05: Scars And Care.

"Don't you fucking come near me!" Leonor screamed at the man moving closer to her.

"Or what?" A deep snarl resounded from the man's mouth. Leonor looked around, searching for a stick or brick anything to hit him with. Even though both men were looking at her hungrily, she would fight her way amongst them to keep her dignity even if it meant death.

Fear dawned on Leonor as she scooted to the corner of the cell. The man behind the one with a scar on his face tapped him on the shoulder.

"Let's leave her, this one is for the master," The man said, staring at her and Leonor swallowed the heavy lump in her throat.

For some reason. Leonor rather wished she was the devil than to settle for one of these men.

The man with a scar on his face huffed and turned around. The other man who had saved Leonor gave her one long look before he stepped out of the cell.

"Let's see how you nag your way out of this place," The man with scar on his face said, and jammed the big door.

Looking around, Leonor let out a sigh of relief. The place was empty with no sign of life around, and the space was no bigger than a walk-in closet. It was also a colder temperature than normal, and she was just wearing a simple light gown and indoor slippers, which she normally wore to stay at home. She immediately regretted deciding to dress simple today, even though it was probably for the best. She folded her hands as the cold started seeping in, and she started shivering.

What she hates the most is staying in a quiet, lonely place, away from any source of life. She was claustrophobic, so her anxiety was acting up. "Mum, Dad, I am scared," she whispered into the cold dark walls, her voice reverberating in the room.

Leonor began to have a panic attack, and with no one to help her, she used the technique her mother taught her as a child whenever she had a bad dream or was scared, she stroked her shoulders as she hummed her mom's favorite bedtime song and tears streamed down her eyes. All she had even been doing since today was crying like a little baby. And it's all because of that sadist of a man, Armando. He truly is the devil's incarnate.

His presence in their lives only brought pain, heartbreak, and downfalls. She suddenly began missing her whole family so much now, more than ever.

Leonor was out in four days, rather than the one week that Armando had ordered. The lady she met the first day she was in the house, Lorena, was the one who came to open the door for her. She had been bringing her food accompanied by guards, but this time she came around with no food. "Master Armando wants you to get out and start working in the mansion. Assuming you have already reflected on yourself."

She said while gazing at Leonor hopefully, Leonor knew what she wanted her to say but became snobbish instead. They will never hear her say what they want because she will never be with Armando. She'd rather stab herself to death.

"The things for your bath have already been prepared," Lorena said after letting out a considerable sigh. Leonor stood up, her legs wobbly as she struggled to stand straight. Sleeping in that cramped place was not easy at all and her whole body ached, especially her knee that got injured when she was pushed to the floor by those gruesome men.

Leonor walked out of the cell room and began walking up ahead, while Lorena walked five meters behind her. The house was too big to find anything and she had no idea where she was supposed to go. She stopped walking as she waited for Lorena to catch up, whose face was as bitter as ever whenever she saw Leonor. "Why are you not moving?"

She asked her. "I don't know the room I'm meant to go to," Leonor answered honestly.

"Follow me then," she said.

"She is also stupid," Lorena murmured, but to the hearing of Leonor, It was an obvious jab. Leonor ignored her, as she was not her main concern.

She stopped by a door and opened the door to reveal a slightly overly designed room for a maid. Though Leonor had no idea how this devil took care of his servants, she was sure this room was beyond what was necessary for a maid. Even the president wouldn't give such a room to a maid.

The room had a huge elegant bed and light pink curtains that helped reduce the effect of the sunlight. There was also a walk-in closet, a bathroom, and a flat-screen TV.

This wasn't a room, it was a mini hotel room. She looked at the dressing table and found that there were new makeup products and other body care lotions too. Then on the bedside table, there were magazines with the front cover with pictures of nude women.

"Whose room is this?" Leonor asked her. " I think it's obviously yours." Lorena answered, looking like she was more offended by Leonor's room than Leonor herself, who felt like the room seemed to be part of the reason why Lorena was giving her so much attitude.

"Master Armando ordered that you should meet him downstairs in twenty minutes. It's the living room on the last floor. Your uniform and jewelry for the day are already arranged on the bed," Lorena explained.g

"Wait! For the day?"

"Your uniforms change depending on the work you are assigned to do. Most maids here are doing their best to get promoted, to a higher level job. Master Armando only beds with the maids in the higher stats, so you should do your job well to get in fast."

"So you mean, Your Master Armando never sleeps with the lowest levels?" Leonor asked.

"'Our' Master Armando never even looks at the lower stats. They spend their time in the kitchen cleaning up dishes and scrubbing bathrooms. They are practically nobody's and Master Armando wouldn't even give them a side glance."Lorena said, hoping to make Leonor feel ashamed and reveal her true intentions.

What she wasn't expecting was the joy her words brought to the strange girl. Leonor felt extremely excited upon hearing this, it meant that all she had to do was remain in the low stats and then she should be fine.

She went over to the bed and looked at the uniform. It was a short skinny maid uniform, all black with the back and cleavage exposed. She picked up the cloth and checked it in the mirror, and it looked like it would fit her perfectly but she didn't like how it seemed like her whole breasts would be out. She dropped it back on the bed, and in the process, her hands grazed the bed. She sat down on the bed, feeling the softness of the bed, which tempted her to just lay there and sleep.

Soon she snapped out of it and stood up, then went into the bathroom. There were new toiletries arranged neatly in the bathroom.

She came back to the room but Lorena had taken her leave.

Lorena had her bath. She looked at the dress that was given to her. The sight of the dress annoyed her. Even if she's now a maid here, she still had to protect her self-worth and pride too, she was going to try to be insufferable.

They can simply leave her alone and go on with their lives until her brother pays back the money. Plus, she did not feel like dressing in such exposing clothes in front of a man who had come to be one of the people she hated the most in the world.

She opened the walk-in closet and saw everything, ranging from different cosplay dresses to shoes to other accessories. Everything looked so flashy, sexy, and expensive until she saw something different. It was sweatpants with a big gray shirt. This was her best pick if she wanted to wear something so different from what they wanted her to wear. She finished wearing it all and looked at herself in the mirror. It looked like the cloth was almost swallowing her. "Perfect!"

She thought to herself, and as soon as she stepped out of the room, a man was in front of the door. Another bodyguard of Armando led her to the elevator and, just as Lorena had said, she met Armando in the living room. 

"What are you wearing?" Armando asked her when he saw her, his brows furrowing together.

"A polo top and sweatpants," Leonor answered nonchalantly.

"You know what I mean," Armando said, his voice getting colder and his gaze turning dark.

"No, I don't." Leonor feigned ignorance. What followed was a dead silence as Armando stared at her for a while, his cold, stern gaze meeting her warm golden orbs. There was just something mesmerizing about her eyes. "Alright then," he said, surprising Leonor that he had just agreed like that with no other arguments.

He then turned and walked away from the living room. She wondered if she was meant to follow him or stand there and wait. She looked around her to find that there was not a single soul in the living room and decided to just follow Armando outside the house.

She saw he was at quite a distance from her and headed for a car. She immediately picked up her pace and ran after him as fast as she could, she realized she wouldn't make it in time and called out to him. "Armando! Armando!"

Armando's hand was just at the car door when he heard her girly voice call him by his name. It had been a very, very long time since he heard someone call him by his name without the word ‘Master’ upfront. He turned sharply and saw the girl foolishly running towards him.

His first intent was to grab her by the neck and squeeze the tiny life out of her, but then he's anger dissolved when he noticed how she was leaping most of the time.

“What's wrong with you?” His stern voice halted her as he arched one of his brows at her.

“Nothing, I—”

“I meant your legs, you're leaping,” Armando said, his eyes fixed on her.

“It's nothing… I just hit my—” Before she could finish her statement, Armando walked up to her and crouched down to her knee level.

He rolled up the sweatpants on her left knee and saw the wound. The wound had opened up because of how much she was running to get to him, and her blood had begun flowing down her milky legs. He sighed in irritation as he wondered just how clueless this girl could be. She obviously has an infection due to not treating her wound in time.

Then a thought came to mind, and he wondered if it were possible that she had gotten hurt while being in the cell room. He suddenly felt a feeling, a feeling that had never existed in his life, it's a feeling he never got even after murdering a whole damn family. It was... Guilt.

"Armando, am I to follow you?" She asked, her breathing ragged. She seemed to be overly dehydrated, and her skin looked quite pale and unhealthy. He was about to ask why she hadn't been taking care of herself properly, and then he realized that he shouldn't care about that at all. That wasn't his business.

"First, if you dare to call me by my name without honorifics again, then I'll make sure to cut off your tongue and put it up by your door to remind you of the word called respect." He turned sharply and said to her, his eyes were even colder now and Leonor broke out in a cold sweat. "Then will I have to call you like the rest? Master Armando?"

She asked after a while, her voice showed just how frightened she was, and Armando suddenly didn't have the heart to scold her anymore. He turned away and said; "The wound on your knee opened and there are blood stains. Clean it up and meet with Claire, she'll give you instructions on your post."

With that, he entered the car and drove off at bullet speed. 'His tone just now was... Less cold' Leonor thought.