Her body held a sweet ache when she woke up. It felt like she had slept for several hours, but her body was still willing to sink in the comfiness of this bed some more. She loved this weekend feeling when she had the day off from school. But now everything was changed. It wasn’t even a weekend yet. Even the bed she slept on was so comfortable that it was just like a dream. And the room she was in right now, was decorated in her favorite white color. No one had told her this, but she knew that it was her new room.
It had almost been an hour since Kaiya had woken up and lazed around on this bed. She was scared at first when she found neither Keira nor Shazan by her side, but then she calmed down when she looked around the room. It felt like home.
However, she was still unwilling to get out of the bed and explore this new room and this place. Perhaps, she was waiting for someone to come over and introduce everything to her. And then there was the rising nervousness about greeting her husband’s family. She didn’t know much about his family. She didn’t know who his parents were and if he had any siblings or had other relatives. All she knew was that he had a Daughter from Keira and there was that blonde haired beauty who was his wife as well. She remembered Shazan mentioning to her that she was his fourth wife, and that meant that he had one more wife other than that blonde haired beauty and Keira.
The time passed, but no one came to visit her. Her thoughts wandered from the thrilling ride she had experienced today to her defloration and then to everything she had learned today. Every time she recalled the feeling of having Shazan inside of her, her cheeks warmed up. She had never before been so happy in her life. He was her happiness now, and she wondered if it was the same for him.
Kaiya eventually mustered up some courage and decided to get out of bed and explore this place. She turned over the comforter and gently stepped out of bed. She slipped her feet inside the pretty slippers and then walked over to the dressing table. What the mirror reflected, amazed her. It was for the first time that she truly marveled at her beauty. Those near black eyes didn’t bother her now. And together with her Platinum hair they now seemed to form a unique contrast. Perhaps, it was because he had called her beautiful that she finally decided to accept herself.
“It’s a sin to marvel at your beauty.”
She recalled what he had said at that time and blushed. She swirled around and watched her violet chemise flutter. It was pretty. She didn’t know how she had gotten into it, but she felt that it was Shazan who had put it on her. It had his scent on it. Well, her entire body had his scent all over it. She looked at the bracelet on her left wrist and planted a kiss on his name.
Her lower body ached every time she took a step, but she didn’t mind it. The smile never left her face. She took her time exploring her new room. It was quite spacious. There was a dressing room where all the wardrobes were. Each wardrobe had a scanner on it. She placed her hand on the scanner, and the wardrobes opened. The clothes she had brought with her were set. She also found some new sleepwear and some training outfits. These outfits were for the gym and other sports activities.
“Yay… No school!” Kaiya chuckled when she found no school uniforms.
She walked over to the next wardrobe and opened it. There was a vault inside, and she hesitated if she should open it or not. But then she just placed her hand on the scanner. It was her room, and everything here belonged to her. Inside the vault were several boxes made of glass, and inside these boxes were necklaces, rings, and other pretty jewelry. Her eyes dazzled with the shine of these jewels. However, her mood clouded when her eyes landed on a pendant she was familiar with. She was familiar with it because it had once belonged to her late mother. She had seen a picture of her mother in which she was wearing this pendant. Then her eyes landed on another familiar necklace.
Kaiya clenched her fists tightly and closed the vault. This jewelry was not a gift from Shazan, but once belonged to her mother and was now gifted to her by her father. A part of her mind yelled to her to throw these all away. She hated her father. But she couldn’t bring herself to throw away any of this. All of this belonged to her mother. She loved her mother.
She pulled out a gown from the wardrobe and then exited this dressing room. The clock showed that it was almost 8 o’clock. But she was not sure if it was am or pm. Her cell phone was missing, and she couldn’t find it anywhere.
When she came out of her room, she found herself standing in a corridor. There were several rooms adjoined to hers, and in front of her were the rows of windows. She walked over to a window and looked outside. It was nighttime. There was a courtyard down there, and the height told her that her new room was at least on the second floor. Her eyes lingered on the Waterfall in the middle of the courtyard as it danced and basked in different shades of light. It was beautiful.
On the other side of the courtyard was the wing of the building similar to the one she was in right now. There were rows and rows of windows. She finally saw how tall this building was. There were three stories other than the ground floor and a possible basement. Its architecture was beautiful, and it looked like a Medieval Palace.
When her eyes concentrated on the window of the other wing, she saw her reflection standing behind that window. She yelped and staggered back in shock. It had scared her. The window had gone blank again, and her reflection appeared in it again as she concentrated. This time she wasn’t surprised and waved back at herself.
“Interesting… Isn’t it?”
“Eeehhh.” Kaiya screamed and jumped back crashing into someone. Her head nestled in a soft and ample bosom and she knew that it was a woman.
When she regained her balance and stood back on her feet, she finally looked at the woman before her. The woman looked to be in her late thirties and had wavy brown hair. She wore a silver nightgown, and an amiable smile adorned her heart-shaped face. The age had not fazed her beauty in the least.
“My apologies.” Kaiya said and bowed respectfully. The woman, however, didn’t allow her to bow to her and held her shoulders.
“It’s fine.” She gently said and caressed her shoulders. “And don’t bow to me again.”
“Yes.” Kaiya answered respectfully. This woman gave off a motherly aura.
“I am Kaiya Freston.” She gave her name.
“Wrong… You are now Kaiya Silverstein.” The woman said and laughed lightly.
Her reminder made Kaiya blush, and she lowered her head to hide it. Yes, she was no longer Kaiya Freston.
“My name is Merilyn.” The woman said gently and patted her head. “You can call me by my name… or you can call me Mother.”
Kaiya was flustered when she heard the last part. Her words implied that she was Shazan’s mother.
“Are you…”
“Am I his mother?” Merilyn chuckled. “Yes, and No.”
Kaiya curiously looked at her and cocked her head. She didn’t understand what she meant by ‘Yes, and No’.
“I am not his biological mother but his step-mother, and…” Merilyn stopped before saying anything more and smiled at Kaiya. “You must be hungry, right?”
“Yes, Mother.” Kaiya answered truthfully and embarrassedly lowered her head.
“Good. It’s almost dinner time.” Merilyn said and held her hand. “Let’s go meet Karen, and then we will head to the dining room.”
Kaiya nodded to her and followed her. Her eyes wandered all over the places she passed, and her amazement at the extravagance of this palace never ceased. Surprisingly, she had not seen another person in this place.
“Mother, where is Shazan?” Kaiya shyly asked.
“He’s in Spain. Serafina has a business event there, and he has gone to accompany her.” Merilyn answered her and smiled at her. “Don’t worry. He will be back by tomorrow evening.”
“Mhm” Kaiya nodded. Her heart was a little disappointed as he had not even left her a message. But she understood that he had a busy life, and she would have to cope with it from now on. After all, she was not his only wife.
Merilyn led her to the topmost floor of this Palace. There were even lifts in this place under the stairs. They arrived at a dead end after walking down a long corridor. Kaiya was confused as to why they had come here. And her confusion was soon answered when Merilyn placed her hand on the wall in front of them. The place where she pressed her hand shined in a light, and then a clicking sound was heard. Merilyn retracted her hand, and then the wall parted in two and opened like a sliding door.
They stepped inside the room, and Kaiya gasped loudly. There were dozens and dozens of screens all over the room. The room was quite spacious, but the number of screens made it seem congested. A girl with glasses was sitting on a chair in front of several computer screens, and her hands were working at an astonishingly fast pace on the keyboard. It was so fast that it was almost blurry.
“Karen” Merilyn called out her name.
“Just a minute…” The girl replied and kept working on what she was doing.
Merilyn smiled helplessly at Kaiya and shrugged.
Kaiya could not help but chuckle at this. Karen looked to be someone who was very serious in what she did. Her eyes stayed on the digital clock resting on the desk of Karen. Like she had said, Karen completed whatever she was doing in just that minute.
Karen stretched her arms over her head and then turned around to face them. She got up from her chair and curiously looked at Kaiya.
“Did you have a sound sleep?” Her voice was like chiming bells that was sweet to the ears.
“Yes.” Kaiya nodded to her.
Karen nodded back to her and then opened the drawer of her desk. She took out a black box and walked over to them. She was wearing a jumper and walked clumsily. It was as if she was too tired. The impression she gave off was of a lazy girl who had no care for anything. But there was more to her than just this feeling. It was as if this girl could understand and see right through you.
“Here.” Karen handed over the box to her and palely smiled.
Kaiya accepted the box and finally took a proper look at this girl. Karen looked like she was still not 18 years old. Her hair was wavy and dull black. The color of her eyes was hazel, and she was on the skinny side standing half a head taller than her. She was beautiful. Kaiya imagined how this girl would look like if she dressed properly and put on a little make up. Yes, Karen was surely someone who could challenge Keira with her beauty.
“You are beautiful as well, little sister.” Karen smiled at her. “Come on now, open the box and tell me if you like this design or not.”
“Y-yes…” Kaiya answered, and carefully opened the box.
There was a white colored smartphone inside of it. Kaiya liked having the latest editions of the prettiest smartphones out there, but she couldn’t recognize this brand. There was a logo of a strange silver bird on the back of it. It resembled a phoenix but wasn’t exactly a phoenix. The logo of the Silverstein Empire was a howling wolf, the entire world knew of it, and every product created by a company affiliated with the Silverstein Empire had the logo of this wolf on it. This smartphone didn’t.
“How’s it?” Karen asked.
Kaiya held the phone in her hand and inspected it closely. It was the prettiest phone she had ever seen, and that logo on its back made it even more pretty. And the best thing was that it was in white, her favorite color.
“I love it… Thank You!”
“So you really do like the white color…” Karen said and sighed.
It wasn’t like she didn’t appreciate her choice of color, it was more like it reminded her of something. And there was a moment that Karen’s eyes were vacant. Her mind was clearly somewhere else.
“Has he landed in Madrid yet?” Merilyn inquired.
“Mhm.”
Karen nodded and then walked back to the desk. She pressed on some command keys and then a screen from the ceiling floated down in front of them. The screen had several different scenes playing on it from different camera angles. Then Karen pressed on a key, and the image of Shazan dancing with a blonde beauty played on it. They were attending a party right now, and lot’s of people were gathered around them dancing to the music.
Kaiya couldn’t take her eyes off the pair. That blonde girl was enchantingly beautiful, and she just looked perfect in arms of Shazan. Her eyes also caught Keira in the screen dancing with a girl who was wearing a suit. It was quite funny, and she couldn’t help but giggle.
“That’s Ilsa, Serafina’s shadow. You will mostly find her in suits. She loves them. And the only people who can control her are Shazan, Keira, Arianna, Serafina, and the little Rose.” Karen didn’t take her eyes off the screen and Informed Kaiya of the identity of the girl she had just giggled on.
Kaiya registered all the names in her mind. She also understood that Ilsa was a little unruly. And Serafina was the blonde beauty in Shazan’s arms.
“Who is Arianna?” She asked.
Karen turned to look at her and said in a very serious voice.
“Arianna is Shazan’s little sister. You need to be very careful around her. Never offend her, okay?”
These words had made her apprehensive. She was not sure why she had to be so wary of Arianna, but she noted down Karen’s warning in her mind.
“It’s not like she’s a scary person,” Merilyn said, “It’s just that when it comes to Shazan, she’s very dangerous. If you hurt him, then she will hurt you.”
Kaiya just nodded her head. The mood had suddenly turned so solemn that it was scary.
“Which brand is this?” She pointed to the Smartphone and asked.
“It’s a secret brand called Siris. That’s what they call the bird on it’s back.” Karen answered. “It’s not available to the common people of the world. You will love its features.”
“Alright, let’s head to the dining room. Everyone must be waiting for us.” Merilyn said to them.
They both nodded and followed her out of the room.
When they came out of the lift of the ground floor, a little girl that was mesmerizingly beautiful came running towards them. There were two girls in maid outfits running after her.
“Karen Mommy!” She excitedly called out and lunged into Karen’s arms.
Karen’s kissed on the tip on the little girl’s nose sending her in fits of giggles. “Hungry?” She lovingly asked.
“Yes yes!” The little girl nodded her head and then turned to look at Merilyn. “I am not talking to you!” She said and pouted.
“My apologies, Princess.” Merilyn apologized. “I had to make sure that your mother Kaiya…” She pointed to her. “Is okay and isn’t too excited when she wakes up.”
The little girl curiously looked at Kaiya and cocked her head while she did so.
“You are pretty!” She said and smiled. The excitement of a child vanished from her eyes. Those deep brown eyes were the same as Shazan. And the color of her hair was the same as well.
“Thank you…” Kaiya never thought that she would be nervous in front of a child. This little girl’s presence was too domineering.
“Mhm..” the girl nodded and then gestured Karen to put her down. She stood in front of Kaiya and then cheerfully smiled.
“So you are my father’s new wife, yes?”
“Yes.”
“Good! I will call you Mother from now on. And since you are the youngest one here other than me, you will have to play lots of games with me, promise?”
The fluency and manner she talked in were totally unlike that of a child.
“Promise.” Kaiya smiled at her and nodded.
“Yay!” The little girl jumped in the air excitedly. But then her smile brightened. “I will show you what Arianna Mommy taught me recently!”
The little girl said and stepped back a little.
“Rose… don’t!” Merilyn tried to stop her, but it was already too late.
Kaiya couldn’t understand what had transpired at that moment. Rose had only run her eyes all over her body, and then all the clothes she had been wearing, dropped on the floor. They had been cut by something sharp.
“Amazing, isn’t it?!” Rose laughed excitedly.
Fear engulfed her heart that had skipped several beats in the last few seconds. She was scared of this little girl.
“Don’t mind her…” Karen chuckled. “She does that to almost everyone. It’s her favorite hobby.”
Kaiya had even forgotten to hide her privates. How was this a hobby? And how was this even possible?!