dinner with the dragneels

Ⅱ

lucy rolled out of bed and smoothed her velveteen nightgown down. if she was going to be stuck in a house with a bunch of rich people again, she decided she would do it with her chin up. a maid had set up a bath for her already, and she sank into the smooth liquid, sighing. 

she blinked. "stars. i'm sharing a house with a group of strangers." she grumbled, and then paused. "well, it's not like i have anywhere else to go, do i?"

one of the maids stepped in. "princess, if i may-"

"i'm not a-"

"the dragneels are kind to me," the girl turned her palms up. "i'm sure they will be kind to you too. you do not have to accept their help, of course."

"i'm out of options," lucy leaned back. "maybe they could even keep me away from him."

the girl tilted her head to the side. "who?"

lucy shook her head. "oh, never mind. i'd feel awful if i dumped all of my problems onto you. could you fetch me a towel, please?"

the girl bowed her head. "of course, princess. please remember that i am to attend to your needs for the length of your stay, so please feel free to confide in me. i'm very good at keeping secrets."

lucy smiled a little smile. "thank you." maybe she wasn't so alone in this house after all.

she slipped into a cream-colored halter top and a pair of ripped denim shorts. she tugged on a pair of boots with a shorter heel than she was used to, and tied her hair into a ponytail at her side. "alright, then. is there somewhere i'm supposed to be?"

the maid nodded. "breakfast is in a few minutes. would you like me to escort you there?"

"i would love that, thank you," lucy grinned. "hey, i never got your name."

the maid widened her eyes. "oh, i don't have a name. but i was one of the few children to be born in late august, so they call me virgo after my star sign."

"that's a lovely name, virgo," lucy brushed her hair over her shoulder. "i'm lucy. i hope we can be friends."

"friends..." virgo echoed. "yes. i'd like that."

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

lucy slid into the seat next to wendy. virgo had left her at the door, claiming she had other things to do, and lucy had waved her off and wished her luck. wendy grinned. "lucy! hi! did you sleep well?"

lucy nodded with a smile. "did you?"

"oh, there were a few... hiccups," wendy's vision unfocused, but she shook her head and smiled uneasily. "but that's in the past now."

"hiccups?" lucy repeated. "are you okay?"

"mhm," wendy tugged at her neck collar. "fine."

"you're an awful liar, you know," lucy said, growing increasingly concerned. "are you sure you're okay?"

"yeah, it's just... my biological dad visited me last night," wendy bit her lip. "he's never the nicest to me." wendy tugged the collar down and bandages were wrapped around her throat. "it was bruised yesterday."

noticing lucy's concern, wendy shook her hands. "i'm fine now, really! i'd rather not talk much more about it."

"have you told any of your brothers? don't you share a father?"

"no, we're all adopted," wendy admitted. "we all come from pretty awful families. not all of them are willing to talk about it."

"then you don't have to say any more either," lucy promised. "um, hey, do you want to hear about the time i hung upside down from a tree for half an hour?"