Chapter 5 Father's proposal

Evelyn's POV:

"Sister, what happened to you?" Ruth asked as she entered the room. Her voice sounded so soft and worried.

She had been quiet when Rebecca and my mother were discussing me.

"Nothing, I will be fine. Let me go and freshen up," I said to her and hurriedly went into the bathroom to take my bath.

Once I was inside the bathroom, I fetched the water from the drum kept in our bathroom, as we weren't rich like the higher-class families that had showers or bathtubs.

I had to bathe while standing, and I hurried up with my bath so that I could join my siblings to celebrate my birthday with them.

At midnight, I would be 18 years old, as this was the eve of my birthday and my last day as a seventeen-year-old.

Once I was done bathing, I got out of the bathroom and went to dry my body. Ruth was in the room, changing out of her green school uniform into comfortable home wear.

All my siblings were brown-skinned like my parents, except for me. I was like the albino of our pack.

I dried my body and picked up my orange gown from my bag of clothes to wear it.

Once I was done dressing up, I walked up to the mirror on the left side of the room to apply the ointment on my bruised skin.

"Wait, sister. Let me wash my hands in the bathroom and come out to assist you in applying the ointment," Ruth offered as she was done changing her clothes. She entered the bathroom, stepped out, and walked up to meet me to assist me in front of the mirror.

I pulled a white plastic chair and sat in front of the vanity as I watched Ruth assist me in applying the ointment on my skin.

"Sister, did you get into a fight?" she asked, just as she continued to apply the ointment on me.

"No," I lied, looking at my appearance in the mirror as the sun set and the moon gradually rose above the clouds.

"I know that you don't want to talk to me about the person you fought with at the palace. But these are claw scratches, as one of my friends had fought in school and had similar injuries," Ruth explained, and I knew that she could make a good lawyer and win in court with her backup explanations to defend her claims.

"No. I didn't get into any fight. You don't have to worry about it. It will heal soon. You know that Mom makes one of the best herbs to heal our wounds. So once I take it, before two days, all these wounds will heal," I assured her as she nodded her pretty head and helped me apply the ointment on my arms, cheeks, and the nape of my neck.

"Done," she said, and I smiled at her.

"Thank you," I said as I rose from the white plastic chair to leave the room and collected the ointment from her hand and put it away.

My sisters were twelve years old, and I didn't want to trouble them by having them worry about me.

Although I knew I would soon break the news to them that I had lost my job, for now, they had to believe it was because Prince Noah was around and having a party at the palace that was the reason I couldn't go back there.

Ruth and I left the room as we went to assist our parents outside our house, where our locally made kitchen was. We set up the firewood to roast the meat.

"Good evening, Dad," I greeted my father, and he smiled at me as he wore a white top and black trousers. He was tall, hairy, and brown in complexion like my mother.

"Welcome, Evelyn. Your mother told me you're back. Happy birthday to you," my dad said, and I smiled at him.

"Thank you, Dad," I replied as he walked up to meet me after putting the bush rat that he had captured on a stick and placing it on the burning fire to roast it.

My dad had a bright smile on his face as he walked up to meet me and said, "I got a huge contract today to start supplying meat to the local market. With the money generated from it, I want you to stop working as a maid in the royal palace and return to school to study medicine so that you can work in the pack's hospital or get a better license to open a big hospital in the future."

My dad neared me, subtly hugging my shoulder as he gazed at me.

"Wow! Thank you, Daddy! I'm so happy to hear the news. So once school resumes, I will be going back to school?" I asked, looking up at my father's face, and he replied,

"Yes. You have supported your mother and me by working in the palace as a maid, even when we didn't ask you to.

It's only right that I support you to become someone better in life, as I would like you to marry one of those rich men from the higher-class families, even though he is not your true mate.

Or hopefully, you become mated to one of them, and you cannot marry any of them if you continue with your job as a maid in the palace.

Therefore, you won't be going back to the palace to work as a maid," my father said, and this was the best news I had received after my ordeal at the palace.

"Thank you, Daddy!" I squealed once more and knelt down happily to thank my father, not expecting him to come up with this arrangement.

"You're welcome, Eve," he said as he gently pulled me up to stand on my feet.

"But what happened to your face?" he asked me, his expression stern.