Cleaning. Cooking. Pleasure. That's all Charlotte seemed to be good for, ever since she was fifteen. Her parents had died from natural causes, some kind of sickness, so she was fair game. Had had been bounced around to three different homes, being the home owner's personal slave. She had a nice room and food in her stomach, so she couldn't complain about that, though it wasn't free. At only fifteen years old, she had her virginity taken from her and was beaten if she disobeyed. Which she did at first, but now she knew better then to test the limits with her masters. Now, she was being sold to a new home. A new master.

Charlotte packed what little clothing she had, which wasn't much and it's what she made herself. Three dresses, torn and dirty, and she had one nice dress, this given to her by a chambermaid from her second home. She usually wore it when she was placed to a new home, to make herself presentable. It was a pastel blue color, ruffles at the edge and sleeves, a elegant v-cut in the front. She slipped into white slippers and brushed her dark brunette hair back, tying it in place with a blue ribbon.

She hadn't ate in two days, so she lost a small amount of weight, she had dark circles under her eyes from not being able to sleep well. She sighed softly as her current mast, Lord Ewing, pulled her by the arm and threw her into the horse drawn carriage. He told the horseman the destination, and off they went. Charlotte looked outside at the trees as they passed by, and soon enough they were in a different village and approaching a black castle, it was beautiful, not shabby like the previous.

Lord Ewing got out when they stopped and dragged Charlotte to the door. He had to be there to collect his coins and drop her off. He used the knocker to knock on the door and waited for a response. A older man answered and led the two in. "Master Alywn will be with you shortly." He said and went to fetch his master.

Alwyn was enjoying his coffee in the reading room. He wasn't into books, but spending one fine afternoon there was quiet relaxing. He suddenly saw Karlo, one of his trusted servant, came in without knocking first. The old man apologized for his sudden rudeness, he said that Alwyn's new slave was finally here. Alwyn raised his brow and smiled, "Good, I will be there shortly," Karlo bowed to Alwyn and went away.

Alwyn grabbed his formal coat as he walked outside the room. He marched to the front door and found Karlo with a man and a brunette girl next to him. Alwyn approached the group and gave the unknown man a handshake. Alwyn looked at Karlo and nodded at him, "Karlo, take this gentleman with you, I will leave the formal procedure to you. I've signed the contract, so you just need to finish it," Karlo bowed to Alwyn and took the man away, leaving Alwyn and the girl alone.

"Charlotte, isn't it?" Alwyn leaned closer to the girl. She was quiet worn out, she had a pretty face but covered with exhaustion, "I'm Alwyn, your...," he paused and crossed his arms, "...hmm, I can't say I'm your master, literally yes I am, but things are different here."

Alwyn grabbed Charlotte's arm and took her away. He led the girl across a long decorated hall until they arrived at a room at the end of the hall. Two maids already waiting there. Alwyn looked at them and said, "Please help her change and clean herself. Make sure that she looks stunning. I will be waiting at the dining room," Alwyn moved his sight to Charlotte, "Take your time," he smiled and left Charlotte with the maids. He took his way to the dining room, ordered the chef to cook delicious food. In there, he was sitting patiently with a bottle of wine to accompany him.

Charlotte watched as Lord Ewing was risked away by the man named Karol, leaving her alone with her new master. She was expecting a slap to the face, being belittled, or him rushing her to his bedroom to try her out and have his way with her, but instead he spoke to hear, his voice gentle and non-threatening. He introduced himself as Alwyn, but didn't refer himself as her master, which was odd, they usually did. She gasped softly as he grabbed her arm and led her down a long hallway. It was beautiful, they always were, but she never really got the chance to stop and admire the beauty of her previous homes, nod doubt this one would be different.

He told two maids standing at the end of the decorated hallway to get her cleaned up and changed, was she going to get to actually wear something not dirty or torn, or old? The two maids did exactly as instructed. About an hour later, Charlotte was bathed, her brunette hair in natural curls, and changed into a lavender gown that reached the floor, the corset top hugging her, which at the waist flowed out, a new pair of white shoes occupied her feet.

She was then being led to a dining room, where a place for her was set up, her new master, or whatever he was, sitting at the end. Charlotte took her place at the table and kept her gaze down, her previous homes she wasn't allowed to look her master in the eye, so it was what she was trained to do.

Alwyn looked at his watch, it was nearly one hour, he didn't know that girl could take such a long time only to dress up. The chefs started bringing the food to the table, it was a lot that it looked like it could feed the entire house. Alwyn out his glass as he saw Charlotte step in. She was... gorgeous, totally different from her first appearance.

He watched as Charlotte took a seat next to him. She kept gazing to the floor, trying to avoid Alwyn's eyes. He tapped the table in front of her to get her attention, "Don't hide your pretty eyes from me, my mother used to say that eyes could tell you about someone more than the mouth do."

One of the chefs put a glass next to Charlotte and poured the same wine Alwyn drank. Alwyn shoved the glass closer to Charlotte, making sure she knew that she could drink that, "Now, before I tell you about what we will do later. Let's fill our stomach with these food. You are quiet skinny, if you gained some weight, you will be perfect," Alwyn smiled and began to take a bite.

Charlotte glanced up and looked at him upon his request. She took the glass and took a small sip of the wine, it felt amazing as it traveled down her throat and to her stomach, she felt dehydrated, so she wanted to chug the entire glass and another and another, but she had to force herself to stop from doing so, but the thought still lingered in her mind. She could smell the food as it was being brought in, her stomach rumbled as it was set on the table in front of them. She prepared her plate and ate rather quickly, savoring the taste of the meats and the vegetables and bread as it settled in her stomach like it should. She didn't really care how foolish she appeared, she was just glad to finally eat something other then stale bread and week old cheese, which kept her sick often.

When she was finished, she patted her mouth and finished the rest of her wine. "Thank you, sir." She said, remembering to not look away or look down, he didn't want her to and she wanted to, needed to, please him. He seemed harmless enough.

Alwyn chuckled a little as he saw how Charlotte ate. She must had been through hard time alot. When they finally finished the feast, which was not completely finished actually, Alwyn called the maid to bring him a contract for Charlotte. Before he gave it to Charlotte, he explained how things would be in his mansion.

"Okay, before you read and sign the contract, I need you to know one two things here and what will you do in the future," Alwyn loosed his tie so he could feel more comfortable before continued, "I will not be your master here and you are not my slave either. We... we will be couple and you, Charlotte Rousse, will be my bride," he stopped and let Charlotte to absorb the information. He gave signal to his maids to leave the room so he could have a private talk with her future bride.

After everyone had left, Alwyn continued, "I can't say that you will be my only one, but you are my offically and formal girl. You only need to fill your role as a good wife, help me out and accompany me to events. Cheering me up and other things, you will learn how eventually. You are chosen because you're special. You never heard and met me before which means you don't know what I have and what I done, you don't seem like those slaves who will stab his own master too," he smiled, "I trust you so don't let me down... and you're pretty cute even though you're not quiet my style."

Alwyn fixed his position, "I won't forbid you to have feelings with me since we are going to stick together most of the time, we will sleep in the same bed too," he leaned his face to her and whispered right to her ears, "And I might need to fulfil my biological needs too occasionally," he smiled again, "But, don't worry I won't force you, I still can searching for other girls though, I'm quiet popular you know."

Alwyn pulled his face and rested his head on his hand, tilted a little bit so he could see Charlotte, "Ah, back to the feeling, I don't mind as long as you don't act like you own me. I will treat you well too just like my own wife, but I'm not yours and don't get jealous over other girls. I might not home for couple days, but I will always come back here, to you," Alwyn looked right into her eyes, "So... I've told you all, I guess, it's just that simple. Any question or objection? Feel free to ask since you will sign the contract soon. I bet you don't want to live in something you hate, right?"

Charlotte glanced at the piece of paper that was placed in front of her. She stared at it, listening to Alwyn explain why she was here. So she was to be his bride? Not his slave? Or was she to be both? She wondered what he meant, by her not being his style, but that was the last thing on her mind. She didn't picture her first marriage being like this, with someone she didn't even know or had even heard of, with no feelings attached, did she want to do this? A nagging thought stayed with her You'd be happy here.. taken care of... That thoughts took control of her as she nodded her frail head, dark curls moving with her, and signed the paper, her signature small and pretty.

Glancing up at her 'groom' She placed the pen on top of the paper and pushed it towards him. "Okay." She said, it was the first time she spoke since she arrived, her voice was small and almost musical. She nervously bit her lip before looking back down, fumbling with her clean and freshly manicured hands. She wondered what they'd do next; would he beat her? No, he said he wasn't her master. Would they go to bed together? He did say something about that; or would she have her own room? She did feel tired and was aching to lay in a real bed, on a real mattress, not a lumpy and stained cot. She waited to hear what would happen next, her heart almost thudding out of her chest.

The sound of her voice made Alwyn smiled, he finally heard something instead of nodding and shaking head. He took the contract and called the maids in again. Alwyn gave the contract to the maid and soon the maid took the contract away. They're now officially 'engaged'. Alwyn stood from his seat and took Charlotte's hand, guiding her to the door. He could feel her warm hand in his, made him somehow felt peace.

As soon as they were close to the door, the maid wanted to open the door, but he put his hand up, "No, let me open the door for my bride," he smiled as he pushed the door open and let Charlotte walked out first. After the door was closed, Alwyn looked at her and smiled, "There is a party tonight, I want you to dress up and come with me. I will also announce our engagement, you need to prepare yourself well since you will be rained by questions. You will have your own room until we are married, the maids will take you there," he took Charlotte's hand and kissed the top of her smooth hand, "I'll see you tonight, my dear," he winked before he let Charlotte's hand go.

Alwyn looked at Karlo who was just arrived behind them. Karlo bowed, "Lord Alwyn, Lady Mina is waiting for you at the garden," Alwyn snapped his fingers, "Ah yes, I forgot about her, tell her I will be there in 5 minutes," Alwyn looked at Charlotte once again and smiled before he off to see Lady Mina.

Charlotte placed her hand in his own, surprised at his touch. It almost seemed.. gentle, something she wasn't use to. She followed him out of the dining room and bowed her head slightly as a thank you when he opened the door for her. She nodded and watched him walk off, following the maid to her bedroom, and it blew her expectations. She figured she'd be sleeping on another shitty cot, but no. There was a four poster plus bed in the middle of the room, a satin burgundy bedspread with matching pillows decorated it. She let out the air she had been holding in. "It's.. beautiful." She said to herself, but the maid standing beside her nodded. "Yes, my lady. The Lord treats us good, even the butler." She said and led Charlotte to a large vanity, opening the door. There were full length mirrors on each side and inside several beautiful gowns. "Lord Alwyn would love you in this, my lady." The maid who accompanied her said, bringing out a beautiful black and white gown. The sleeves fell off her elbows and ruffled at the top. It was a corset top that flowed down to a mermaid style dress. She put it on, with the help of the maid, and was a little surprised at her changed appearance. "Let me do your hair, my lady." The maid said. She piled Charlotte's dark curly hair back, pinning it with a few pearl pins. When she was done, she had on a pearl necklace, a present from Alwyn, her future husband.

Standing up, Charlotte was almost unrecognizable. She thanked the maid and soon enough, the party was staring. She waited for Alwyn to accompany her, her heart pounding out of her chest.