Chapter 8: Punishment

“GOOD heavens! Are you all right, Lotte?” Sugar asked anxiously as she gently pulled the wet fabric of Lotte’s dress away from her skin, trying to keep it from sticking to the affected area.

Lotte couldn’t help but wince at the burning sensation, but the pain lasted only a moment before fading as though it had never been there.

It had always been that way, even when she was a child. Whenever she got hurt, the pain would disappear unusually quickly, almost as if she had been given an anesthetic. The same went for her wounds, which healed much faster than normal and never left scars.

She had once tried to have her condition examined by a doctor she worked with at the hospital, but even they couldn’t come up with a clear explanation. She had consulted other doctors as well, hoping someone might finally figure out what was happening to her, but none of them could provide an answer.

Eventually, she grew tired of searching for one. Work kept her busy, and with so many patients to care for, she gradually stopped paying much attention to her own unusual condition.

“I’m fine now, Sugar,” she assured her before turning to face the woman who had poured the hot liquid on her.

The woman still held the empty cup in one hand and an equally empty tray in the other. A smug grin spread across her face as she looked down at Lotte.

“What? Are you going to pick a fight with me? I already apologized,” she said, putting on an innocent expression as though the whole thing had been nothing more than an unfortunate accident.

Lotte simply nodded, keeping her composure.

Her parents hadn’t raised her to be quarrelsome. Not once had she fought back against the bullies who used to call her a vampire because of her unusually pale complexion. Back then, she had always chosen to ignore them, believing that karma would eventually catch up with those who treated others badly.

“Is there anything else you need?” she asked, forcing a polite smile despite the fact that the back of her dress was completely soaked.

The woman's eyebrows lifted, clearly not expecting that response.

“Hey, aren’t you going to fight back?” Sugar whispered beside her, sounding baffled. “She poured hot water on you! Look at your dress. It’s practically steaming!”

Lotte didn’t even turn to look at her.

The woman in front of them flashed a sweet smile, seemingly satisfied with Lotte’s reaction. “Oh, you probably know who I am, don’t you? Good. At least you know your place,” she remarked smugly.

Lotte’s expression twisted into a slight grimace. She wasn’t sure where the sudden irritation in her chest had come from, but she was beginning to find this woman incredibly unpleasant.

“Actually, no. I don’t know who you are,” she replied, her smile still in place. “I just don’t think you’re important enough to deserve any more of our time.”

The smug grin immediately vanished from the woman’s face, replaced by an unmistakable look of irritation.

“What did you just say?”

Lotte smiled sweetly. “Would you like me to check your ears? I think something might be wrong with them.”

She had just told herself that she wasn’t raised to be quarrelsome, yet she couldn’t explain why she felt so satisfied seeing the woman’s expression twist with annoyance. If only she had known how good it felt to stand up for herself, perhaps she wouldn’t have spent so many years letting others walk all over her.

Lotte could clearly see the woman’s face turning red, as though she were struggling to keep herself from completely losing her temper.

“Then allow me to introduce myself, mortal,” she said, forcing a smile. “I am Circe, His Majesty’s most favored servant. I am the only one permitted to enter his private study to clean it.”

She delivered the last part with unmistakable pride, as though being allowed to dust a room made her someone of great importance.

Lotte chuckled. “Oh, so you’re the one who cleaned it yesterday? That explains why I noticed dust on the floor when I went inside. Next time, try using a damp cloth so you can wipe it properly, all right?” she advised with a sweet smile before turning away.

Beside her, Sugar pressed a hand over her mouth, desperately trying to hold back her laughter. Lotte was just about to leave and change her clothes when—

“Ah!” A sharp tug on her hair jerked her head backward.

Before she could even turn around, another force yanked her off balance. Her feet slipped, and she crashed onto the hard floor with a painful thud. The next thing she knew, Circe was straddling her, one hand twisted tightly in her hair.

The woman’s face had partially transformed. Fur crept along her cheeks and forehead, while a pair of large fangs protruded from her mouth.

She was in her half-shifted form.

“How dare you speak to me like that!” Circe snarled, her grip tightening. “You’re nothing but a mortal who has lost her parents!”

The words struck harder than Lotte expected, but before she could even process them, Circe’s hand came swinging. A sharp slap landed across her cheek, then another. Lotte instinctively raised her arms to shield her face, but Circe caught her hair again and dragged her head sideways. Her scalp burned where Circe's fingers tangled in her hair, and her cheek throbbed with every blow.

Her partially shifted body gave her an advantage Lotte couldn’t match. Every time Lotte tried to push her away, Circe forced her back down, pinning her shoulders against the floor.

“Lotte! Stop it, Circe! You’re going to kill her!” Sugar cried, rushing toward them. “Somebody help! Please!”

Lotte could barely hear her over the commotion. Her lip had split, and she could taste the sweetness of her blood spreading across her tongue. Then something inside Lotte snapped.

She seized Circe’s wrist with both hands and twisted it as hard as she could. When Circe instinctively loosened her grip, Lotte drove her knee upward and shoved against the woman’s chest with all her strength.

Circe lost her balance and toppled sideways. Lotte scrambled away, gasping for breath. Her hair was a mess, her cheek stung, and her mouth tasted of blood. For one brief moment, she considered getting up and leaving.

Then she saw Circe pushing herself off the floor, her face twisted with fury. Lotte lunged at her before Circe could regain her footing.

She grabbed a fistful of Circe’s hair and pulled hard, dragging her head backward. Circe let out a shrill scream and swung wildly, catching Lotte across the shoulder. The impact nearly knocked her off, but Lotte held on.

“You have no right to drag my family into your cruelty!” Lotte shouted, her voice breaking with anger.

She struck Circe back, not with any practiced technique, but with the desperate, uncoordinated movements of someone who had finally reached her limit. Circe clawed at her arms, trying to pry her off, while Lotte clung to her hair and shoved her down.

The two women rolled across the floor, knocking into a nearby bench. Someone shouted. A cup shattered. Some servants scattered, while others stood frozen, unable to decide whether to intervene or watch.

“Get off me, you filthy mortal!” Circe screamed.

Circe managed to grab Lotte by the collar and slam her back against the floor. Lotte’s breath escaped in a painful gasp. Before Circe could strike again, Lotte caught her forearm and pushed it aside, then landed a slap of her own.

It wasn’t elegant. It wasn’t particularly strong, but it was enough to make Circe recoil in surprise.

“Enough!” A familiar female voice thundered through the servants’ quarters.

A firm hand seized Lotte by the back of her dress and pulled her away from Circe. Lotte stumbled backward, nearly losing her footing, before someone held her in place. She was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her hair hung in tangled strands around her face, and her split lip stung.

On the floor, Circe was crying, one hand pressed to her scalp as she glared at Lotte through tear-filled eyes.

The servants’ quarters had fallen completely silent.

Only moments ago, the room had been filled with chatter, laughter, and excited voices. Now, the servants stood frozen in place. Lotte couldn’t tell whether they had been cheering for her or panicking at the sight of two women tearing each other apart.

All she could do was stare at Circe. She hadn’t planned on fighting anyone that day, but she wasn’t going to let someone use her parents’ deaths as a weapon against her.

“What is going on here?” Madam Awring demanded, her stern gaze shifting between Lotte and Circe.

“It was her, Eluma! She attacked me!” Circe immediately protested, pointing an accusing finger at Lotte.

Madam Awring’s expression darkened. She slowly turned toward Lotte, who was still struggling to catch her breath. Her hair was disheveled, her clothes were rumpled, and a trace of blood remained on her lower lip.

“How dare you attack my mirel!” Madam Awring snapped, her voice rising with anger. “You’ve barely been here, and you’re already causing trouble!”

Lotte stared at her, momentarily taken aback.

My mirel?

She glanced at Circe, who was now wearing a pitiful expression, as though she were the one who had been wronged.

Lotte clenched her jaw. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Not only had Circe attacked her first, but now she was being blamed for defending herself.

“Shit, I forgot to tell you that she’s Madam Awring’s daughter!” Sugar whispered urgently beside her. “I thought she’d left again.”

Lotte briefly glanced at Circe before turning her attention back to her hair, trying to smooth out the tangled strands.

“She was the one who started it,” Lotte said simply.

“And you still have the nerve to talk back to me!” Madam Awring snapped.

She pointed an accusing finger at Lotte, her expression hardening further.

“For what you’ve done, I hereby sentence you to spend the entire day cleaning the waste buckets behind the fortress! And don’t you dare return until every last one of them has been thoroughly cleaned!”

Lotte stared at her in disbelief. “What?!”

It was one of the dirtiest and least desirable tasks in the fortress, usually assigned to servants who had committed serious offenses.

Seriously? She was the one being punished?

The woman had practically beaten her to the ground, and somehow, Lotte was the one being sent to clean up everyone else’s shit!