Chapter 22:

As you neared the double doors, you heard a familiar buzzing noise and sighed heavily. Your head felt light and it seemed like the room was spinning. All you wanted to do was crawl in a dark hole, curl up in a ball and wither away. "Y/N, Mother wants to see you." you heard Daniela say. You didn't want to be mean but you really didn't want to be around anyone right now, especially Lady Dimitrescu. You no longer wanted to play a part of her little game and allow her to continue stringing you along.

"Look Daniela, I have to go back to Heisenberg's. I, uh, forgot my coat."

"And the rest of your clothes. Where did you get this fancy battle armor?" she asked, tracing one of her hands over the ghost on the bulletproof vest and admiring it.

"Well… it's a long story." you said, looking away.

"Okay, well you have to promise to tell me! I want battle armor too!"

"Yeah, sure. I'll just be right back," you said, turning to grab the door but Daniela stopped you.

"But don't you want to see Mother?"

"I do, I will. I just need to make sure that Lady Beneviento is okay and then go back to Heisenberg's."

"Aunt Donna already called Mother, she's a little shaken up about the manthings attack, but she'll be okay. She's on her way over here and I think Uncle Heisenberg is too, so don't worry about them."

"Oh, perfect." you said looking down. You'd have to come up with another excuse to leave.

"Aren't you going to ask what happened to the Castle?"

"Well…" you hadn't even considered what events had transpired here while you were away. Did Heisenberg send the lycans to storm the castle? You knew he and Alcina didn't get along well, but this… couldn't be his doing. It didn't make any sense, Heisenberg and Alcina may not get along with each other, but he wouldn't send them to storm the castle and hurt Alcina and the girls. At least you were sure he wouldn't. "Yeah, what the hell happened here?" you asked the red head, rubbing your temples.

"We were stormed, but this time it was the lycans and not the villagers. I was in the library when it happened, Mother came in to tell me that we were under attack and we both started killing the lycans together, it was the most fun I've had in forever!" Daniela said, her eyes glistening as she spoke. "And we haven't been hunting with Mother in ages, I hope Cassandra left one alvie for us to torture!"

"Daniela… that all sounds… a little fucked up. You guys were attacked by the lycans, it wasn't like a hunt."

"No, it was much more fun than that!" Daniela said, smiling. You weren't entirely sure but there seemed to be something… off about Daniela. It sheets she really can't grasp the meaning of danger at all.

"But, Cassandra got hurt. Aren't you worried for her?"

"Well of course I am! She's my sister, how could I not be?" Daniela said, eyes narrowing at you.

"I don't know, it's just that you kind of, ya know, sound like you're having maybe a little too much fun for someone who was attacked by a pack of lycans?"

Daniela started laughing at you. "You sound just like Bela! Don't worry, Y/N! Cassandra will be healed in no time and nothing too serious happened!"

"I mean, Cassandra almost died, so… I would count that as serious."

"Hey, I do count that as serious! I don't want to lose my sisters or Mother! Or even you! But Cassandra didn't die and I know she had fun, so what's the big deal? We're all safe!"

"Well yeah, but aren't you a little, like, worried? I mean did Heisenberg order the lycans to attack you, or…." You knew Alcina and Heisenberg never got along, but you didn't think Heisenberg would actually attack her and the girls…. No, that didn't make any sense.

"No, Uncle Heisenberg wouldn't do that. He and Mother don't get along, but he would never try to kill Mother or my sisters and I. She has an idea of what happened though, that's why she invited all of the Lords here."

"When was this? I was just with Heisenberg, she didn't call."

"She must've called while you were on your way back to the castle?" Daniela said, shrugging. You looked back down at your feet and thought. Was it really right to leave Alcina at a time like this? The castle had been attacked while you were away, it felt wrong. Part of you wanted to stay for her, but after everything that Heisenberg had revealed to you, you didn't want to spend another minute in the castle. "Ugh, my head hurts," you said, putting a hand up to your forehead.

"That's probably because you're drunk, I can smell the alcohol on you." Daniela said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Yeah, Heisenberg… told me some things that…." You didn't even know how to finish the sentence. It didn't feel right to talk about your own problems when the castle had been attacked, and with Cassandra injured. You didn't want to upset Daniela further.

"He didn't…." Daniela looked you up and down and sighed.

"He did. I know how I came to the Village now. I know everything." Daniela's eyes widened and she put a hand on your shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

"Not really, no," you said, shaking your head and rubbing your neck. "Look, um… I don't think I should stay here any longer. Heisenberg told me about your mother's plan to… ya know."

"Mother's plan to what?" Daniela asked, innocently. She was still trying to put a front on, like she didn't know Alcina was only dating you so that she could kill you. Just like how she had done before with the other maids, and it upset you, made you furious.

"Oh, come on, Daniela! I'm not an idiot! I know you're Mother's just using me and getting close to me so that she can kill me like every other maid!"

"Are you serious? You are an idiot if you really think Mother doesn't love you!"

"Daniela, just… stop lying to me! Heisenberg told me everything, I know you're all just putting a front on so that she can kill me and drain my blood for her Sanguis Virginis wine or whatever! It's just, I don't want a part of this! I'm so sick, and tired of living in this castle and always being terrified that today might be my last day alive! I know she's only kept me alive because Miranda told her too for her stupid experiment, and if it weren't for that I'm sure I'd already be dead by now! She doesn't care about me, no one does! And, maybe it's a little selfish of me to do this right now after everything that has happened, but… I have a life! And I want it to matter!" You were on the verge of tears. You were breathing heavily and there was a lump in the back of your throat. Everything that had ever happened, losing your memories, being used as an experiment like a lab rat, Alcina lying to you, all of the death you had witnessed, the friends you had made and lost to the woman you cared about so much….Everything felt so hard and difficult.

Daniela moved closer to you and put her arms around you pulling you in for a hug. "You matter to me. And to my sisters, and definitely to Mother, I promise you that. I've never seen Mother like this before, she's courted women in the past and has gotten really close to them, but I don't think Mother has ever really been this involved. She doesn't want to kill you, if she wanted to she already would've done that. I know Mother Miranda ordered Mother not to kill you, but that was only in the beginning. Since her experiment hasn't worked on you, Mother Miranda told her she could kill you a couple years ago but she hasn't." She held you tight as you looked at the ground. Your heart started racing with this new information and you felt hopeful again. Maybe Heisenberg was wrong, maybe Alcina really did care about you. Then again, Daniela could be lying to you….

"Look, Mother sent me down here to bring you to her. She wants to talk with you. I know you're having a hard time believing me and I know you don't trust her right now, but I think you should at least talk with her. Tell her all of this, she'll explain everything to you. If you still want to leave she'll let you, but… don't you want to talk with her one last time? Tell her everything you know now, how you feel and what Uncle Heisenberg told you? At least before you leave you can confront Mother and make your own judgment."

You sighed and looked at the ground. Would it be worth it to talk to Alcina and get her side of the story? What if Heisenberg was wrong and you left? Without ever knowing what Alcina's truth was?

You put your head on your hands and felt the panic inside of you growing. "Alright. Fine, I guess I could at least listen to what she has to say."

"Come on. Cassie and Bela want to see you too," Daniela said walking towards the stairs in the Main Hall. "Were you really going to leave without saying goodbye?" Your eyes widened and you looked away embarrassed and started panicking even more.

"I… I didn't know what to do. Heisenberg told me that your Mother only kept me alive because Miranda told her to, and apparently I came to the Village to spy on her, Miranda and the other Lords, and I guess I'm a soldier or something like that, and I… really don't know what to do."

"Sounds like you're trying to run away from yourself if anything." Daniela said. You looked at her shocked.

"Daniela, that's… that's really insightful!"

"Not really, that's like the plot of every story I've ever read! It happens all the time, some guy falls in love with a woman and then runs off to fight in a war, or sail the world and comes back years later after learning that he was running away from his feelings." You snorted and rolled your eyes. The red head would of course learn important life lessons from her beloved books.

"Just out of curiosity, how did those stories usually end?"

"Oh, it's always so depressing! The man ends up coming back from wherever he was to the woman and it turns out that she moved on and has a husband and sometimes a couple kids."

"Oh, well that's…."

"Another reason to not run away?"

"Somehow Daniela, I don't think your Mother would marry a man and have a family if I left and came back years later." She laughed and patted your head.

"Yeah, you're probably right." You know she was only trying to cheer you up and make light of the situation, but you weren't in a laughing mood. Your heart was racing as the two of you climbed the stairs and came closer to Alcina's room. You started walking slower, one part of you really didn't want to talk with Alcina and wanted to run away. Another part of you was screaming to find out the truth, to press Alcina for more information and know what was real and what wasn't.

Daniela opened the door and you both walked in. Cassandra's dress was on the floor and she was wearing loose garments. Her side had been wrapped up and there was gauze on her shoulder where a lycan had bit her. The fire was burning intensely to help her body heal presumably. The heat must've helped the girls' wounds heal. Alcina and Bela looked up from the bed when they heard the door open. Cassandra was asleep laying in Alcina's bed and Bela was on her side holding her little sister. Daniela went up to the bed and joined her sisters as Alcina stood up from the side and walked over to you. It didn't feel right to do this right now, she should be with her daughters. You looked at the ground and sighed feeling selfish and horrible, how could you do this to her right now with her child hurt and after the castle had been attacked?! But then again, how could she hurt you for three years?

"My darling…." Alcina said, resting a hand on your shoulder guard.

"How's Cassandra?" you asked, looking over to the brunette.

"Healing. My daughter appears to be making a full recovery, she should be fully healed come tomorrow," Alcina said.

"I'm glad to hear that," you said as you looked back at the ground.

"Girls, Y/N and I need to discuss a few things before the other Lords come. Bela, obviously your Aunt Donna should be here shortly followed by your idiot uncles. Can I count on you to entertain them until we are done talking?" Alcina asked her oldest child who perked up immediately.

"Of course Mother, you can count on me. I will keep Aunt Donna, Uncle Heisenberg and Uncle Sal stalled until you are ready to start your meeting. Daniela, you'll watch over Cassie?"

"Of course! I'll read her her favorite book, she'll like that."

"I'm sure she will, my sweetling. I am so proud of you all, my girls." Alcina said, looking adoringly at her daughters who both blushed at their Mother's praise. You felt like you didn't belong here.

"Go on Mother, we'll watch over Cass and take care of things while you and Y/N talk."

"Thank you, my sweet," Alcina said, turning back to you. "Come, Y/N. We must talk." You followed Alcina out of her chambers and went into her study. Your stomach ached and your palms got sweatier. You felt angry with both her and yourself at the same time, angry with her for lying to you and angry with yourself for making a bunch of assumptions that could end up being wrong and for pulling her away from her daughters.

If you were wrong about everything Heisenberg had told you…

Alcina sat at her desk and pulled out a cigarette, put it in her holder and offered you one. You hesitated but took one from her anyways. She lit it in her cigarette holder and passed you the matches. You puffed on it after lighting your own and coughed a few times. Alcina chuckled at you. "It takes some getting used to if you aren't used to it."

"I'll keep that in mind," you replied. You felt so tense and started shaking your leg as you sat in a chair across from your Countess.

"Judging by your new attire, I assume my brother has told you about your past?"

"Yes he has," you said nodding and crossed your arms over your chest as you continued shaking your leg. You didn't meet Alcina's piercing gaze.

"What did he tell you exactly?" Alcina asked. You closed your eyes and took a long drag from the cigarette.

"He told me that I was… like a soldier, or something. He said that I came to the Village to spy on Miranda, you and the other Lords. It was something about gathering some information, but… obviously I don't remember every part of it. He also told me that…." God, you wished you could be anyone else on the planet right now.

"Yes?" You put your head in your hands and ran them down your face before looking back up. "He told me that Miranda used me for an experiment. That she erased my memories and tried to replace them with her daughters. Is that true?" You finally looked up at Alcina. She looked almost as anxious as you but held herself together.

"Yes. I'm afraid it is."

"And when it didn't work, she handed me off to you. To work as a maid?"

"Yes."

"And that's how I came to the Castle?"

"Indeed. Do you remember your first week here?" she asked, looking into your e/c eyes.

"No. I just remember waking up in the maid's quarters and starting my training. I was told not to ask any questions, that… that maids weren't supposed to ask questions. I didn't understand why, I remember being angry for the first few weeks at why no one could tell me where I came from. And then… one of the maids were killed. I had to clean up the mess. After that, I decided to let it go, that it didn't matter. Everyone told me in the beginning that I wouldn't last more than a month, I mean I was a really clumsy maid." At that, Alcina chuckled a bit and so did you.

"That is true. You were a dreadful maid, I'm afraid," Alcina said, taking another drag from her cigarette.

"I know, I always seemed to trip over my own feet and I dropped a lot of plates."

"That is precisely the reason I kept you from the kitchen. You dropped so many of my plates and cups," she said.

"Yeah, well… sorry about that," you said, rubbing the back of your neck.

"Hardly worth concerning yourself over. You performed much better in the gardens, cleaning the chimneys and in the basement moving the wine casks."

"Yeah," you said, chuckling. "I guess I am better suited at grunt work."

"You were not a terrible cleaner though. And I must admit, I may have indulged myself while watching you work and moving the furniture around."

"Well, the other maids could never lift the furniture and clean the other side so they always had me do it."

"I may have ordered them to ask you for your help in doing so." Alcina said, smiling at you.

"So that you could watch me?"

"I must admit, my girl, your strength does impress me," Alcina said, glancing at your biceps.

"I suppose I should be honest too, I was trying to impress you."

"Well then, I'll admit that it worked." You both smiled at each other and looked away when reality sunk in.

"So… what happens now?" you asked Alcina, taking another drag of your cigarette and shaking your leg again.

"I suppose I should tell you the truth. I… apologize for keeping it from you for so long. I should have told you long before we began courting." Alcina shifted in her chair uncomfortably and took a long drag from her cigarette finishing it. "As you are already aware, you came to the Village on an assignment from the BSSA. You were tasked with gathering information about Mother Miranda, specifically what her involvement with the BSAA's rival, Umbrella Corporation entails. Mother Miranda's experiments have always been to serve one purpose, to resurrect her now deceased daughter. It has been over a hundred years since her daughter died, and she has performed hundreds of experiments on many test subjects including myself, my daughters, the other Lords and you. You were different though. Mother Miranda was more than aware of her many failures with the cadou experiments and she decided to take another route with you. Instead of using the cadou on you, she decided to erase your memories and restore them with her daughters. Obviously, it did not work out. You have regained some of your old memories, but you are not able to regain any of her daughter's memories."

Alcina gave you a minute to take everything in. The ash on your cigarette had fallen to the floor and you were looking down at your lap thinking about everything.

"There is more to her experiments though. Mother Miranda injected part of her daughter's DNA into you so that your brain might take on her daughter's persona and restore her daughter's memories instead of your own. In order to do so… she had to…." Alcina hesitated in her chair and you looked into her pale face.

"She had to do what? What did she do to me?" It was a question that had lingered on your mind for years now. Why you never needed to eat or drink water, why you never needed to use the restroom. You knew you weren't a normal human.

"In order for the experiment to work, she needed you to be dead temporarily. You were stabilized in a deceased state, so that you could be restored back to full health; however, in doing so it has… made altercations on your body."

"That… explains so much."

"Do you have any questions for me?" You snorted at Alcina. You had thousands of questions for her, but time was ticking. Soon the Lords would all gather in the Castle and wait for her, and Mother Miranda would probably be aware of all of the lords gathering here at her castle.

"I mean yeah, I have plenty. But, what about the Lords and the meeting? And Cassandra?"

"Cassandra will be fine, I have healed her wounds and Daniela is with her. As for the meeting, I will hold off on that for now, if only for a short while. There is much to discuss with them, however my primary concern right now is you."

You continue to stare into your lap and shake your leg. "Well… I guess my first question is, am I like… dead?"

Alcina laughed a bit and quickly regained her composure. "No, you are very much alive. You were dead for only a day, in a coma-like state for a short while while Mother Miranda conducted her experiment on you. Once you had regained consciousness, she looked after you for a short while, but you were incoherent. Once she realized her experiment had failed again, she passed you on to me to be a maid here in the Castle. You were still a bit incoherent for the first few days, but you had begun to regain your consciousness slightly. I looked after you for a little while and made my own theories and notes. I concluded that while the experiment had failed, it altered your body into a stronger and improved version from a normal human. You have unusual physical strength and stamina such as my daughters and I have, however, you continue to age and grow like a normal human. Thus, you are not immortal as myself or the other lords are, although you do not need the same needs that a normal human would."

You nodded your head at her words and sighed, leaning back in the chair and crossed your arms. "Well… I really don't know what to say to that."

"I understand completely, my girl," Alcina said, leaning closer to you.

"Do you? I mean, do you really understand?" you asked looking up at her. Was she just trying to make you feel better, or did she really understand what it was like to have your entire life uprooted from under you and have everything you had ever loved taken away from you?

"Yes, I do. I felt the same as you do now when Mother Miranda made me immortal. My blood disease no longer became a concern so long as I maintained my form with blood and flesh, but… I felt as though she had taken that choice away from me. Mother Miranda gifted me Castle Dimitrescu, my daughters a place by her side, offered me many maids for their services and for their blood, even allowed me to continue my family's tradition of wine making; however, she took away the choice for me to say no. I have pondered over the thought many times and I have wondered what my life would be like if I had the choice to say no to immortality. But, if I had said no, I would still have suffered from my blood disease, and I wouldn't have my daughters. I cannot imagine a life without them, and now that you're here… I can't imagine my life without you by my side, and I am glad that you are a part of it."

You closed your eyes and sighed. You were glad that she was telling you the truth, but still weren't sure about her feelings for you. "That's… that's another thing I wanted to talk about. Heisenberg told me that you were stringing me along, tricking me into liking you so that you could use me for your blood-wine. I know that's happened before with the other maids. He said our relationship is like a show you put on for your daughters." At that, Alcina growled and became tense. She tried to contain her anger not wanting to upset you, but failed at it.

"That stupid, wretched dog!" she growled under her breath. "I admit that in the past I have used maidens for the Sanguis Virginis wine, the blood-wine and others for their blood and flesh to maintain my form; however, I have never used any of my past lovers for that reason! And I certainly did not court any woman ever to simply 'put on a show' for my daughters! Furthermore, any woman I ever killed was either for my own sustenance or if they had attempted to retaliate against me and attack my daughters and I. I am not a monster, Y/N! I do not kill simply because I can, I only kill a person when they plan to attack my daughters and I. And, I have given my daughters explicit instructions to not hunt or kill anyone unless they were attacked!" Lady Dimitrescu said sternly.

She had grown furious with you, probably more so with Heisenberg. But, you were determined. You weren't going to let her temper scare you, you wanted to know the truth. Hell, you deserved to know the truth! She was gentle and kind with her daughters and had been with you once you had begun to court you. She was caring, and soft, careful and considerate with your feelings ever since you began to date her and she was an angel with her daughters. But, Heisenberg and the other maids made her out to be some sort of terrifying demon.

"I still don't understand why the maids would ever want to work here."

"Half of them were buried up to their necks in debt and were able to leave the Castle andreturn to their families once their debts had been paid off with the money that I paid them with in exchange for their services! I allow each and every maid in the castle to return to their families at their will, no one is a prisoner here in this castle. Did you really think that I would kill a maid once she outlived her usefulness to me? I am aware of the rumors that have spread throughout the maid's chambers, however the majority of them are not true! My daughters and I do not kill maids whenever they make a mistake or everyday as the rumors would suggest about us! My daughters might tease them or chase them around the castle, but I do not allow them to kill maids whenever they please! Otherwise, Cassandra herself would kill all of them within a day, and I would have no one to tend to our everyday needs and clean the castle. While it is true, I drink blood and use the maids for sustenance, but we are not blood-sucking demons. And after everything we have been through, and how I have treated you since we began courting, I would have hoped that I would have proven those rumors to be false to you." She finished with a long sigh and rested back in her chair. You continued to stare at your lap thinking.

"There's one more question I have to ask you." Alcina lit another cigarette and adjusted herself in her seat again. "Heisenberg told me that… that you… you don't, well. I don't know how to ask it without… without upsetting you," you said. You didn't want to hurt her, after she had explained everything to you. You felt like the biggest idiot in the world for believing all of those rumors, and you'd be lucky if Alcina even considered to continue your courtship with each other.

"Do not worry about my feelings, darling. I am glad that we are finally talking about this. We should have done so when we began dating." Alcina reached for one of your hands and you held it. It was so small in her own hand.

"Yeah, well… it's just that Heisenberg told me that you don't care about me. He said that you were only dating me to use me, or whatever. He said that you were stringing me along and that your other relationships had ended that way…. I don't want that to be the case with us and I need to know the truth."

Alcina stared at your intertwined hands for a few moments. Her face became flushed and her eyes were narrowed with fury and rage. You felt her hold your hand tight and looked back down feeling your heart race inside of your chest. You were wrong. You were so, so wrong. She wasn't a monster, she wasn't terrifying. Maybe to intruders and to those that tried to hurt her or her daughters, but that was for good reason. The rumors about her torturing people in the basements were only true about anyone that had attacked her, and that was fair. She was just a woman living in a castle that ran her family's wine making business. And she only drank blood and feasted on maids for sustenance, that was all. She didn't even seem to enjoy doing it, it seemed more like she did it just because she had to, not because she wanted to.

"I'm sorry, Alcina." you said quickly before she could speak. A million thoughts were rushing through your mind all at once and all you could think about was telling her how sorry you were. "I'm sorry about everything, I should've just talked with you instead of Heisenberg."

Alcina shifted back in her chair again and put out her cigarette. "I suppose I should apologize to you as well. I should never have kept the truth from you, I hate seeing all of the pain that it has caused you. You deserved to know the truth when you began working for me and though Mother Miranda had ordered me to never tell you anything from your past, I should not have kept that from you. And for that, my darling, I am truly sorry." You stopped shaking your leg and relaxed a bit.

"Do you really care about me?" You were still feeling terribly anxious though and needed to hear from Alcina herself that she did. Lady Dimitrescu stood up and walked over to your side of the desk, kneeling down and taking your face in her hands.

"I promise you, my dear Y/N, I truly do care for you. And I will not allow Mother Miranda to continue forcing me to keep anything else from you. From now on I will tell you everything that I know. That is a promise I will keep to you from now and forever." Alcina finished saying and kissed your forehead. "But now, my girl, I must ask you something."

"Anything?" you said, putting your hands over hers and holding them.

"How do you feel about me? I want to ensure that our feelings are the same." You looked down and felt so ashamed with yourself.

"Truthfully… I think I'm honestly… falling in love with you." Alcina smiled and leaned in to kiss you. You moved closer to her and let her pull you out of the chair and into her lap, wrapping your arms around her and caressed her black curls in your hands. "Are you mad with me?" you asked after a few moments. "It's okay if you are, I would totally deserve that."

Alcina ran her hand down your cheek and hugged you close to her chest, her breasts crushing you which never bothered you. "Not at all with you. Although I am absolutely furious with my damned brother for ever suggesting to you that I do not care about you. How I would love to slice off his ugly head from his dirt-covered body and watch him rot." You chuckled and kissed her neck, calming her down a bit.

"Well, maybe after the meeting you can rough him up a bit."

"Oh darling, I intend to. Although I must contain myself during the meeting."

"If you want, I'll come with you. I can be by your side if that would help."

"I was hoping you would attend the meeting anyways. It is likely that Mother Miranda will be aware of this gathering and we must make it short so as not to arise any suspicions from her, though I fear she already does. I am sure that it was Mother Miranda who ordered the lycans to attack the castle. She has tested me before many times, but has never put my daughters in danger and now that she has, and with the manthing attacking Bela and the damn dog attacking my Cassandra, she has shown no concern for my family. I cannot allow this to happen again, ever. If Mother Miranda does not care about the well-being of my daughters, then I must end her. She has never shown any concern or care for anyone other than herself and her daughter. I will not let her continue to put my daughters in danger." She held you tightly to her chest and you struggled breathing a bit as you listened to her. She loosened her grip and looked down to you once she realized you couldn't breathe. You kept your arms around her neck and looked into her golden orbs.

"Alcina, I will stand by your side no matter what. I promise, I won't leave you." She smiled at that and through the worry and concern about how this plan of hers was going to unfold, for a minute the both of you felt a deep love for each other.

"I am so glad to hear that, draga mea," she said, kissing you again. "But please Y/N, next time do not listen to my idiot brother. Please come to me if you are ever worried about how I may be feeling about you and about our relationship."

You took her hands and kissed them both. "I promise, I will. I'm just glad that I know the truth now."

"As am I."

"Are you sure you're not mad at me?"

"Not even a little, darling."

"Well then, I guess we should go and meet the other Lords."

"Yes. I can already smell the dirt and sweat from that disgusting, repulsive, so-called brother of mine." You chuckled at her and watched as she stood back up, following her out of the room and towards the Main Hall.

You were glad that you talked about everything with Alcina and that you knew the truth now. It made you feel so much better and your anxiety had finally settled. You took off your helmet after realizing that you were still wearing it and carried it on your side. Your head was a little sweaty and your forehead itched a bit from the helmet and you scratched it. As you followed Alcina down the staircase, you wondered if you should tell her about your memory attacks and about the chest pain you had felt, but then remembered how serious this current situation was. Alcina and the Lords were planning to revolt against Miranda and instead of supporting her after Cassandra was hurt and the castle had been attacked, you wanted to turn and leave her. How could you ever think to do that? You felt so, incredibly stupid that you had ever believed Heisenberg and everything he told you. Of course he wasn't living at the castle and didn't know how deep your relationship with Alcina was, hadn't seen the two of you grow close, but he was only trying to look after you. You were a maid after all and you supposed that since Heisenberg didn't see all of the things that you, Alcina and the girls had been through and how you had all gotten close firsthand, you supposed that to anyone else it would look like Alcina was leading you on, but you knew that wasn't true. And you felt determined to stay by your Countess's side and do whatever it would take to prove to Alcina and the others how much you loved her. And you weren't going to bother her with any of your own problems, you would handle them yourself. Alcina needed to be focused on the safety of her daughters and killing Miranda, she couldn't worry about you too. You were just grateful that she decided to give you another chance and didn't end your relationship.