A travel backpack.
Before Sophie had fallen from the cliff, the gold-toothed driver had stolen her backpack along with all her money. After killing her murderer, all she had recovered was a bouquet of flowers. She had long since assumed her belongings were gone forever.
Yet now, the luggage she had believed lost beyond recovery sat quietly beside the chair Jane had been using. Inside should still be the two changes of clothes she had brought with her on the trip.
Sophie climbed out of the pool.
The torn scraps of clothing scattered along the edge had already been cleaned away, replaced with a soft, freshly folded bath towel.
Wrapping the towel tightly around herself, she fought the urge to sprint straight toward her backpack. She wanted nothing more than to dig out a few comfortable, lightweight clothes, change into them before Jane returned, then feign regret as though she had simply stumbled upon them by chance.
Unfortunately, before she could put that plan into action, two maidservants appeared soundlessly beside the pool.
They wore wine-red cloaks, their red eyes matching the color of their garments. One of them carried the outfit Jane had prepared with both hands, while the other bowed respectfully.
"Jane has ordered us to assist you in getting dressed."
Sophie loosened her grip on the towel wrapped around her body.
For a brief moment after discovering Jane had left, she had entertained the thought of resisting by changing back into the clothes she had brought from Italy. The sudden appearance of the two maids, however, extinguished every excuse she could possibly make.
Having already crossed the boundary between life and death, Sophie treasured the second chance she had been given. She couldn't tell whether her willingness to obey Jane stemmed from fear or from the overwhelming fondness she had felt since the moment they first met.
The clothes really are beautiful, she quietly told herself. Try something new, Sophie. That's always been your specialty.
At least for now, under Aro's orders, Jane was willing to protect her for a while.
The respectful treatment these two maids showed her existed solely because of Jane's command.
In a sense, it reflected the attitude of the entire Volturi.
Once Sophie removed the towel, the maids worked together with practiced precision, dressing her piece by piece in the expensive outfit Jane had personally selected.
They focused entirely on their task without allowing their eyes to wander, completing the process with remarkable efficiency.
The undergarments felt nothing like the cotton or polyester fabrics Sophie usually bought. Their smooth texture immediately revealed them to be finely woven silk, a luxury far beyond anything produced by modern industrial manufacturing.
Handmade lace decorated both the collar of the bodice and the neckline, while subtle embroidered patterns shimmered across the skirt, understated yet unmistakably elegant.
As unfamiliar garments enveloped her one after another, Sophie herself seemed transformed.
She looked less like someone from the twenty-first century and more like a noble lady who had stepped straight out of the Middle Ages and accidentally wandered into the modern world.
Thinking back to the palace she now lived in, Sophie wasn't even sure the vampires acknowledged the concept of modernity at all. It felt as though Jane wanted her not merely to wear Volturi clothing, but to become a part of the Palazzo dei Priori itself.
The ribbons in her hair and around her neck were tied into graceful bows and immaculate Windsor knots. Once the gown had been fully arranged, the maids carefully draped the red cloak trimmed with golden edging over her shoulders.
Sophie immediately noticed how reverently they handled the cloak itself.
Compared to theirs, it merely possessed a few extra golden patterns...
Yet somehow, that difference carried tremendous significance.
Slowly, Sophie began piecing together the hierarchy represented by color alone.
Red.
Yellow.
Gray.
Black.
Each color represented another step upward.
Combined with variations in embroidery and inner linings, the clothing itself became a visible symbol of an enormous family governed by rigid ranks.
Jane wore black.
Which meant she stood very close to the center of the Volturi's power.
After completing the final step, the two maids picked up Sophie's used towel and prepared to leave.
"Wait!"
Sophie hurriedly stopped them.
"Where are you going? To find Jane? Should I come too?"
The maids exchanged hesitant glances before answering carefully.
"This waterfall is Jane's personal territory. Entry and departure both require her permission."
In other words...
Sophie wasn't allowed to leave without Jane's approval.
As though afraid she might ask more questions, the two maids quickly excused themselves and departed.
Perfect.
Remembering the elegant ladies she'd seen in period dramas, Sophie gathered her skirts and hurried toward the backpack she had miraculously recovered.
Now that she had already finished dressing, even if she found her own clothes inside, she doubted she'd bother changing again.
After discovering just how frighteningly powerful she had become, Sophie took extraordinary care while pulling open the zipper.
Excellent.
The zipper survived.
Bad news.
Not a single piece of clothing remained inside.
Sophie couldn't help laughing bitterly at herself.
All of her earlier hesitation suddenly seemed ridiculous. She had believed she actually had a choice. She had arrogantly imagined that obeying Jane had been her own decision.
In reality...
There had never been any alternative.
"The clothes fit you perfectly."
Jane's voice suddenly sounded behind her.
Startled, Sophie let go of the backpack.
Before it could hit the ground, Jane caught it effortlessly and handed it back to her personally.
Only then did Sophie notice that Jane had changed clothes as well. Tiny droplets still clung to her damp silver hair, sliding slowly from the tips of the strands.
"Thank you..."
"Your belongings have been recovered. Why aren't you happy?" Jane stepped closer, studying the obvious dissatisfaction written across Sophie's face. "That necktie is distracting."
As she spoke, she untied the Windsor knot the maids had fastened, freeing Sophie's neck.
"My clothes and my tablet are gone," Sophie said. "Do you know where they are?"
"I do. Electronic devices aren't allowed inside the underground palace. They pose too great a security risk." Jane admitted it without hesitation.
"I had your tablet stored at the administrative office upstairs. As for those clothes..." She spoke matter-of-factly. "I threw them away. They were all practically falling apart anyway. Better to discard them than have you risk exposing yourself every time they tore."
Taking a step back, Jane admired Sophie's appearance with obvious satisfaction.
"Don't worry. I'll compensate you with clothes that are far prettier than those."
Then she smiled faintly.
"Come on It's time for today's vampire lesson."
Taking hold of Sophie's wrist once more, Jane added another compliment.
"These clothes suit you perfectly. It's as though you were born to wear them."
After a brief pause, she asked,
"By the way, how old are you?"
"Twenty-two."
Jane fell silent for a moment.
"Older than I expected. Judging by your height, I thought you were about my age."
After all, once Sophie had taken off her clothes earlier, Jane had immediately realized there was a considerable difference between their bodies.
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