The Acting Maid
"Look at your reputation, my lord. I am called a lady by a pretty woman." Elara was stunned to see a man in the room wearing the same kind of bathrobe but he had pants beneath them.
He smiled at her but all she felt was blood drained from her body. Did the lord pervert have sex with both man and woman? Both were panting and covered in sweat. The one will come after vigorous exercise. But what was there to exercise in this dark room except the bed.
She moved and gazed away quickly before the man would read contempt in them. She served the meal to both of them quickly with the intention of leaving but Cedric was oddly slow.
He was eating every bite as if he had eaten something like this in a long time and wanted to savor its taste. Her own body felt strangely hot in the meantime.
She touched her hot cheek and forehead with a frown. Was she going to get a fever? Why was she so hot?
"Is this a new maid? I thought I had seen all of them already." the man pointed at her and whispered more but their voices felt distant and incoherent.
"She.. brave… lot.. Foolish.." the words felt in and out of her ears as she rubbed her cheeks and slapped herself to stay alert.
This man was dangerous. She could see it in his deep eyes that he could kill without remorse. And though she was not sure if he had killed his brother or not. He would kill her if he wanted and doubted her.
"Hey, are you listening? I want more soup.'' She heard the words clearly this time. Someone was staring at her. She could feel the heat of the gaze as she nodded and moved closer to serve the meal but.. Her steps felt heavy, the room was spinning and before she knew it, she fell on the ground.
"Hey! What the hell.." someone cursed as she wriggled when someone touched her but every action took too much more effort than she had thought and her body was not ready to respond.
She felt her eyes growing heavy and her body light.. Before the conscious left her completely.
"Tsk! Did she faint or was she acting?" Philip stood up straight and looked at the girl with contempt in her eyes. "If yes, her act was horrible. I can not believe that such a woman thinks she could get your attention."
Those dull clothes looked so plain on her. She looked like a dried tree devoid of life and that dull face.. How could it get anyone's interest!
"Get out!"
"Yes, of course.. Wait! What did you say?" Philip's eyes widened and he stared at Cedric as if he had heard wrong. How could the master of the palace ask him, his vassal to leave when they were just training together.
His wide eyes stared at Cedric and then at the woman who should be on the ground. But oddly, she was laying on Cedric's bed as if it belonged to her.
"Ha! I know that you are interested in women. But that did not mean you would be interested in just anyone. I can offer you better women from my palace. We are like brother's after all.'' The man waved his hands as if he had enough of this childish act and went forward to press the bell to call for maids.
"I tell you, these kinds of maids act like that to gain your attention. If she would gain your favor she could climb your bed or if she failed, at least she would gain your sympathy and slack on his work.
She is just putting on an act. I thought you know since you have already gotten rid of all the maids from this palace. Let me handle her for you." Philip offered with a bright smile as if he was a kind man who always wanted to help his friend.
Friend! Would that word even suit their relationship? Philip was the son of the aid of their father, the previous duke. He had grown up with Cedric and Christian as their playmates.
The brothers had different personalities and were not on good terms no matter what they were doing. While Christian was full of ideals, an optimistic young man who believed in the goodness of the world. Cedric was a pessimistic boy who found flaws in everything and believed that the world was greedy as hell.
He did not care about both of them but the good food he gets from the following brothers. Slowly Philip became closer to Christian because of his kind nature. Cedric slowly stopped playing with them and one day it was announced that he was leaving the palace and going north as a knight.
Christian tried to stop him, urging their father to reconsider but none of them listened. That was the last time Philip had seen Cedric. The young boy was sitting in the carriage without a single emotion on his face as if it had nothing to do with him.
While Christian was running behind, pleading Cedric to come out. He even offered the dukedom to the young boy as if it was his and he could give it to anyone. It was love for brother but at the same time arrogance in Christian tone but his offers were not able to sway the young child. He left the palace without remorse.
Soon, news that he had become a great knight started to circulate in the empire but Philp had already taken the place of his father and was serving Christian closely as his aide and secretary. Cedric was someone distant to them.
Thanks to Christian, Philip was now a baron and had his own territory and palace. Though it was not as large as their duchy. He was still content. He had left the job a year ago when he decided to get married and settle down.
But when he heard the news of his master's death and Cedric's return, he could not help but run here. He heard so many rumors that Cedric had killed Christian for wealth and position.