This Chapter is dedicated to Caron_Woodbury_8928. You’re my top reader at the mont.
Thank you for being here. 💞🌸🫶🏾
........
After Madam left, Aire sat at the edge of her bed, facing the vanity mirror.
The room was quiet again. Just the way she likes it.
Her gaze drifted to the hairbrush resting neatly on the table. For a mont, she simply stared at it.
Then she sighed softly. Almost reluctantly.
Aire stood up. Her bare feet making no sound against the polished floor, as she walked to the door. She paused, listening.
There was nothing. No one was around, or close by.
Still, she turned the lock. The soft click echoed faintly in the silence as she locked the door.
Then, she return to her seat.
Her eyes fell back on the brush when she sat down. For a heartbeat, nothing happened. Then slowly, very slowly, Aire lifted her gaze.
The brush trembled slightly, as though sothing invisible had brushed against it.
Aire’s expression didn’t change.
Her eyes began to shift.
The blue in her eyes faded a bit. Her eyes changed until they burned a quiet, unnatural blue.
The brush lifted gently as though guided by careful hands. It hovered midair, waiting to be moved.
Aire tilted her head faintly, and the brush rose higher.
She stilled it, and it stilled.
A breath left her lips. She leaned back into the chair, and the brush moved. She smiled softly in victory.
The brush moved softly at first, then with more confidence, gliding through her long silver hair. Her hair srands parted smoothly under its bristles, untangling without effort.
Aire closed her eyes.
For a mont, she allowed it. She allowed the silence, and the strange comfort of control. She allowed herself to exist without watching, or pretending.
Her senses stretched. It sharpened, and expanded. The world beyond her room did not remain distant.
It reached her. She heard footsteps. They were faint, but almost audible enough for her to get cautioned.
Her eyes snapped open. They returned to their natural shade of blue, but remained cold.
Soone was coming. Whoever was coming, was coming here, towards her doot.
Imdiately, the brush dropped. She perfectly placed it back to where it belonged.
The coldness in her eyes vanished as quickly as it ca. They went back to being soft, and harmless.
She rose. Her movents were smooth, and controlled. The door unlocked with a quiet click without her touching it.
She ran her fingers through her hair, deliberately ssing the freshly brushed strands just enough to make them appear natural and untouched.
By the ti she reached the bed and sat down, her expression had already settled into her usual expression.
The door opened, and Madam stepped in first. Five maids followed behind her.
However, they didn’t move further from the door. Each one of them paused at the door. Sothing in the room had shifted.
Madam felt it first.
Her steps slowed. Her gaze sharpened, and she looked around carefully.
The maids followed suit.
One of them stepped slightly forward, her nose lifting faintly into the air. She inhaled like a wolf catching a scent.
Aire watched them. She blinked innocently.
Madam’s eyes moved back to her.
"Was anyone else here just now?" she asked.
Aire pressed her lips together lightly. Her wide eyes held nothing but quiet confusion.
She shook her head. "No."
Then, as if a thought had suddenly struck her, her expression shifted. "Did sothing happen?" she asked with fake concern.
One of the maids parted her lips.
"Y—"
"Nothing happened," Madam cut in sharply.
The maid imdiately fell silent.
Madam clapped her hands once. The sound was soft, but commanding and all five maids straightened instantly.
"There will be no breakfast today," Madam said.
Aire blinked.
"The Alphas will not be dining, so no one will."
Aire lowered her gaze slightly.
Her stomach chose that exact mont to betray her with a quiet, embarrassing sound.
She stilled, then nodded. "There is nothing I cannot endure," she said softly.
Her voice carried no complaint.
Madam watched her for a brief mont. Low-key waiting for her to not simply accept to endure the breakfast dismissal.
Then, the door opened again wiithout warning, and all eyes turned towards the door.
Mabel stepped in.
She looked... radiant.
Gold draped elegantly around her neck and wrists, catching the morning light. Her gown flowed around her like she had walked out of a celebration rather than into a silent, tense room.
Her hair was styled perfectly. Not a strand was out of place.
Aire straightened imdiately.
Madam and the maids bowed. Aire followed carefully, and respectfully.
Mabel’s lips curved, amused.
"I wasn’t eavesdropping," she said lightly, incase anyone thinks she was. That would be an insult to her class.
No one responded.
She stepped further into the room, her gaze settling on Aire.
"Earlier today, my maid inford of the sa thing," she continued. "No breakfast. No one eats unless the Alphas are present."
Her smile widened slightly. "And I thought to myself..." She tilted her head. "Since the Luna is ever so graceful and kind... why don’t I make use of her privilege?"
Her eyes flickered. "Because I am rather famished." She sounded calculating, but not enough for one to hold on to.
A heavy uncomfortable silence rested upon everyone in the room.
Madam stepped forward slightly. "My lady," she said, her tone respectful, but firm, "the rules are not flexible."
Her gaze lingered on Mabel just a mont longer than necessary. "As you said yourself, no one eats."
Mabel’s smile didn’t fade. Yet, it sharpened.
"Are you correcting ?" she asked softly.
Madam lowered her head slightly. "I am reminding you."
The tension thickened.
Aire felt it. Her gaze moved between them. Her gaze moved between them, and she saw it.
Madam and Mabel seed to be comoeting for power at the mont. They both had a huge pride, and wanted control.
Aire noticed sothing else beneath it all. This might just be a test from Mabel.
Mabel wasn’t hungry, and Aire sensed it.
Aire inhaled quietly. Then spoke. "Madam."
The room stilled.
Madam turned to her imdiately, and so did Mabel, and the other people in the room.
Aire’s voice remained soft. "Please prepare breakfast."
Everyone paused. Even the air seed to pause.
Madam didn’t move. Her eyes flickered, just slightly, toward Mabel, then back to Aire.
"My lady..." she began carefully, "this is not a small matter."
Aire t her gaze. For the first ti, there was sothing deeper in her eyes.
"Breakfast," Aire repeated. She still sounded calm, and gentle. However, she was clearer now. She sounded more certain.
Madam hesitated. That hesitation said everything.
This would disobey tradition...
This would be her acting without the Alphas...
This would be her bending a rule enforced by the entire household isn’t safe...
Her gaze flicked again to Mabel, then back to Aire. She was trying to warn them without word
Aire held her gaze. And this ti, she didn’t waver. "Breakfast, Madam." She paused. "Now."
The word landed differently.
It ca out so final that the room fell into complete silence.
Mabel’s eyes shifted with interest.
Madam lowered her head. "Yes... my lady."
She turned to walk out, and the maids followed imdiately.
One by one, they filed out of the room.
The door closed behind them. The mont it did, a small, almost invisible smile touched the corner of Madam’s lips.
Back inside the room, Mabel studied Aire carefully.
Then she laughed softly. "Well..." she said, stepping closer. "That was unexpected."
Aire lowered her gaze again, as if nothing had changed.
"I only thought it would be rude to let a guest remain hungry," she said.
Mabel stopped in front of her.
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "You are either very kind..." she murmured.
Or very naive.
She didn’t say the last part out loud.
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