4. Maisie

ZOE ELISE

~<>~

“This will be your room, Zoe.” 

Theo had immediately taken me on a tour of the mansion, showing me all the places I was allowed to step into before he even took me to my room. 

He had carried my bags during the tour, so I couldn’t complain.

If anything, I was beginning to wonder whether I had somehow walked into paradise.

I mean, the place was huge. I wasn't allowed in a larger part of it, yet it was ridiculously huge.

I'd lost count of how many rooms we'd passed, and I was pretty sure I'd already forgotten half of the hallways we'd walked through before we stopped at the room that was meant to be mine. 

Theo opened the door and held it while I slowly stepped into the space.

I barely took two steps in before my legs stopped and my mouth fell open. “Oh, dear goddess.”

Theo walked past me and placed my bags beside the bed, but I barely noticed because I was lost in a trance state. 

The room was bigger than the one I'd lived in for the past ten years. Or the shared room I stayed in with nine other kids even before that. 

A large bed sat in the middle, covered in white sheets and a fluffy gray comforter. A small sitting area occupied one corner, while a vanity set sat close to the window.

There was even a private bathroom.

I walked toward it and pushed the door open, and my jaw dropped again.

“This bathroom is bigger than the orphanage’s dining area.” 

I didn't even realize I'd said it out loud until Theo chuckled and said, “Welcome to the Alpha King Mansion, where you are one of the unlucky few to live within these walls.” 

“Unlucky?” Or did I hear him wrong? 

Theo didn’t leave me wondering for long before he added, “Aside from the King and Princess Maisie, everyone who has lived within the mansion in the past two years has been just that. Unlucky.” 

“Why would you say that?” I muttered, my brows scrunched. 

“Aside from the fact that you are what? The hundredth nanny in two years.” Theo shrugged and concluded without giving me more details. “I guess you would find out why soon enough.” 

I refused to let the conversation just end there. So I stepped towards him, asking, “The hundredth? Is that some sort of joke?” 

Without thinking twice, Theo shook his head, clarity glinting through his eyes. “No, I’m pretty sure Carla was the ninety-ninth, and she was dragged out last night.”

I stared at him with disbelief. “Is this some sort of joke or—” 

“You will find out soon enough, Zoe.” Theo cut me off impatiently.

I opened my mouth to ask what the hell he meant, but before I could get another word out, he turned toward the door.

“I need to take you to Princess Maisie’s room so I can return to my post.” 

With that, he walked out of my dreamy new room, and I had no choice but to hurry after him. 

My curiosity was already getting the better of me, and Theo wasn't helping.

What the hell had happened to the ninety-nine nannies before me?

And why was Theo acting as if I had walked into hell instead of the paradise this place looked like? 

Even Peach stirred at the back of my mind as I followed Theo down the hallway, my eyes wandering over the unfamiliar surroundings as we passed several doors.

The further we went, the quieter the mansion became. And it was already eerily quiet. 

Eventually, Theo stopped in front of a large white door and turned to me. “This is the princess's room.”

My eyes immediately shifted to the door while Theo continued speaking, “I’m not allowed to go in.”

My brows pulled together. “You’ve obviously been working here longer than I have. So why can I go in but you can’t?”

Could it be because he was a man and King Weston didn’t trust him around his daughter?

“That’s just how it is, Zoe, and you shouldn’t go in yet either.” Theo answered vaguely and proceeded to say, “I advise you to wait here for the King before you go in to see her.”

There was something about the way he said it that made my suspicion grow like wildfire. 

But Theo walked, leaving me to be consumed by that fire. I watched his back disappear down the hallway.

Then I leaned against the door, letting my mind wander freely for a minute. 

And another.

It wasn’t until my leg started to ache that I realized I had been standing for over five minutes without hearing a single sound from Maisie’s room. 

Not her voice. Not even the sound of a child moving around inside. 

My face knitted into a deep frown at the strangeness. 

I'd never known any child to be this quiet. Especially not one who lived in a mansion this huge.

Was she sleeping? Or could she be sick? 

My fingers curled around the door handle as that thought flashed through my mind. I wondered what King Weston would do to me if he entered the room and found out something had happened to his daughter while I stood out here. 

“That would be bad, but Theo did say we shouldn’t go in without the King.” Peach reminded me. 

I found myself hesitating for another minute, but eventually my curiosity won over caution. 

“I’ll just take a peek to ensure she is okay,” I whispered to Peach, mostly to myself.

Peach remained unusually quiet even as I slowly pushed the door open… just wide enough for me to peep inside. 

The first thing I saw was the pink curtains framing the tall windows, allowing soft sunlight to spill across the room. Colorful toys were scattered around the room. 

Drawings covered one side of the wall, while stuffed animals sat neatly on shelves and beside a tiny table.

Everything about the room screamed loved child. 

But I still didn’t see or hear the child. 

So I pushed the door further back until I saw the bed and the little girl lying in the middle of it. Her tiny body was covered by a fluffy blanket, with blonde hair spread across the pillow around her face.

At first glance, I assumed she was sleeping and almost closed the door. 

But my breath hitched when I noticed how pale she looked compared to her bright, warm room. 

I took another step into the room, my eyes fixed on the little girl.

Yet she didn't move. Not even when I walked closer.

My brows furrowed.

Most sleeping children moved in their sleep. Or at least they kicked off their blankets, turned their heads, mumbled nonsense, or even snored.

But Maisie lay perfectly still.

Too still.

I slowly approached the bed, my heart beginning to pound for reasons I couldn't explain.

“Maisie?” I called, but my voice simply reechoed. 

I scanned the room again, suddenly noticing the machines beside the bed that I hadn't paid attention to before.

My heart sank.

There were tubes. Wires. A monitor beside her bed, quietly displaying the steady rhythm of her heartbeat.

My gaze returned to her face. She looked far too young to be lying in a bed surrounded by machines.

I reached out hesitantly and touched the back of my fingers against her tiny hand. It was cold. Not freezing, but cold enough to make me pull back.

“What happened to you?” I muttered, leaning in closer.

But I jerked right back when a familiar but still very terrifying snarl hit me from behind. 

“What the hell do you think you are doing?”