The day after Aria’s departure,

I just woke up and heard a knock. 

“Good morning, Letica. I hope I didn’t wake you in case you were still asleep” The head maid said, while entering my room.

 

“Good morning, Ma’am. I was already awake. Is something the matter? It’s unusual to see you at this hour”, I replied.

 

“Well, yes, it is regarding your job. As you were hired as Young Lady’s personal maid, you are henceforth given a rather long sabbatical from your job. So my Lady Martha has summoned you after breakfast in her office to discuss the next course of action”, she said and turned to leave.

As if she suddenly remembered something, she tilted her head and said, “And there’s no need to dress in your uniform, casual clothes will do”

 

So I won’t be working, huh. That is understandable, given the circumstances. I should be grateful that I have a roof over my head. But I don’t want to sit idle either… Let's wait and see what Lady Martha has to say.

 

I knocked on the office door and heard someone say “Enter”. 

I stepped in, nervous about what might happen without Aria. I know that everyone in the mansion is a good person, but I can’t help but feel uneasy in Aria’s absence.

Lady Martha sat commandingly on her seat behind her massive desk.

“Good morning, my Lady”, I curtsied.

 

“Good morning, Letica. I hope you have been coping well since yesterday. I called you here to discuss your next course of action. Tell me, Letica, do you have anything in mind that you want to do?”, she asked me.

“I don’t have anything particular in mind” As I finished my sentence, I saw her face turn into a slight frown. “But, I want to be helpful to my mistress and stay by her side. I don’t want to be a burden. So please guide me so that I won’t hold her back”, I said whatever came to my mind.

 

She smiled, “Hmm, I wanted to see your resolve. It’s great that you don’t want to leech off of her. Settle down”, she said, motioning to the seats.

 

“You know it’s so weird that you, who are the polar opposite of my daughter, are her closest aid. You know how smart she is. But her problem is that she runs away from the work that she doesn’t like, like handling the estate, for example. But you are quite the hard worker, as I’ve heard from the head maid as well as the butler” She paused and continued.

“Aria lacks any huge ambitions, but that is not a bad thing. I want my daughter to be happy above all else. But as time passes, she will have to take on responsibilities as a noble as well”

“And this is where my proposal comes in. Since you don’t have anything worthwhile to do. Rather than applying to some school, how about I hire you as an assistant? I’ll take care of your basic education and train you to be helpful to your ‘mistress’. Let me warn you beforehand, I won’t go easy on you. Think and answer wisely”, she said.

 

Really? Do I even qualify for such an important role? 

But it’s true that Aria hates these things, if Lady Martha teaches me, I can be useful to Aria. 

If I can help Aria, she will be happy and praise me, right? 

Yes, I will be her most useful aid.

And then maybe if I ask, she’ll agree…fufufu. 

Oh my god Letty. Control yourself, stop thinking about such things in front of Lady Martha. I hope my expressions didn’t reveal my inner thoughts.

 

“My Lady, please accept me as your assistant and teach me to be helpful to my mistress”, I replied, loudly and clearly.

 

“Woah, you are much more enthusiastic than I anticipated. But are you sure, I can be very harsh while teaching, and you will have to work really hard. In fact, if you want, I can easily arrange your admission to some private school. Do you still want to do this?” She asked once again.

 

I’ve already made my decision. While Aria is working hard, I can’t be slacking off if I want to stand by her side.

“Yes, I can do this” I expressed my resolve with my voice.

 

-------------------------------------

New Quest –

• Learn the basics of territory management.

Grasp every opportunity and make yourself worthy of your mistress.

 

Clear Criteria –

Familiarize yourself with managing the territory in order to help your mistress settle in better upon her return.

 

Reward –

30 EXP

Doubled SP Candy (6 hrs)  x1

 

Failure Penalty –

Your mistress will be slightly annoyed.

-------------------------------------

 

Oh, that’s sweet!

 

“Where are you staring at? Anyway, rest up today. From tomorrow onward, you will accompany me to every meeting, and help me with some paperwork once you get the gist of it. I expect you to arrive sharply at 9:00 AM in my office everyday. You are dismissed”

She started working on her desk as she told me to leave.

“Yes, my Lady”

 

“Call me teacher from now on”, she said.

 

“Okay teacher!” 

 

***

 

Currently, I am waiting for Teacher beside her office. I arrived early to avoid being late on my first day as her assistant.

I was staring at the floor out of nervousness.

 

“Good to see that you are on time, dear student” I heard the teacher's voice, and my shoulders stiffened a little.

 

“Good morning, Teacher”

 

“Yes, good morning. Come in, let’s look at your current capabilities first”, she said, directing me to a seat in front of a tea table and a sofa.

 

She sat on the sofa and started to ask me lots of questions. Sometimes, I answered, but most of the time, I couldn’t even understand her questions.

 

“As expected, you need to start from the basics. I knew this would be the case, so don’t worry. I’ve prepared enough resources for you to get you on track as soon as possible” 

She handed me some books along with a few sheets of paper.

 

“Your job for the next week is to study this first book, and try to answer the questions on these sheets of paper. You can ask the head maid if there is any part you don’t understand. Although, that won’t be necessary as I picked the easiest material available for you”, she explained.

The book she mentioned was indeed quite short, Aria would often skim through such books in a few hours.

“I’ll try my best, Teacher. Thank you for looking after me”

 

“It’s fine. Don’t act like Aria, act your age, will you? And don’t overdo it. That’s the very reason we are starting off slowly. And report your progress to me every morning”, she said.

 

“Yes Teacher” 

 

I picked up the books and left.

***

 

The day was rather uneventful. I tried to study and even found an answer for the first question. I woke up from a nap in the afternoon and decided to take a walk in the garden.

The garden is Aria’s favorite place in the mansion, after the library. It is very refreshing to take a walk in the evening.

I arrived at our favorite spot and laid down for a moment. As I was reminiscing about the times Aria and I used to sit or lay here and talk for hours, I felt someone poke at my arm.

“ARIA!” I opened my eyes.

“UUAHH!” I fell back again after seeing the scary shadow knight I met in Teacher’s office. They are wearing the same eerie armor as last time, I can’t tell which one of them is it. Anyway, I should apologize for my rudeness, or they might kill me.

(AN: I am using ‘they’ as a gender neutral pronoun. Not as in plural form)

“I am sorry, please forgive me”. I growled at the ground out of fear.

 

Then, I felt their hand touch my head.

 

Oh my god, I am done for. Sorry, Aria, I think it’s my time to go…

 

But contrary to what I expected, they gently lifted me up and patted my head.

 

What are they doing? What do they want?

 

They brought out a piece of paper and started writing something.

‘Don’t be scared’

 

“Ookay, I’m not scared, not scared at all”

 

‘I am the one who waved at you when we met, remember?’

 

Ah, the middle one. The one who looked even more…

“Oh I see. You were the one who waved at me, I remember. Can you not talk? Why are you writing?”

 

‘Children start crying when I speak. So I only speak when necessary’

 

“Is that so? Please don’t worry and talk, I won’t be scared. I promise”, I said, bracing myself.

 

“Hello, Letica”, I heard a deep, slightly crooked voice. Honestly, I would have mistook it for a ghost if I didn’t know any better.

 

“See, I am not scared”, well I am still a little scared. But it’s just their voice, I just need to get used to it.

 

“Really?” they asked.

 

“Yes, so what is your name?”

 

“I can’t use my real name. So call me Betty”, they said. 

So is she a girl?

“Are you a girl?” I asked.

 

“Yes”, she replied.

 

“Hello Betty. It’s nice to meet you. I guess you can’t show me your face as well” 

 

“Yes. It’s nice to meet you too. I tried to wake you up earlier, because you might catch a cold outside. So it’s better to sleep in your room”. Aw, so she was worried for me.

Appearances can truly be deceiving.

 

“Thank you for looking out for me. Though, I wasn’t sleeping. It’s…nevermind”, I said as I stood up and led the way back to the mansion.

 

I think I’ve made a new friend today. 

 

***

 

Dear Letty,

How are you? It’s only been a week since I left home, but I’m already missing you so much. To make it worse, I have to attend noble etiquette lessons every other day, and I can’t ditch them as I used to do, back at home. I’m experiencing a severe case of ‘Vitamin Letty’ deficiency.

Anyway, I hope you are doing well without me. Just ask Mom if there is anything you need, in case she looks hesitant, make puppy eyes, and she’ll give in to your demands. You know how much of a softy she is behind that dignified mask. 

Yesterday, I said some horrible words to a 12-year-old. I am feeling quite guilty about it, but it had to be done. So I thought I should nip the bud before it becomes a real threat. Hopefully, it will work.

Back on topic, if you feel lonely, hold the pendant we bought on our first outing and know that I am doing the same when I miss you. If I hear from Mom that you cried out of loneliness, I’ll spank you on my return. Hehe, just kidding, I would never hurt you.

Take care of yourself and write a response as soon as you receive this.

 

Your friend,

Aria

***

Hehe, I won’t cry. I am a strong girl. 

I started writing a response and held the pendant in my palm. The pendant isn’t anything special in itself, but Aria has the same pendant, making it more than special.