Side Story: Eris 3

After spending a moment in Anelace Milize’s private room I found the switch that unlocked the trapdoor built into the floorboards. That might sound impressive, but trust me, it wasn’t. Neither the switch nor the trapdoor were hidden in any way.

The crudely bunched up rug on the far side of the room and the painting sitting on the ground beneath a switch on the wall made me think that at one point she was at least trying to hide the trapdoor. If I had to guess, I’d say that she’s been going down there so frequently lately that she hasn’t felt the motivation to keep it hidden any longer.

I can understand that line of thinking, I’m sure we all can. If you use something regularly it gets harder and harder to spend the time properly putting it away.

But when it comes to hiding your murder dungeon, that’s just too lazy! Despite not wanting to, I can only think of one other person that shortsighted.

I’m sure if Rem were here she would be praising my excellent ability to discover such a well hidden secret. She’d once again suggest that I become a rogue.

Just the thought of it annoys me.

Usually I’d have no trouble completely blocking her from my thoughts, but after what just happened I couldn’t stop picturing her dumb face as she tried to catch the one thought that she had bouncing around in that empty head.

What just happened? Obviously I’m not talking about finding the hidden room. I’m talking about something far worse.

After my initial conversation with the head attendant I didn’t have much to do. I discussed what he told me with Sanson, and of course Sanson was instantly onboard. That meant that back at the mansion all I needed to do was wait. There was no reason for me to risk getting caught poking around if the head attendant was going to give me a perfect opportunity to search to my heart’s content.

It took a few days for him to come see me again.

“Is it time?”

“Yes. Lady Milize is scheduled to leave with an acquaintance shortly. They shouldn’t return until tomorrow.”

“Perfect. Then I’ll head to her room.”

“No, not yet. At least on paper, you were hired as a maid. If the elf maid that was especially hired for appearance wasn’t present as the Lady of the house and her guest made an official departure it would be too suspect. Don’t worry. All you need to do is stand in a row with the other staff.”

“If you say so.”

It was finally time to do what I was hired for, in more ways than one.

“I say so. Besides, you’ve never met Lady Milize before, right? Perhaps seeing her will give you some kind of insight into her character.”

“I doubt there’s much I could learn about someone like her from just a few glances that I haven’t already heard. I’m not foolish enough to think I’ll be the first person to see past her saintly persona. Honestly, if I were an investigator I feel like I could learn more about her from studying whoever her guest is.”

“Ah, her. . .”

“Your tone makes me think I was more right than I thought. Who is with her?”

“She is, an interesting person. Since you spend most of the day hiding away, I imagine you’re the only person here who hasn’t had any encounters with her. The rest of the staff has had some, trouble, adjusting to her presence.”

“Is she causing problems or something?”

“Problems? Well, not intentionally. I don’t think she means ill, she is just difficult to deal with.”

“For example?”

“Well, for the past few days she’s ordered half of our staff to go out and catch rodents. Usually that wouldn’t be a problem, but she wants all of them kept alive. She has almost completely converted our kennels into some kind of rodent breeding ground.”

“Well, some nobles are known for being a bit eccentric.”

“A noble? Her? Not a chance. I would bet my life that she’s not even distantly related to any noble from any kingdom. Despite her choice of fashion, she is somehow less noble than a commoner.”

“Why would your lady be spending time with someone like that?”

“I would love to know that myself. Because of her appearance, I initially thought that she was one of Lady Milize’s victims, but no matter how much time they spend alone together, she is always in high spirits.”

“Is it possible that she’s an accomplice?”

“I’d love to say yes, but it’s more complicated than that. Lady Milize started abducting girls before the two ever met, and since her arrival Lady Milize hasn’t abducted anyone else. However she is either a bad influence on Lady Milize, or this sudden change in Lady Milize’s character has started attracting other amoral people, I can’t be certain. The one thing I can say is that their relationship is far too intimate.”

“Too intimate? Because they’re both women?”

I knew some humans tended to get stuck up on things like that. I wasn't certain what kind of place Valieris was.

“That’s not exactly common, but under different circumstances, most people would accept the Saint of Valieris not taking a husband.”

“I see, then it’s because of what you mentioned earlier, this other woman isn’t a noble.”

“That may initially appear to be the issue, but even if she were a noble, nothing would change. The root of the problem lies solely with the people themselves.”

I was even more curious after hearing that, but I decided to let the conversation die there. I would see what he was talking about soon enough.

The head attendant led me to the entrance hall, where I lined up with all of the other maids. I was kind of expecting some of them to give me bitter looks, but from what I could tell none of them were bothered by the fact that I hadn’t done any real work in the week I’d been their coworker.

I was worried that I’d be forced to wait there for a long time, but it only took a few minutes for the lady of the house to make her appearance.

She definitely had the appearance of a saint. The longer I watched her the more certain I was that all of those images you see of angels on the stained glass at churches were actually based on her. As amusing as that thought was, I was much more interested in the man walking a half step behind her.

He was wearing a military style uniform with a single saber at his hip. Her bodyguard. I’m not the best judge of someone’s skill, but if that guy was a mercenary, he would be head and shoulders above Sanson and I. He would get in a good party with no trouble at all. I’d never know what that felt like. Unfortunately, my party was nothing but trouble.

After discussing something with his master, the head attendant said a few quick words to her ‘friend.’

“I hope you have a pleasant evening, Lady Remnant.”

She held a hand up to her mouth and let out a fake laugh. She must have traded in the schoolgirl outfit she had been wearing for a ballroom gown, but she still couldn’t have looked more out of place if she tried.

“Please, Lady Remnant is my father’s name. Call me Rem.”

That idiot was beyond saving. Her response was so stupid that I couldn’t even begin thinking about what she was doing here.

At that moment our eyes met. I instantly assumed my cover was about to be completely blown, but rather than say anything, Rem just gave me an awkward wink.

Was I supposed to understand what that meant?

“Prix, why are you flirting so openly with that maid? Her face is passable, but there’s no reason to admire someone with so much extra meat on them.”

Anelace slid right next to Rem, staring directly at her face from only a few centimeters away.

“Ane, should you really be calling it extra meat? I don’t have the courage to properly inspect her, but I think it’s safe to say that you both have comparable proportions.”

I hope there’s no one out there foolish enough to think that having Rem of all people defend my body type would make me even slightly happy. I already knew I was incredibly desirable. Hearing anything like that coming from Rem’s mouth only disgusted me.

“Exactly. I’m a sinner as well. Every year I prayed I’d stop growing, but I’ve become a horrid creature like this. That’s why I need to keep you close by.”

Anelace opened her mouth and casually licked Rem from her lower cheek to her upper jawbone. She was already standing so close to her that there was practically no warning.

I’m also fairly certain that I saw a line of burnt skin appear on Rem’s face on the path followed by Anelace’s tongue before quickly healing.

I see. A saint indeed.

She spun around and grabbed Rem’s wrist.

“Come on now, let’s go. Go go go! Finding someone to help you train them won’t be easy.”

“Yeah! Go go go!”

Rem was instantly influenced by her sudden burst of energy and the two of them ran out of the house with the bodyguard chasing after.

As I was descending the stairs into her hidden room, I couldn't stop thinking about everything that just happened. That was Anelace Milize? That was the Saint of Valieris? What happened to her?

Rem.

It had to be her. Even with me leaving a message telling her we were heading to Lucerna in hopes she’d get herself killed, she still somehow managed to get to Milize before us and ruin the saint. That zombie’s stupidity had become contagious. After they left I couldn’t even look the head attendant in the eye. I did nothing wrong, but I couldn’t escape the guilt. If he knew that a member of the party he was hoping would solve this was actually the cause of the problem, he’d probably kill me himself.

Well, he’d try.

I was expecting the hidden room to be dark, but as an elf that wouldn’t have been a problem. Although it turned out that I didn’t need to use my superior elven eyes. I assumed those two idiots had just been down there, as the room was still it by burning candles. Did neither of them realize how dangerous it was to leave flames burning in an enclosed space like this?

What a foolish thought.

There’s no way Rem would never think about that, and if Anelace had been infected by her, she’d be just as hopeless.

And as for what was in the hidden basement, well, it was exactly the kind of stuff I was expecting: a large collection of various torture implements. They must have taken cleaning seriously, as there was a lack of any noticeable blood stains, but the torture devices themselves were showing signs of wear and tear. That was especially true for that rack that stretches people out. I’m not an expert, but the leather wrist straps were frayed, and the wood was warped in places, as if it was suffering from years of resistance.

Finding all of that stuff was expected, but it actually made me more uncertain. Rem was an idiot, I mean, an absolute failure of a sentient being. With that in mind, she wasn’t cruel. I doubt she had enough brain power to even be cruel. Would she take part in torturing innocent girls?

Under the right circumstances, or maybe the wrong ones, I could see her being tricked into it, but that still didn’t seem likely.