Chapter 2: The Mark

Slowly, as she woke up, the sun entered her eyes from the windows.

"Huh? It's morning?" she said groggily, rubbing her eyes and stretching as she looked around the room.

"It really wasn't a dream after all..."

Soon after, a maid walked in and saw Lily was awake.

"Good morning, my lady," she said with a bow. "Lord Grey told me to take you to his office when you've woken up."

"A-ah, I see. I'll head over now." Getting up, she walked past the maid and out the door. Following her memory, she found her way to the office they had met in the night before.

Lily slowly opened the door and walked in, catching Grey's attention.

"Oh, good morning, Lily. I apologize; we tried waking you up last night, but you were sleeping heavily. Though I can't fault you considering what you've been through. I'm sure you're hungry. I was actually about to head to the dining room myself. Would you like to come too?"

"O-oh, yes, please." In truth, Lily hadn't eaten the entire week, so an offer for food wasn't something she could turn down.

"That's great to hear," Grey said with a kind smile as he stood up.

Following Grey, they arrived at a large dining room with a big table and chairs lining it. Food covered the table, an assortment of delicacies she'd never even seen. Her mouth couldn't help but salivate, and her eyes couldn't look away.

"Sit where you'd like and eat however much you'd like."

She nodded, sitting a few seats away. Her eyes sparkled at all the food in front of her. Unable to control herself, she loaded her plate and started eating. Her manners were far from having a semblance of etiquette, but at the time, she didn't care. The eyes on her didn't exist, the surprised look on Grey's face wasn't there. Everything around her disappeared.

"Haha, quite the eater I've met," Grey chuckled, watching in a confusing sense of amazement.

...

"Haaaa, I'm stuffed," Lily said with a warm smile.

"I'm glad to hear that. I hope all the food provided was to your taste."

"O-oh, yes, it was very good," she said, coming back to her senses. "I-I apologize for showing such an unappealing side of me," she said her face flushed red.

"It's no problem at all. Since we've finished eating, we should get you some new clothes and a bath. I doubt those rags you're wearing are comfortable. That maid over there," Grey said, pointing to a young woman in the corner, "will be your personal maid during your stay. She'll take your measurements so we can get you some clothes. So, feel free to relax in the bath. It's great for relieving stress."

"Oh, thank you. It's been years since I've had a proper bath," Lily said, her voice sullen.

"How did you clean yourself before then?" Grey asked curiously. The more he heard about Lily's previous situation, the more outlandish it seemed.

"I didn't really get the choice to. Someone would occasionally come in and dump a bucket of cold water on me..." Lily trailed off.

Grey looked at her in astonishment. What had this girl, who looked like she wouldn't hurt a fly, done to be treated in such a way?

"I apologize greatly. But I shall leave you to Zoe for now. Get cleaned up and get as many clothes as you'd like. As I told you yesterday, money is no problem for me."

Lily nodded as Zoe walked over and gently grabbed her hand. "Shall we get going then?" Zoe said with a warm smile.

Lily nodded as she was quickly led to the bathroom, a large in-floor tub with steam rising from the comfortable hot water. The bathroom was just as extravagant as the rest of the manor. A few more maids joined in and quickly took her measurements. Although Lily felt awkward getting so much attention at once and being so close to humans, the kindness she had been shown so far at the manor helped calm her constant nerves.

Then they moved on to cleaning after finishing the measurements. Stepping into the bath felt perfect as she melted into the water. She had almost forgotten this feeling of warmth and comfort while sitting in a hot tub. As they cleaned her off, her porcelain white skin had its blemishes and grime wiped away, and her hair regained a shine she had long lost.

"Is it okay if I sit in here for a while alone?" Lily asked.

"Of course, my lady. We'll be outside. Just call us when you want to come out," Zoe said kindly as they all left together.

Lily sat for a while, feeling so free. Meeting someone who granted her such luxuries and kindness. But how long would this last? What would happen if her identity as the imperial family's fairy got out? Would she still be shown such kindness?

"I'm ready to come out," Lily called out.

The maids quickly returned and helped her out of the tub, drying her hair and combing it. Wrapping her in a towel. "Just in time, my lady. The clothes have arrived," Zoe said and presented a selection of dresses beside her.

I apologize for that. Here's the edited version with corrected grammar and punctuation:

After trying on multiple dresses, Lily chose a black dress adorned with red gems.

"You look very pretty, my lady!" exclaimed Zoe.

"Thank you," blushed Lily. Looking at herself in the mirror, she looked like a totally different person than before. Just a bath and a pretty dress made her nearly unrecognizable, although she still looked very underfed in comparison to Zoe, who seemed around the same age.

As they walked back to Lily's room, she requested, "I want to be alone for a bit, please."

The maids bowed and took their leave. Lily kept staring at the ceiling in a daze, slowly falling asleep again.

...

"Hello there, Lord Grey," Zoe said as she walked into his office.

"Ah, hello, Zoe. How was everything?"

"Everything is fine. Lily went to her room, saying she'd like to be alone. She really is beautiful when she has the chance to be. She also seems to be having a good time."

"I'm glad to hear that. Make sure her stay here stays happy. She's been through too much for someone her age. But I assume you didn't come here just to tell me that," Grey said in a more serious voice. He could see in Zoe's eyes that she wanted to say more.

"Well, Lady Lily's body has marks of severe abuse. A range of scars and bruises cover her back, seemingly signs of a whip. Her ankles also have marks of chains, most likely shackles that were around her ankles for a very long time," Zoe said with a grim look on her face.

"Oh, God... What did such a kind girl do to deserve that? Alright, thank you for telling me about this. You can go now," Grey said, his hands clenched in anger.

But Zoe stood there for a bit with her hands clenched together. "There's... actually more, Lord Grey," she said nervously.

"I doubt it can get worse than what you've already told me happened to her. Let me hear it."

"While we were washing her, I saw a brand on her back. It showed the mark of the family that had enslaved her."

"What family was it?" Grey said, his voice full of disgust.

"It... was the mark of the Imperial Family."