Servant Quarters

"Wakey wakey sleepyhead" Something was poking my chest but I couldn't exactly see who it was. I nuzzled in my sleep and turned around "oh my, was my little Al always such a sleepyhead" My dizziness froze as I instantly got up and looked around eyes wide open.

There was no one else in the room except for me, The walls looked very far from me and the room felt almost foreign. The nightlight shone from outside the window illuminated the room in a dim blue light

"I'll never get used to the size of this room" I massaged my forehead as I looked at the very familiar yet foreign room I'm currently staying in. I looked at the clock to see it was 2 AM in the morning, which is definitely not a time I would like to be awake in. But the dream from earlier seemed to have erased any urge to go back to sleep completely.

"Was that his memories..." I couldn't help but mumble, before I got out of bed to grab the pitcher on the table beside my bed to drink some water. I looked at the door to my room and decided to go for a walk with nothing better to do other than stare at the ceiling.

I tried to slowly open the door to my room but failed as it made a creaking down as it opened, I looked at the corridor that seemed to merge into the darkness as I looked at both sides "I haven't had a tour of the mansion yet, since I went from one room to another with a reason of being sick" 

Making my way through the corridor, I passed by multiple rooms with each room entrance looking as fancy as I expected it to be, walls with massive painting in it and windows that reached up until the ceiling, flowers vases at every turn. It was a sight to see during the night when the faint moon light shone on the objects.

I explored until I found myself completely lost in an area that looked very normal compared to all the luxurious places I've been too so far. The colors of the place also didn't have that fancy air to it and felt normal for once.

I walked further in until I found a room where the lights shone out due the door being opened "looks like the lights are on" I heard chatter and laughs from inside, feeling the lively atmosphere I peeked into the room.

I saw 3 people sitting on the table in the center, and 1 person on the counter that had a stove and other cooking utensils on it. There was a really nice smell coming from the pot that was on the counter.

"Ahh, Young Master" I suddenly felt the 3 people rush towards me and the 4th person bow slightly where he was "What are you doing in the servant quarters, you shouldn't be here Young lord" I heard the three people telling me to get out, as they bowed in front of me in panic.

I felt awkward not knowing how to reply to them since I'm not used people being overly polite and respected towards me. I scratched the back of my head as I grinned at them.

"I was just exploring, I will return now" but I licked the edges of my mouth at the pointed my fingers at the counter "But before that. can I also have some of that" I asked them, as the color on their faces instantly paled.

"Young Lord, I don't think it would be wise of you have that" The person in the center of the 3 said with a pale face.

"Why not?"

"Because that's the food that commoners are used to having it wouldn't fit your tastes, if you really feel hungry we don't mind making you something else right now or the food you usually love to eat" The person in center told me as he clasped his two hands rubbing them with each other, sending me a wary smile.

"So what? Am I not allowed to eat that?" I asked him with a straight face, I felt the 3 servants sweat more as they didn't know what to reply to that. I walked past them and made my way to the 4th person who recognized as one of the chiefs that made the food I eat everyday.

"Can I have some of that?" I asked him, he turned his head to me in shock before he smiled as he bought down his ladle to scoop up what looked like some freshly made soup, he then grabbed a nearby bowl that seemed to have some kind of meat mixed with veggies in it and poured the soup over the meat. The aroma that came out when the soup was poured in the bowl mixing the meat and veggies was almost exquisite.

"Wait, Young Lord. You might not like the food, it is not catered to the taste of nobles" I heard the other three people complain but I ignored them as the edges of my mouth watered looking at the bowl of soup in front of me.

I sat down on the nearby stool as the chief was waiting for my reaction after tasting the dish, while the other 3 were growing pale expecting my reaction.

I grabbed the spoon and mixed the soup well before bringing it to the edges of mouth. everyone in the room looked at my reaction, unknown to me another presence was also lurking to see my reaction.

SLURP

I took a big whiff of the smell that entered my nose and I drank the soup, letting myself enjoy the taste of it. The soup felt thick to drink as each time I took a slurp of it, I felt like spices attacking my taste buds, followed by a salty after taste. It was really good, then came the time for the meat mixed with veggies to enter my mouth. at this point, I had to chew them but the mix was so well down with each bite I could feel both the veggies and meat melting down with much need to chew. And then I took the last bite as I finished the entire bowl in one go.

"That was so gooooddd~, can I get seconds! Chief" I heard the servant exhale in relief as the chief grabbed my bowl with a smile refilling it "What are you guys waiting for, you also start eating! This tastes so good" I asked the servants who looked at each other before shrugging and grabbing their own bowls.

The atmosphere in the room lightened as I tried to make casual chit-chats with the servants who seemed very stiff at first but relaxed the more I talked to them. 

Finishing my second serving of the soup, I looked back at the chief.

"This is heavenly, why don't nobles eat this" I thoughtlessly asked the chief as I looked at him, he merely shook his head and told me in a irritated manner.

"Those darn nobles are all about etiquette" The Chief grunted as he looked at the empty container of soup "They don't understand hunger, to understand what it means to be full. Hence, food such as this that has such unrefined look and rough seasoning is frowned"

"You mustn't say that chief!" I heard one of the people scold that chief who ignored what he was saying.

"Looks like most noble are a bunch of assholes with a stick up their asses, huh?" The 3 people gasped as looked at me in shock, while the Chief just laughed at me.

"Young lord, you mustn't say that either. Nobles have the incredible responsibility of running this kingdom" I heard the same person scold me too, I was happy at least the awkward atmosphere earlier was gone.

"Hahaha, The young lady also has a similar opinion. even though, you were always seen rowdy among nobles, you always prided yourself to have really good etiquette. So I'm surprised to see you act so down to earth and casual suddenly" The chief told me as he finished cleaning the container and started the bowls we just had our late night meal in.

'young lady' my younger sister? or older sister? I heard my older sister doesn't live here so I'm assuming he is talking about Sera. She tried to act very formal the last time I met her. Arnold 'prided himself to be really good at noble etiquette' did he force it on his younger sister or did she decide to force it on herself. Sera had a similar opinion as me, does she not like noble?

"Does Sera... dislike nobles?" I asked the chief who shook his head.

"Young lady just happens to like this dish too, I'm not sure if she dislikes noble etiquette. I was merely pointing out that she too had a similar opinion on this dish as you when you asked 'why nobles do not eat this dish'" The Chief corrected himself in a formal tone instead of the casual one from earlier. 

"Sera likes this food..." I haven't seen Sera since the day I met her, apparently she has to go to school and has been busy with things that kids going to school are busy with, I wasn't allowed to go out of my room until today. An idea popped in my head since tomorrow was the weekend and I also finally have my freedom albeit not entirely, but it was a start.

"Hey Chief, pst~"

I told him to come closer and continued to whisper my brilliant idea into his ears as the 3 onlookers gave us confused looks. After telling him the plan, I bid my good nights to the people in the room and headed to my own room. Finally feeling the urge to go back to sleep.

"Tomorrow is going to be fun..." 

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A/N : tell me if you guys seem to find any errors in sentences or better ways to write some lines. I'm still new to this so I'd like to improve things if there was ever a better way to handle a situation, sentence or line.