?" Helga thought to herself because she couldn't believe the appearance in front of her.

How could she not? Some time ago she was in chaos, Helga never expected to change drastically in just a short time since she entered the strange big house.

Helga swallowed her saliva, convincing herself that it was herself. The poor figure who now looked like a queen. Suddenly Helga's eyes filled with tears, when had she ever dreamed about that but the dream disappeared along with the many blows that Helga received from her crazy father. The bruises and wounds on her face somehow disappeared without a trace of the extraordinary makeup until Helga was amazed. The dress was long-sleeved, almost covering her entire body with the bottom part also long and tailed. The front was decorated with ornaments. It was the same dress as the one in Helga's mind.

The girl's gaze was fixed on her head, her black hair was styled beautifully with hair ornaments that fell with small braids at the back of her head. Helga held her breath in disbelief at her appearance.

“Very beautiful.” The girl praised.

Helga turned her head as the door to her room opened again from the outside. This time it was Zean who came with a different appearance than before.

“Just follow what I say. Don’t talk too much and be quiet like a doll,” Zean said in a firm tone.

The man approached, getting closer to Helga which made the girl hold her breath but Zean easily held the girl’s waist until Helga stopped her retreating steps.

“You just need to be quiet and obey whatever I say, my orders. Do you understand?” Zean said coldly, warning her which immediately made Helga nod obediently.

Suddenly the man’s hand reached out to Helga’s neck. Something touched her cold neck area. Zean had put a necklace around her neck.

“I told you to breathe,” Zean reminded her again.

Since meeting the man, Helga seemed to have found a new habit, holding her breath.

“Come on, we have to go,” Zean said then turned around and extended his hand to Helga.

The girl was confused. Her head was still filled with many questions about herself in that house, about herself suddenly wearing a wedding dress. Helga couldn't help but ask every time that cold tone was spoken.

Not getting a response from Helga, Zean turned to the girl. That's when Helga grabbed Zean's arm to hold it.

No questions came out of Helga's mouth. The girl was busy dealing with her chaotic feelings. There were many questions but how to convey them? Helga didn't know why she was wearing a wedding dress and a strange man beside her was acting like a groom. What happened? Helga's mind was too full of questions. So were the girl's feelings that were raging uncertainly. Happy? Maybe so, but there were more feelings of confusion and fear in her chest.

"Remember, you just need to follow what I say. Don't say anything even if someone asks. Keep your mouth shut like a doll that can't talk. Because you're just a substitute."

Helga was stunned, her chest rumbling when Zean's last sentence was heard, somehow stabbing her chest. Just a substitute? What did he mean? That made Helga ask a new question.

The large door in front of them opened shortly after. That's when Helga got one answer, Zean was getting married. But Helga was a substitute bride. However, there were still many questions that needed answers.

The event went smoothly with Helga's ignorance. The girl just followed what Zean said without even letting go of the man. It was a wedding, but Helga knew it wasn't her wedding. There was a strange feeling in her chest that just appeared. Helga suddenly became angry for some reason.

"What do you think you're doing?" The anger finally overflowed when they returned to the room Helga had occupied just to change her dress. The girl's face turned red.

But Zean remained calm, even taking off the black coat he was wearing earlier and throwing it anywhere. Direction.

"You made me your wife? Ah, you must be crazy!" said Helga.

Zean's gaze was unmoved, remaining cold and flat.

“Who are you to dare to make me your wife in front of so many people? You don’t even know me, and I don’t know who you are. Just because you’re rich doesn’t mean you can do this to me as you please,” the girl said, letting out a feeling of anger from deep within her chest.

Helga certainly couldn’t accept what Zean did without explaining anything to her. Suddenly the girl married a stranger she didn’t know at all. Helga’s chest rose and fell with anger.

“You said, I’m just a replacement. What do you mean?” Helga stared at Zean fully, not caring about the piercing cold gaze, not caring about how the man intimidated her. All Helga knew was that she had to know what Zean meant by his previous statement.

Zean was silent, his gaze straight into Helga’s clear brown eyes. His face was expressionless, flat as usual and cold with his dark sharp gaze.

“You want to know?” Zean asked back, stepping forward without breaking eye contact with Helga. “Yes, you’re just a replacement, so what do you want? Who do you think you are? You and I are just strangers who were forced into a marriage bond because of someone's ridiculous request. Do you think I wanted it? No. Never. However, I had to do it to grant that one request.”

Helga was silent, digesting every word that came out of Zean's mouth. The girl asked herself again and again in her heart what the man meant by his words.

“So you have no right to be angry. Because I'm angrier. You're just a replacement, remember that. But your job from now on is still my wife. That's all you need to know.” The gaze was dark, the look in those eyes somehow made Helga silent.

After staring at Helga in silence for a while, Zean then turned around leaving the girl who was drowning in a thousand questions that were present in her mind. Someone? Replacement? Wife? What did he mean? Helga's head was dizzy thinking about all that. How could she be trapped in a foreign world that felt like a new hell for her?

"Who?" Helga wanted to know about that someone, the person who made Helga his wife.