Chapter Text
Today was the end of my first week of being with Crown after witnessing their judgement by accident.
I woke up along the birds outside, chirping to the quite rare sun outside.
After a nice morning stretch, I got up and got dressed, also fixing up my bed head. Afterwards, I looked into the mirror vanity in my room, humming in satisfaction at my reflection.
Right, breakfast!
I exited my room, walked down the hall and staircase. The walk to the dining room was quite fast, as I quickly opened the door and walked in to notice a commotion.
Victor, William, Liam, Harrison and Roger were in side, but by Liams and Victors side there were two other women.
“Ah, great timing Kate! They’ve just gotten back.”
Victors smile lured me closer to the table, taking a seat and take a closer look at the two.
The one closer to Victor was a brunette with some strands of blonde hair, which cascaded over her shoulders and almost reached her hip bones (It seem like so). She was wearing a black bib shirt with frills, a corset beginning slightly below her chest. Because of the table, I couldn’t see her below garments. She also had a mole below the sharp corner of her right eye.
The other woman, had fully light blonde hair which was tied in a low ponytail, resting over her shoulder. Messy bangs were covering her forehead. As if a polar opposite, she was wearing a light blue blouse, also with a midnight blue corset. She had a carefree smile on her face, already looking at me.
“Hello, my name is Anne Winter! Im crowns spy basically, but it’s very nice to meet you!” She extended her hand over the table, and I accepted it.
The cheerful Anne groaned when the other woman still had a neutral expression, looking out the windows behind me.
Anne sighed, taking over instead of herself, “And this is Lucia Somrak, but call her Lucy since were not some eastern slavic men right?heheh..~”
Lucy sighed in annoyance, finally locking my eyes with her darker ones. When we locked gazes, I couldn’t help but feel watched.
William seemed to notice my reaction, a smile of amusement creeping onto his face. He then took over the conversation.
“We chose not to introduce these two to you since they were supposed to be on a long case in Germany, but they solved it quicker than we initially thought.”
I nodded, but the feeling of being watched got overwritten by the feeling of relief, atleast there were some other women in the castle.
Roger, who was standing by stood up and started to walk towards the doorway, but then looked back at Anne, “Thanks for the beer, Anne!” He flashed a smile and left.
I was finishing my breakfast aswell, only listening to the conversation of the others. It only seemed like they were catching up, Anne was saying something about food, but I couldn’t focus at all on what she was saying-instead my attention went to Lucy still keeping eye contact, she kind of looked like she was reading a book, but the book was my face.
I got up the courage to finally ask-“Do i have some crumbs on my face..?”
Her brows raised slightly, but she then shifted to rest her cheek in her palm, “No, you’re alright.” I nodded awkwardly, but my question seemed to finally put her off.
Lucy suddenly stood up, leaving the dining room with no words. Anne seemed to sigh at that, stretching her arms out.
“Ah, apologies if you felt uncomfortable, she just likes to.. stare sometimes.? Anyways, I have to go and finally relax!~”
Anne stood up quickly aswell, leaving the dining room with a small wink and wave at me. Victor finally turned his attention fully to me, his smile almost as bright as the sun outside.
“Ah, the girls are so cute aren’t they? I’ve missed them so much!!”
“You say that to everyone you haven’t seen after two days, old man.” Harrison chimed in, his comment making Liam giggle.
“Oh uhm, may I ask if they’re also cursed..?”
William smiled as he ate a strawberry out of a smaller dish, looking at me, “Of course they are, although I think you will find out their abilities soon enough..”
I blinked at his reply, I would need to get the two files on them, Roger probably has on them.. Maybe I should have asked him when he was here.
“Ah, but Lucys staring will be explained as you find it out.”
Liam was getting up now, yawning, “Their abilities are quite creepy, yknow..” he said it more like a mumble to himself.
>>>>
“Information about those two?”
Roger looked up at me from his seat, his casual smile on his face already. He seemed to be drinking the beer he got gifted.
He silently got up, and then handed me two files from a stack of papers.
“I’ll give it to you for free now, but if you want more information it’ll cost you something, lil lady..”
I nodded in a thanks, my legs quickly climbing up the basement stairs. And after the basement stairs, the stairs to my room seemed much more easier to climb.
I sat down on my bed, opening the file ontop of the other one.
‘Lucia Somrak’
‘Height: 172 cm’
‘Birthday: October 3rd’
‘Affiliation: Crown, noble’
‘Curse: The forbidden library from Bluebeard’
‘A noble lady from eastern europe, who moved to London under unknown circumstances. She is a previous runner-up for the queen, but queen Victoria took the title first. Rumor has it, her gaze can make a raven cry.
My eyebrows raised at the last few words, ‘Her gaze can make a raven cry?’ I thought, well her gaze did make me quite nervous..
‘Anne Winter’
‘Height: 168 cm’
‘Birthday: December 27th’
‘Affiliation: Crown’
‘Curse: Changing Plumage from Swan maiden’
‘Her sweet voice can lure anyone close by, but nobody actually knows how it truly sounds-or how she truly looks. She can be often found looking at her appearance, as if trying to memorize it before its lost.’
Maybe her curse will make her forget her face? In the dining room, Anne didn’t seem to be that interested in her face. Besides, if her curse is called ‘Changing Plumage’, maybe it has to do something with her changing her looks?
Even though Annes curse was quite easy to figure out, Lucys curse was basically impossible. It kinda brings me back to reading about Ellises curse for the first time, also has a misleading name..
I looked out at the sun, the birds still chirping. Right, I cant just give up now!
I stood up with a mission now: find Anne.
>>>
“Our abilities?”
I found Anne in the garden, looking down at a bunch of Black dahlias, which were nearby a bunch of differently colored Oleanders.
“Kate, are you good in the flower field?”
I blinked a few times at her question, before answering, “Id say im average.. Black dahlias mean dishonesty and betrayal, Oleanders mean obsession and ‘beware’ if im right..”
Anne smiled at my words, nodding, and standing up from her squatting position. She then fully turned to me, and began to walk towards the gazebo with my hand intertwined with hers.
When we got to it, we both sat down across eachother, keeping eye contact.
“Those two flowers, they remind me of Lucy and our old friend, yknow..” She spoke first, slightly fidgeting with her hands.
I stayed quiet, watching her gaze slightly darken at the mention of so said friend. Suddenly tho, her gaze lighted as she looked at me.
“Anyways! You said you wanted to know me and Lucys abilities right? So let me just spill it out and waste no time!”
She leaned forward, placing her hands ontop of mine. I could feel a chill go up my spine as I got a weird feeling.
Although, when I looked up, Anne wasn’t infront of me anymore.
Instead, I was sitting there..?
I slightly jumped, pulling away my hand, taking a full look at my mirrored image.
“My curse, gives me the ability to shapeshift, but I have to touch the person first.”
I blinked a few times, her voice was even the same as mine, even her clothes were the same. What a terrific curse..
And another blink later, Anne was back to normal, as if nothing ever happened. But, a grin has grown on her face, was she making fun of my fears perhaps..?
“Well! Now Lucy isn’t here to demonstrate, but her ability is to read minds, and see small snippets of the past from your mind. Tho, she has to look into someones eyes to do so.”
‘Is that why she was staring at me back in the dining room..?’ I thought, when suddenly..
“Yes, that is indeed why I stared so much. Crown doesn’t get new members everyday, so you could say I was checking if you had good intentions, my apologies.”
Lucys soft frame walked into my vision, sitting by Anne, who was quite surprised at her sudden appearance too.
“I-It’s alright, lady Luc-“
“Lucy is quite fine, even though for my noble status, I ask of you to call me that only infront of other nobles or the royal family.” She interrupted, and I noticed she was looking behind me again.
I nodded, a small blush on my face out of the embarrassment.. I was glad that she wasn’t looking into my eyes, it’s very hard to keep your thoughts normal..
It wasn’t long before Lucy began to speak again, “Have you two been informed about the german ambassadors coming tomorrow? There are four in total.”
Anne sighed, and I nodded briefly, Victor has told us too about the four coming in. He also told us they are cursed, and we should keep watch..
A servant brought out three cups, while me and Anne were served tea, Lucy has got a black liquid, probably coffee or such.
“Oi, still haven’t given up your bad habit of having black coffee in the middle of the day..?”
Lucy seemed to pay no mind to Annes bickering, sipping on the still steaming porcelain cup.
Those two really did seem close, and Anne did say they were a trio with another person.. Well, more hinted at it, but anyway..
As the three of us talked over drinks, my mind still went back to their old friend.. just who could that person be..?