Chapter Four: A new maid

Kate took a few minutes to regain composure after opening up to us. "Kate, why was your ship heading here?" Since she is starting to open up, I might as well be direct. She looks at me and thinks for a bit. Her ears start to sink down, and she starts to avoid eye contact. "Well... I..." She pauses for some time. I guess she doesn't know or may not want to discuss it.

"Do you not know?" I ask. She looks at me with teary eyes again. "We... we ran away from the emperor..." Well, I see why she was hesitant to talk. It would be a political nightmare if the Beastkin Empire were to find out that we took her in. Wait, there aren't too many major ports on this side of the kingdom, so were they heading for the capital? "Were you heading to the king?" She nods. "Yes... but..."

I see then that maybe there was some secret deal going on in the background; however, that is absolutely the dumbest thing the king could do. Is he trying to start a war with the Beastkin Empire? Well, it's not my problem right now, but having a beastkin around could be beneficial.

Learning about beastkin could help if war were to break out. Kate looked to be on the verge of tears again. I guess she doesn't want to go to the king. "It's okay. You can stay here and work as a maid." Her face lit up, and I couldn't blame her. I don't know what their deal entailed, but I know that I don't want to meet with that foolish king. However, it seems like my father and Annabelle didn't like my choice.

"Lenka, are you sure we should do that?" Annabelle asked before my father could. "Yes. I don't think sending a beastkin child to the king would be a good idea." Father thought about it for a second and then sighed. "I.. think you may be right."

I wasn't trying to insinuate that the king was like that, but by the way Father responded, I might have to reconsider. "My lord, you can't seriously be considering this?" "If that's what Lenka thinks is best, then I trust her judgment." With that, the conversation is over. Annabelle can only accept his decision.

It was a long day for all of us. Father and the guards spent the evening checking on the town and clearing the beach of the washed-up bodies from the shipwreck. The maids spent the rest of the day cleaning up debris from the storm and moping the wet, muddy floors. I spent the rest of the day finishing the order forms. Kate quickly warmed up to us after that dumb little speech I gave her, as well as accepting her into our house.

I tried to get Kate to talk more about the beastkin empire; however, she didn't want to go into complete detail about it, but from what I could get out of her, it seemed to be some political struggle between her mother and the emperor.

The sunset shines through the office windows. I am almost done with the last of the order forms. From what Godfrey said, none of the food supplies were damaged by the storm, so I figured I might as well make use of the little bit of the day left and finish the orders. Right as I stamp the last order, Father walks into the office. He looks exhausted and lies down on one of the sofas.

"Lenka." "Yes, father." "Are you sure that we should take in Kate?" I guess he is scared that the king might do something if he finds out we took her in. "Yes, father. I am aware of our situation, but I do believe taking in Kate would benefit us." I said us, but I mainly meant me.

Kate seems willing to join us, and learning about beastkin and their unique abilities from her will be valuable information for the future. Then again, I could also train Kate to be my assistant if she has the talent for it. He lets out a sigh. "And what do we do about the king? He will eventually find out about her." "No need to worry about it because he won't find out." He looks annoyed at me.

"We can't hide the news of the shipwreck and its survivor." "I don't know what you're talking about. No one survived the wreck." He looks at me, puzzled. I guess I have to explain it to him.

"Only this house and a few guards saw the survivor. The survivor, however, died shortly after we found them, and as for the person Godfrey brought to our manor, she is our new maid, Kate. Kate is a noble's bastard child, and that noble will not be named for reasons we can't talk about. We were trying to keep her away from the public eye, but she ran out in the storm to try and save the people from the wreck."

Father lays there and thinks for a while. "And if the king does find out?" "Then his elf friends won't be getting their orders." He lay there in silence for a few minutes. "I understand. I will send out the letters tomorrow. Lenka, you should get some rest, too."

The bright morning light was shining through the windows. I move the curtains to a bright, sunny morning. It almost makes you forget that there was a big storm yesterday. There was a knock at the door. I guess breakfast is ready. Mary and Kate enter my bedroom.

"Pardon me, but breakfast is ready." They both bow. Kate is wearing what looks to be one of Mary's old maid uniforms. Her tail seems to be sticking out from the back of the uniform. Maybe Annabelle or Mary refitted it last night. "Understood, I will be down after I get dressed." They both bowed and left my room.

I'm starting to get used to living here. It's so easy that I will admit that it is somewhat dull. I don't have to clean, cook, or fight. My days are just meetings and paperwork. I guess I shouldn't complain too much. After all, the world will be consumed by war at some point. There is still a lot of planning to do, but so far, the only thing I managed to do is help our financial situation. Other than that, I haven't done much of the things that I need to do.

This city doesn't even have a defensive wall or any siege equipment. Heck, the city barely has the basic necessities like water and sanitation. They only have basic wells and a simple garbage pit. *sigh* The first thing I should do is fix the city's terrible infrastructure.

I finished getting dressed and headed downstairs to the dining room. The breakfast today was eggs, steak, and some biscuits. Kate is standing next to Mary, shadowing her work. I start eating, but I am interrupted by a loud grumbling. Both Mary and I look towards Kate. Kate's face lit up a bright red that matched her red hair.

"Mary, go and get Kate some breakfast." "Yes, my lady." My lady? That's odd. She usually just uses my name. Oh, I get it. She's trying to be a good example to Kate. It is too bad that Mary is more like a sister than a good maid.

Kate was just standing there with a face so bright red that I was starting to get worried that she might pass out. "Kate, go grab a pillow off of one of the sofas in the living room." "Ye...Yes, my lady." She nearly trips as she quickly walks out of the dining room. A few seconds later, she comes back with a pillow.

"Here you go, my lady." She offers the pillow to me while bowing. She's kind of a ditz, but she's also somewhat cute. She reminds me of the stray cats that I used to play with in the past. I reach over and rub her head. Her hair was soft, and her fox ears felt silky smooth.

"Silly, that pillow is for you. Put it on the chair next to me and take a seat." She lifts her head to show her very bright red face, and it almost looks like she wants to cry. Odd she didn't cry over her dead mother, but me petting her and treating her nice nearly does. Kate, almost stumbling over herself, puts the pillow in the chair and takes a seat. Too embarrassed to say anything, Kate just sits there quietly and waits.

Mary walks into the dining room with a plate of food but stops after a few feet and looks at Kate and then at me. I guess having a servant sitting at the table with a noble would be an odd thing to see. Oh well, I don't really care about class and noble elegance. I gesture over to Mary to give the food to Kate.

Mary looks disappointed but understands and puts the plate of food in front of Kate. Kate looks at the food like a hungry predator, then looks at me for approval. "Go ahead and eat, Kate. You're going to need the energy for later."

They both looked at me with a puzzled expression. "Mary, I want you to teach Kate to read and write." Mary again looked at me with disappointment. "Why Lenk..."She paused and gave a slight cough. "Why, my lady, would Kate need to know?" I think I get what she is thinking.

Why would a servant need to read and write? Well, pot meet kettle, it is odd that you know Mary. It's almost like the made-up story for Kate about a noble's bastard child was about you. Well, whatever her indifferent mood is about, it doesn't change the fact that I need her to learn.

"Mary, I don't value my subordinates based on status. I value them based on potential, and I believe Kate has great potential. I have been thinking I need a personal assistant, and if Kate shows promise, I would want her." What I said wasn't a complete lie. I do need an assistant, but I want Kate not for her potential but because it gives me an opportunity to learn more about beastkin.

Mary rolls her eyes at me and sighs. "Fine, I will teach Kate." Kate was busy devouring her food, and by how her ears and tail twitched, I could tell she was paying attention to our conversation. She's just like a stray cat, and I almost reached out to pet her again, but I stopped myself. Mary would scold me again for being unladylike.

I have finished today's documents and looked more into our financial situation. Despite the elves and king draining us of money, we still have a good amount of money, and with the new deal with the king, we will have quite a surplus of funds. With the money, I could buy tools and other supplies needed to help rebuild this city.

I will admit this will be a major undertaking, but if war does break out, our city will be effortless to take. Our enemies can just walk in and fight the very few guards we have. Might as well just surrender now and get it over with.

*sigh* Unfortunately, my life will never be that easy. Well, I might as well take a break. I leave the office and end up running into Annabelle in the hallway. "O pardon me, Lenka, but have you seen Kate and Mary?" "If I recall, Mary was taking Kate on a tour of the manor." "O, I see. No wonder I couldn't find them."

The manor itself is pretty big, but we also own some smaller buildings off to the sides of the manor and a large garden on the backside of the manor. Needless to say, it may take them a while to tour our property.

"Why are you looking for them?" "I just wanted to check on how our new maid was doing." That's Annabelle for you. She is a very kind, hardworking, motherly woman who constantly checks up on people, but I don't see her that often because she is always so busy. After all, she is our only cook and also does a lot of the housework, like the laundry and keeping up with the garden.

"Pardon me, Lenka, but why don't we have a little chat." Huh, she had never gone out of her way to talk with me before. My old habit of trusting no one and questioning everything is kicking in, but her expression is the same motherly smile. I don't know enough about her to say what her angle on this is, but I feel like I shouldn't refuse her invitation. "Okay."

We both sit outside in the gazebo at the back of the garden. It's on a small hill, and right under the backside of it, there is a small cliff that leads into a small lake. The view is quite breathtaking, with the almost mirror-like lake below us reflecting the blue of the sky, the view of the ocean and its waves in the distance, and the beautiful blue flowers blooming in the garden.

Annabelle pours some tea into the cups and then passes the cup over to me. I take a sip of it, and it's somewhat sweet and quite refreshing in this summer heat. The oddest thing about this tea is its light blue color.

"The tea's good, isn't it? I brewed them with the blue roses in the garden." She said it with a calm voice and a gentle smile; however, I could tell that smile was fake, and her words were sharp. She seems too sharp to be just a maid, and this chat appears more like an interrogation. What are her intentions? Is she trying to see if I am the Lenka of this world? I need to choose my words carefully.

"I know Annabelle. Mother loved this tea, which is why she made this garden. I'm not that fond of this tea, but I have always loved its pretty blue color." Her face remains unchanged as she takes another sip. I guess I passed the first test even though my answer was only an educated guess.

"Why did you take in Kate?" Right to the point, I guess, but something tells me there was more to that question, but she decided to only ask part of it. Should I answer how I would now or how I would before? What's the answer she wants? "She simply needed help, so I helped her."

I took the middle road and answered it in a way that would fit both narratives. She gave a puzzled expression. "Then what about the king's orders?" My guess was correct. She does know more than what a simple maid would know. Just who is this woman really?

*sigh* "Father lacks the... stubbornness and ability to take risks that a noble requires. To put it simply, he's not great at his job. He's just too nice to make the hard choices. Which is why I needed to step in and help him make those choices." "I see..." She gave another fake smile.

"Well, then, I should get back to work. Please enjoy the tea." She gets up and walks towards the manor. Why was she questioning me? Was she satisfied with what I said? I don't know, but I should keep my guard up around her. She seems more than just a simple servant.

A few minutes have passed since Annabelle left. I might as well enjoy this view and the weather. The heat of summer reminds me of my past life. Even now, the humidity here is much higher than in the desert I used to live in. Luckily, the gentle breeze from the ocean helps with the humidity.

I take another sip of the tea, and yeah, I'm not a huge fan. I'm not really into sweet things. If it was spicy, on the other hand, I would enjoy this. Looking over at the manor, I see Kate come through one of the side gates with a basket of clothes. She probably was bringing in the dry laundry.

"Kate," I call out and gesture for her to come over. Her ears point up in surprise, and she turns around and sees me. She starts walking over here with the basket still in her hands. "What is it, my lady?" "Take a seat."

She puts down the basket and takes a seat across from me. I didn't realize until now that another empty cup was on the table. Did Annabelle plan this encounter? Well, whatever, I pour some tea into the empty cup and pass it to her.

"Here, have some." She looks at the tea, and her eyes light up in amazement. Then she looked at me with a confused look, and I could already tell she was about to ask if it was okay. "Annabelle brewed all of this tea for me, but I can't drink it all by myself. So go ahead and have as much as you want."

She nods and takes a sip of the tea. Her tail stands straight up and then starts waging uncontrollably, and her ears sink down and relax. "I take it that you like the tea." "Yes. It's so sweet and refreshing. How is it blue? Can you mak..." She cuts herself off and covers her mouth. She just realizes that she is being too energetic and loud.

"It's fine. I'm glad you like it. It's blue because of the blue roses used to brew it. If you would like more, then just ask. I will have Annabelle brew it." Her eyes started to water, and she nodded her head. "Thank you." Kate is covered in bandages and has just been through a lot right now; she is all smiles as she sips her tea.

I know I shouldn't spoil her, but part of me sees my younger self in her, or maybe I am just envious of her ability to have such vibrant emotions. Either way, this beautiful view and her warming smile are not something I thought I would ever see. My world has always been black and white, and kill or be killed. Maybe it's the small things like this that make us human. Not that a monster like me is human. I take another sip of the tea. Maybe this tea isn't so bad.