The third type of reaction connected to the beheading incident was only shown by one person as well. Arthur was furious, but also apparently quite scared because he didn’t come alone to my room. Markus was with him, a hand always near the sword hilt, but otherwise strangely silent and … sober.

“How can I help the two gentlemen?” I was laying on my belly, reading a book about different species of this planet and barely reacted to their presence.

“I suppose you know that all actions have consequences?” I did. If one kills a butterfly … then there is a dead butterfly.

“Kicking Markus’ in the face didn’t have any.” The death of the butterfly doesn’t need to have any consequences. Barely, I could see how Arthur squinted his eyes, while I nonchalantly flipped a page. “She was sentenced to death, rightfully so. I only served justice.”

“Justice? Justice?! She could have lived if you –“He said rather furious as if he had any interest in the maid before her death. If that was the case though, why risk it in the first place?

“A lowly vampire like me is incapable of such a feat. You, a ruler just below the king, could have spared her life though. What I did was my way of serving you, my lord.” I smiled innocently towards him, pouring even more salt into the open wound. He did have interest in her, that was clear after his face contorted rather uglily.

“This will have consequences.” He turned around, hands balled to fists and began to storm out of the room. Just as he was about to leave, Markus just behind him, I spoke up again.

“It will not. I know my value, especially as an assassin or a spy, and so do you. Arthur, I will follow your orders to best of my ability, but I am also looking out for myself. So please do not threaten me again and we can start working on a healthy relationship.” He stopped inside the doorframe but didn’t turn around yet.

“I heard you are conspiring with my wife. Is that true?” So someone was spying on us. This fact alone didn’t surprise me that much, but it did take me off guard that Mary noticed her, although only slightly. I wasn’t the only capable person on this planet after all.

“She tried, but as the prophet mentioned, I will serve whoever saved me. Which is you.” I concluded and pointed out the obvious.

“Then … why did you kill her if not to impress my wife?” Arthur was still suspicious but started to believe me, although only by a little bit.

“To show you that I, contrary to her, am somewhat free to make my own decision. I am not a mindless soldier I am capable of thought which is severely lacking in most people who know how to wield a sword, right Markus?” And so, I told him part of the truth, hoping that he would believe it. And indeed, he did. Slightly less angry, he walked out of the room with Markus. Before the door closed though, he shouted back into the room.

“We will wage war in two weeks. You will accompany us.”

I looked over to my pile of unread books and went through my hair with my hand. Two weeks for this amount of books seemed almost impossible, but on the flip side, I didn’t await any visitors during that time. Arthur had no reason to and Mary certainly had other things to do. Surviving was one of these for example and fulfilling the task I had given her which should become a lot easier after we left. As such, I could spend every single minute reading about this world.

As soon as I wanted to indulge myself in books again, the door opened once again. Annoyed, I stared at Markus who was just throwing a glove onto the floor, right between us. I squinted my eyes and tried to figure out what he was thinking because this proposed challenge was beneficial to no one.

“What are you thinking? Are you even thinking?” Irrational behaviour at its finest. And yet, it certainly took me off guard. How was I supposed to deal with this? Luckily, I didn’t have to answer right away as he turned around, stepped out of the room and left me alone. The left-behind glove made my situation quite tricky. For once, I had to show Arthur that I was indeed valuable and wouldn’t lose against someone with Markus´ abilities. And yet, I couldn’t show what I was capable of just yet.

I couldn’t have Markus going around with boiling anger and envy either. One of them was alright, but both of them combined could lead to a very dangerous mixture in the heat of the battle. I was good, but I was unable to look behind me all the time. All of this hassle because of one stupid and irrational soldier. Sadly, planning ahead was certainly not an option here, especially because I just didn’t know how Markus fought.

As such, the only option was to act on the spot. I continued to read my book about elves and their behaviour, weird beavers with their tribal nature and humans which were praised above all else. The book was certainly biased, most importantly because the author forgets to mention how elves look as if he was envious or something.  

Half an hour later, I was interrupted once again by a knock on the door. At least someone here had some kind of manners. As I already met everyone I was expecting, I was quite surprised to meet a simple maid who opened the door shortly afterwards.

“Can I help you with something?” She carried a small chest in her arms and nervously bit on her lower lip. Annoyed, and yet with a friendly smile on my lips, I tilted my head sideways.

“I- I am here to bring your new clothing.” Neither did I ask for that, nor did I want it. The white dress I wore was already enough terror for me to endure. I loved black and red but white was … meh.

“I am sorry, but I don’t need new clothing. What about my old dress?” I inquired, hoping to get it back as fast as possible.

“It has been burnt.” The maid was certainly scared as my friendly smile vanished for a second, but continued nonetheless. “I- I was ordered to make sure that you wear this.”

She placed the chest in front of the sofa and awkwardly stood around for a few seconds. I blinked a few times, not knowing what she expected from me or how I should react.

“Have you grown roots?” Did she expect me to change in front of her or why hasn’t she run out of the room yet? I admired her courage, but checking on me in half an hour should be enough to see that I changed into these clothes or not.

“No, no! I´m terribly sorry, I just thought that you needed help to bath.” My right hand wandered to my chest where my heart was gripped by an invisible hand. I was still forced to smile to hide my fear of water, and yet the maid grew even more nervous.

“Please stop thinking.” I instantly froze as I realized that my words certainly didn’t fit with the image of a somewhat nice vampire I wanted to have with the servants. “I mean, I am grateful for your consideration, but you do not need to overthink this. I am not a noble and you and I have honestly more similarities than me and the lord for example.” While my earlier words certainly put her off, I kind of saved it later on.

“Uhm. I will wait outside while you change then … feel free to ask for help if you need it.” I nodded as soon as she proposed this and happily waited till she was outside.

“Stupid Arthur. Just give me my dress back.” I was kind of forced to wear this new clothing, especially because the one I was currently wearing was more for sleeping than anything else. As soon as I unpacked the contents of the box though …

Frustrated, I walked towards the door again, opened it and invited the maid inside once again, with a beaming smile on my face.