Mia
It wasn’t just dinner. It was everything. It was all the meals. I didn’t think I was going to be able to eat with those snobs. I wondered who the snobs should be. By all standards, it should be me. I was the family of the late baron, even though I never knew him but that didn’t matter. I was the new baroness and if I signed to taking charge of the inheritance, I was going to have to pay their father his salary. What was their problem? They had to have one if they believed that they could do whatever they wished and go scot-free.
Maybe they thought they had a say in the house because they had lived longer here. I remembered their saying that they knew everywhere in the house. They were having a power trip and trying to show me that I would need their help for a tour of the house if needed. I wondered if they were also being rude because they thought I could be bullied as I was their age mate even though I was the new baroness.
They were silly if they thought that was how it worked. I looked at the stool in my room and smiled at it. It had now become my personal dining table. I had forgotten to tell the butler to instruct the maids that I would love to have my meals alone as from now on but that didn’t mean I couldn’t correct it now.
I would tell the maid when my food had been brought that they should keep on doing that. As if the maid knew I was thinking of her, I heard a knock on my bedroom door. I sighed in relief as I moved to the door as I was already hungry and rubbing my stomach. I was already thinking and regretting that maybe I should have taken a snack off the table as I walked away then but that wasn’t going to be a dignified exit. What I had done was a dignified exit and that was good as I had done it.
I opened the door and could barely hold in my smile as the aroma of the food and tea wafted to my nostrils. What a long awaited delight.
“Please come in.” I said and waved the maid into the room, moving away from the door so she could come in.
She bowed and walked in. I sat on the bed and watched as she set the tray on a nearby stool.
“Thank you.” I said when she was done. I wasn’t going to eat on the bed. I had gotten my own dining table but there was no need disturbing the maid when she had already set up here. I was going to move the food myself when she is gone. She stood up and made a move to leave when I remembered my plans.
“As from now on, always bring my food to the bedroom. Don’t serve my meals at the table.” I ordered her.
She gasped. “You don’t want to do that, Miss.”
I snorted. “Why don’t I want to do that? I wouldn’t have said this to you if I didn’t want it.”
She shook her head. “Eating together by members of the household has always been a norm here. It’s a tradition that has never been broken. Even the maids and servants do it. We eat all meals together. Regardless of how hungry we were, we wait for everyone to be done before we eat.”
“Why?” I asked.
That was ridiculous to me. People should always eat where and when they were comfortable. Food should be enjoyed and not turned into a chore or tradition. I had been asked on the way here what my plans were as a baroness. I believed I just found my first role when I get into office. I would be scrapping that old tradition which forced people to eat with their enemies without any regard for their comfort and delight at the table.
“Why?” She repeated, looking surprised at my question. She wanted to look at me like I was stupid and didn’t want to appear rude as well. She stared at me though like I was a strange creation with ten heads. I wondered what the problem was. Could it be that she had never been asked a question before by any member of the family or she didn’t think that anyone out there would not know why it was important for people to eat as a group. Whichever one it was for her, they all should get ready for my questions as I was going to want to know what their opinions were on several matters.
I smiled at her dilemma. I knew how she was feeling. “Feel free to talk.”
She nodded. “We all eat together because it brings us closer.”
“Does it?” I asked, arching my eyebrows at her. I didn’t think I could ever become closer to Amy and Avilla even if I had a thousand meals with them.
She blushed and I pressed her more. “Does it truly bring everyone closer? Do you like all of your colleagues? Don’t you find some of them annoying and you would rather not eat with them?”
She didn’t answer me but blushed a deeper shade of red with each question that I asked. I chuckled as I watched her and finally excused her when I realized that she was getting uncomfortable with my questions. She bowed and rushed out of the room.
I didn’t need her to talk, I had gotten my response. I smiled to myself as I carried the food to the table I was going to eat at. I had already made my decision. I was scraping that tradition in the house. I didn’t care how long it had been in place. Even if it had been in place for centuries, I didn’t care. Rules were made by someone and broken by someone too.
I didn’t care about wagging tongues too. If they knew they wouldn’t like what I would do and the changes I would make, they shouldn’t have made me the baroness.
I finished my dinner, had the meeting with Durian, went over the details of my position and responsibilities and signed my name on the required forms. After all had been sorted, the date of my coronation was picked, I went to my room to sleep. I saw a message from the boys and smiled, dreaming of bliss as I snuggled into bed and slept off.
The next morning, I took a stroll in the garden and moved back to the house. I could take the tour myself. I didn’t need some snobby girls to walk with me. I would rather gift out my legs than walk with them if I had to.
I took a turn and found myself in the house, though another part of it. I was wondering if I could get to my bedroom through this side as I stood on the staircase when a maid walked up to me and smiled.
The house was surprisingly big and I didn’t want to get lost and make a fool of myself. I wasn’t going to hear the end of it, especially if those rude girls found out about it.
“Are you looking for your father’s old bedroom, Miss?” She asked.
“Oh yes! I was looking for that.” I jumped in surprise and smiled at her, pretending that was what I was looking for instead of confessing that I had been confused on the path to take.
I felt like pulling her into an embrace but refrained from doing so. I had noticed they were a conservative lot around here and giving the maid an embrace would give her heart a shock and I didn’t want to repay her kindness by sending her to an early grave. She had thrown me a lifeline without knowing and I appreciated her for that.
“How did you know that?” I asked, chuckling.
She smiled. “It’s normal that you would want to see where your father had grown up.” She shrugged. “I only figured that was the case when I saw you here.”
“You are a genius.” I smiled at her.
“Thank you.” She grinned, pleased at the compliment. “This way, Miss.”
I followed her into what used to be my father’s bedroom when he was a child and tears formed in my eyes as I saw all his stuff. The room was kept clean as if he still lived there and I was grateful for that. I thought that his belongings would have been cleared out but they were still there. I figured they didn’t bother cleaning it out because the late baron didn’t have any family and there wasn’t need for any more room. I wondered if it would have been cleared out if someone other than me had agreed to be the baron. Certainly so, since it had been mentioned that they were married.
If they were married, they would probably have kids and extended families and would need more rooms. I imagined myself coming here with the boys, our parents and our wolf kids in the future and smiled. I wouldn’t ever clear out this room no matter how much the need for a room was. I wanted to keep the memory of my dad alive as much as I could.
I moved closer into the bedroom, touching his stuff lightly and gently as if his soul was in there. I saw his drawer and decided to open it to know what dad was interested in when growing up as a kid and even living here as an adult. I was glad that I had accepted this role and didn’t let my dad’s heritage go to waste.
I opened the drawer and saw the letters he had written and received. Some of them were to my mum, expressing how he loved her. I assumed that was when they were apart and had had to share letters. I read his diary, read of his academic exploits, his dreams and his love for mum. The tears started falling down my face when I read of how he gushed about me, as a baby, as a toddler he was excited about and as a girl he was proud of.
I missed him too. I cried as I thought of all the happy memories I had had with him.
I quickly swiped my hands across my face when I heard the door open. I couldn’t let the maids or anyone see me crying. The news would spread like wildfire if the person was a gossip. I didn’t want that. I groaned as the weight of my title started to hit me. It was tiring always being careful of what I do or let others see me doing.
“I was told you would be here.”
I gasped as I turned around on hearing the familiar voice. “Mum!” I screeched in excitement, running to meet her and forgetting that I had said I wasn’t talking to her.
She chuckled, wrapping her hands around me as well.
“What are you doing here?” I asked. “I didn’t think you would be coming.”
She snorted. “You didn’t think I was going to miss your coronation day, did you?”
I smiled and wrapped my hands around her again, glad that she was here. I was grateful that I still had her on my side.