Chapter 3 - I - The great sneaker of Chersea 

 

***One time at the Holy Chambers palace***

 

The Holy Palatial Gardens’ Head Maid, Lilyhaven Tamriel von Leese, stood by one window of the palace.  Her eyes looked toward the gardens, though her mind was flying elsewhere.

 

“Haa…”

 

“That’s one melancholic sigh you got there, Lily.”

 

The Head Maid’s train of thoughts stopped.  Turning around, she saw Her Holiness, the Saint of Chersea, standing behind her.

 

“Y-Your Holiness!” she almost jumped in surprise, “I didn’t notice you at all!”

 

“Indeed.  I’ve been here since the start of the chapter and was looking for you before that.”

 

“Ha?”

 

“Don’t mind me.”

 

“M-My apologies, Y-Your Holiness!” the Head Maid bowed, “I made you wait for long.”

 

“Nah, it’s fine.” the Saint replied, along with a gentle smile, “Well, to be honest, I was looking for you because lately I noticed something different.  And I’d like to confirm my thoughts about it.”

 

The Head Maid fell silent.

 

“You know what I’m talking about, right, Princess Lily?”

 

“About him?”

 

“Yes.” the Saint nodded, “That guy from the otherworld, Kuro.”

 

The Head Maid sighed, “Well, I find him trustworthy…”

 

“Indeed, you are.  You’re even willing to fight your fellow servants to protect him.”

 

“He has done nothing wrong.”

 

“I believe so too; I can read minds, remember?” Her Holiness hugged her friend, at which the Head Maid huddled up to her, “And I’m really glad you became lively once again.”

 

“T-thanks, Your Holiness!”

 

“Yes…however, you know very well that Kuro is a different person, right?” the Saint gently tapped the Head Maid’s shoulder, “That he won’t be a replacement for your older brother.”

 

“I understand that, Your Holiness…” the Head Maid went back to staring outside, as tears fell from her eyes, “However, I can’t help it.  Mister Kuro reminds me of him, especially, after that time when Mister Kuro pushed me out of harm’s way to save me.”

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t save your brother back then.”

 

“Hm…it’s alright, Your Holiness.” the Head Maid wiped her tears, “I know you did everything you could.  It’s just that, my brother gave up his life for me…”

 

 

**Kuro**

 

Ahh…a new ‘day’ has arrived.

 

Ever since that incident with the maids happened, I’d been living a quiet life.  

 

Maybe they realized I don’t mean any harm and stopped plotting against me?

 

That, I couldn’t say; their sharp stares and persistent grumbling remained the same, though.  But there were no bullying incidences against me…at least for the meantime.

 

Now that I think about it, I guess that happened about four days ago?  Or a week?  

 

Well, sorry about that; it seemed like I lost track of time.  This world, Chersea, wasn’t like where I came from—Earth.  If Earth had day and night, here at Chersea, it’s always light.  The only actual sign of the passing of time—according to what I read in the books—was when the people themselves age, or when the climate changes, similar to the seasonal cycles back in my old world.

 

“Hey!” I waved at a passing guard, “Can I know what season it is right now?”

 

“Hmm?  Well, it’s the ‘Season of Sleep’.” she noted the flying butterflies, “That’s why you see a lot of these beautiful creatures around.”

 

“I see.  Thanks!”

 

The ‘Season of Sleep’.  According to the books, this was when the people of Chersea remember their dead loved ones.  The sign that it was already the ‘Season of Sleep’ was when the first butterflies appear, which they believed to contain the souls of those who died.

 

“So, the people of Chersea also have a time for this, huh…” Somehow, a bittersweet and heavy feeling grew within my chest.  It’s as if I’m missing something, or someone, yet I couldn’t remember who it was.  Perhaps this had something to do with my previous life back on Earth…

 

Well, I can’t say.  My mind was empty anyway.

 

“Hm?  Time for what?”

 

I almost jumped when I saw the Head Maid approaching me from behind.  

 

“Sorry.  Did I just startle you?”

 

Yeah, you just did.  You’re going to kill me soon, you know!  I wanted to say that, but well, I opted not to.  It’s pretty trivial anyway, so I just greeted her with my usual line, “Err…what’s up?”

 

“Well, I just passed by.”

 

Yeah, she always says that.

 

“By the way, have you already taken your breakfast?” the Head Maid showed me a basket, “I brought some food from the kitchen.  It seems the maids there made a little more than the usual.”

 

“Oh, actually I haven’t eaten yet.”  Now that I remember it, I just woke up and hadn’t got to eat yet, “What have you got in there?”

 

“Well first, let’s head to the table over there.” We took the nearby vacant set of garden tables and chairs.  Then, she brought out the contents of the basket, “Here’s some soup, there’s a bunch of bread too…”

 

A few moments later, various foods of all colors, shapes, and sizes filled the table, complete with a fancy tablecloth and elegant drinking glasses and cutlery.  There’s even a bottle of sparkling wine that, according to her, was an ‘extra’ from the Saint’s breakfast.

 

Uh, Head Maid, I think this was more like a full-course meal than something that was leftovers from the kitchen…

 

 

Oh, and the Saint of Chersea allowed me to stay in her palace for a while.  She said she wouldn’t mind if I prolong or take permanent residence in her home; the decision was up to me.  However, out of modesty and ethics, it was me who insisted that I would only stay here until I found a house outside the Palatial walls.

 

“Ah, there you go cleaning again!”  After I finished breakfast with the Head Maid, I volunteered to take in some cleaning tasks.  But the Head Maid won’t have me do anything else…

 

“…”

 

Yep, the Saint let me stay at this place.  Complete with food and other essentials…

 

…all for nothing.

 

Well, I understood that Saint Maddie was a spontaneous person.  But hell, this was torture!  Imagine summoning me to a strange world out of boredom and then letting me stay at her house for free.  

 

Come on, I mean, it may sound appealing to many who wanted to laze around—and I’m also guilty of that—but hey, spending your entire life doing nothing except eat, sleep, drink, bathe, then rinse and repeat was freaking torture!  And staying in someone else’s house doubles the awkward, and useless, feeling that you get; as a human, it hurts my pride.

 

I don’t want to live and die like a free-loader.  Heck, now that I recall, even a free-loader had something to burn their days away, like playing online games forever…

 

So, when I adapted to this new setting, I immediately set out to find something to do.  Like cooking, or cleaning, or doing the laundry, or reading books, or feeding the horses, or polishing the equipment of the guards of the palace.

 

Anything.  As long as my hands were busy…

 

However, there was someone who kept on preventing me to be of use.

 

“Kuro!” the Head Maid was stomping her feet as she raised her voice, “Stop with the cleaning, washing the laundry, cooking, and anything else that you’re doing for a while; you’re taking over someone else’s job.”

 

I stared blankly at the Head Maid.  Well, she has a point.

 

“So what am I supposed to do?”

 

“Hmm…I don’t know.  Look, I’m glad that you are of help, but please don’t interfere with our work here.  The other servants are just pushing their work unto you and it hurts their discipline.” the Head Maid tried her best to control her tone,  “Maybe if you’d like to, you can go to the library and read the books there?”

 

“Good lord, I finished all the books in there outside the ‘restricted’ section.”

 

“Oh…”  She fell silent for a moment, before continuing, “Well, I’m sure you’ll find something else to do.”

 

And then another round of awkward quiet ruled between us.  Honestly, I didn’t know what to say; I’m too intimidated to speak, lest I earn her anger once again.  However, after a long while, it was the Head Maid who eventually broke the ice.

 

“By the way Kuro.”

 

“Hm?”

 

“I haven’t thanked you yet.”

 

“What for?”

 

“Well, I know that was an alibi you gave me back when you got attacked in your room.” she confessed, “And I hate liars.”

 

“Oh…” I forcefully laughed, “Sorry about that.”

 

“No, no!  As I’ve said, I haven’t thanked you yet.” the Head Maid quickly countered my statement with a bow, “I’m not angry; well, just a little angry.  But lately, I’ve realized why you did that.”

 

I was silent.  I didn’t know what to say; she saw through my ruse.

 

“You considered the lives of those girls who hurt you.  You don’t want them to lose their work, isn’t it?”

 

Err…aren’t you mistaking something, Head Maid?

 

But she continued, with a dreamy expression on her face, “And you also considered my feelings.  To be honest, I want nothing bad to happen to them; I mean, they only acted that way because of their love and respect for Her Holiness.”

 

Uh-huh…just like any girl.  The Head Maid’s reading too much from what I did.

 

“And for that, thank you Kuro!”

 

I’m feeling guilty over that sweet, innocent smile the Head Maid showed me.  I should correct her before the misunderstanding increased…

 

“You know, Head Maid…” She was quiet, and her eyes never wavered from me as I explained to her the reasons I saved her subordinates.  Deep inside, I hoped she would understand me; I took care of the words I say.

 

“Oh, so that’s what you’ve been thinking, huh?” the Head Maid closed her eyes and nodded, “I see now, Kuro.”

 

Ah, I guess that’s fine if the Head Maid understood.  At least, I will not feel bad whenever that topic got brought up.

 

“You’re an honest person, huh?” she commented, her voice had this strange heavy tone to it, “I like that side of you; reminds me of someone close to me…”

 

“Hm?”

 

“Err…n-nothing!  Haha!”

 

“…”

 

I didn’t know why, but the atmosphere suddenly grew awkward.  I guess I need to change the topic…

 

“You know, I was wondering why the Saint summoned me if this world’s as peaceful as it is.” I sighed while muttering, “I mean, there’s not even a demon lord that’s evil enough to make war against humans, beastfolk, dwarves, and elves like in the stories.”

 

“Ah, yeah.  It’s too peaceful, it’s boring.” Lily replied, her eyes were gazing far ahead of us.

 

“Eh?  You want a war to erupt, huh?”

 

“Nah, don’t mind me.” she dismissed my comment with a chuckle, “I was just joking.”

 

I only stared blankly at her.  This one’s a closet warmonger, I’ll remember that.

 

“Ah, you know Her Holiness, she does what she thinks would make her happy—even if it’s just on a whim.  But she’s still a good person deep inside; I’m sure the Saint will have a purpose for you soon because it is her will to summon you.”

 

“Yeah, I get it.” I couldn’t hide the disinterest in my voice.  Honestly, I’ve had enough of hearing that.  Observing the customs of those around me, I noticed that the phrase ‘Saint’s Holy Will’ was their excuse if something unfavorable happened in their lives.  

 

After all, in this world, the ‘Saints’ are existences that are equated to deities.

 

“Oh yes, speaking of Her Holiness…” the Head Maid tapped my shoulder, “If you’re looking for something to do, you could bring her lunch if you wish.  The food’s in the kitchen, she’s currently at the courtyard attending to some visiting patrons.”

 

“Alright.  I’ll do just that then!”