Chapter 93 - Excited!

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Leera addressed the women. "Let's begin! Those who want to be the next Priestess come forward, then we will choose the most deserving one," she said.

Rhea stood up and walked towards the altar.

Leera looked at the crowd. "Only Rhea aspires to be the next Priestess?" she asked.

The crowd was silent.

"No one else?" Leera asked again.

Rhea stood in the center, smiling triumphantly. No one is brave enough to compete with her.

"Alright, I'll count up to ten... if no one comes forward... then I will declare Rhea as the next Priestess and the next leader of our clan," Leera announced.

Still, no one comes forward and joins Rhea in the center.

"I will begin counting now... 1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10! Time is up!" Leera said.

Rhea looked at Leera smugly.

"Alright, it seemed Rhea is the only one bold enough to replace me," Leera smirked. "Everyone, please give your applause to Rhea as the next Priestess of our clan!"

The crowd clapped their hands vigorously, very much pleased with their new Priestess.

Leera looked at the women. "We will hold a Priestess ceremony in the next full moon. So let's get ourselves ready to ask for blessing from the gods in heaven and our ancestors," she said.

The women nodded their heads.

Leera looked at Rhea calmly. "Your role as Priestess will start on the night of your coronation, that will be 3 days from now, so get ready," she said.

"Okay," Rhea replied smugly.

"I'll go now to my room to take a rest," Leera said and left the altar, walking slowly, heading towards the entrance of the chapel.

Rhea and the women watched the former Priestess exited the chapel.

When Leera was already out of earshot, Rhea addressed the women. "The first thing I will do when I'm already officially the new Priestess... we will have a raffle on who will sleep with the wolf first!" she announced excitedly.

The women erupted in cheers, they were enthusiastic to receive such a piece of good news. It's one thing that they've been waiting for that Leera has denied them so far.

Meanwhile...

Leera and Dolores were already inside the house.

"Priestess, should I continue eavesdropping on them?" she asked.

"Okay, but if they start ganging up on you, avoid going into an argument with them, just leave. Tell others to stay away from those women. No need to retaliate if they badmouthed you, and the others. Okay?" Leera said.

"Got it, Priestess!" Dolores replied.

"Listen, I'm going somewhere... if Rhea's minions are starting harassing you and the girls, stay away, don't do anything that can worsen the situation, okay?" Leera said.

"Where are you going, Priestess?" Dolores asked anxiously.

"I need to go somewhere, it's important," Leera replied. "Go now!"

"Aye, Priestess!" Dolores replied and returned to the chapel.

Leera proceeds to her room on the second floor. The moment she entered the door, she locked it from the inside.

She discarded the white garb and put it on the bed, then she opened the closet and grabbed the black cape with hood, and donned it.

Time to act, while it's still early before her time runs out.

She covered her head with the hood, she's ready to go!

A moment later she vanished from the room.

Meanwhile...

In the chapel.

Rhea was still at the altar of the chapel talking to her minions animatedly.

Dolores and the other girls were outside the chapel, eavesdropping on the ongoing meeting inside.

Half an hour later.

Rhea adjourned the meeting and the women returned to the mansion.

Three hours later.

Leera reappeared inside her room, her business outside went smoothly. She removed the black cape from her body and dropped it on the chair. She picked up the white garb from the bed and put it in the laundry basket.

She lies in bed and stared at the ceiling, a smirk appeared on her lips.

Time to rest.

She shut her eyes to sleep.

~~~0~~~

~Portwell Mansion~

Amber was looking at her face in the mirror for a long time. Fresh tears emerged in her eyes. Due to her hideous face she becomes a prisoner in this room, she's not allowed to go out, or else if somebody saw her they might call her monster and they might hurt her.

She desperately wants to leave the room and stroll outside the house to enjoy the sunshine and admire the flowers in the garden. But she can't leave because the door was locked all the time to prevent her from leaving the room.

The door suddenly opened.

Cornelia entered the room, bringing the basket containing Amber's meal for lunch. She put the basket on the table, looked at her charge and the mirror in her hand. "Are you crying again?" she asked, sighing heavily.

Amber wiped the tears from her face.

"Give me that mirror! If you keep looking at your face you will only pity yourself every day and you will get depressed. So, please stop looking at yourself in the mirror!" Cornelia scolded her.

"I'm sorry, Aunt," Amber replied and gave the mirror to Cornelia.

"Eat your meal now, don't drown yourself in self-pity," Cornelia said in a much gentler tone.

"Yes, Aunt. Thank you for the food," Amber said, she left the bed, went to the table, and began eating.

After she finished eating, she put the dirty utensils back into the basket.

Cornelia watched the gloomy expression on Amber's eyes. "I won't remove the mirror from your room, but stop looking too much on your reflection because you will only feel sad and miserable, okay?"

Amber nodded her head and replied, "Okay, got it, Aunt!"

"Good!" Cornelia picked up the basket and was about to leave the room when she remembered something, she turned around and looked at Amber. "Lady Helen, the owner of this mansion will arrive at 3:00 this afternoon. She will be seeing you after she arrived here. So, make yourself presentable," she said.

Amber nods her head and replies, "Yes... I will."

Cornelia opened the door and exited the room.

Amber glanced at the clock, she still has two hours to prepare herself before facing the owner of the mansion. She will cover her face with a white cloth to hide her hideous face so that Lady Helen won't feel terrified of her appearance.

She went to bed and continue reading the book that she started reading yesterday.

Hours went by.

At 2:30, Amber stopped reading and donned a clean dress, she brushed her hair and covered her entire face with a white garment except for her eyes.

She went to the window and stared at the garden below, admiring the colorful flowers.

She wished she could visit the garden one day and see the flowers up close and smell their scent.

Outside the mansion.

The carriage of Lady Helen finally arrived, passing through the iron gate.

Cornelia was waiting for her employer's arrival at the entrance of the mansion.

The carriage stopped in front of the driveway, Lady Helen stepped out of the vehicle.

Cornelia rushed to her side. "Good afternoon, my lady! It's nice to see you again!"

Helen smiled brightly at her nanny that she promoted as the caretaker of the Portwell Mansion. "Hello, Nanny!" she responded cheerfully and kissed the woman's cheek.

The servant took Helen's baggage from the carriage and brought them upstairs to her room on the second floor.

The women entered the house settled on the sofa in the living room.

A maid brought refreshments and placed them on the center table.

Helen picked up the glass of fruit juice and sipped on it. She looked at her nanny. "Is everything okay here?" she asked.

"Yes, everything in the mansion is okay," Cornelia replied with a nod of her head.

"Good!" Helen placed the glass on the center table. She looked at the staircase. "Is Amber okay?" she asked.

"Yes, my lady. I never allowed her out of the room as per Amara's instruction," Cornelia replied.

Helen sighed and said, "We will tour the plantation in my carriage after I'm done resting in my room. Let's bring Amber with us so that she can also see the whole plantation."

"Okay, my lady. We will just cover her face so that no one can see her looks," Cornelia said.

Helen opened her bag and picked up something, then put it on the center table. "No need, I bought two pieces of face mask that can hide the majority of her face, then I also have a foldable round hat that can completely cancel her face. I think it's enough to hide the abnormalities on her face..."

Cornelia picked up the mask and hat. "The mask and hat are nice! Thank you, my lady!" she said in a grateful voice.

Helen stood up. "I'm going now to my room to rest," she said and walked towards the staircase.

A few minutes later.

Cornelia climbed the stairs and went to Amber's room at the end of the hallway.

She stood in the doorway of Amber's room and open the padlock using the key that she kept in the pocket of her skirt.

She entered the room and saw Amber sitting on the bed, already wearing a white covering on her face.

"Aunt, is Lady Helen already here?" Amber asked nervously.

"Yes," Cornelia replied and removed the white cloth on Amber's face. "Wear this face mask, instead of that white cloth. And also wear this hat later when you face the lady," she said and put the mask on Amber's face and the hat on her head.

Amber picked up the mirror and looked at herself. "This is much better!" she said.

"Yeah," Cornelia agreed. "We will tour the plantation later, together with the lady. So you need to wear this stuff to cover your face," she explained.

"I'm ashamed to show my face to, Lady Helen, Aunt," Amber said with a sigh.

"No need to be ashamed, the lady is kind," Cornelia assured her.

"Okay," Amber spoke, glad to know that the owner of the mansion is a kind woman.

Cornelia went to the door. "I'll come back for you later," she said and left the room.

Amber looked at the hat and the face mask, smiling brightly.. She's getting excited to leave the room and explore the whole plantation after being holed up in the room for several days.

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