Claire was examining herself in a full-body mirror. Despite the amount of decadence already present in the bedroom, there was even more to it.
The closest wasn't so much a closet, it was more akin to an entirely different room.
The walk-in was filled to the brim with various dresses, shoes, and jewelry—basically anything that could possibly placate Catherine.
Claire wasn't exactly interested in those things at the moment. Don't get her wrong, she was extremely pleased with the staggering amount of materialism on display.
But right now Claire was busy trying to overwrite her old visage with Catherines. She was a little tired of being shocked every time a mirror was present, but Claire wondered if this little exercise was helping at all.
She idly twirled her white hair with her finger. It had been quite matted down when she initially saw it. However, after bathing and proper grooming, it gained quite a bit of volume.
Claire quite liked the look. She liked the look of everything. Catherine was fair-skinned, slim, and tall. Very tall actually.
Catherine was 5 '7. Which would be considered tall for modern society. However, when compared to the other women of this world. Catherine was practically a giant.
Through the newspaper, Claire determined the year was supposedly 1821. Which was immediately familiar to her as soon as she read it.
I hope I don't have to read about something every time Catherine's memories need to be jogged.
Claire was also puzzled about something else. 1821…that year didn't seem right to her. Some technological advancements present seemed a bit sophisticated for the period.
Well, the game never actually specified what time it was supposed to be. So Claire decided it would be best if she didn't entirely rely on her perceptions from the real world.
Regardless of anachronisms. The fact that it was vaguely the 1800s meant the height of a woman was on average shorter. Catherine towered above almost anyone who shared her sex. In fact, she was often on par with those of the opposite sex.
Claire was now amusing herself by striking poses in the mirror. Before greater inspiration struck. She headed into her bedroom and returned with a cigarette filter.
Claire never smoked in her previous life, but Catherine partook. Despite the switch to another consciousness, Catherine's body still craved nicotine. Which meant only one thing…Claire really wanted a cigarette right now.
Unfortunately, Elizabeth had removed her supply on the doctor's orders. That being said she didn't grab the filter to actually use it. Claire looked like some kind of movie star now, so she'd thought it'd be appropriate to pose like Audrey Hepburn.
She didn't have a black dress on at the moment. In spite of the fact that there were about a hundred of them all around her.
Her satin nightgown was far too comfortable, and she didn't want to go through the effort of changing just for a whim.
She stuck the cigaretteless filter in her mouth. Put one arm to the side, and the other behind her head and smiled. The result was…quite disturbing. Even Claire was taken aback.
My God…I'm terrifying.
She was going for cute. What she ended up with was pure intimidation. Her eyes felt like they could pierce someone's soul, and her smile could only be described as evil.
Was this what I looked like when I smiled at Elizabeth? God, no wonder she's scared of me.
Claire heard a slight creak behind her. She slowly turned around to see Elizabeth standing at the wide-open closet entrance. She had a set of new sheets and an astonished look on her face.
Catherine's own face no longer looked sinister. Her eyes went wide, and her face began to turn a shade of crimson. Elizabeth didn't know what to do, she was still just standing there with the same shocked look on her face.
"Uh…I'm," Catherine stammered out.
Suddenly Elizabeth vanished from sight.
"I'm sorry Ma'am," she shouted behind her.
"Wait Elizabeth!"
Claire rushed out of the room after her, catching her right as she was trying to exit the room.
"Stop right there Elizabeth!" She exclaimed, "I need to talk to you."
Elizabeth slowly turned around. Scared of what was going to happen next.
Catherine started making her way towards her. Elizabeth could feel herself shrinking with every step she made.
It wasn't before long that Catherine was standing directly in front of the lady in waiting. She was a good four inches taller than Elizabeth, but at that moment it might as well have been four feet!
Elizabeth closed her eyes and braced herself for what was going to happen next. Only to feel both of her hands gently clasped. She opened her eyes and looked up at Catherine, who had a benevolent look on her face.
"I know I said as much the other day, but I wanted to properly thank you for taking care of me," Catherine said.
Elizabeth was taken aback. It was true she had been very kind to her yesterday, but she thought for sure Catherine would've been back to normal by now.
"Oh Ma'am I didn't do all that much, you should be more thankful to the doctor he did a lot more than I could've," she paused for a moment. "Besides, much of the other staff did their due diligence to help as well."
Catherine replied immediately and curtly, "Well I didn't see any of the other help when I finally awoke from that fever. Not even my father or brother were there to greet me. I still haven't seen either of them."
Elizabeth didn't know how to respond to that, so she remained silent. She was aware the duke had been present initially but had left as soon as Lady Catherine was stable.
"But you were here when I woke up, and I don't even need to be told that you were by my side during the entire endeavor," She stated warmly.
At this, Catherine turned around and put her hand up to her chin, tilting her head slightly before speaking
"But you're right about one thing. I'll have to make sure to personally thank the doctor for his help."
This was too much. Elizabeth was worried about speaking out of turn, but she couldn't help herself. Lady Catherine was behaving so strangely, she needed to do something.
"Lady Catherine," Elizabeth tried her best to sound stern. "Something's still the matter with you-. Even if you don't have a fever anymore you still need bed rest until you get better!"
Catherine turned around and looked at Elizabeth with a bemused expression.
"Elizabeth I feel perfectly fine, what's the cause for concern?"
Elizabeth shifted uncomfortably.
"Well miss it's just- it's just your being so nice!" Elizabeth blurted out.
Catherine was somewhat caught off guard by how direct Elizabeth was. Her surprise was replaced by mirth, and she couldn't help but laugh.
"Oh my God she's finally lost it," Elizabeth thought.
Catherine stifled her laugh.
"I'm sorry Elizabeth," she regained her composure. "This is all my fault."
She looked Elizabeth in the eye before continuing to speak.
"I've been so cruel to you all these years; that me being out of my mind is a far more likely explanation than just a change of heart."
Of course, the reality of why Catherine was acting differently was more insane than any explanation one might rationally come up with; but Claire knew better than to start speaking the truth of the matter.
"Elizabeth- I promise you I'm not insane," Catherine stated flatly.
She then paused for a moment, trying to find the words to convince Elizabeth. Quickly she formulated what she was going to say before starting up again.
"I've had three days to stew in all my past experiences. I don't know what it was about this fever, but all my memories were extremely vivid."
This was true to some extent. Catherine continued.
"One of the things that hit me the hardest was that despite all the things you've done for me I've only ever treated you like dirt."
Catherine put her arms on Elizabeth's shoulders.
"You've been there for me far more than my so-called actual family. You've done so much for me it would be silly to even call you a servant at this point-."
Catherine paused for a moment. "Your behavior is far more in line with that of a friend."
Catherine hugged Elizabeth, holding her close to her chest.
"So what do you say, Elizabeth? Do you want to be my friend?"
Elizabeth burst into tears. The thing that she had hoped for most of her life was finally a reality. Lady Catherine had acknowledged her hard work. Furthermore, she wanted to be her friend!
Elizabeth embraced Catherine, before belting out a reply between sobs.
"Oh Lady Catherine, I never thought-," She looked up at Catherine. "Yes, I would love to be friends with you!"
They held each other until Elizabeth stopped crying, which took a while. After all this moment had been thirteen years in the making.
Anyone passing by the room most likely assumed Catherine was surely up to her old tricks again.
Finally, the crying subsided and Catherine offered her handkerchief. Elizabeth tried to deny it, but Catherine wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Why don't we celebrate with a nice dinner?" Catherine suggested.
"Oh no madam, I could never impose on you like that."
"Now now don't be like that," Catherine said matter of factly. "I don't want to hear any talk of imposing."
Catherine put her hands on her hips to emphasize her next point. "Besides, I need to finally get out of this stuffy old house, and get some fresh air."
Elizabeth sighed before replying.
"Alright, madam if you insist."
Catherine smiled before turning around and clasping Elizabeth's hands in her own.
"Now I just knew you'd agree! I'll even let you borrow one of my beautiful dresses."
Catherine threw her left arm out towards the direction of the closet to put emphasis on the point.
Elizabeth looked somewhat uncomfortable again, Catherine immediately picking up on it.
Oh Elizabeth, still being modest. I bet you'd look stunning in one of these dresses, no way am I going to let you decline!
"Um…I appreciate the thought Ma'am, but I don't think they would fit me very well." She looked up at Catherine to emphasize the height difference.
"Ah ha, whoops," Catherine rubbed the back of her head. "Guess I got a little bit ahead of myself there."
Claire wasn't exactly used to being extremely taller than everyone else.
"It's okay Lady Catherine, I have some formal wear. It's far more conservative than anything that you might-," Elizabeth was cut off by Catherine before she could finish.
"Don't worry about Elizabeth, I'm sure it will be just fine." She said assuredly
Catherine started making her way to the walk-in closet to pick out what she was going to wear.
"Madam aren't you forgetting something?" Elizabeth questioned.
"Hmmm?" Catherine responded genuinely puzzled.
"We still need to dye your hair!" Elizabeth said. "We wouldn't want to stain any of your dresses during the process."
"Oh of course," Catherine replied, caught off guard. "Why don't you go ahead and start getting things ready, I'll join you shortly."
"Of Course, Ma'am," Elizabeth replied before heading out of the bedroom.
Claire fell forward onto the bed and groaned.
I don't want any of that crap touching my hair for one second.
"Argh!" Catherine yelled out before throwing a pillow across the room.