Cinderella'd

"So Lorelei's like a dancing queen now?"

It was kind of hard for Lydia to believe. From what she knew of Lorelei, the lady was rigid as heck. She had a hard time imagining Lorelei letting loose, but that's what Sara was telling her. To be fair to Lorelei, Nico had said that she'd been acting more relaxed around him. Maybe that also spread to her nobility stuff.

"In a manner of speaking, yes," Sara said, as collected as always.

The two of them were in Lorelei's room looking at designs. Apparently, the decorations for the Terrtrove manor had to change every season for some dang reason. Normally, Lorelei handled it during the days but, this time, she had apparently asked for Lydia to do it. As a result, Lydia found herself looking at a bunch of colors that looked exactly the same.

All the colors did remind her of her ribbons. You'd think that, with all the money that the Terrtrove's have, Lydia would be able to find a polyester ribbon. Turns out, polyester isn't a thing yet. Lydia had tried other materials, but they just didn't work. If she ever found out how to stay here long-term, she would have to find out how to make polyester a thing. As it stood, Lydia settled with rubbing her hands together. It was the best she could do.

"My lady!" Ashley exclaimed, rushing over.

"Ashley," Lydia greeted. "What is it?"

"Your dress!" Ashley responded. "Someone has sabotaged your dress!"

Son of a beach ball. 

"Show me."

Ashley led them to where the dress was. It was stunning, and definitely built for Lorelei. Not that that meant anything now since, as Ashley had claimed, the thing was a wreck. The light purple on the bottom was slashed, the pieces in a pile on the floor. The middle of the dress was untouched, but the top had a hole cut out. It looked like someone pulled a Cinderella on Lorelei.

"I was here not two hours ago," Ashley said. "Whoever did this must be one of the other late staff."

Lydia leaned down, taking one of the pieces in her hand. The stuff felt amazing. Not the comforting amazing like her ribbons, but the kind of amazing she'd felt from that time she'd browsed through a luxury store. Well, she hadn't been able to afford anything there, but it'd still been fun. The only difference here was that this dress had some sort of glitter on it.

"What is this stuff?" Lydia asked.

"Flecks of gold," Sara said. "It is a tactic used to make the dress sparkle."

Of course if was gold.

Lydia's mind started moving. "Does it ever fall off?"

"With enough force, yes."

Lydia rubbed the gold against her skin. After a bit of work, she got some of it on her hands. She then walked out into the hall, heading for one of the maids' closets.

"What are you doing, my lady?" Ashley asked, curious.

"Checking a theory." Lydia opened the closet door, revealing a variety of supplies.

She pointed to a washing basin. "You guys use those to wash your hands?"

"Yes, my lady," Ashley said, now confused.

Lydia went over to it, rolling her shoulders back. She then proceeded to wash her hands, taking extra effort to get around where the gold touched. Meanwhile, Ashley and Sara watched, shocked that she would ever deign to use their washing station. Then again, Sara knew that Lydia wasn't Lorelei, so she shouldn't have been so shocked. After she finished, Lydia looked at her hand, now clean, and moved it around in the light.

There was still gold on it.

Grinning, Lydia turned to the maids. "Get all the late staff together. We've got a mystery, gang!"

"Gang?" Ashley asked.

"Do not bother questioning her." Sara sighed. "It will make just as little sense."

It didn't take too long for them to get everyone together. They were in the same room as before, though it looked loads better. The chairs had been replaced, with the new ones having actual backs for the staff to lean on. The table now had little snacks on it, leftovers from the day's food. If Lydia hadn't been playing Lorelei, she might have grabbed one of the apples in the basket. They looked really good.

"Get situated!" Lydia said. "I want you in one line around the room." Confused, the staff obeyed her.

"Hold your hands out in front of you, palms up," Lydia said. She then went around, waving Sara and Ashley away.

The calluses were to be expected, given their line of work. The maids' hands were also full of cuts, though, presumably from little scrapes, or maybe from using the equipment in the closet. That stuff had not looked very easy to use. Lydia would have to do something about that. For now, though, Lydia focused on having the maids move their palms around in the light.

If there was one thing Lydia knew about glitter, it was that the stuff never came off. if the gold stuff was made to be a sort of glitter, it made sense that it might have that same property. She figured that the person who'd done it had washed their hands, but glitter stuck with you for a while, no matter what you did.

It wasn't until the last row that Lydia found her culprit. Her hair was a beautiful red, reflecting really well against her dark skin. Looking at her face, Lydia noted the slight widening of her eyes. The woman didn't look scared, though. She seemed more resolved than anything.

"You have gold on your hands," Lydia said. "Care to explain?"

"I am afraid I do not understand, my lady," the maid said.

Lydia turned back to Sara. "This is the one who did it. She's literally wearing the evidence."

Sara coughed, raising an eyebrow. "I was not aware that you were close with Lena."

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Oh, come on, Sara. What's actually stopping me from using contractions here? I live here."

"The nobles care not where they are, but with whom they are with," Sara said. "The rule still applies, according to tradition."

Lydia was totally going to have Nico ask Lorelei about that stupid contraction. Surely, Lorelei couldn't care too much about what Lydia did. Why else would she have given Lydia the decorations to handle?

Sighing, Lydia turned back to the maid, or Lena, as Sara had called her. "Why did you tear up the dress? And do not say you did not do it. Your hands would be the first to call you a liar."

The maid snatched her hand away. "You would know why, if you had ever cared about your staff."

Lydia blinked. "I beg your finest pardon, what?"

"Last time concerns came up, I fixed them, did I not?" Lydia gestured to the room, from the chairs to the snacks. "What about this says I do not care?"

"And what about Coral?" Lena asked. "And Anna?"

"They were badmouthing folks. They were killing the vibe." Lydia paused, remembering that the people here wouldn't understand that. "They had no respect."

"So you should get respect simply for being a noble?" Lena snapped. "Lady Sophia was right. You do not care for us at all."

This was Sophia's idea? That was a bit disappointing. Lydia knew from Sara that Sophia had promised revenge after the Dance of Spirits. She thought Sophia would do more than just have a dress screwed up. It felt kind of anticlimactic, given all the drama she'd caused.

"I would care a lot more if you told me what the problem was," Lydia said. "Me being a noble definitely is not it. The fact is that Coral and Anna worked for me which, in my experience, usually means respect."

Lydia looked Lena up and down disapprovingly. "The fact that you would do something like this just because some upstart whispered in your ear tells me how reliable your words are. So, how should I handle you?"

"Perhaps," Sara chimed in. "Perhaps you could employ the lord's assistance with this? Vandalism is a serious crime, even worse since you are of the nobility."

"Sounds good enough to me. Go get him, Sara," Lydia said.

She turned to Ashley. "Also, get me a list of all the supplies that are old. The stuff I saw in that closet look like they need upgrading."

It didn't take long for Jason to get there, and it took less time for Ashley to get the list, since she knew the closets well. After a bit of talking, it was decided that Lena would not only be fired, but also that the nearby lords also knew that she wasn't to be trusted. The supplies would also be ordered tomorrow.

"Would you like to walk with me?" Jason asked after the details were settled.

"Sure," Lydia said.

The two of them made their way to the garden, which was well-lit, given Lorelei's fear of the dark. As they passed a row of leaves, Lydia saw a rogue flower that had started to grow. She stared at it, amazed that it had snuck through.

"For you," Jason said, handing her the flower.

Lydia frowned. She knew she remembered Sara mentioning that Lorelei hated flowers. Jason had to know that. There was no reason for him to give her the flower. Suddenly, it hit her.

"You know, don't you?" Lydia asked. "You know I'm not Lorelei."