We still need man-things!

Chapter Thirty

By the beginning of sunrise, Mother Miranda and the visiting lords were gone. After playing cards and drinking a lot of Alcina's wines through most of the night, they got exhausted and wanted to rest the entire day in their homes.

That was a good time for Mike, as leaving the village was made a lot easier by this. He woke up around 8:30 and found himself lying between Cassandra and an unknown maid who had sneaked into his bed sometime in the second part of the night when Ingrid had already started her day.

Seeing her on the same side of the bed where the headmaid was just an hour ago and feeling her tight, motherly embrace around his body made him feel confused and very embarrassed.

What have I done? He thought of it with a feeling of guilt.

He was lying on his left side, and Cassandra was holding him from behind, resting her chin against his neck and shoulder. Her large breasts were pressed tightly against his bare back, and Mike could feel how her heart was beating quite slowly and strongly. And the maid was facing him with her back; just like Cassandra, she was naked under the blanket, and Mike could feel how her large buttocks were against his stomach. Two fresh and red puncture marks were on her neck, and a very small amount of fresh, iron-smelling blood had seeped into the edge of the pillow. She wasn't dead, however; she was just drained a bit and sleeping.

"Did you fulfill her wish?" Cassandra whispered as soon as Mike tried to change his position.

He went into a cramp and didn't know what to say. Cassandra's tone and behavior indicated anything other than that she was angry or insulted over the fact that he had sex with Ingrid. Or was this a trick before draining him also?

"Hey, did you take care of my best friend's needs?" She asked again and gently touched his earlobe with the tip of her tongue.

"Yes." He managed to say it after a long pause.

"Good boy."

Mike didn't say anything. He tried not to think about what had happened and lied on the bed until he heard quite loud hammering coming from the first floor and thought that it was time to get up. As Cassandra had been playing cards and drinking with others for most of the night, she was quite exhausted and didn't want to come out of bed so early. Nor did the maid, who had a couple of small empty vodka bottles tossed on the floor together with her working uniform, which indicated that she had been drinking too.

He slowly lifted Cassandra's hand and sat up against the headboard. He felt that the room was quite frigid, and so he tried to get out of bed without removing the blanket from the girls. Carefully, he stood up between the pillows and stepped over the maid to set his foot on the floor.

"I will come and say you goodbye when I depart." He said this to Cassandra and started putting on his clothes.

"We're all going to miss you."

"But there's nothing to do. Sleep well; I won't sneak away without a goodbye kiss."

In a minute, Cassandra was sleeping again. On the edge of the nightstand, Mike found a paper note that stated that Miranda was gone and it was safe to come out of his room. He placed it in his pocket and then walked to the window to see how the street was empty and that there was nobody outside at the moment.

"Well, I should start my day now. My last day in Castle Dimitrescu."

Strange hammering echoed again, making Mike curious about what was happening down there. Did they already start renovations in the ballroom? Or is this somehow related to power loss?

Having washed himself in the restroom for some minutes, he walked down to the first floor to see it. He spotted maids Camilla and Angelika cleaning the floor of the main corridor and putting shards from broken wine glasses into a trash can.