17 CHAPTER 16:Interrogation...
Inside a luxurious room, sat a woman near the window. Her knee-length wavy blonde hair reflected under the golden rays of the sun. While her clear silver-blue eyes were the proof of innocence and purity.
"I see you have been doing well," Sloane called out from behind as she approached her.
The girl turned around in surprise.
"It's an honor to meet you milady." She bowed as a token of respect towards her savior.
Sloane looked at her from head to toe for a second and smiled.
" I believe I have disturbed your rest, my lady."
The poor girl flushed in embarrassment.
"P-please call me Reina. It's a little bit weird when you call me that."
"..." Sloane was at loss for words.
"Pfft!" She giggled but immediately cleared her throat.
"Madame Martha. Please prepare something warm for my guest. And please arrange some decent, warm dresses for her.
"Yes of course milady. I will send for the dressmaker for her measurements." The maid obediently left the room.
"You don't need to be courteous. Please have a seat."
"Oh, how could I? I'm fine-"
"I insist. You are our guest for as long as you like. At least until we've settled things with your case."
She hesitated at first but eventually helped herself on the sofa facing Sloane.
"So far did you face any problems during your stay here?"
"No, in fact, this kind of hospitality...I'm at a loss for words. They never made me think like I was an outsider."
"That's good to hear. Did you undergo a full body checkup? The physician I sent for your treatment. Did she diagnose you well?"
"Yes. She said that I was gravely malnourished...."
Her face showed the pain she suffered in the past.
For Sloane, it was like seeing her mirror image.
She gritted as she recalled her past.
"So Miss Reina. Let me go straight to the point. Who are you? And what's your past?"
Reina clenched. A vile taste slightly filled her mouth.
"I'm a prostitute who worked in the place you infiltrated. I was adopted by a prostitute who worked in the same place. I was educated at home. My adoptive mother belonged to the high class of commoners."
—"Their status at max is at the baron's level."
Sloane thought.
"Due to heavy debt that my mother had to pay. We lost all of our fortune. And she was paralyzed when the property dealers pushed her. She fell from the stairs. But lost her legs. Since then we've been living in poverty. Since then, I have been doing a job as a waitress in that pathetic place. Being molested by those filthy aristocrats was common in that place. And last year, she died. My mother left me alone to face this cruel world... I don't even have a relative to depend upon."
This time she cried tears of pain and agony.
Sloane didn't say anything for a while. She frowned.
—"This country is just as disgusting as its rulers."
"No one will ever lay a finger on you. I promise you that you will be protected by this house of warriors."
Tear trickled down Reina's eye.
" Uhh...did I offend you?"She panicked.
"No milady, these are tears of joy."She said wiping them off with the handkerchief that Sloane lent her.
—" This woman resembles the late princess. Just how much did she suffer all these years."Sloane gazed at her.
"Is something wrong?" She asked politely.
"Uh...no it's nothing. I was just thinking about appointing a personal guard for you."
"What??" Reina jumped up from her seat.
"Is there something wrong with it? Are you perhaps uncomfortable with the idea?"
"No..um...what I mean is there's no need. Since sir Orion will be there."
"I'm afraid that won't do. Since Orion is my father's guard."
The poor girl was heartbroken as she heard about him from Sloane.
"Sir Orion is a good person. Although he has a serious personality." Reina commented hardly recovering from the pain.
"Indeed, he is like an older brother to me." Sloane agreed with her. She tried her best to change topics.
"Milady, may I come in?" Martha asked outside in the hallway.
Sloane gave her permission. The old maid entered with another frail girl in a maid's uniform bringing in the serving trolley.
