"You want to stay here?" Vera was unusually cheerful at Elena's request. "That's great! We can visit each other often."
She quickly followed up with some important details. "Anyone who wants to stay needs to ask the Duke's permission. While he's around, you should talk to him now—he won't be here every day, except on Thursdays."
"But my mother..." Elena was worried that Lady Campbell wouldn't easily agree to her request.
"I think she's probably struggling with how to deal with you," Vera said calmly. "I've been through the same thing, so I understand how they feel. At first, they just want to save you, but once you're alive, they have to think about a lot more. Sooner or later, she'll realize that there's no place for a 'monster' in a warm home. I'm glad you understood that before she did."
Though Vera seemed calm, Elena couldn't help but feel that there was an emotional scar behind her words.
"Anyway," Vera quickly changed the subject, "the important thing now is to get the Duke's approval. Whether you stay or not, you and your mother will need to undergo a secrecy ritual. We're all the same kind, and you understand how important that ritual is."
"Oh, I've been waiting for that," Elena replied, feeling reassured. "Otherwise, I'd still be a little uneasy."
The secrecy ritual was simple. They moved to an empty room—Elena's mother had a guide to direct her—while the "freer" servants set up the ritual tools. The table was covered with purple velvet, a dish of amethyst crystals, and a purple candle. It was said that the secrecy ritual belonged to the realm of color magic, so the items needed to be purple, and thyme was burned.
Under Vera's guidance, Elena took a black ink pen and wrote on a piece of black paper: "My lips are sealed, my lips are bound, the secrets of the Freer's Club and Theodore Berkeley will never be revealed." Then she placed an old unused key on the paper, folded it up, and tied it with black silk ribbon. The butler took the bundle away.
"When we no longer need to keep secrets, they'll return the ritual items," Vera said lightly. "At that point, just burn the paper with ritual fire and toss the key into muddy water."
"The Duke's secret..." Elena hesitated. "Does that need to be kept extra secret?"
"Yes, many 'freers' are already guessing," Vera's veil cast a shadow over her face. "The Duke's uncle—if he knows that his nephew is a monster—would go to great lengths to expose the secret. If anyone's going to bring about our downfall, it's likely to be him."
Although the Duke's appearance was now indistinguishable from a human, he still had no heartbeat or breath and required blood every month. There was always the risk of exposure. If Elena were in the Duke's place, she would be strict about controlling the number and movements of vampires, because if vampires were discovered and linked back to him, it wouldn't just be a matter of losing inheritance—it could ruin him entirely.
"This secrecy ritual seems simple," Elena couldn't help but feel nervous. "Does it really work?"
"Of course, we've tested it," Vera reassured her. "You don't need to worry. Everyone knows these secrets can't be spilled. We just have to watch out for someone letting something slip, or speaking in their sleep... it's not an impossible scenario."
Once the secrecy ritual was complete, Vera took Elena to ask the Duke for permission to move in. Though Elena hadn't yet convinced her mother, the Duke readily agreed and said she could move in at any time.
To keep things discreet, the Duke only came on Thursdays, and his art lessons were on this day as well. Vera had signed up for the art class, so neither of them could leave. The butler took Elena to view the rooms.
The rooms were all on the third floor or higher, and each was quite similar, simply divided into male and female sections. The butler first showed Elena the female section.
"The rooms are all empty for now," the butler said succinctly. "If you like one, I'll have the furniture moved in."
The furniture was standard, and Elena looked over the list, which included a mahogany four-poster bed, a small footstool, patterned curtains (with optional colors), a double sink stand, a straw mattress, coarse pottery, a feather bed, pillows, a blanket, sheets, two hardwood chairs, a painted vanity, a washbasin, a mahogany dressing mirror, and a carpet from the East.
Aside from these essentials, there were also optional decorations like wallpaper, oil paintings, and bookshelves.
"Wow," Elena couldn't help but feel excited about her new living situation. As a child, she'd even had to share a bedroom with her sister until her sister turned sixteen and moved into her own room. Elena had only recently gotten a room to herself, but that had only lasted six months.
She picked a room that was still unoccupied, and then the butler showed her the rest of the house. Every room had a bell pull, and when rung, a servant would appear to wait for instructions. Most people went to the dining room for a buffet, but there were others who preferred room service or wanted specific meals. Servants would confirm the menu for the day with guests in the morning.
The dining room was on the first floor, along with a bar, billiards room, lounge, library, and writing room. The second floor was for the servants, including laundry and food storage rooms. The third floor and above were rooms, lounges, and bathrooms.
Elena was quite pleased with everything. She even took a look at the bathroom. Back home, she had to stand and wash herself with a towel and water, but here, the club's bathrooms were different. They were inspired by Turkish baths, starting with a hot steam room followed by a cold-water wash. It was creative, but she wasn't keen on cold baths.
After the tour, it was time for Elena to leave. She said goodbye to Vera, who had finished her class, and passed through a hidden passageway to meet her mother, who was sipping coffee in the café. They took the carriage back home.
After dinner, Elena went to her mother's room to share her decision. Lady Campbell was initially strongly opposed, but after Elena's persuasive arguments—about servant gossip, dignity, and her father's anger—she reluctantly agreed.
"Think of it as going to boarding school," Elena comforted her mother. "I've heard the club offers many courses, and I might learn more than at a boarding school."
The girls' boarding schools offered various specialized courses, from grammar, history, geography, and foreign languages to singing, piano, and painting, with dance, conversation, and social etiquette taught as they approached adulthood. But no matter the school, all of them had sewing classes.
Lunton's damp, cold climate, combined with the heavy air pollution, made people highly dependent on clothing for warmth. Even with fireplaces, it was still cold, and girls from an early age learned sewing. At three or four, they could make cloth dolls, and by eleven, they could sew their own undergarments and nightgowns. For poor girls, sewing could be a way to earn income.
So, the idea of making Barbie dolls or doll clothes was pretty much off the table.
"I'll visit you often," Lady Campbell said affectionately, brushing Elena's hair back from her face. "My poor sweetie, if anyone bullies you, make sure to tell me."
Concerned, Lady Campbell packed Elena's belongings meticulously—from wash basins to sheets—and arranged everything in a trunk, which was strapped to the top of the carriage and transported to the club. It took several trips, but eventually, all of Elena's things were moved.
When Elena arrived at the club, her room was like a replica of her home, everything carefully arranged. Lady Campbell even gave her 200 pounds. Her brother was attending Eton, and his tuition was 150 pounds a year, so she added a bit more. It was a substantial sum—some middle-class families only earned 150 pounds a year.
"Keep this for now," her mother said. "Let me know if you need more."
Elena wasn't keen on experiencing life as a maid yet, so she tucked the money away, deciding to find a way to earn for herself.
Once settled in the club, Elena, like other "freers," signed up for the Duke's art class. After all, seeing his beautiful face was the best advertisement for learning to paint, and everyone wanted to try their hand at it. But when Elena walked into the studio, she found very few of her kind there.
"Many come to try the class, but after realizing they can't keep up, they stop coming," Vera whispered to Elena, ever the experienced one. "That's why they don't stay—it's not cheap."
"Good thing we can try it first," Elena said, relieved.
The studio was spacious, with seven or eight easels set up without it feeling crowded. The décor was fresh and elegant, with pale white walls covered in paintings. Three large windows offered a view of the trees and lawns of Green Park.
Vera lifted the dust cover from one of the easels, revealing an unfinished painting of the Duke. Elena could see the subtle expression on his face.
"It's a painting the Duke asked us to do," Vera explained quickly when she noticed Elena's reaction. "After all, he's the only one here who looks like this... you get it."
"Indeed," Elena nodded, realizing that to practice portraits, you had to paint a real person.
Despite this, Elena couldn't help but suspect that the Duke hadn
't really thought much about art. Perhaps he was simply narcissistic enough to want everyone to paint his likeness. She could just imagine him doing something like that.
Taking her art supplies from her case, Elena thought of a new idea. She remembered the dress-up stickers from the school gate when she was younger, and how she used to play dress-up games with Barbie dolls. As she got older, mobile dress-up games had become more intricate, with special effects, actions, and higher costs. But what if she could find a way to blend "beauty" and "spread" in her own way?
Forget about the stickers; that was tricky. What about something even simpler than that?