Chapter 455: Sudden changes
Rav was currently in the room he shared with Evenly, trying to make her take the medication the doctor had recommended for her leg cramps and muscle aches that came with the pregnancy, but she didn’t like it, as she claimed it tasted and smelled like a dead rat.
"Have you ever had a dead rat before?" he questioned with a small chuckle, which made Evenly glare at him while pressing her palm to her mouth.
"I know how it smells, and that thing smells exactly like that after I swallow it. Try taking it yourself and see what I am talking about. Even the baby doesn’t like it. Whenever I take it, the baby’s kicks become harder than normal. The kicks are painful at times you know."
Rav looked down at the medicine inside the bowl. "The baby doesn’t like it?" he muttered, wondering how it tasted, and was about to bring it to his mouth to sip and see if it indeed smelled like a dead rat when the door of their room was flung open and Angel sprinted into the room, calling urgently,
"Uncle Rav, come real quick! Mama body is on fire and wants help from you!"
His words caused Rav to drop the bowl of medicine in alarm and swirled around to the direction of the small boy. The lady was on fire?! Rav thought with his brows pulled together in concern.
Evenly pushed up from the bed. "Let’s go and see!" She began to hurry toward the door with her belly thrust forward and her hands supporting her waist, but Rav pulled her back gently.
"Stay right here. I will go and see what’s happening. I can’t smell any fire in the house; Angel might have his words mixed up again."
The boy had his own way of phrasing things sometimes, making it hard to understand what he truly meant. Before Rav could even say more, Angel was already dragging him out of the room with surprising strength for his small size. Rav hurriedly closed the door behind them so Evenly wouldn’t follow, telling her firmly to rest in the room.
Rav carried the boy in his arms and sprinted up the stairs toward the master’s bedroom, his heart slamming in his chest at the thought of anything happening to Belle. Though he couldn’t sense any fire, even as he got closer, he knew the boy had rushed to get him because something else had happened.
However, when Rav ran into the already open room, he came to a sudden stop, his eyes falling on the bed and seeing the lady sitting there. He let out a deep sigh of relief before turning to look at Angel, whose worried face brightened instantly at the sight of his mother upright against the headboard.
"I thought you said your mother was on fire, Angel. Where is the fire?" Rav asked as he set the boy down.
He had known the boy likely had his words mixed up again. Angel did that sometimes, like the time he once told Rav that "Enny stomach fall down real hard," when in truth he had meant that Evenly had bent over clutching her stomach because she had eaten something that upset it.
Angel ran toward the bed, hopping onto it to hug his mother, who looked fine and absolutely normal now, smiling at him and opening her arms to hold him.
"Mama, you fine now?" Angel asked as he cupped her face in his small palms, studying her face. Earlier, she had been sweating and turning red, but now she looked normal again. Except for the slight paleness in her cheeks, there were no traces left of the heat he had accidentally pushed into her.
"Yes, I am fine, son," she smiled, her fingers stroking his cheek warmly. Angel grinned and placed a kiss on her face before letting his hand rest on her round belly.
"Baby also fine?" he asked, his mouth pursed in concentration.
The heat from him had gone all the way to the baby earlier, he had felt the little one become restless inside her stomach when he got up to go, which was why he had hurried to get Uncle Rav to come. If someone placed a hand on Angel’s chest right now, they would feel his tiny heart still pounding hard from fear.
"Yes, baby is fine too," Belle said before turning her eyes to Rav, who stood at the door smiling at the sweet scene of mother and son together. He gave a curt bow and said,
"Angel told me you were on fire, so I came hurrying here. I’m glad it’s nothing serious, my lady," he explained, still smiling faintly at how Angel had scared him. His smile faltered though, when he noticed the lady wasn’t returning it like she usually did. Instead, she frowned, a sharp crease forming between her brows, and her voice turned stern as she spoke to him.
"When you give them an inch, they take a mile. Give someone a chance to feel free, and they start forgetting who and what they are. It has reached a point where a servant doesn’t know his place in my house anymore. I know I have allowed you to address Angel by his name until now, Rav, but I want it to stop from today onward. You work for my family, and as a servant, you should address my son as ’Young Master’. Understand?"
Belle’s tone was sharp while she stroked her son’s hair. A look of confusion and embarrassment settled on Rav’s face as he hadn’t seen her words coming, but regardless, he quickly bowed his head.
"I apologize for crossing the lines, my lady," he said, feeling uncertain and even more bemused by the lady’s words. Just a few days ago, she had assured him he was a part of her family, but now she was putting him back in his place, reminding him who he truly was.
Though in many noble households the servants do not address even the children by name, nobody had ever corrected or scolded him for addressing the young master by his name, not even the lady, until now. Had he done something wrong to displease her?
Belle smiled in pleasure and then continued to say, "I sent Angel to call you because I need a cold tea to cool the heat in my body. Hurry and make me a cup," she ordered strictly, waving him away with her hand.
Even Angel moved back from her chest to look at her face at the tone of her voice and the way she was talking to his uncle Rav. His mama had taught him to be nice to everyone and never order people around, even if they worked for you. She had also taught him to always add please and thank you. But now it seemed she was forgetting what she had taught him and was not talking nicely to uncle Rav at all.
"Mama, Uncle Rav—"
"Don’t ever call him that again, Angel. He’s not your uncle. He’s our servant, and servants never become part of the family. He has lowly blood in him and needs to remain like that. If I hear you call him uncle again, I will be really mad at you and won’t talk to you again. Do I make myself clear?"
Angel’s young face fell at his mother’s words, his lips drooping downward in a way that made him look even more babyish.
In all his young life, his mother had been his role model. She taught him manners and how to be kind to everyone. But more than anything, she meant so much to him that everything she said became his law. If she told him not to do something, Angel made sure he never did that thing. And as hard as what she was currently telling him not to do was, Angel would obey.
Angel’s eyes went to Rav, whose head was still bowed down, and then turned back to his mother who was waiting for his reply. He finally nodded his head slowly.
"Yes, Mama. Un— Rav is servant, not uncle from now."
Belle’s face broke into a proud smile as she hugged her son and praised, "I am so proud of you. Servants will always be servants. Go and get me my cold tea right now." She turned to order Rav again.
Rav felt suddenly lost and a bit hurt at the change in the lady’s attitude, but he gave a nod and left to do as she ordered. He had known, deep down, that what the lady told him a few days ago might have been too good to be true. Servants never truly became family. Yet she had been so kind to him that he believed it anyway. He thought it was real. He had even begun to talk with her freely, with comfort he never thought possible.
What could have caused such a sudden shift? A few weeks ago, she had even insisted he shouldn’t work in the kitchen anymore and should let the new servants handle the work, saying he needed to focus more on Evenly and their unborn child. But now, she was suddenly like this? Like a stranger wearing the same face. Did something happen while she was away with the master?
Rav wondered as he left to do what he was ordered before she would snap at him again. He would have to wait for the master to hear what must have gone wrong because something wasn’t right with the mistress.