Beloved White Rose Princess

Yuzumi

Hello once again. Here is chap 2, which was a little just a little bit hard to write. Let's just said that some strong forces were against me when I tried to work... And I was getting pretty tired at a point, but I wont give up so easily XD At least no yet.

This chap may contain a lot of OCC, so I'm already apologizing for those who will say that I didn't portrait them well, but hey I'm human... I can make mistakes. But I hope that you all like it.

Thank Saemi67 for you review, I'm glad that you liked the first chap. And also all of reader, I'm glad that you all gave a chance to this story.

Disclaimers: I don't own Rule of Rose. (I'm not gonna say once again to whom it belongs...)

Well have fun.

January 1921

The Red Rose Princess' Court

Jennifer and I looked at Rose Garden Orphanage with interest. It was a very well kept mansion, right at the top of a hill. Surrounding it was a thick forest, too thick for any of us to wonder at night. How odd. The double gate was opened. Well, we didn't have much time to wonder about that, so we entered the orphanage's ground.

"Jennifer!" Shouted a very familiar blond girl. "You finally came." Hugging the brunette closer to her, she buried her face in her neck.

"Whoa. Hello Wendy." Laughed Jennifer. "I'm sorry but it took us a while to get here."

"Us?" Wendy asked. Looking at me over her shoulder, she said in a very warm way. "Oh! Hello Joshua. I didn't see you there."

"No problem Wendy. I totally understand." Actually I understood much more than that. It was pretty much irritating the way she would behave around the brunette so warm and gentle. But that was all fakeness. In Wendy's mind and heart there was only enough space for Jennifer and Jennifer alone. She despised every single thing that could possibly have anything to do with the other girl.

Wendy was pretty selfish. That was my biggest problem.

Unfortunately there were other things that we shared in common. Just like me, the blond girl was regularly sick, having to spend days in the lonely bed in the sickroom. And when she wasn't sick, it was no surprise to find her wondering somewhere else with Jennifer. But what definitely connected us was the girl, unaware of our little and constant fights for her attention. I, being the only one with a strong relationship with Jennifer, was the one despised from the deeps of her heart from the very begging.

"You look well." This time her voice didn't sound so sweet to my ears.

"Actually I had a pretty good night of sleep." My reply made her eyes darkened with hatred. Her next reaction was to hug even tighter the poor girl.

"That is soooo nice to hear."

"You two better stop chatting. Mr. Hoffman will scold us for being late." Warned Jennifer as she got away. Hastily we entered the hall and corridor which led to the classroom.

It was a rather large place. But the number of chair and desks were too much to make our way from one side to the other easy. On the back wall, near the door, there was a huge heater. It was so noisy that Mr. Hoffman was quiet reluctant to turn it on even in winter. We couldn't hear him at all in those times. The orphan's, eleven in total, who lived in Rose Garden Orphanage, sat in each respective chair. It was a small group but very, very different. A single look and you could notice that easily.

Margaret, or Meg, was the cleverest of all the children and her seat was in the front row. However she had a very inflexible personality, as if she was perfect and the rest of us weren't. I didn't have any mean feeling towards her, but sometimes she was a little bit too high about herself. She would even mistreat Jennifer, though she didn't let the others know about it. "Oh, Diana! Look at what I've discovered." Her eyes shining with enthusiasm behind the thick glass.

Turning her head, the red-haired girl gave little interest in what was show to her. "That is nice Meg." Diana said shortly. Being one of the eldest children here, she had a mature air around her that none of us had. Taking Clara aside, of course. Somehow she ruled all the others. Her strong-wiliness was one of the many characteristic which drew people to do as she told. And her face, sweet and angelic was her best weapon. I would become scared whenever she gave off one of her pretty smiles. "Eleanor, could you please shut that bird of yours mouth. It's irritating." She hissed.

On the other side of the classroom, Eleanor played with her beautiful red bird. Among us she was the quietest. Her every word always seemed to be previously calculated. As if there shouldn't be wasted a single drop of saliva. "Sure, Diana." She said in an expressionless way, covering her bird's cage with a red cloth. Maybe it was her dark eyes, but she gave me the feeling of emptiness. Like her heart was cold as ice.

Those three somewhat controlled the small group of children. Even the boys had not the slightest chance against the so called ladies from this orphanage.

But that didn't mean that they were saint. On the contrary. Xavier and Nicholas would always play pranks on everyone when they bored. Just like the one they had schemed right now. A wet cloth covered in chalk dust was placed on the sit by my side. The sit that belonged to a certain girl that would probably be late today.

"Good Morning children." Said Mr. Hoffman as he entered the classroom. "Now everyone place take you seat."

With the corner of my eyes I watched Jennifer and Wendy. Since the desk were paired in two, the blond girl would always make sure that Jennifer sat by her side. Which was the last row, far away from me. "Good Morning Mr. Hoffman." We all said in unison.

Just as we were about to begin the first lesson of the day, two children entered. Thomas and Amanda. "Sorry our lateness..." The chubby girl asked for forgiveness.

"Amanda and Thomas, please set down now, can you? We are about to begin." Nodding both quietly went to theirs destined places. Amanda by my side and Thomas right behind me.

The unfortunate girl didn't notice the dirty cloth on her chair, so once the wetness touched her she gave a loud yelp. Immediately everyone started to giggle, aside from Jennifer, Wendy and me. Amanda's cheeks flared bright red as pushed the wet rag away from her chair in disgust and sent dead glares at the boys. "You two!" She pointed a finger at Xavier and Nicholas.

"What? We didn't do such a thing. We are totally innocent." Both said at the same time, faking innocent eyes. "Amanda probably forgot to take off that rag went she got out from the sewing-room."

"No I didn't!"

"Well if it wasn't you and it wasn't us, who could it be?" Xavier's eyes ran through the classroom, stopping right on Jennifer's eyes. "Maybe Jennifer did it…"

I saw Jennifer's face turn white when Amanda's eyes descended on her. The brunette tried her best to prove her innocence but the others didn't lend her any help. Just the opposite, Diana, Meg and Eleanor would only give more and more false clues to the chubby. And if it wasn't for Mr. Hoffman's sudden intrusion, I was sure that something would happen to right there. Something neither I nor Jennifer would like.

"Now now children, quiet down." Though I was sure that Amanda didn't want to follow the old man's command, she did as told, sitting down right next to me. "Let me see, last week we talked about Voltaire, right?"

I rarely paid attention to what was explained in the blackboard, as his words went on and on. This as a good thing about my healthy problem. I could just spend my entire day reading the text books until I had almost the whole subject impressed in my mind. Some times I would even explain things to Jennifer when we were alone at night.

But here in this cold room, I stood quiet, neither raising a hand nor speaking a word, just pretending to listen to what was told to me. And from time to time I would secretly look back to watch Jennifer writing things in her notebook while Wendy whispered quietly in her ear.

Time could pass faster when I didn't pay attention to class. At least today. As I organized my books and pencils, Amanda came closer to me, smiling sweetly. "Oh Joshua! Hello."

"Hello Amanda." I bid her a late hello.

It was no secret the feeling she harbored for me. Not from me or to anyone else. On special occasions I would get small decorations she'd made in the sewing-room, like hearts with arrows or others stuffs. They were nice, but that always cost me a long scold from the boys. I wasn't supposed to accept something that wasn't manly or even fall in love. And I would always remember them that we were only children yet to grown fully.

But I have to agree that her last gift, two small stuffed dolls scared me to death. One looking just like her and the other like me. Both wearing what should be hers and mine clothes in rag version, and when a discovered that the hair on top of their tiny heads was actual hair. My hair to be precise. I almost fainted. I didn't have any clues of how or where she got them and neither did I want to know. From that day forward I stopped being alone in the same room as her.

"You know… I'm just about to finish a new doll that I'm doing just for you. Why don't you come with me so that I can show you?" Her eyes sparkled with anxiety, while I gulped, trying to figure a way to avoid that without being rude.

"I'm not sure. We have gotten to help the other, don't we?" I began. "I mean, today is the cleaning day after all."

I'm not sure if she truly understood the subtle fear behind my words, but apparently no. With a pout she said that tomorrow I would definitely have to see whatever she was preparing in her domain. For today I was safe, that I could make sure. Waving goodbyes she went away, running to the sewing-room like her life depended on it.

"Hello boys and girls. How are we today?" Mr. Hoffman's voice echoed from the speaker boxes hanging around the mansion. "Wastepaper should go in the rubbish, and washing should go into the Filth Room. It's time to spring clean our home!" There was always a strange happy song in the back, which played and played many times. So much energy in a strange song to drive us crazy, it was my guess. "Everyone, bring your brushes and dustpans, and gather around. Do I make myself clear, children?"

Sighing, I went to where Jennifer and Wendy were. "Jennifer will you need some help?" I asked with my things were arms.

Shaking her head, the brunette replied. "Of course not, Joshua. Cleaning some dirty clothes isn't much of a work. You can go back home if you want."

Wendy's eyes locked on my, hopefully waiting for a reply that would never come. "No, I can wait for you to finish." I smiled while the blond girl eyed me with even more hatred.

Just as we were about to leave the classroom, she started to couth louder and louder, her pale hand right above her heart. "Wendy! Are you alright?" Jennifer held her closer, concern written all over her young face.

"I'm a little dizzy and my throat hurts."

"Okay." Without much effort, she put the other girl on her back and turned to me. "Joshua, please take my things to the wash-house. I'll take Wendy to Clare." I nodded as she walked away, trying to keep her balance.

Making a little detour I easily did what was asked, placing her things on a dried shelf, far way from all the chemical products hanging around the tiny room. Aside from the strong smell of soup, the dirty clothes ruled the atmosphere. I never understood what made Jennifer work here. We didn't have to, it wasn't an obligation. But she always said that it was the least she could do to repay everything they've done so far for her.

Though I could stay a while there, the smell was even stronger today, especially since the door and window where closed. So I would wait for Jennifer to open them up for me.

Stepping into the corridor I decided that I would explore a little bit the mansion, after all it would probably take a while for her to come back. Wendy would demand her whole attention now.

Since the kitchen was near, I slightly opened the door so that I could see Martha, Rose Garden Orphanage's queen of the kitchen domain. Diana, Meg and Eleanor would call her the Queen of Cleaning whenever she turned her back to them.

She was a very old lady, with a creepy face. If I believed that Mr. Hoffman didn't like us, than Martha despised us more than anything. Every time Jennifer and I did something wrong she would severely scold us, even beating us in special occasions. But that was what she usually did to all in the orphanage. It was just that we seemed weaker then the rest. And complain wasn't an option. The leftover would be our dinner when there would be a huge waste. So we just learned to never cross her path.

While she cursed, going from the oven to the many shelves, I could clearly smell the delicious food we would have at lunch. She may hate us, but her food was indeed very good.

Silently closing the door, I went to the cafeteria. Olivia, the youngest of us, was putting the knives and forks on the tables. She was small and somewhat looked fragile. The table was taller than her, so she always had to use a chair as a stair to finish her work. Unfortunately one knife escaped her hand and fell on the floor.

Covering my ears, I waited for the inevitable. Olivia always cried loudly over the smallest problem. Only to get the adults' attention. Not wanting to be found, I went away before Mrs. Martha came to see what was going on.

The next place on my little adventure was the Headmaster's room. The place where Mr. Hoffman resided. Though the room was where that annoying song was being played, there was possibly no way I would step inside if he was there. Especially alone.

To my luck he was nowhere in sight. So being very careful, I entered the small room. Not giving much thought to the books neatly organized on the bookshelves, I went further in my quest. There was a lonely fish living in the dirty aquarium. And I wondered when was the last time it had seen clean, no greenish water. "Hello there." I waved to the apathetic pet.

Since I didn't have anymore reason keeping me there, I went to the next room, which was rarely used. We never received any guests at all. None in a long time. Probably it was because the orphanage was in such a secluded place that no one knew it existed.

Hanged above the fireplace was Mr. Hoffman's portrait from the time he was younger. He would become very proud every time he showed it to us. And we loved the warmth from the fireplace. But what called my attention was the simple, filled with bright red roses, vase that Wendy would fill every morning.

It reminded me of the rose garden near home. So seclude and wild that I believed it was a path that lead to a fairytale land. Usually Jennifer and I played there alone when I was well enough to leave my bed.

Leaving that room, I headed to the hallway only to find Xavier and Nicholas broom fighting. "Hey Joshua, care to joy us?" Asked the chubby boy.

"Sorry, I can't. I was looking for Jennifer right now." I lied. Just as I was about to make my way to the stairs, Nicholas stopped me with his broom.

"Joshua, Joshua, Joshua…" He sounded disapproving. "Stop following that silly girl! We boys should work together to overcome those girls."

"Maybe, but still I have to go." He didn't like my answer as he glared at me. "I'll talk to you later." Before something else happened, I rushed to the stairs.

Xavier and Nicholas were the little mischievous brats in this girl-controlled orphanage. Though they usually did as Diana and the rest told, it was easy to see that it wasn't a calm relationship. While the girls had their own club, which I didn't care to know deeply, the boys had sort of a chevalier one. A place where we could sword fight and treasure hunt. It was an all boys thing, but my poor heath didn't allow me to joy them on all adventures.

The first floor was there my next point was. The dormitory.

Here in the orphanage both, boys and girls, slept together in that big room. And that was where Diana would normally clean. However she wasn't there at the moment. Once I was inside, I saw a strange drawing on the tables, done in late hours by them. There were bunnies and whales and fishes.

"Jo-shu-a!" A very familiar voice sang in my ear.

"What is it Diana?" I asked the red-haired girl as I turned to look at her.

"You are looking for Jennifer, aren't you?" I nodded. An evil grin appeared on her freckled face. "I just saw her passing by. Maybe she was looking for you."

Though I knew there was no way I could escape, I didn't answer her. I must have angered her as she soon frowned. "What a worthless thing you are. You are so useless, helpless and worthless that you can't even help us at all. Useless Joshua!" Pushing me to the side, she grabbed the forgotten broom lying on the floor and went away with further words.

Thankfully our encounter didn't last much more than some mere seconds. If there was one person I knew better not to get on the wrong side was Diana. Not wanting to be any longer there, since she could return and make my life a living hell, I went to the next place.

For a while I stared at the sign clearly written Sewing-room. This was the only place where Amanda would always be, beside the classroom or the cafeteria. Her world seemed to turn around sewing and making doll with her rag. Very, but very carefully I opened the door, just enough to let the see clearly without being found out. For I knew that if that happened she would drag me inside and never let me out once again.

To my surprise and horror, the chubby blond wasn't sewing. She was dancing with something that looked like me in real size. And was it wearing a tuxedo? Wait she was dressed in a weeding dress. I shivered to the simple though that I was the one being held in her arms. That was too much for a young boy like me to watch, so a closed the door and went to the library without a second thought.

Almost every wall was covered with books, some fairytale other scientific, and two girl were there chit-chatting. Meg would sometimes teach Susan or Olivia how to read, and I could catch from time to time a story about some unfortunate girl walking in a clover field. But I never paid fully attention. I guessed that Meg wasn't so bad, she just happened to love someone that would never return the same feelings. So poor Meg. I wondered why she loved Diana in the first place.

Next was the play area, where Thomas played with the toys that were to childish for the rest of us to play with. The others did call him a mischievous boy, but beside his strange nature and obsession with trains, I found that he was a rather normal person. At least as normal as any of us could get. And I never told anyone that he was actually behind the drawings on the floor. There was no need for that. I would leave him alone for now, I guess.

The balcony, just beside the play area, was where Eleanor would keep her red bird. For many hours she would just sit there and watch the poor bird, maybe thinking if it would survive it let free or if she could have wings just like it, so she could fly away from here. But all of the children from the orphanage where afraid to leave this ground or so Clara told me one day. The outside world was a terrible place for an orphan.

Passing right through the sickroom, I didn't have to enter it just to know that Wendy rested there. That place was more her room than the dormitory ever was. So I went to where Clara was.

And I found her cleaning and changing the bed sheets. "Hello Clara." I say warmly as I entered the white-colored room.

"Oh, hello Joshua." Her reply carried with it such tiredness that I was sure I would be able to see dark circles under her eyes. She, being the eldest, had to take care us, nursing and cleaning scratches and headache with the medicines displayed on the shelves. "Having a look around a guess."

"Yes, Jennifer said that she didn't need my help and since there was nothing else to do…" She pulled the only chair in the room for me to sit down. "Oh, by the way, is Jennifer still there?" I pointed to the other door that leads to the sickroom.

She shook her head. "No, I'm afraid your sister had returned to the washroom some minutes ago."

"So I can assume that Wendy is now asleep."

"Yes, she is."

"Mind if I drink a little cup of water, I'm thirsty."

"No go ahead." Giving me the glass filled with clean water that I drank in one long gulp. "Go slow, Joshua. We only have one bed left now."

Laughing, I gave it back to her. "There is no need to worry today Clara. I'm feeling just great."

"It's good to hear, especially from someone that used to come here almost every week." I was sure that she had a lot of work to do, but I wanted to ask her something.

"Hey Clara, you are soon turning 16 aren't you?" I saw her expression changing from that warm and kind smile to a sad one. "What is wrong? You don't want to be 16?"

"No it's not like that… It's just that I might have to go way… I'm too old to live here in the orphanage."

I gasped in surprise. "You can't leave. I'm sure that Mr. Hoffman would have a place for you here. You are the only one that knows who to take care of our wounds."

For a short moment, I saw her hands grip tightly the bed's sheets. Her whole body becoming tense. Maybe I had said something wrong to her. "Sorry if I said something that you didn't like."

Clara turned to me and smiled. "No. You didn't do anything. Thank you for your concern. I've already talked to Mr. Hoffman and he said that if I wanted I was welcomed to stay here for as long as I wanted."

With a large smile, I hugged her close to me. "See so there is no problem at all. I'll always need you." Looking up, I asked. "What would you like to have as a birthday gift? Mind that I'm not good with crafting or sewing."

For a while she made a thoughtful expression, with those 'hum' sounds, until she exclaimed. "Very well then, I would like to have a bouquet of red roses as a birthday gift."

"Then you shall have it!" Since I didn't want to worry Jennifer any longer, I gave a kiss on Clare's cheek and ran to the washing room.

When I got there, I found the brunette already working. I was glad that she had opened the windows and door, diluting the scent of soup. "You took a while to come back, but thank you for putting my things over there." She smiled, pointing her head towards the lonely shelve near the door.

"You welcome. I went for a walk." I said.

As I sat of the door's steps, Jennifer washed the big pile of dirty clothes. "And did you see anything out of ordinary?"

"No. Maybe… Did you notice how tired Clara seemed today? As if she is in some kind of distress." I looked at her, but she shook her head.

"Sorry, I was so worried about Wendy that I hardly paid attention to anything else." Apologized the girl, whose clothes now were completely wet. "I'm sure she is just tired, that is all."

I wasn't so sure about that. I was going to make sure that she received the best bouquet I could make. Clara deserved that. She deserved to be happy.

The rest of the afternoon passed fast after lunch, which was delicious. And when it was about time for us to go back home, Jennifer went to have one last look on Wendy's condition before we exited the main gate.

Looking back we gave one last glare at Rose Garden Orphanage, the big mansion on top of a hill. "Now let's head home, shall we?" She asked, holding my hand.

"Yes, let's go home."

To be continued...

Next...

March 1921

Heaven's gift

Chap 2 complete!!! Yay. Up to the next one!!! See ya all.

Yuzu.