73 Maids!
“Ahhh! Again! So dumb!” I hit the ground with my fist. I couldn’t help but be angry, the magic equations were just not working. I have no idea how long I have spent trying to create a working fusion spell, but my concentration was broken when I heard a sound overhead. I looked up to see a large wooden ship flying across the sky, and in front of my face, it disappeared out of sight.
“So that is the illusion spell…. To think they can create an illusion spell that works like this.” I rubbed my chin as I gazed up at the sky. Even when I squinted my eyes, I still could not see the floating island. “Well… I still need to go to the academy, and I am pretty sure the place the king would be preparing for me to live in will be on the floating island. But I do find it quite interesting that such a huge island floats in the sky without even casting a shadow.”
If one were to look from the distance, they would never see any giant island in the sky, especially one that is big enough to be home to millions. The sun rained down on the massive city below without any obstruction. “Wait…. Is this not an actual illusion spell but a spell that just bends the light around the object?”
This actually made more sense to me. By bending light around an object, you can hide the object the light is bending around. I did a science project on this in school back on Earth. But it only resulted in working in a single direction. But the proof of concept was there. It was using magic which would mean they could create a sphere and encircle the object you want to hide to bend the light. But what I still do not get is how it is selectively hiding the floating island while leaving the land below visible for all to see. And on top of that, if you make your way further into the city below, you will pass a boundary that allows you to see the island from below. According to Adel, even if you can see the Island, it will still not cast a shadow on the land below. It is definitely strange. I really wish I could check out this magic equation for it. But I highly doubt that such a magic equation would be available to the public.
“Ahhh! I want to see it!” I felt aggravated, so I stomped my feet a few times before turning around and going to order some food. -.
Only after eating did I finally begin to feel a bit better about my failures in my fusion magic. I sat back in my chair and looked out the window seeing the stars sparkling in the sky, and sighed. “Tomorrow, I will do a bit of wandering around. I guess I can take a bath an….”
My self monologue was interrupted when a call came from the call orb near the door. “Miss Cyrilia, are you in? We are from the palace.”
Pursing my lips, I walked to the door and opened it to see two beastkin girls and a human girl standing there in maid outfits. These were not like those sexy maid outfits but real ones made for the working girl where the dress goes down to their ankles. If they came in some kind of miniskirt, I would start to think this was some kind of sexy otome game.
I used the panel to the side to deactivate the defense systems and allow the three girls in. “Come on in, it is safe to pass now.”
The three maids bowed their heads and walked into the suite. One had black haired cat ears and tail, another had brown haired raccoon ears and tail, while the last was a dirty blonde headed human girl. Each girl looked no older than ten to thirteen years of age. This was a sad part of society. In order to live, some girls would sell themselves into servitude to become maids of nobles at a very young age. Sometimes it would be their parents who would sell them off. It was not to punish them but in hopes of giving them better lives. After all, not everyone had money to raise the kids they birthed. Instead of having them starve, it was more beneficial to have them work as maids. The lucky ones like these girls would get to work for royalty which would give them some status.
Of course, this was all under strict rules as well. Girls who were under contract were not slaves. The maids guild took these girls in and got them jobs while a small portion of their wages would be used to keep the guild running. This was only one percent of their wages. The rest was up to the maids to do with as they please. Some were paid very well and could live on their own if they wished with the income they were getting, but not many would do that since the pay was very good.
The guild also did monthly examinations to make sure their maids were not mistreated. I only know all of this because Rachel had looked into it. She had told me that if my brother did not take her, she would have become a maid. She said she had liked my brother since she was very young and always watched him from afar. So when they finally got together, she was so excited she almost screamed out loud and jumped for joy. Even if she could live a good life as a maid, she would rather be with the man she had fallen for so many years ago.
Each girl was also taught how to read, write, and do math. Which made them highly valuable. But these girls all seemed a bit timid. “Can I ask why you all have your heads lowered?”
“Ah…. ummm… Princess told us that we are not allowed to gaze upon your beautiful face, or we will be immediately fired.” The cat girl answered, causing my lips to twitch.
“What kind of crap is that!? Forget what she said, lift your heads.” I really need to pinch Adel’s cheeks later. What is she telling these poor girls!? Was she afraid they would fall in love with me or something!? I have a hard enough time getting people to like me, never mind having some young girls fall in love with me.
“This….” The cat girl spoke up again. I guess she was the leader of the group.
Seeing them still reluctant, I reached down and lifted the cat girl’s face. When our eyes locked, she quickly averted her eyes, not daring to look straight at me. “See, you looked. Now, did you get fired?”
“N-No….” The cat girl shook her head, her eyes finally staring right at me.
I smiled and patted her head. “That is right. You can ignore Adel’s order. I do not like stuffy things. I will never ask you to do something out of the scope of your duty or even make you do something you are not comfortable with, so, please. Make yourselves at home here. Are you three hungry? Do you want some food? You can order whatever you want. Ah, before that, let’s introduce ourselves. My name is Faith Cyrilia. You can call me Faith.”
“Miss… calling you by your name is against our guild rules. We can only call you Miss, Young Miss, Master, or Mistress….” The cat girl spoke up, causing me to purse my lips. I could only sigh and nod my head.
“Then call me as you see fit.” I can’t force her to call me by my name, not after saying I wouldn’t make them do things they did not want to do.
“Then Young Miss, my name is Annie, next to me is Rina, and beside her is Brooke.” So the cat girl was named Annie, the raccoon girl was Rina, and the human girl was Brook. I tried to drill these names into my mind so I would not mix them up.
“Alright then, Annie, please order some food for you three. Order whatever. It is all on the kingdom anyway.” I said while sticking my tongue out. The girls all stared at me, unsure of what to do.
“Miss, we can just eat what is in the kitchen, we should not eat such expensive food… We are just servants.” Annie seemed a bit nervous, which made me sigh. This was probably normally how maids were treated, but I haven’t even been to the kitchen, so I do not think there was any food in there.
“It’s fine. Why waste free things? Order food. Also, I will need to speak to Sei because if you three wish to leave, it will be hard without me around. I will get her to help register the three of you with the defensive systems. For now, order food, eat, bathe and sleep. I was planning to go bathe now. So make yourselves at home.” After saying this, I turned to walk away before stopping and turning back around. “Also, welcome. I do hope we can get along.”
The girls seemed pretty confused. But I guess that is normal. After all, I am a commoner! I do not have the airs of nobility, nor do I ever wish to treat people who are here to help me as if they are below me.
There was just one thing I forgot about maids…. They follow you everywhere! These girls were preparing everything for me before I could even undress! Looks like I got more things to get used to….