18: sina (1)

Both guards returned to their positions and opened the door for him to enter, each claiming that he wasn't there in the first place.

"...And now that I've lost my game, who will drive the carriage for me?"

Rayn looked at the situation and quickly decided. "Finn, come over here."

Another guard came to him from inside.

"Can you drive this carriage with the young lord inside the palace?"

The guard agreed without much talk. Rayn chose him because he was suitable for this task instead of Roudel, who might be harassed by the effeminate on the way. And if that happened, he wasn't sure how Roudel would handle it then. Maybe he would complete Roudel's failed task? It was clear that things wouldn't end well if he was the driver, so this guard was the best choice.

Before boarding the carriage, Dordrian said to Rayn in a petulant voice, "Oh, what a shame. I wished it was you who would drive me."

"I'm still on duty, forgive me, young master."

"Anyway, I won't say goodbye. After I fetch my new game, I'll be back soon."

The effeminate laughed as he rode the carriage, which quickly departed into the palace. And as soon as he was sure he had distanced himself enough from Roudel, his anger soared to the sky and he began to shout inside the carriage.

"Oh, disabled guard, how dare you insult this young master? Just wait, just wait until I return home." Dordrian breathed heavily due to his intense anger; it had been suppressed too much, far too much for him.

"I must get rid of this anger quickly. I hate this feeling... and I know very well how to do it..." Dordrian smiled a smile that boded ill indeed.

"I must say that the luck of this new game is not good at all. For it to be its first night and I'm angry to this extent, surely I'll break it in one night."

Dordrian felt that a part of his anger had disappeared when he anticipated the kind of event he would undertake tonight.

"But I wonder how long this game will stay alive before it loses consciousness? And another thing, what was its name again... Yes, it's Stella."

.

..

...

In one of the corridors of the large palace, one of the palace maids stood there. If one looked closely at her, they would be enchanted by her stunning beauty; a girl in her mid-teens, perhaps not as beautiful as the maid girl with silver hair, but they were not far from each other in beauty, with smooth white skin, gemstone green eyes, and hair that was blue tinged with black. She was undoubtedly a beauty that brought tears to the eyes. She was doing her usual work of cleaning, washing, and tidying, and there was nothing strange about it except that she was doing her tedious work happily and energetically, singing. It seems that this day was her promised day.

"What do you think you're doing now?"

As the young woman was busy with her work, she heard a scolding tone from behind her, but the cheerful girl was not surprised and turned to the person who called her with a smile and said, "Hello, Lady Baya."

In response to the cheerful girl's greeting, the mature maid stared at her for a while as if she wanted to pierce her with her sharp gaze, as if she were looking for something, then she said, "Did you clean the young master's room?"

"Yes, ma'am," the girl replied with the same smile.

"Did you wash the dishes?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Did you cook lunch?"

"Yes, ma... hold on, isn't that the cook's job?"

The mature maid continued to stare at her coldly for some time before answering. "....That's right. Why do you seem happy?"

"Do you really want to know why?"

"........"

"As you know, it's nothing special, but if you insist on..."

"Don't worry about that, just continue your work."

"Wait, wait, Lady Baya, I'll tell you, I'll tell you... You don't like introductions at all." The young woman paused for a moment, giving up on some dramatic preambles before continuing.

"What should I say, Lady Baya? It seems luck has finally begun to smile on me."

.

..

The young woman couldn't help but remember the conversation she had with her young master last night while helping him arrange his bed before sleep, as he looked at himself in the mirror trying to find any position where he would appear less chubby and more agile, and she had noticed that. She wanted to praise him to gain some favor in his heart.

"Am I imagining it, or does the young master look more handsome today?" With that sentence, the young maid began executing her plan... but.

"What do you mean? Have I ever appeared ugly to you before?"

Fayt responded angrily, looking at his reflection in the mirror in front of him, waiting to see how she would defend herself. He had always known that women were weak and useless creatures, and finding that this girl couldn't even see the handsomeness of this young master only reinforced his belief in this notion.

The young maid smiled bitterly at her failure and the difficulty of dealing with her young master and her unsuccessful attempt to start a smooth conversation with him.

"Of course, the young master is one of the most handsome men I've ever seen."

The young woman was only telling half the truth; although her young master was handsome, he didn't quite measure up to being the most handsome. He might have a handsome face, but a physique like his, dedicated to the art of laziness, had cost him many points in handsomeness. Therefore, he didn't measure up to being one of the most beautiful men like her brother.

"Yet today, something about you seems different, making you more pleasing to the eye?"

"Like what?" Fayt responded, scowling at her.

"I don't know, maybe it's just my imagination, but you seem more agile today," the young maid said, pretending to be lost in thought.

"Really? What do you mean?" Fayt responded to such words with much joy and turned to her eagerly.

'Hook, line, and sinker.' the young woman smirked cunningly as she saw her plan fall back into place.

"Now that you mention it, when you slid into this corner, you definitely look more agile."

Fayt chuckled happily at being described as more agile. Those were the two words he desired more than anything else. He wanted to be agile without exerting himself, of course. He desired the result without the effort, that was the kind of person he was.

"In the end, it seems you're not such a bad girl after all. People like you can take pride in serving me," Fayt said, his laughter filled with conceit after what he thought was praise.

'Good, this is what I hoped for,' thought Sina. Despite Fait's arrogant tone, she knew he meant it as a compliment. She knew Fait wasn't the kind of person who knew how to speak politely, so she understood that his nonsense was meant to praise her. And that also meant she was closer to him after this interaction.

"my efforts must finally be bearing fruit. All your hard work hasn't been in vain," fayt remarked.

"Are you implying, young master, that you've been engaging in physical training!?"

"Of course. What do you think of me? I've worked hard to reach this point... and finally, my efforts are paying off."

Sina was taken aback to hear that the family heir was working hard. She even began to doubt the quality of her hearing.

"So, you must have been training in secret to surprise us with these results. After all, I haven't seen you train at all for the past four days," she observed.

"What do you mean by training secretly? And why would I do something as trivial as that? As you said earlier, the last time I trained was indeed four days ago, and it was a very tiring day. So, I decided to reward myself and take the rest of the week off," Fayt explained.

"... No wonder the fruits of your labor are starting to show." The young woman was stunned by her young master's laziness, unable to hide her astonishment. Meanwhile, Fayt was pleased with the look of surprise she gave him.

"I wish all the maids working in this palace had the good attitude you possess," Fayt remarked.

'What you call a good attitude is nothing more than a licking tongue. and I don't wish all the maids to have a tongue like mine. If that were to happen, there would be too many competitors.'

The young maid realized she was using all means to get closer to her young master, and she didn't see a problem with that, or at least the problems weren't enough to make her stop.

'He's inherently lazy, and it's clear he won't change that trait as he's content with it. So, it wasn't wrong to lie to him and tell him what he wants to hear.' The young maid  tried to justify her actions

'Telling him he's become agile instead of telling him the truth or encouraging him to work hard will surely not end well... I won't be like his foolish fiancée who tried to encourage him to change.' Thinking about that, the maid remembered her most dangerous rival.

'What did she gain from her actions? Real change? Of course not, what she gained from her actions was that she lowered her status from his fiancée to his servant.'

The young maid couldn't help but feel some guilt and anger over the wrong actions she had taken, as well as the good actions she had avoided.

'What can I say? This world doesn't always reward the doer of good with what they desire, but sometimes even supports the wrongdoer instead. So let me reach my goal, even if I'm wrong, instead of throwing myself by the wayside while being right,' the young maid thought to herself, as she watched her young master begin another round of poses.

'I will never return to that miserable life. I will make this young man fall in love with me and marry me. I will bear his heir to secure my place as the lady of this noble family.'

Thinking about that, she rekindled her determination anew to continue pursuing her goal, and she managed to bury her negative feelings that could stand in the way of her destination like a barrier tormenting her conscience.