Chapter 7 - I - Eris finds a friend
***Somewhere in the Servants’ Quarters***
A lone figure of a girl was running down the dark hallways of the Servants’ Quarters. She would occasionally trip but would quickly regain her balance, since she had to keep on running. There’s no room for mistakes. The little light burning on the tip of her finger didn’t help against the darkness cast by heavy curtains covering the windows.
“!!!”
The girl reached for the door that led to safety, but much to her horror, it’s locked. No matter how she turned it, the knob just won’t budge. Seeing that it’s hopeless, the girl gave up and continued on her flight.
“She’s over here!”
“Don’t let her escape!”
“We already blocked the stairs to other levels!”
The girl could hear her pursuers drawing near. She tried to lose them by running around, but by then, she could feel her legs were about to give way.
She has to find a place where she can rest and hide.
Without delay, the girl kept on trying to open every door she could lay her hands on. But somehow, all were locked…save for a lone room at the far end of the corridor. The moment she realized it was open, the girl threw herself inside and hid in the darkness, hoping for her ordeal to end.
“Come over here!”
“I saw her go in this direction!”
“Find her quick!”
The mere voices of those who were pursuing her gave the girl the fright of her life. She could feel her body go stiff and tried her best to hold her breath. The girl had properly locked the door, even so, hearing them near her position made her heart stop for a few moments.
“…”
In the end, however, the voices slowly grew weak until she couldn’t hear them anymore. The girl could breathe normally…The danger has already passed.
“!!!”
The room suddenly lit up. And much to the girl’s horror, several of her pursuers were inside the room, barring the only way out. They also had their wands drawn and pointed at her.
“Well, hello Eris!” the leader of the group greeted her with the gentlest smile, “I see you failed in your escape attempt for another time. We’re all waiting for you in here this entire time…”
“…” the girl, Eris, remained unmoved. Though she tried to maintain an indifferent face, her wobbling legs revealed the otherwise.
“Scared are you, Eris?” the leader mocked, “Well, if you said nothing to the Head Maid then we would leave you alone, I suppose.”
“Y-you’re l-lying!” Eris snapped, “E-Eris didn’t tell t-the H-head Maid a-about it!”
“Then if it’s not you, who is it?”
Eris fell silent. She knew who caused everything that’s happening to her right now; it’s that strange boy named Kuro. He informed the Head Maid about the conditions they forced her to work with, and Lady Lilyhaven took action.
“Who is it?” one of her pursuers grabbed the collar of her sleeping dress.
“I-it’s…E-Eris…” Eris’ voice was shaking, and they threw her down the floor. There’s no way that she would tell them about Kuro. She knew these people, and she couldn’t take that a sincere person like him would get hurt just because he tried to help her.
Eris will die rather than let them harm him!
“I hate liars, you know.” the leader grinned, “And because you lied, we’ll have no other choice but to punish you. Are you ready, Eris?”
Eris could only look in horror as her enemies walked nearer and nearer where she fell…
Ahh…good ‘morning’!
Honestly, that ‘interrogation’ at the Marquise of Monfort only annoyed me. I mean, they disturbed me in the middle of my sleep, went with that horrible ‘interrogation’ scene, only to be told that I should have cooked Amaranthine dishes instead of my native food.
Seriously, this world is exhausting me with their freaky antics.
Well, the Marquise of Monfort apologized for her ruckus after that. So, I just let it go; it wouldn’t have done me any good if I continued to be angry with them. Besides, I’m an adult, anyway. I should be mature in dealing with idiots around me.
But hey, why was the Marquise of Monfort so adamant about that girl, Eris?
“…”
Oh well, it’s not like I want to have something to do with them. It’s their problem, not mine; I have my struggles too.
And, as usual, there’s nothing else to do, save for killing a lot of time. Man, I wished I could do something about my current situation; but as long as the season wouldn’t change, I won’t get paid or anything.
Ah yes, now that I remembered it, they pay wages in Chersea every start of the new season. I didn’t exactly know what were the standard salary rates in this world, but according to Lily, the servants working inside the Holy Palatial Gardens were paid a ‘maximum of 1 gold coin, and a minimum of 50 silver coins. That also the standard for both the guards and maids. The nuns who attended to the visitors of the Saint’s Cathedral were considered as ‘volunteer work’, so of course, they won’t get paid.
For me, whom they classified as between a ‘part-timer’ and a ‘guest’, the Saint had allotted 20 silver coins at every start of the season. She wanted to give me a starting budget of ‘50 gold coins’ right away—which made the Head Maid of the Treasury Department immediately object, but I refused to accept it out of ethical considerations.
I told Her Holiness that I like to earn my keep properly.
So yeah, that’s the reason every time I woke up from my ‘long sleep’ (I guess it’s the Chersean term for the sleep that you do during nighttime back on Earth), I go around the entire Holy Palatial Gardens looking for odd jobs. Before, when I was newly summoned here, the maids were more than happy to pass to me their duties. But I guess Lily caught wind of it and they got lectured. So, I’m left with no meaningful thing to do.
Save for reading in the Saint’s Library, or helping Eris around…
“…”
Oh, speaking of Eris, I wonder what she’s doing right now? Did Lily fix her work issues?
I guess I had to check her out? The problem is, I didn’t know where I could find her. I mean, she’s a member of the Grooming Department after all; their duties require them to be always near Her Holiness.
So, she may be inside the Holy Chambers palace right now. A place I can’t enter easily…
Oh well, it’s not that I’m worried or anything. The servants here were members of the royalty and nobility; for short, entitled people. I think they could take care of themselves…
“!!!”
Well, speaking of the devil…
“M-mister K-Kuro!” it was Eris who immediately greeted me. She bumped into me just as I was about to return to my room halfway towards the Holy Chambers palace.
“Oh, hello Eris! So, how’s your actual work? Pretty easy?”
“Ah yes! Thank you for helping Eris, Mister Kuro.”
“Yep, you’re always welcome!” I patted her head gently; heck, it’s almost as if I have a little sister with Eris!
“Ow!” Eris suddenly winced in pain and backed off a little from me.
“Huh? Are you okay?” Of course, I’m surprised by her reaction. And uh, now that I took a good look at her, her slender arms had faint black, blue, and violet patches.
Those are bruises!
“Oi! Where did you get those?”
Eris was silent.
I checked her body. Gently, I felt her head and figured out a bump on the part where I patted her earlier. She had her bangs covering a part of her face, which was not usual for her, so I looked at it. Her right eye had a black bruise.
W-what the fuck?
“How did you get those?” increasingly agitated, I asked, “Is someone hurting you?”
Eris fiercely shook her head, “E-Eris is s-sorry, M-mister Kuro! S-she has to go.”
“Wait, at least let me treat those!” I tried to stop her, but she pushed me away, “You can’t work right in that condition, you know?”
“E-Eris just fell off her b-bed.” Eris forced a smile, “T-there’s n-nothing to worry about!”
With a quick bow, the young maid scurried off.
That couldn’t be right.
The image of Eris’ bruises burned in my mind. Those were kinds of injuries that didn’t come by simply falling off the bed…unless she repeatedly did that. Plus, that bruise on her eye…did the bed also punch her when she fell off it?
Of course not!
“…”
Damn, now that I thought about it: Eris’ overwhelming work duties, that time she fainted because of hunger, those bruises, and that strange maid I encountered before I got sick. I guess they’re all connected! Someone’s bullying her. But what for?
At that moment, the image of that bitch, Jessica, floated in my mind. That hag must’ve known something about this!
God, I need to put a stop to this shitty situation.
“You called?”
“Whoa!” I almost jumped when Her Holiness appeared sitting on my bed.
“Well, sorry for startling you.” Her Holiness displayed her usual smug face, “I heard you calling for me, so I came here.”
I remember calling for God, though.
“I told you, I’m sort of divinity.” Her Holiness laughed, “At least in this world, that is.”
“Ah anyway, Your Holiness—”
“Yep, I already know Kuro. I’ve seen it in your mind.” the Saint had a grim face, “And I don’t like it either. I need to tell Lily about this tragedy; I’ll take responsibility for that poor girl, Eris.”
“No wait, Your Holiness!” I quickly grabbed her hand as she was about to teleport, “We need to know the reason behind the actions of those people who harmed Eris, as well as to round up all those who were guilty.”
“Well, I can simply read their minds and be done with it.” Her Holiness quipped.
“Oh…of course, you can do that course of action, Your Holiness. But I have something in mind.”
“Hm? Let’s hear it then.” the Saint sat back on the bed.
“I wanted to be honest with you, Your Holiness. After seeing Eris like that, I could only feel anger and disgust toward those who harmed her. And by now, I know you can see what I’m thinking.”
Her Holiness fell quiet as she understood the things I’m planning, and then, an evil smirk appeared on her lips. She stared at me with bright eyes and said…
“You’re one nasty person, Kuro. You have my interest now. Proceed with your plans then.”
Man, sometimes I wonder if Her Holiness is indeed a Saint or not.
