The Duke's Masked Wife

"What's the matter?" Mario asked once he saw she was kind of in a daze.

"Nothing. Just thinking about life," Alessandra took the food and jug from him. She didn't want to keep him outside for much longer. "Three hours more to go and then there will finally be peace."

"Alessandra, it'll get better soon. The rumors, the way you live, the relationship you have with your father. Everything will get better one day," Mario reassured her.

"Are you trying to give me that whole rainbow at the end of-"

"No no no," Mario stopped her from repeating the ridiculous phrase he hated. "When was the last time you saw a rainbow in Lockwood? For the time I have spent in this town I have never seen one. Let's say, there'll be happiness when the next shipment of rum comes in."

"Mario," Alessandra shook her head. There was a high probability of Mario drinking already even though he was working. Any time he mentioned rum he had been drinking some.

"What? It makes me happy. What do you think is making me bear the work we have tonight? I wouldn't waste rum on those guests. They prefer the wine anyway. I slipped you something nice," he patted the jug which was now in her hand. "You will get to enjoy the night with this."

"I don't get drunk easily." It was thanks to Mario slipping her drinks and their drinking moments that she realized she had a high tolerance for such drinks.

"Just enjoy it. You don't have to be drunk to enjoy it. I'll see you tomorrow. Okay?" He went back inside without waiting to hear anything more she had to say. He was already in hot water for leaving the kitchen for so long the first time.

"Okay," she replied.

Alessandra looked down at the food and drink before taking one final glance at the kitchen door. "Time to head back," she quietly strolled back in the direction she came from.

The talk with Mario was enough to brighten up her mood and give her the extra confidence she needed to believe that her meeting with the Duke tomorrow would work out in her favor. She was going to get married and live away from her family.

"All of them are so rude. Why can't they get their own drinks? Just get your own drinks if you don't like the way I hold them."

Alessandra listened intently to a maid walking in her direction, criticizing the guests. The maid must have been so angry that she was looking back behind her to raise her middle finger there more than watch where she was going. "You shouldn't be so loud," she warned the young girl.

"A-Alessandra?" The maid gasped, taking steps back out of fear. She felt like she was going to die when she glanced at the black mask covering the majority of Alessandra's face. "P-Please don't hurt me."

"Hurt you?" Alessandra looked down at her hands. Unless she was going to start a food fight there was no way she could hurt anyone. When would everyone start to think logically instead of believing rumors?

"I-I am just doing my job. Don't kill me," the maid covered her eyes with her hands as her body shook with fear. Had she gone the other way she would not have run into Alessandra.

The maid feared that just seeing the part of Alessandra's face which wasn't covered by a mask was enough to kill her.

Unbothered, Alessandra continued to walk in the direction back to her bedroom. She was trying to help the maid by telling her to keep her voice down when talking about the guest.

Alessandra wholeheartedly believed Katrina had some kind of magic to hear when anyone was badmouthing her guest from a mile away. It wasn't once or twice she had caught someone badmouthing her or her friends from far away. Alessandra had a theory the woman was not from this world.

"Maybe she fell from the sky," she pondered on her theory. It was possible.

Alessandra passed the area she had stumbled upon Edgar, going to a door on the opposite side of the home from the kitchen. It led her to a room filled with gardening supplies and on the inside was another door taking her out to an empty hall.

Her father did not enjoy his guest wandering around the house other than where he had marked the party to be in order to avoid gossip about the smallest thing.

Alessandra skipped and twirled now that the music was louder. All she was missing was a fancy dress and her partner. "They are playing better music now."

To the left of where the party was going on was Alessandra's room. The hall to her bedroom was slightly dark as the fire in the lanterns was dying since no one came to check on them. Still, that didn't bother Alessandra as she placed the jug on the floor to have one hand free to open the door of her room.

"Meow," she was greeted by a faint sound on the inside.

"Kitty," Alessandra looked down at the orange kitty she found. "I told you not to come to the door. If someone else saw you, they would have taken you away. Do you wish to leave my side?"

Alessandra used her right foot to gently nudge the kitten back inside of her room when it tried to run outside. Her father unfortunately was only a lover of dogs and would not be on board for a cat in the house. "It's safer here and I brought us food."

"Why does it seem like you have started to understand what the word food means?" She asked as the kitten sat still looking up for her awaiting its meal. "Here. Enjoy a piece of meat," she placed it on the floor.

With the kitten distracted and the door closed, Alessandra went to her desk so that she could also eat something before her stomach would make a grand entrance.

She placed the plate and jug on the desk first and then took a seat. All alone in her room with the kitten, Alessandra took off her mask to be free. There was no one here to speak of what her face looked like and no mirrors in her room for her to see her own face.

The mask was set aside and as she listened to the faint music creeping its way into her room, Alessandra ate in silence, waiting for the day to soon end so that she could speak with Edgar sooner.