Chapter 37: Loyalty, Greed, and Sword
"Hey, Clarissa, how’s your work going?" An maid asks me, but I ignore her and avert my gaze, after a rumor that Evelyn-sama won an amicable duel through representatives against Augustus, other maid come to try and ask me things.
So I just ignore them, there’s no reason to give out information and especially I don’t want to cause any trouble, they come only to be opportunistic and try to find things out.
"Tsk..." The maid clicks her tongue and leaves while I let out a sigh, but without much time I’m suddenly lifted into the air by the neck with surprising strength.
"U-Urg" I see Evelyn, or rather by the clothes I know it’s that girl serving Evelyn-sama, so this is Eve, the girl of the rumors who was the winner of the duel, she looks at me coldly while pinning me against the wall.
"Do you know why I’m doing this?" She asks, pushing me hard against the wall, choking me, I shake my head in denial, not knowing what she’s talking about, I don’t know why she’s doing this while she tightens her grip on my neck.
"It’s simple, I don’t trust you, maid, you serve Evelyn-sama the wrong way, you lack loyalty, a servant who is with a master only out of fear is not loyal," she says with a cold look that seems to want to kill me.
"You’re weak and lack loyalty...that made me decide to have a little chat with you," she gives a horrific smile while her eyes have the coldness of someone who doesn’t fear killing.
"I won’t let a filthy worm without a drop of loyalty near Evelyn-sama, I suggest you change your mindset, be loyal to Evelyn-sama or disappear from this castle, disappear from this city, disappear from this continent, and if you can, even disappear from this planet."
"Because I swear, if Evelyn-sama is betrayed by you, your greatest wish will be to never have been born."
She threatens me, tightening my neck in a way that shows she has my life in her hands, I start to cry in pain and she drops me to the ground.
"Cough cough" I cough, holding my neck that bears the marks of her hand, the tears falling from the suffocation while my body trembles with fear, I really felt I was going to die.
"Evelyn-sama is calling you, let’s go?" She completely changes her tone, gaining a gentle smile on her face and speaking softly, as if she hadn’t just threatened me with death.
I shudder with fear as I stare at her hand that she extended to help me up, I end up accepting it out of fear that she’ll do something if I don’t accept her "kindness".
"Don’t judge me wrongly, Clarissa, I’m not depriving you of a chance, I’m just giving you a push to the right side, if you decide to stay with Evelyn-sama, you’ll need real loyalty," she says, pulling me up.
"..."
"Are you afraid of this?" She says as she starts walking with slow steps, I can only follow in silence, touching my neck still with a slight pain from the choking and the grip.
"Do you think I’m going to kill you? Why don’t you think the opposite? I’m being very open, I understand that Evelyn-sama has suffered and I want the best for her, I can’t allow someone with an uncertain mindset near her," she says while looking into my eyes.
"I can assure you, Evelyn-sama would treat you very well if you show effort, but that’s the point, she would accept your effort and possible friendship as genuine, while I won’t be so lenient."
"I’ll know if you’re lying to gain advantage over her, or if you’re being honest, so I say, if you’re not going to be loyal to her, it’s better to get away before I decide you’re a threat," she says as I finally understand.
’It’s...a second chance...’ A chance for me to get away from Evelyn-sama if I’m not loyal, or to stay with Evelyn-sama and become loyal.
"I..." I murmur, trying to say something.
"I’m not asking for an answer now, I just hope you don’t forget this, and always remember, I’ll be watching everything, and you as an maid must choose whether or not to be loyal."
"..."
"Now let’s hurry, Evelyn-sama wishes for your presence, so we have to hurry," she says as I think about it, she’s right, if I’m not loyal, I can have a terrible fate.
But if I’m loyal to her, I won’t be able to go to anyone else, leave or run away, staying with her is simply a final sentence, it means that if she does well and becomes queen, I’ll have huge advantages.
But if she dies, I’ll have problems, I can die together or I can even be abandoned and even have a chance of becoming a slave.
"I’ll...keep what you said and decide..." I tell her, and she gives me a smile, and we follow in silence.
’Change...should I change?’ Change, I never thought about changing before, but maybe this is a good opportunity to change and become better.
...
...
...
"Here will be your accommodations, Miss Grace," the head maid called Verena tells me, bringing me to a very large and elegant room, while she carries the suitcases I brought to the castle.
"Thank you for the help," I say with a smile as she nods to me, entering the room with the suitcases, I also enter the room, seeing how the place seems quite comfortable.
"It’s so beautiful and elegant, you know? They’ve chosen a really good accommodation for me," I say as a compliment, I didn’t imagine they would treat me so well, although the head maid is clearly not too happy with me.
"Yes, it’s an appropriate accommodation for..."
"Could you leave?" I interrupt her, I’m good at judging people, and this head maid is not a good person, she reminds me of those disgusting nobles I met in the human continent itself.
"...Understood, Miss Grace," she says, leaving the room with a slightly rigid posture for being cut off in the middle of the sentence, I feel more at ease as soon as she closes the door, that greedy and malicious look is unpleasant.
All 5 candidates for the throne that I saw at least didn’t have such bad looks, they weren’t good, but they hid a lot, which shows that superficial evaluation is bad.
Some people are deep, have a lot to hide within themselves while showing only a fraction on the outside, I as a heroine almost never use the exterior to evaluate someone.
However, certain people are easy to evaluate, without even needing to know the truth, and this Verena is a special case, she has a terrible look for a head maid.
It’s full of greed, that is, a woman hungry for power, I bet she abuses the authority of head maid.
"Let’s see, I need to organize my things," I open one of my suitcases, throwing several clothes on the bed, I’ll organize them later, for now I have something more important to see.
"Ah yes, here’s this beauty," I open another suitcase and pick up a sword with a golden hilt and a shiny silver blade, emitting a slight sharp glow that I love to observe, this is my weapon as a heroine.
Dual-Edged Slasher (Description = A blade forged with the magic of the 4 races, with high magical potential and incredible cutting power, it is a weapon that evolves with the user, becoming stronger and stronger, although it loses all the power it has accumulated when the bearer dies, restarting the cycle)
"I’ll need your help a lot, my companion," this continent is quite dangerous, no doubt I’ll use this sword a lot, so having the utmost care for it is the most obvious thing.
I take the sword, placing it on the bed in a special corner, unlike the clothes that I just threw on the bed, with the sword I’m careful.
"Okay, I also have duties..." I have to report certain things to the kingdom, of course trying not to be too invasive, but things like geography, environment, monsters encountered, dangers and other things.
’There are so many things I have to report...well, I’ll do that later’ Reporting daily or weekly is so ridiculous and boring, I think reporting once a month is enough, I just need to make a really big report.
"Hmm...but the people here are all so cute," I sit on the bed remembering everyone, it was really interesting to meet most of them, which makes me think of a plan to conquer someone among them.
"I still lack the so-called Evelyn, I wonder if she’s also as pretty as her sisters? And there’s the Demon King, he has a very nice voice, too bad he’s always in armor," I didn’t have the courage to flirt with the Demon King.
Not only because he didn’t show his appearance, but also because he’s like the supreme authority of this continent, so it’s better not to do anything stupid.
’Damn, this way I look like an opportunist...’ It’s not like I’m choosing them just for their beauty, for me personality, actions and way of acting are worth more than appearance.
I much prefer someone nice, kind and who knows how to take care of others than someone arrogant, disgusting and who despises the people around them, even if the gentle one doesn’t have the beauty of the arrogant.
It’s just that it’s natural for humanity to observe beauty first for a first impression, and then a bigger opinion is formed, so I’ll talk to everyone.
Interact, ask things, observe how they treat others, and try to find out about their pasts, so I can judge if any of them are someone who, in addition to stirring my heart, is also worth the effort to be conquered.