1-5: Taming A Monster-II

"How was it, Stanley?"

The voice came from a woman in her late thirties, her beauty accentuated by the golden jewelry adorning her and her hair styled into a high, elegant updo. Her eyes rested on the butler who had just returned after pushing Jane into the monster's lair, now standing once more before the lady of the house, the second wife of his master, Lady Piper.

"She's entered his room," Stanley answered. "The young master should be... enjoying her by now."

"Hmph." Lady Piper clicked her tongue softly. "We'll see if she can even survive the first day with him. But tell me, are you certain she's the obedient type?"

"From what I observed," Stanley replied, "she seems to understand how to survive. If given an order, I believe she'll follow it well. The seller also claimed she was the quietest among the girls he had kidnapped."

"Hopefully he wasn't lying," Piper said. Though her expression remained composed, her knee betrayed her, swaying up and down in quiet impatience. "We can't afford another failure. My husband will return next spring, and before he realizes what we've been doing... that monster needs to be gone. No matter the cost."

Stanley did not respond. Yet the fact that he remained standing there, listening as she spoke of murdering her own stepson, made his stance clear enough, he was not opposed to the plan despite the fact that he was there to watch when the young master was born and had helped his growth until now. 

"No more failure." 

"Of course milady."

Lady Piper showed a smile, "Good, I have left a great amount of compensation and it should be delivered in your room. I will reward you greater if you make sure that you completed your task with the poison." 

Stanley didn't quickly show a smile but he bowed again and replied submissively, "Thank you for kindness, milady." 

And Piper smirked before turning around, muttering as she looked at the fireplace, "And soon everything in this house will be mine. As long as we could use that little rat according to plan." 

**********

Jane woke up feeling sharp pain in her head. 

She pushed her elbow that sank into the mattress and as she lifted her head to look around, she found herself in a bright room with sunlight seeping through the thin curtain. It was a small room with green painted walls and walnut colored floors. 

The bed was a single bed, simple and clean but not out of the ordinary. It was a room better than where she previously lived in with her uncle and aunt, but it was still not as amazing as the other part of the mansion which she had caught a glimpse of. 

This mean... she wasn't in that attic anymore. 

Is she? 

She gulped and carefully inspected all around her. Relief left her lips when she realize that frightening man with the blue eyes weren't here anymore. 

"Thank god," she whispered while gently rubbing her heart. 

She could still remember the face of the severed head looking straight back at her and was fighting the nausea but she was now much more relieved when she found out she wasn't in that room anymore. 

She even wondered if she was hallucinating everything after she entered that dark room. That would be the most possible answer... after all there couldn't be a severed head in such a place... hung like it was a decoration. 

But no matter how much she tried to deny what she sees, she knew she hadn't seen it wrong. Her memories had always been very strong so she knew what she saw and she felt what she felt. 

When her hands traveled to her neck, her body flinched as she heard the dull sound of click coming from the door in front of the bed. Her eyes flung open and she saw a maid dressed in the black uniform, entering in with a half circular apron tied around her waist.

"You woke up, I see." The woman showed her a gentle smile when their gazes met. "I'm the senior maid who would be showing you the way around the house. My name is Wren." 

Jane watched carefully as the black haired maid walked in with the silver tray of porridge and a glass of clear water, placing it on the table beside the bed. 

"I heard that you fainted on your first day. Mr. Stanley told us to make sure that you eat enough porridge and rest so it won't happen again," Wren continued as she settled the porridge and glass of water to the table, "While they sound kind, not everyone in this mansion likes it when a maid fail on their tasks. They might fire you." 

Well... wouldn't being fired be a reward for Jane? She wanted to leave this place but for some reason she could tell that even if she fainted for a hundred of times, the butler wouldn't just let her go. The fact was, he bought her not hired her. 

"I see—cough, cough!" 

"Drink first!" Wren held her hand and placed the glass and Jane quickly doused her burning throat with the cold water. 

"Thank, hic, you," Jane patted her own chest after she had drank. As Wren smiled at her, she looked around the room and questioned, "You are... also a maid here..."

Wren nodded. 

"How did you find me?" 

Wren tilted her head, "I didn't find you, it was Mr Stanley." 

"The butler?" she guessed and Wren nodded her head, assent. 

"He said he found you fainted in the highest floor of the mansion, near the attic. Ah, but I have to warn you not to often go up there, it's dangerous." 

"Dangerous," Jane repeated and narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "Is it because of the man living there?" 

"Hm? The young master you mean?" 

"Yes, the young master!" Jane now recalled how the butler also mentioned that man as the young master. But why are they keeping a murderer inside the attic? Does everyone know about this? Were they pretending that all of this is normal?

"Haha," Wren let out a laugh, "Of course not the young master! There's a rumor about the maids going to the highest part of the mansion for... well... suicide. So we make sure that most maids don't come there, it's eerie you know, that floor." 

Suicide? Or were they all killed by that man? 

"But you saw the young master?" Wren spoke in amazement, "No one else here had ever seen him. I heard he only ate in his room and there are rumors about how beautiful he was..." 

Beautiful? Yes, that part Jane couldn't argue. But he is as bloodthirsty as he is beautiful. She remembered that face that was smiling wildly as he saw her fainting after seeing the severed head. No one would be as mirthful as he was. 

"What a shame that he's blind."

Was he? Really? 

He seemed pretty much hearty when he's laughing at her face upon seeing the biggest fright of her life. 

When she thought about coming back, her body shuddered involuntarily. 

"What is your name?" Wren then asked her and seeing how the maid, in contrast to her who was on edge, smiling so brightly, she could only look at her confused, wondering if the maid really doesn't know of the monster this house was hosting. 

"Jane..." she whispered, "Jane Wright." 

And just then, Jane spun her head to her left, looking at the window only to find a white bird staring at her with its blood red eyes. When she looked at it and gulp, the bird seemed to somewhat smiled.