Inside an Inn on the outskirts of Semohr.
"Another girl?"
Mayzin sipped on a non-alcoholic drink and asked, raising her brows and pointing at a girl opposite to her.
The girl's hands were on the table with her head down on them. She seemed to be sleeping, judging from her unhurried, calm breaths.
Sylvia sipped on scoffee and did a curt nod.
"Master has a weird tendency to pick up girls wherever he goes," a soft voice said.
It wasn't Sylvia, since she barely said more than a few words. It was Fei, sitting beside her with a sleeping orange cat on her lap.
She gently caressed the cat's back and continued, "Lady Mayzin would need to get used to it soon."
"Seems like it." Mayzin brushed her hair to the back of her ear and said.
Fei and Sylvia both nodded in response.
"…"
Mayzin suddenly realized something.
"Wait, what do you mean get used to it?"
"Hm?" Fei tilted her head.
Mayzin looked at the two with a squinted, questioning gaze. "You two, why would you say I need to get used to it?"
"…Because Milady will be looking at such scenes more in future?"
Mayzin squinted her eyes further. "And what makes you believe that I'll see this scene more?"
Fei didn't understand where Mayzin was getting at with such questions. Was everything she said not satisfactory?
Fei thought for a bit and answered, "…If Milady is around Master, then you'll be looking at such scenes often. This is what I meant."
"Yeah, and what makes you think I'll be around him?"
"Hm? Why wouldn't you be?" Fei asked back. The question was quite stupid if one were to ask her, but she didn't say it out loud. "Isn't Milady dating Master? Is it not natural for you to be around him?"
"…"
Mayzin facepalmed. It was as she had thought. These two were mistaking her for dating Lith.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I am not dating him." Mayzin said flatly to clear the misunderstanding.
"Oh." Fei was somewhat surprised. "Then, is it a one tthing?"
"What one time?"
"Did Milady have a one night stand with Master?" Fei asked with a straight face, completely unfazed, as if it was a natural thing to ask.
Mayzin was taken aback by the question. 'What sort of pervert is he to have his maids think in such a way?'
What weird things had Lith done in the past to get such a reputation?
Shaking her head with a sigh and sipping on the drink, Mayzin replied, "No. I didn't have any such thing happen. And I don't plan to, either. I am not dating him, and I don't think I will be in future either."
"It's a matter of time." A soft, monotonous voice replied. This time, it belonged to Sylvia who had been silent all along.
"It isn't." Mayzin's eyes twitched as she said that.
Sylvia and Fri both nodded in response, not arguing with her further.
"If it helps Milady feel better, then so be it." Fei said what was on her and Sylvia's mind.
The two obviously didn't agree to Mayzin's statements. But she gave up trying to bicker with them.
Changing the topic, she asked, "So, who's that girl? Is she someone special like the druid cat?"
"Yes." Sylvia answered. "She is an alchemist. How good, I do not know."
"She is intelligent, but severely lacks courage and isn't street smart whatsoever." Fei added.
"Street smart?"
"Yes. She doesn't have much practical knowledge. She doesn't know how to go about everyday things properly."
"Suppose we needed an artifact for masking our scent. When Milady and I visit a shop, the shop staff would think of us as pretty ladies who don't know anything. They'll increase the price and speak highly of a subpar product, then sell it to us. Milady and I will know we are being extorted, but this girl won't. She'll think she got a good deal."
"Oh. So that's what it is." Mayzin understood it now. Money was the best way to make her understand things.
Fei and Sylvia were taught a few things by Luna back in the castle for convenience. Not just them, but all the new maids who had joined. These few things ranged from Lith's likes, dislikes, and general information on his ladies.
Mayzin was quick to grasp things related to wealth. So if she didn't understand something, the maids were supposed to tell her the sthing from a wealth or business point of view.
"She seems like Alea." Mayzin commented.
Fei shook her head. "She can't compare to young miss Alea."
When hearing such a sentence, one would usually think that Fei was saying Alea was better, but in the present context, such wasn't the case.
Mayzin smiled awkwardly and scratched her cheek with her index finger. "She has her charms."
Fei nodded. "Young miss Alea's innocent charms are otherworldly."
"Alright, I better get going. Need to protect my nephew."
Mayzin got up and stretched lazily with her hands over her head.
"Master won't need protection." Fei shook her head and said.
"Heh." Mayzin scoffed. "Your so-called Master loves courting death."
"He does?" It was Sylvia that asked this time, surprising Fei.
Nobody knew Sylvia better than Fei. In her view, she saw a change within Sylvia.
Usually, she would be aloof and uninterested, irrespective of the situation. The only ther still emotions saw a ripple was when she played with her dog Zen.
'I must let Master know that the ice is breaking…'
"He does." Mayzin answered Sylvia. "He does things as if he has extra lives at hand. He's way too reckless."
Mayzin had such an opinion of Lith due to the training sessions with him. He would charge right at her, get beaten up, and still dare to charge. There were no plans he made to trick her into getting a hit. It was always brute force, charging head-on.
"Hm… I've never seen Master act recklessly. He has a cautious personality and his steps are mostly calculated."
Fei said what she had seen.
Mayzin shook her head. "You're wrong about that. He really is stupid and requires protection. If I'm not around him, he might get himself killed."
"No— hm…"
Fei stopped speaking as she realized something.
"Master will die if you don't protect him?" She collected her thoughts and asked.
"That's right. This quest I gave him is above his level, but not too over the top. So, I need to look after him, lest he gets himself killed."
"I understand." Fei nodded. "Then, I wish Milady a safe trip."
Mayzin waved at Fei and took a step away from the table they were at, vanishing without causing even the slightest ripple in space.
Once she was gone, Fei turned to look at Sylvia, who seemed to be looking back at her, as if expecting something.
"You felt that too?" Fei asked with a knowing smile.
"Yes." Sylvia said with a neutral face. "Master is pretending."
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmSylvia used 'His Highness' and 'Master' interchangeably when referring to Lith. The usage of each term depended on the context.
"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. I knew it." Fei clicked her tongue and shook her head. "He just wants to have Milady around him. To have Milady's complete attention."
Sylvia nodded. There was no doubt about that.
"Dragons are overprotective. They'll go to great lengths to protect the things they love. And I suppose…" Fei said and paused.
Sylvia nodded again. "...Master is making Lady Mayzin protect him so that she starts caring for him, then develops feelings later."
"Hah! Even you can guess it now!" Fei aggressively patted the cat on her lap as she exclaimed. "He's using reverse behavioral psychology which Milady isn't even aware of as it's too subtle."
"Yes." Sylvia took a sip of tea and said in a monotonous voice. "Dragons first love something then develop a feeling to protect them. But in Master's case…"
"Right. Right. Tch. What a sly man… he needs to be kept in check or he'll scam all the beauties in this world to be his."
Fei looked down at the orange cat as she said that. Something made her feel that this cat won't stay in her cat form for long.
Sylvia's gaze shifted to the green-haired girl resting on the table. She took a sip of her tea and continued to stare at her. Something told her that this alchemist girl would have her lab coat replaced with a maid apron soon.
Fei and Sylvia then turned to look at each other, their eyes doing the communication for them.
'He's going to *** them, right?' 'He is.' Sylvia took a sip of tea as her eyes answered the question Fei had asked.
'Must we do something?'
'We must.' Sylvia took a sip of tea again with her eyes gleaming sharply.
Fei looked down at the cat and slowed her caresses.
She turned back to Sylvia and communicated:
'I want to be ***** too.'
'Did you not already get *****?' Sylvia's eyes questioned.
'It was not that type of ***.'
'Don't be greedy.'
Fei clicked her tongue and squinted her eyes.
'You'll know the wonders of *** once you have it.'
'We'll see about that.' Sylvia calmly sipped her tea again, unaware of the changes that were happening to her own emotional psyche.
'Good luck.' Fei lowered her gaze at the cat after saying so.
'You too.'
Sylvia stated and went back to sipping her tea quietly.
Even though no sugar was added, the tea felt extra sweet today.