46. Something on your face..

The preparations for Alice's wedding had started by now. It was no news that she was getting married to her longtime crush, and this made her extremely happy. Winnifred on the other hand didn't stop being herself, and the other slaves in the palace were beginning to get used to the fact that that was just how she is. They still tagged her arrogant, and also, she didn't stop talking back at the royals of the palace, including Florence, when need be.

She was on her way back from Arthur's room where she had just finished working, when she met the soon-to-be bride; Alice. Alice was smiling sheepishly before she sighted Winnifred. As soon as she saw Winnifred, her smile turned into a frown. Winnifred noticed this, but she ignored it as she was about to pass by her without a word, but Alice stopped her.

"Don't you think you're trying harder than you should?" Alice asked, stopping Winnifred on her tracks as she turned back to look at her.

"Excuse me?" Winnifred replied, unsure of what she meant by that statement of hers.

"As a slave, you have no right to look like this." She said, raising her hand to point to her from head to toe and back to her head.

Winnifred looked at herself and seeing that nothing was wrong with her appearance or her clothes, she raised her head to look at Alice. "And how do I look?"

"You have no right to look good." Alice snapped, glaring at her.

"Oh," Winnifred replied, smiling to herself. "I wonder why you're so bothered about why a slave like me looks better than a princess like you. I understand your pain, okay? You'll be fine." She added and turned to leave her there when Alice spoke again.

"Do you use some sort of face cleanser or something to make your face look smooth and better with each passing day?" Alice replied between gritted teeth, as if she was forced to speak. Her wedding ceremony was coming up and she needed to do everything to look her best that day. She had been noticing how Winnifred had been glowing with no breakouts on her skin since she got to the palace. Despite how she worked just like other slaves, she still remained her beautiful self and maintined her body and beauty. She was a bit jealous of her, but she would never let that show. Instead, she would do what she could do as her superior in the palace.

Winnifred scoffed as she looked at her, her arms akimbo. "Really? Does that mean you need my help?" She asked her with a mischievous smile on her face.

Alice scoffed and looked away. "If that's what you understand it as, then maybe that's what I mean."

"No. You have to say it like you mean it if you actually need my help." Winnifred replied, raising an eyebrow at her.

Alice sighed and then spoke. "Fine. I need your help."

"Sorry what?" Winnifred asked as she drew her ears closer as if she didn't hear what she said the first time. "Did you say something?"

"Don't be this dumb. I said I need your help, okay? I need your help!" As she exclaimed the last part, some of the slaves walking by looked in their direction and Alice snapped at them. This made them look away and return to whatever they were doing before she exclaimed.

"Good. Anyway, I don't use anything for my face, so I have nothing to give to you." A wicked smile appeared on Winnifred's face. Then, she turned to leave. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go now. I have some other important things to do."

"So you made me beg you for nothing? If you couldn't help, you could have just said it before making me speak. You're such a lowlife!"

"You see," Winnifred turned back again. "The fact that I don't use such things does not mean I can't make them for you. I have so much knowledge about things you could make use of to make your face smooth and glow before your ceremony. But here you are, already running your mouth as usual. You're a princess anyways, go to the market or something and ask for help."

Hearing this, Alice knew she had no choice but to persuade her to make the potion for her. She needed everything it would take for her to look extremely beautiful on her wedding day. "Fine. Please, could you make me a potion or something I could use that would make me more beautiful? I need something that works really fast. It has to have shown on my face on the day of my wedding."

Winnifred made a prescription for her on the things she was to get. Alice commanded her to get it for her, but she replied her that she was Prince Arthur's slave and not hers. This pissed Alice off and as she was about to storm off, Winnifred clearly told her not to use honey on her face. This was because she had asked her if she was allergic to anything and she said she was allergic to taking honey. Winnifred made jest of her by saying she was a princess that can't stand honey, that's why she isn't sweet.

The sentence pissed Alice off and she got even more pissed when Winnifred reminded her not to add honey to the prescription she gave her. Alice took it that Winnifred was still trying to make jest of her, and that was why she told her not to make use of it, so she decided to go against her order.

"I'd let her see that she doesn't know what she's saying!" She exclaimed as she stormed to her room. As soon as she got to her room, she called her personal slave and told her the list of the things she needed to get from the market so she could make the notion for her and she'd start using it immediately. "Make sure to buy a lot of honey, don't forget that." She said to the slave sternly.

Alice woke up in the evening feeling tired. She never does any work in the palace, but the fact that she sleeps a lot made her tired than she normally should. She rolled on her bed as she got up to ease herself in the bathroom.

Anytime she wanted to go use the bathroom, she always checked herself in the mirror to admire herself because her standing mirror was by the door of her bathroom. She yawned as she slipped her legs into her fancy slippers, then she walked to the front of the mirror.

"I look so…" Her voice trailed off as she stared at the face before her in the mirror. The expression on her face turned from a relaxed one to a terrified one within seconds. "What is this?" She asked herself as she began to touch her face. Her face was full of blisters, one that was not there before she went to sleep. "Oh my, what is happening? What is happening to me?" She screamed.

Not up to a minute, her personal slave rushed into the room. Her face lit up in shock also as she saw her mistress' face, which was not like that some hours ago. "My lady, what… what is… there's something on your face."

"Do you think I can't see that?! Do you think I cannot see that?!" She shouted as she grabbed her slave's cloth by the neck. "Do you know what you have done to me?! You gave me this potion, didn't you? You prepared the potion, didn't you?!"

"My lady," the slave, who was still looking terrified and was beginning to choke with the way Alice tightened the cloth on her neck. "My lady… my lady, I am…" she began to cough as she tried to free herself from Alice's grip.

Still angry but seeing that she was trying hard to breathe, she released her cloth. "What did you put in the potion! Can't you see my face! Can you see all these blisters?!"

"My lady," the slave knelt down immediately. "My lady, I prepared the potion the exact way you told me to. I swear with my life, I did it the exact way you ordered me to." The slave begged in tears as she was still on her knees. She knew her mistress well, and she could do anything to her.

Alice stared at her slave as she fumed with anger. Then, her mind went to the person that gave her the instruction of the potion in the first place. "Winnifred!" She screamed really loudly, her voice echoing in the whole place.