9 Dared not to say a word

y the time Althea arrived at the mansion gates it was 11 am, she looked around her and she noticed that it was her first time that she has a good look at the garden it was a beautiful view and very huge there were various kinds of trees and flowers, her favorite was the lemon tree the smell that was emanating from it was very relaxing to her troubled mind she looked around her one last time before she made her way back to her room

after she changed her outfit into her work clothes she went straight to the kitchen after she entered the kitchen she saw lady Chou and anther maid working together " need a help "

" Althea welcome back " but when Chou looked at the girl's eyes it was obvious that she was crying and by knowing Althea personality its best to not ask her about anything right now" yes, hurry and come over here we have a lot of work to do "

" I see that you started to prepare the main dishes " she looked at the pots

" yes, but I need you to prepare the dessert dishes do think that you can make these? " lady Chou handed her a note paper she wrote the dishes names at it

Althea took the paper and read the names of the dishes

1.Castella

2.parfait

3.coffee jelly

she looked at the old lady with confound expressions on her face " are you sure that you want to present these as a dessert?"

" yes, what is wrong with them? " the old lady asked

" nothing, it's just its too easy to make them, " Althea said

" if it's too easy then that is good, I know that you are very good at making desserts and bakeries so I expect you to make me very proud " she gave her a look full of seriousness

...

8:30 pm

everything was well-prepared lady Chou made sure that everything and everyone at his place, it wasn't her first time to prepare for a huge gathering but she was concerned about Althea she never worked in a place filled with vampires most of them will be a purebloods and nobles and what worried her more than her father might come tonight how she forget about an important detail like this, she hoped that nothing would go wrong

" lady Chou the dinner table is ready, do you need me to do anything else " one of the maids asked but getting no response she tried to call her again " lady Chou "

the old lady finally got back to her senses " what did you say "

" I said that the dinner table is ready " the maid repeated

" ok, you can leave now " the maid nodded and left

after that lady Chou headed to the kitchen as soon she reached to entrance anther made came to her " lady Chou some of the guests arrived "

" ok, go notify the workers to take their places I don't want any mistake to be committed " she warned

" understood " the maid left to do as she's had been told

the old lady entered the kitchen she found Althea sitting on one of the wooden chairs reading a book " Althea "

the girl looked up from the book upon hearing her name " yes "

" could you please go and notify lord Kaname that the guests had arrived "

the girl nodded her head and stood up she and headed the pureblood quarters at first she thought that she going to find him at his office but he was not there " he must be in his bedroom " she mumbled to herself and went there

Althea knocked on the bedroom door " lord Kaname may I come in " she asked politely, upon hearing the approval she pushed the door open

" good evening lord Kaname "

" good evening Althea, " he said not looking away from the window" is there something that you want"

" lady Chou sent me to inform you that the guests had arrived "

" thank you " now he is facing her " please tell her once Ichijo arrive send him to my study "

" yes my lord, then I willleave now "closing the door quietly she left

..............

when she returned to the kitchen she found lady Chou gathering the maids and dividing up their duties for tonight she stood there waiting for the old lady to finish talking to them

as she stood there she saw one of the maids that caused her troubles when she first came here, that girl for some reasons hate Althea so much, knowing that she is not a human Althea tried to stay away from here as much as she can but that girl had other plans for her

" Althea did do as I told you, " the old lady asked her after she sends all the maids to their duties

" yes and he asked me to tell you that after Ichijo arrives to send him to his study "

" hmm " she looked hesitated to talk to her

" Althea there is something I wa…."

" I know what you want to say " she cut her off

" I won't be leaving the kitchen until the denier is over I won't risk being noticed by him " Chou let out a sigh of relief that she doesn't have to explain everything in details to her but then again Althea was always a clever girl and something like that she will not fail to notice

" I'm glad that you understand, I'm sorry Althea that you have to live like that " the old lady could not help but sad for the girl

" I'm sorry for myself too but this how it is I got used to it "

Althea know that a life like this will be hard to live but she was fine with it she didn't ask for much but life chose to mistreat her and what happened to her three years ago made her uncomfortable person,working and socializing has become a very difficult task for her

the only thing that keeping her going on is her mother

......

the dinner as expected went smoothly and well organized everyone was enjoying the drinks and the food, the Senate members kept speaking the lord about the issues and decisions they about to take

feeling that the air had become heavy to breathe the vampire king excused himself from the guests and went outside the mansion for some fresh air taking a sip from the glass in his hand he saw a girl coming from the kitchen back door throwing trash bag she stood there hugging herself it looked like she was angry sad and the way her shoulders moved like was trying to not cry

Althea was unaware of the lord presence, she very angry she heard some of the maids talking about her and it wasn't good one, Althea tried to keep herself under control when she was about to lose her patient lady Chou noticed the situation she asked her to take out the trash on her way back she hoped that this night would end peacefully

...….

" did all the guests left, " Takuma asked lady Chou

" yes all of them " she replied " where is lord Kaname, " she asked noticing that he is not around

" at his study room, I should go b…"

they heard loud voices coming from the kitchen wasting no time they headed towards the kitchen to see what's going on

" I'm not the one who pretends to be sick to sleep with lord ka " the girl did not have the chance to complete her words as a hard slap landed on her face which caused her to fall on the ground

everyone was shocked no one dared to say a word, Althea looked at everyone with angry expressions before she stormed out of the kitchen