Aschenputtel Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

That day, a woman visited the retreat. She had pale and curly, yet neat blonde hair, along with a pair of bleached-blue eyes. She wore a charcoal black coat with heels of a matching colour. She wore opaque black tights and under her coat was a red and white-spotted short-sleeved blouse, accompanied with a long black skirt. She walked with great formality and the second she saw the Führer, it was as if she had seen Jesus Christ himself. She threw herself at him and kissed his cheek. I guessed she and the Führer were somehow related. That was until she mentioned the word ‘Liebling’. I was scrubbing the floor in the corridor of the bottom floor when I heard this. I stopped, astonished. Then, a loud voice brought me back to my senses.

“Get back to work, Horse-face!” This time, it wasn’t one of the soldiers. This time, it was him. The Führer. I felt my insides boiling in anger. Did he fake all of the times he said he loved me? Did he lie to me? Don’t get me wrong, I hate him nevertheless, it’s just that what he said made me loathe him further. 

“Who is that, kleine Perle?” The woman asked.

“Just one of the maids, Eva. Nothing to worry about.” The Führer replied. Eva and the Führer walked past me and out into the backyard. I carried on scrubbing, trying to bottle the anger within. Then, I felt a sharp pain in my back as someone kicked me.

“You missed out a spot, Abscheulich Aschenputtel.” Klara’s voice said. I sighed and returned back to the place I just finished scrubbing.

“Don’t you dare sigh!” Henriette kicked me as her harsh voice resonated in the corridor. 

“Pardon, Madame Henriette.” I said obediently. I had no choice. Ever since I told Klara about what I went through with the Führer, she had manipulated everything to her own advantage and made Henriette and Kasia detest me more than the Nazis hated the Soviets. Since June 22nd this year, ‘Operation Barbarossa’ has been launched as an attempt to take over the USSR. I couldn’t care less about what the Führer is planning to do with the Soviets, all I cared about is whether I’ll be able to live long enough to see the III Reich fall. With those three demons I used to call friends and my boss’ “Liebling”, my chances were close to none.

That night, Eva was to sleep with the Führer, while I was thrown into the maid barracks. Since I didn’t have any pyjamas, I was forced to wear my maid’s uniform to sleep today. How pleasant it was to have my best friends by my side that night. They were so kind to keep me up all night, talking about how I’m a slut, a brat and how I didn’t deserve to live. Ha. So sweet. However, one thing kept on bugging me while my colleagues were saying those 'kind' words and 'patting' me ‘gently’ on my back. Before Hitler sent me to the barracks, he looked around to make sure his lover wasn’t around, before saying,

“Fräulein Jeanne, please believe me when I say that I still love you. I will prove this to you.” Of course, I had to reply with the standard: ‘I understand, mein Führer’, but I really just shrugged it off as if it was nothing.

Next morning, the sun was out, shining brightly. I was barely alive after the beating I received last night. I could hear the other three maids snoring. Each one alone was quiet, but in unison, they were louder than a trumpet on full-blast. I slowly got out of bed, knowing that they’ll be asleep for a bit longer. I creeped out of the barracks and entered the house to be greeted by a loud argument.

“Betrüger!” Eva’s voice echoed through the bottom floor. I hid behind the wall of the living room and listened to the argument. “How could you do something so terrible?! Here I was, thinking that you truly love me!” I couldn’t believe my own ears. Is she really saying this?

“Eva, please calm down.” The Führer seemed very calm, which made me slightly uneasy. “I was planning to tell you yesterday, but you never wanted to listen. So I decided to tell you now. It is Jeanne I love, not you.” I heard an extremely loud ‘bang!’ of a slap and the slamming of a door. I emerged from behind the wall and walked slowly towards the Führer, he looked at me and forced a little smile onto his face.

“H-Hallo, Jeanne.” He said, looking down to at the floor. There was a crimson-red mark of where Eva had slapped him.

“Mein Führer…” I could barely speak from what I heard. “W-were those words true?”

“As true as my hatred for Communists and the Jews.” How am I supposed to react to that? I’m guessing his love was true. I moved closer and embraced him.

“Adolf…” I said. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“I thought you’d work it out yourself.”

“That’s not very helpful after what happened yesterday.” I moved away from him slightly. He finally looked up at me.

“You’re right. I don’t deserve your love after what happened.” He suddenly reached for his Luger pistol and forced it into my hand. He held out my hand so that the pistol was aiming at his chest. “Fire!” He yelled. “Fire! I am not worthy to have your love after being such an atrocious man! SHOOT ME!!”

“NO!!” I screamed, louder than him. He looked at him, as if astonished. My, he was a good actor. He stood up and took the Luger from me gently, before placing it back in its place at his waist. We stared at each other for a while, until he broke the silence.

“Take off that uniform,” He said, not a single emotion could be found in his voice. “And put on some normal clothes. You are no longer a maid.” He fell onto one knee and took out a box from his pocket. “Will you marry me?”

Author’s Notes: Thank you for reading this chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Here are the translations for the words used in this chapter:

Liebling (German) - A cute nickname for one’s lover

Madame (French) - Mistress

Kleine Perle (German) - Little pearl (another nickname)

Betrüger (German) - Cheater

Abscheulich (German) - Loathsome