The next day, Faye was dragged early in the morning by the current head of the maids, the elderly Gwen to receive a briefing on her tasks and her arrangement from now on, as it wouldn’t look good to have a maid sleep with the mistress no matter what.
At first, Gwen thought that her master would definitely not agree to give the mistress a new maid of her choosing after what had happened in the past, but for some reason, he said to let them be and observe.
Actually, Allen opposed the idea at first, even after hearing from his subordinates that Faye was really a stranger that Arlea rescued by accident. But when he saw Faye’s separation anxiety, he was willing to wait and see. Of course, he had instructed his subordinates to handle the matter if Arlea showed any sign of harmful intent towards Faye.
He didn’t notice that it was the first time he was willing to give the villainous woman a chance to prove the others wrong.
Faye followed Gwen obediently after knowing she won’t be separated from the only kind woman she knew and met by accident. Having born as a commoner and mingled a bit with the society, she had a clue about the difference of status between herself and Arlea. She accepted the fact that she would stay with the other fellow maids from now on.
As for the fellow maids’ reactions…
“Kyaaa~! How cute! Wait, isn’t she too young? How old is she? Will she be alright serving…Arlea-sama?”
“Ohmygod, how old are you?”
Faye’s body tensed when a maid jumped to hug her at first glance. It couldn’t be helped. Most women love cute things, and Faye looked like a cute little child, especially after being groomed the other day.
Everyone was expecting Faye to speak adorably, but much to their disappointment, Faye raised her ten fingers.
“Oh, you’re ten?”
Faye only nodded.
“…Gwen-san, can she speak?” One of the maids immediately raised the issue.
“Well…she only nodded and never spoke the whole time I gave her explanation…,” Gwen had a complicated expression on her face.
“Oh…she’s a mute?” One of the maids insensitively said. Her friend immediately elbowed her, and the maid covered her mouth in surprise.
However, Faye didn’t bulge and didn’t even show any trace of anger.
“I heard her cry the other day, but I’m not sure about it myself…,” Gwen stared at little Faye.
“Oh…anyway, we need to fatten her up! She’s too skinny and small for her age!” One of the maids immediately changed the topic.
Faye tensed up again the moment she heard they wanted to ‘fatten’ her up. After all, she heard some people saying things such as fattening up the animals before eating them…she was a halfling, so she couldn’t help but shudder a bit.
Everyone is scary…
Faye thought to herself as she was still on her guard here.
“Faye, can you read and write?” Gwen suddenly asked as she wanted to know how she should communicate with Faye.
Faye shook her head.
“…This is going to be tricky,” Gwen thought to herself.
Anyway, Gwen didn’t want to overwhelm Faye with too much information and she promised to return Faye to Arlea in the afternoon so Faye could practice directly, so Gwen went to find Arlea.
Among all the maids, perhaps Gwen was the bravest one as she was able to not flinch in front of Arlea—even when she shot her a murderous and hateful glance in the past for defying her. Even when the old Arlea threw a glass at her, Gwen didn’t show any frightened look. She knew that by showing a frightened look, Arlea would feel happy, so Gwen didn’t want to give that to her.
It was a good thing that she wore glasses and her eyes were protected from the shattered glass…
She was also worried about this innocent little child being implicated in any scheming that the villainous woman might do…but this child was quite vigilant, yet she seemed to trust Arlea the most…for now.
Before letting Faye go back to Arlea, Gwen grabbed the child’s shoulder, bent down a little and looked at her in the eyes.
“Listen up, child. If Arlea-sama were to do something bad, you have to report to any of us. Don’t side with her if it’s for bad thing.”
Faye first widened her eyes in surprise upon hearing Gwen’s words, but she saw how serious Gwen was. So, she could only nod.
“Good girl,” Gwen said before she knocked the door to Arlea’s room.
“Faye!” Ann leaped to hug Faye immediately as she patted the girl’s head. Ann was happy to see Faye again, despite the fact that they were only apart for a short while.
“Excuse me, Arlea-sama, but I have something to discuss about Faye,” Gwen said without showing any frightened look at Arlea.
Ann looked at Gwen and assessed her.
Deep down, Ann admired this maid for being the only one among the maids to not fear her—apart from the newly recruited Faye.
“Yes, what is it?” Ann asked.
“Can this child talk?”
Gwen’s words caused Ann to be dumbfounded.
“Sure, she can,” Ann blinked as she answered.
“Is that so? This child hasn’t spoken a word at all…,” Gwen said in wonder before she excused herself and left Arlea and Faye.
As soon as the door was closed, Ann bent her body and asked as she looked at Faye in the eyes.
“Faye, let me hear your voice again.”
“Sure.”
“Why didn’t you talk in front of Gwen and the others?” Ann didn’t beat around the bush and asked.
“…because I was taught that my voice is precious,” Faye said without blinking.
…It was precious, so she didn’t want to waste talking?
Ann’s face was full of questions. Perhaps noticing that, Faye added.
“I only speak to the people I trust. You…Arlea-sama saved me, so I trust you,” Faye said, trying to ignore the initial impression that she had on her current mistress. Her first impression on Arlea was that she was someone suspicious with weird behavior, but Arlea proved her conjecture wrong and was actually a genuine good person.
Ann seemed to think for a while before she suddenly clapped her hands together.
“I get it. Some birds have beautiful voices and they’d only sing to certain people or birds—or in certain occasions. Faye, you can sing?”
Ann looked at Faye with sparkling eyes. When she thought about it, Faye’s voice was actually really pleasant to the ears.
Faye nodded, not wasting any unnecessary word.
“Can you let me hear your singing voice?” Ann then requested.
Faye nodded. She closed her eyes for a while before she opened them slowly as she began to sing.
“When the sun sets, the sky darkens.
The darkness reminds all to begin their rest,
But it reminds some to begin their day.
The darkness might scare you,
But look up to the sky and see
The beautiful moon and the stars are there.
The stars are those who have gone
Way before your life begins.
They are up there in the night sky,
Guiding you from afar.”
Ann didn’t know the song, as expected from the culture gap, but she really enjoyed Faye’s beautiful singing voice. The first time they met, Faye’s voice was too hoarse from thirst that she didn’t really notice. She spoke in such a small voice, contrary to when she was singing.
“Faye, you can make a living from singing! Why didn’t you just do that?” Ann immediately asked. She was intrigued why such a talented singer like her ended up a beggar and a thief.
“…they forced me to sing in order for them to get money, so I ran away.”
Ann was stunned. She then remembered that Faye was still a weak child and was a halfling—so perhaps some bad people targeted her and wanted to turn her into a slave. It was fortunate that Faye escaped.
“Uhm, your family…,” Ann carefully studied Faye’s expressions as she mentioned a sensitive subject to her.
“They died in the middle of rebellion,” Faye curtly answered.
Surprise flashed in Ann’s eyes as she heard Faye’s answer. She immediately pulled Faye’s small body to her embrace as she put one of her hands behind Faye’s head, caressing her. Ann’s eyes dimmed as she tried to recall the events that were mentioned in the game.
“Arlea-sama, I’m fine,” Faye said.
“You can speak with the others when necessary. Hmm, maybe I should teach you how to read and write…,” Ann said as she hesitated a bit.
Would teaching Faye how to read and write make her ‘mute mode’ more often?
“You are willing to teach me?” Faye widened her eyes in surprise.
Most commoners only know the value of money and count them for the sake of living. Not all are lucky enough to be able to read and write. Even more so for those who are poor—those like Faye.
“Uh…As long as you are still willing to communicate via your voice…,” Ann said.
Never mind, reading and writing should be a basic skill that everyone should know! Why did I hesitate in letting her learn such an important skill in life?
“I promise,” Faye quickly decided.
“Good,” Ann patted Faye’s head and let go of her embrace when she saw a surprising thing.
~SAVING THE KINGDOM, SNATCHING THE BEAUTY~
CHARACTER INFORMATION
Name: Faye
Race: Halfling (Bird)
Gender: Female
Age: 10
Birthday: 26/02
Magic: No
Occupation: Maid
More information ->
Ann stood there frozen as she looked at the character information box that was opened by accident. Well, she did touch Faye’s chest area with her body, but she didn’t intend to open this information box…
Whatever, as long as she could close it and it would be closed automatically within time, then all is good!
…Wait, what’s with this ‘more information’ that wasn’t there before?
Arlea immediately clicked the ‘more information’ arrow and read the continuation.
[More InformationSkills: Singing
History:
Orphaned at the age of 7 as her parents were killed in the middle of the kingdom’s battle against rebel party in the rural area. She was initially sent to an orphanage before she was adopted by people who turned out to want to use her to gain money by forcing her to sing. Luckily, she managed to escape and had been living in the Klavenheim town’s slum.]
Ann didn’t notice Faye was looking at her in confusion.
Why would Arlea suddenly point her finger at nothingness and staring intensely at nothingness?
At first, Faye thought Arlea was staring at her clothes, and she checked her maid outfit to see if there was something wrong…but no, there wasn’t anything wrong. That was when she noticed that Arlea was staring at something else that she couldn’t fathom what.
After staring at nothingness for a moment, Ann’s gaze shifted to Faye. Faye tilted her head when their eyes matched.
Then, Ann pulled Faye to another hug as she stroked Faye’s back as if comforting her and…
“Huh? This bulge…,” Ann just noticed.
“My wings. They are still small,” Faye answered shortly.
“Oh no, shouldn’t we customize your clothes to let your wings be exposed instead of crammed inside the clothes?”
“Arlea-sama, they are so small, it’s not needed yet,” Faye answered again.
“…Oh my child, you should eat a lot and grow up more, then!” Ann patted Faye’s head.
…Who’s whose child?
This mistress of her sure was eccentric, but she seemed kind and…her hugs and pats were so warm.
Faye had long considered Arlea as her benefactor and someone she could trust, so she couldn’t fathom why Gwen and the other maids were so wary towards such a kind mistress.
Meanwhile, Ann thought of trying to find out more about how this character information box pop-ups really work.
