𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐃𝐎𝐌

𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘁𝘄𝗼.

王国

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As the faintest hints of sunlight trickled in from the window, the door to (Y/N)'s shared room opened to reveal the head maid, her loud clap enough to wake the three sleeping girls. Her face was stern but kind, and while she hadn't been present very long, her aura exuded one of discipline.

    "Please get up, girls," she began with a clipboard in hand, flicking her eyes up to each of them. "We have quite a busy day ahead of us, so you will be given only twenty minutes to dress and another ten minutes to eat. If you go straight down this hall, you will come to a door which will lead to the servants' eating quarters. From there, we will assign you your jobs for the day, so chop, chop!"

    And with that, she was gone.

    Since she didn't want to get scolded her first day, (Y/N) stood with a stretch before making up the sheets on her bed. Moving to the restroom, she did her business, washed her hands, and then collected what she needed from her trunk to get ready. First, she brushed her teeth, then washed her face, and finally brushed her hair. Slipping on her uniform—the same obsidian one the other maids had been wearing—she was finished at the exact same time that Mari was, the girl flashing her a smile.

    Meanwhile, Juliya was taking her time.

    "You guys can go on without me," she said as she slipped off her nightgown to begin putting on her uniform. "I don't want you to miss breakfast."

    "If you insist," (Y/N) nodded, having a feeling that Juliya just wanted a bit of alone time.

    Mari picked up on that as well.

    Deciding to leave her to her own devices, the two maids walked down the hall towards where the eating quarters were, standing in line for a breakfast of plain oatmeal and cut up strawberries. While it was by no means a lavish feast, it was definitely quite good with the oatmeal still warm and the strawberries fresh and juicy.

    "I'm surprised you have an appetite," Mari hummed as she took a bit of oatmeal.

    "Why is that?" (Y/N) questioned.

    "After everything you've been through..." she trailed off, unsure of how to continue. "...A-At least to me, you don't seem that upset..."

    "Why would I be?"

    Mari blinked, shocked.

    "What?"

    "Y-Your country was just razed to the ground! Your monarch was slaughtered! You're now a prisoner of war!" Mari whisper-shouted, making sure no one but (Y/N) heard her words, guilt and worry clawing across her expression however. "Doesn't that make you want to scream? Shout? Curse Ophnelia and... His Majesty?"

    (Y/N) cracked a smile when Mari's voice dropped even lower than before.

    "I felt no great attachment to Ushien," she explained as she bit into one of her strawberries, gazing thoughtfully up at the ceiling. "And I've been given food, water, a roof over my head, and am still a servant same as in Ushien. Should I feel any different at all?"

    Mari blinked.

    (Y/N)'s reasoning was sound, but at the same time it wasn't.

    But before Mari could even hope of telling (Y/N) her worries, the head maid and what looked to be the head butler clapped their hands and directed everyone into two, single-file vertical lines with men on the right and women on the left. The butler had a clipboard in hand same as the head maid and began listing tasks for each man to complete, each time he did so older servants coming in and directing them towards where they needed to go.

Finally, it was the women's turn.

"Everyone," the head maid began. "My name is Delphine, and I am handing you out ribbons that will be tied into your hair. The color is white, signaling that you are the lowest rank with tasks such as cleaning and the like. Gold is the second rank, where you will be serving meals or cleaning up directly after His Majesty. Black is the highest rank, and you would be directly serving His Majesty with whatever he may need. Granted, these are not personal maids, so they do other chores too, but they are the ones more likely to be around His Majesty. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am," everyone said in unison as they finished tying their hair up in the white ribbon.

"Good, now, I will be reading you your tasks," Delphine nodded her head curtly as she looked over her clipboard. "First we have (Y/N)(L/N), a previous maid of Ushien... you have been assigned to clean the library and sweep the courtyard. After those two chores are done firstly and foremost, you must then..." When Delphine trailed off, most looked at her in confusion when seeing the fear cross her expression, stuttering as she continued, "Y-You must then bathe his... wolf."

(Y/N) blinked.

Did she say wolf?

I don't recall there ever being information on His Majesty owning a wolf.

Glancing to her right when Mari gasped, her eyes filling with nothing but sympathy, she then looked towards the maids with golden ribbons in their hair ready to direct her to the library and courtyard to clean. As they walked down the halls in a silent manner, (Y/N) couldn't help but wonder.

A wolf... huh?

I wonder if the creature is completely tamed or not. Considering how His Majesty is keeping it as a pet, it more or less is.

Given supplies to help her with her task, (Y/N) first used a duster to clean the bookshelves before sweeping the floor, then polishing the wood with a rag and a type of solution. By the time she was done, half of the morning had gone by, especially with how expansive the library was considering it was two floors with a spiraling staircase, a plethora of books, and many tables and chairs where one could sit down and read if they so desired.

(Y/N) exhaled as she cracked her neck.

This is going to be a long day...

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To be continued...