Chapter 8: Terrifying Nobility
"Why do I have to go?" I speak irritatedly with the head maid, it’s unfair that I have to go take care of that failure.
"Clarissa Nacht, don’t disobey! Get going, it’s already dinner time," the head maid speaks in a serious tone, making me shrink.
’T-Tsk, just because I’m small, they think I’m the one who has to go do these shitty jobs.’ Miss Marie is also small, it’s so unfair that they keep throwing the worst jobs at me just for that.
"Ok, I’ll go..." I say, starting to walk uncomfortably, I didn’t want to go see that weird and failed girl, for real, there’s no point in getting involved with her, she has no future.
’I wish I could meet someone really important...’ I would love to be sent to something with Miss Esther or Miss Marie, who are incredible, why do I have to go to the most failed of the sisters?
’How the hell did this apple fall so far from the tree?’ For someone born of the Demon King, a failure like her is a blemish.
"Haa...I wish I was at least taller..." I’m only 144 centimeters tall, so I can’t even try to impose myself as an authority figure.
’I’ll just get this over with’ I arrive at the girl’s room and just open the door carelessly, a failure doesn’t deserve the respect of me knocking.
"Hey, it’s dinner time," I say, seeing Evelyn, she is undoubtedly very beautiful, but beauty is nothing without strength.
"Do I know you...?" She asks, getting up from the chair and taking a few steps forward as she examines my face.
"..."
"Of course, how could I forget, Clarissa Nacht...you gave me a pretty serious punch in the eye when I was 14, as well as a few other little things," she says with a strange smile on her face.
"So what, are you going to do something about it?" I speak mockingly, what could this weakling do?
"I see your tongue is sharp for a mere maid, shouldn’t you be more cautious? After all, if the Demon King has given me gifts and access to other areas of the castle, it doesn’t mean I have the power to fight for the throne now?" She says, sitting on the bed and crossing her legs.
’...’ I feel her magic, it doesn’t seem to have any real difference, besides, she’s always been weak, I highly doubt anything has changed in these last few years.
"It was just a stroke of luck, the Demon King is very benevolent and decided to give a chance to a failure like you," I say the obvious.
"Hahahaha, what a funny joke, a mere maid wanting to talk about benevolence...I’m being benevolent by listening to so much bullshit coming from an arrogant bitch who doesn’t know her place," she speaks with a strange look that seems to shine in the dark room.
"...You talk too much for..." I feel a warm, liquid substance running down my cheek, I pass my hand and notice blood flowing, which immediately leaves me in shock.
’Was I injured? When? Where? Did she do that? I didn’t see anything? Was it magic?’ My mind goes into panic, a wound that I’m sure I didn’t have just appeared, too fast for me to see.
"Should I execute you for insubordination?" She speaks as the shadows in the place seem worse.
"L-Luck..." I prepare to try to defend myself, but something happens before.
Crack Slash!
I hear the sound of something breaking after she moves her hands, and at the same moment a chair and one of the mirrors are cut in two, a clean cut that I didn’t notice being made.
’Again?’ I swallow hard, now truly nervous, how is this failure doing this?
"The Demon King is not someone benevolent, he is someone competitive, and you should know that well, why would a competitive person like him give me benefits? Could it be that he saw something that others didn’t see?" Evelyn speaks to me while I feel my legs trembling.
"I-I’ve already told you what I had to tell, I’ll leave now," I say, turning to leave, but before I can, something knocks me down while I feel a slight pain, I look down seeing cuts on my thighs, they are not deep, but they hurt.
And worst of all, they are too perfect, reminiscent of the blade of an extremely sharp razor, and my skin is resistant to common punctures, so if this made a cut, it means my leg could be cut off and the cut is superior to something made by a kitchen knife.
I turn to her, seeing that at some point Evelyn got up and approached, she seems strangely frightening, the shadows in the room seem to swallow everything while her eyes shine in a silvery tone that stand out in the environment.
Like a predator staring at a prey about to be taken down, she doesn’t emanate a violent or strong power, it’s just scary, like an aura that envelops the entire room, as if something was wrapping around my body to suffocate me.
’L-Lie? I-Is she really strong now? Why can’t I feel her magic?’ I should at least feel her magic, I don’t know how I’m being cut.
"Maid, shouldn’t you be bowing properly?" She speaks in an authoritative tone that makes my hair stand on end, I quickly prostrate myself, knocking my forehead to the ground.
’W-What the hell, why didn’t anyone say she had gotten strong? Am I going to die? Is she going to kill me?’ I feel my blood dripping to the floor, while a cut appears on my neck extremely close to a vital point as a warning.
"Better this way, filthy vermin like you should only be under the foot of royalty," Evelyn says, stepping on my head and pressing it against the floor.
"You know, little maid, crocodiles are patient beings, they just stay there calmly waiting, they are quite calm and don’t get into confrontations out of nowhere, but even they get irritated and can attack."
"My patience has already run out, and having a filthy like you testing limits really annoys me, tell me why I should spare your life instead of hanging your head in the maid’s quarters?"
A calm tone that seems more like a warning than a real threat, her beautiful voice makes everything even more disturbing, as if it were a normal everyday speech, I try to apologize to her.
"S-Sorry I-I..."
"Did I give you permission to speak?" She speaks, pressing my head harder against the floor while I notice the cut mirror, which makes the precision of the cut even more frightening.
Mirrors usually break when you try to cut them, even a thin mirror like hers, and yet her mirror was cut with such precision that it didn’t gain any extra cracks.
"Listen well, you ignorant whore, I am Evelyn Ashcroft, one of the candidates for the throne and the daughter of Demon King Lysaon, do you really think a being like me is weak?" She questions.
"Do you really think I’m a failure? I may have carried this stigma for a long time, but know that I was just being benevolent, I could have killed you bitches at any time."
"However, I tried to be gentle and benevolent, but now enough is enough, my patience has run out, and filthy sewer rats like you don’t even deserve to lick my feet...now, what should I do with your miserable life?" She speaks, asking while I start to cry.
’I-I don’t want to die, d-damn it, why me? I didn’t even want to come to this room...p-please someone help me...’ She stops stepping on me and goes back to the bed, but I don’t have the courage to get out of the prostrate position.
It’s cold, her room is strangely cold, a cold that now freezes my bones, the wounds hurt, it’s strange, why do they hurt so much being just simple cuts? They’re not even that deep.
"So tell me, little maid, what fate should I give you? What death is most suitable for a maid who tries to humiliate someone of nobility?" Evelyn questions, indirectly giving permission to speak.
"P-Please spare my life" I say, begging for my life, my blood dripping to the floor in drops, each drop falling seems like a death sentence, like the ticking of a clock.
"And why should I? Your life is of no use to me," she says, further reducing my chances of living.
"I-I swear to serve you with all my life! I-I give it to you, so please spare me" I say, crying, I don’t want to die, I’m too young to die, I’m only 27 years old.
"And why do you think your life has so much value? I can have as many maids as I want, why should I show generosity to a cowardly vermin like you?" She questions while I’m left without an answer.
I’m one of the many who have already bullied her for being weak, she always just endured the bullying and never showed any strength, so everyone thought she was just a weak coward.
"...I’ll give you one last chance, bitch, you’ll be my maid and you’ll have to serve me with your life, you’ll have to keep everything that happened here hidden and just watch."
"I still don’t want to reveal my greatness to the world...but if you betray me, I swear I’ll make you know hell sooner than you could ever expect, spared rats that bite the hands of their masters deserve the worst death of all."
"And you must have already noticed, wounds inflicted by me are quite painful, you don’t want to see how much I can make you suffer," she speaks in a malicious tone, sending shivers down my spine.
"T-Thank you M-Miss Evelyn" I say, frightened.
"Get out of here, your first mission as my maid is to get very sharp knives, wood, and raw meat from a freshly slaughtered animal, if you fail, your miserable life won’t be spared again," she says as I get up and run away.
Closing the door and disappearing quickly through the corridors, running with all my might to the maids’ quarters, I feel pain in the cut areas, the wounds are too strange.
They are clean, perfect as if made by a sharp blade, which doesn’t explain to me whether it was magic or a physical attack too fast for me to observe.
I can only feel terror, I never knew she was so frightening when she tried. I put my hand on my neck, feeling the wound, a cut like the others, but this one is slightly deeper.
Like a warning that she could have cut my arteries or even beheaded me if she wanted, the most ironic thing is that they are such small wounds that they will never leave a scar.
It’s as if she’s saying, "there’s no visible evidence that I hurt you" in a few days there won’t be any trace left that she was the one who made the cuts, not even a mark will remain.
My heart beats like never before, I only felt this fear before when I saw some of the other candidates for the throne exerting their authority, they have a lot of magical power, so it’s even a little painful when they use huge amounts around us maids.
’W-What a foolishness of ours, obviously a daughter of the Demon King would not be weak’ She is a snake, a treacherous snake that has been deceiving us for years, a snake that crawls around us just waiting for the moment to bite us and thus poison us.
Luckily I got out alive, but she made it clear, I won’t have a second chance, I have to take care of the wounds and then get what she asked for, swearing to be her maid was the only chance of life I had.