Chapter 1 Who are you
Matilda
Loud frightful screams filled the air.
It was accompanied by growls as huge werewolves break through different parts of the walls in the throne room with their body.
Each wolf carries a dark, murderous intent in their eyes as they jump in the air with their sharp fangs set to rip off the limbs of their opponents – the King's guards.
Matilda, like every other servant unfortunate to be in the midst of this chaos, tried to look for an escape without getting involved in the ongoing fight.
Her heart raced against her chest as she ran with two other servants ahead, heading towards an opening in the wall that led to the safety of the hopefully empty hallways.
A dead wolf flew in the air; its strong body crashed over the servants Matilda was following.
Her feet stop at the very last moment, and a high-pitched scream leaves her lips as she stares at the servants who faced instant death as their neck broke.
Tears filled her eyes, not only because of the sudden dead body but also because her safest way to escape has now been blocked.
Prince Kenric walks into the throne room with a sword in his hand. Two wolves with bloody fangs protectively move by his sides.
"My son." King Archibald visibly shakes as he hides behind his throne. "You can walk!" He tries to fake a smile but ends up shivering in fear as Kenric raises his sword against him.
"I'm not your son. You have never acknowledged me!" Kenric screams in rage.
One of the wolves by his side growls and slowly approaches the king.
Matilda felt too afraid to move.
She didn't want to be noticed; if possible, she wanted to make herself disappear.
Just a few months ago, Prince Kenric was a cripple.
Matilda never once thought that he was a harmless prince because of his fake disability. She knew things about him that were discovered entirely by chance, and as a servant she kept her mouth shut about what she had seen and heard.
"I'm sorry son!" King Archibald cries.
Matilda drinks in the sight of the strong alpha king breakdown. He was the same man who had ruined her family.
King Archibald's old face turned ugly; snot filled his nose, and tears ran down his cheeks.
He fell on the floor, crawling on his knees towards Kenric as he tried his best not to look at the wolf that had a fang close to his neck.
King Archibald harshly hit his head on the floor. "Please forgive me, my son. I made a mistake; I'm going to repent. I will make you the crown prince!"
A dry, humourless laugh came out of Kendric.
Matilda felt her breath seize as Prince Kenric used his sword to stab his father by the hand.
A cruel smile appeared on his lips. "Your precious sons are dead, King Archibald." He pulled out his sword and kicked the old man on the face. "I don't need you to give me anything! I'm going to take what I want. Your throne, and your life!"
Matilda forced herself to move, and because she was a simple maid, Prince Kenric's men ignored her.
Just when Matilda was about to jump through the same broken path Prince Kenric used, the unstable walls collapsed on her body.
Matilda's eyes move from her blood filling the floor to Prince Kenric.
He held his father's head as a trophy with a crazy grin on his face.
She closed her eyes as she let out her last breath.
***
Matilda opened her eyes widely and stared at the blonde hair spread out on the floor.
White pale-skinned, accompanied by a dull, lifeless blue eyes. Katherine.
Panic clawed at Matilda's chest, but quickly she used her hand to silence herself.
She had been in this scenario before. Months ago, before she was forcefully taken to the palace.
Matilda could still feel the weight of the walls that crushed her to death.
Somehow she was alive and has gone back to the exact moment she discovered the celestial maiden, Katherine, dead.
Matilda took in a shallow breath as she stared at Lady Katherine.
This was the second time she was seeing the gifted lady's face.
Katherine seems like she was the same age as Matilda, 22 years old.
For the first time, Matilda was starting to realise that she had some striking resemblance to the gifted lady. They both had long blonde hair, blue eyes and the same slender body physique.
The only thing differentiating them was their outfits.
This thought gave Matilda an idea as she realised that if she switched clothes with the celestial maiden that was about to enter the palace, no one would know.
Her face would be hidden, and she would finally be free from the shackles of slavery. She would finally be someone important.
A loud knock hit the door, and Matilda's heart jumped.
"The carriage is here, my lady." A male voice came from the other side of the door. "My lady?" The voice called after a few minutes of silence.
Matilda thought that she needed to say something before the guards opened the door and finds Katherine dead. If that happened, the past would repeat itself.
"Thirty minutes," she squeaks out and then clears her throat, trying her best imitation of Katherine's soft and gentle voice. "Please give me thirty minutes, Cedric."
She mentally slapped her temple. Katherine has never once addressed them by their name.
Cedric remained silent on the other side of the door.
Matilda held her breath, still she could hear the pounding of her heart in her ear.
"I will go tell the guards to wait an hour for you, my lady." Cedric said in an excited voice.
Matilda lets out her breath as she listens to the retreating footsteps.
Her eyes went to Katherine's dead body. "I'm sorry." She mumbled under her breath.
Matilda began to clean the blood and wrapped the dead body up with various thick bed liners.
She struggles as she uses a laundry cart to make it seem as though Katherine's body were nothing more than dirty clothes.
Matilda avoided eye contact with the guards as she stepped out of the tower the celestial maiden lives in.
She moves to the far edges of the sea close to the tower.
Using heavy stones and bloody bed linens, she tosses Katherine's body into the huge mass of water.
Quickly the wave of water swallowed Katherine, burying the secret Matilda didn't want to reveal to the world.
Matilda hurried back to Katherine's room.
With shaky hands she bathed, scrubbing her skin harshly as though it were enough to wash away her sin.
Guilt stuck to her like a second skin as she dressed herself in Katherine's clothes.
When she looked in the mirror, she could see Katherine's lifeless blue eyes, filled with blames and accusations.
Matilda thought that she had nothing to be guilty of; after all, she wasn't the one who killed Katherine.
In the past, when Katherine was murdered in secret and it was reported to the royal family, every servant in the tower was tortured for days. And even after being released, their life still remains miserable as they serve in the palace.
Matilda shut her eyes tight at the awful memories, and when she opened her eyes again, she was filled with the strong determination to survive and live a good life this time.
Cedric lowers his head in a quick bow, as Matilda steps out of her room. He eyed the luggage in her hand, his brows creasing in confusion.
"I have set Matilda free of her service. Inform the other maids as well that they are free to live their life from now henceforth." She held two slave contracts to Cedric.
"Very kind of you, my lady." Cedric smiled as he took the slave contracts, following the orders given to him.
Other than Matilda, two other maids serve Katherine. Except that they mostly work down the tower and in the kitchen.
Matilda was the only one responsible for most of Katherine's needs because she was the youngest and could climb the long spiral staircase with no issues.
"My lady." A teary voice called as Matilda was about to climb into the carriage.
Two maids knelt in front of her as they weep in joy.
"Thank you, my lady." An older woman in her early 40s cried out.
"Thank you so much. I can finally see my family again!" The other maid said.
A little smile finds its way to Matilda's lips, although it is hidden under the veil covering half of her face.
This particular maid had a bad leg, and because the wolf of every slave has been destroyed, if they sustain an injury that isn't properly treated, they end up being wounded for life. And dead if that injury had an infection.
Matilda entered her carriage, satisfied, not because of her virtuous deed, but because she had gotten rid of the two people who were capable of exposing her identity if they followed her to the palace.
The sun slowly made way for the rising half-shaped moon in the sky as Matilda's carriage suddenly came to a halt.
She looked out the window and saw lines of thick forest trees.
The carriage was still far from the palace grounds.
Perhaps the carriage was being attacked by bandits?
Matilda's fearful thought came to a stop as she saw a familiar uniform. An army uniform that didn't belong to the imperial family but to the high noble Sir Njal.
"Who's in the carriage?" One of the men from Njal House asks with a rough voice.
"The celestial maiden, Lady Katherine", Cedric's voice was full of reverence.
Sir Njal moved his horse closer to the carriage, and Matilda quickly stopped peeking through the window.
"I want to see who is in the carriage!" Njal demanded with a firm voice.
Matilda's chest heaved as she took in a deep breath.
"I'm sorry, my lord, but we have strict orders to bring the celestial maiden to the palace immediately. If you want to see her, then you will have to wait." Cedric argues.
Matilda thought of what to do. Although she had guards from the palace protecting her, Sir Njal had more men with him.
From her past life, Matilda knew how stubborn Sir Njal was. Being on his bad side quickly after being reborn is a bad idea.
"I'm sure the humble gifted maiden won't mind," Njal said. His uneasy voice carries something dark.
Matilda's tummy churned in discomfort. There was no time to think; she needed to act quickly.
Moving with the fine grace of the noble lady she once was before she was forced into slavery, Matilda stepped out of the carriage.
Cedric held her gloved hand, helping her down from the beautiful carriage.
Her blue gaze pierced Sir Njal, and he breathed out, muttering a word close to 'impossible' under his breath.
Njal came down from his horse, and like a man in a dream that was close to a nightmare, he examined Matilda with wide eyes.
Stepping closer to Matilda, he asked with a low voice, "Who are you?"
"Step away from the celestial maiden!" Cedric shouted, but he was held back by one of Njal's men.
Njal narrowed his eyes. "I know that you aren't Lady Katherine, so who are you, girl?"
