One month had passed since Rina was accepted as Clara's maid. During that time she had been training under Arland how to fight with a sword and a hidden blade. The sword was for official fights when she had to defeat her opponents with the honour of her benefactors, the Dragonherz family, on her back. The hidden blade, on the other hand, was for the quick killing of enemies when her mistress's life was in danger.

From the family's head maid, Rina learned the ins and outs of being Clara's personal maid. Her duties ranged from waking her mistress up in the morning and combing her hair, to keeping Clara's room clean, to simply accompanying her throughout the entire day. In other words, Rina had to stick to Clara like glue. In noble society, it was very common for aristocrats to have a person at their side to help them with everything. For example, what Arland was to Eric, was Rina to Clara. This kind of relationship made the red-haired girl really happy, especially when she could serve a kind and cute girl like Clara.

Normally the duties of a personal servant would also include assisting their master or mistress with more personal matters such as dressing and bathing. Fortunately, or unfortunately (?), Clara had for some reason insisted on doing these types of things without her maid. Although it hurt Rina to see how vehement Clara was, she could still understand her mistress. After all, who would want to be seen naked by someone they didn't like, even if they were of the same gender?

Apart from her guard and maid training, Rina was also taught the etiquette and manners of the nobility so that she, so she wouldn't embarrass Clara in social gatherings. Luckily, having already grasped the basics, it took Rina only two weeks of training to master the ideal of noble behaviour.

So, at present, Rina's maid and etiquette training had already been completed. Only the sword and hidden blade training were still ongoing. In fact, her combat training was progressing a little too slowly, as Rina still lacked a considerable amount of strength and speed. But it couldn't be helped because she was still only seven years old and had been malnourished until a month ago. Well, even if her body was finished growing, she still had to keep up her combat training to not lose her fighting sense.

All in all, the teachers, instructors, the Dragonherz couple and Clara were quite impressed with the speed of Rina's growth. Of course, the redhead couldn't have pulled it off if her motivation wasn't unusually high.

Rina looked at Clara, the source of her motivation, who was sitting across from her with her cheeks puffed out, pouting, and chuckled as a result.

A little annoyed, the person, who had just been snickered at, glared at her maid. Clara's mood couldn't be any worse right now, so having someone laughing at her didn't help at all. “... What?”

“No, I was just thinking how cute you are, Clara,” Rina responded nonchalantly, thinking of Clara's sulking face.

“Y-y-you dare to mock me? Have you ever looked in a mirror?”

At this question, the red-haired girl tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing!” Clara crossed her arms and looked away.

Seeing this gesture, Rina concluded that her teasing had gone too far. After all, this was the second time, that she was so close to another girl - with the first time being her twin Nina during her pre-teen childhood – so had problems containing her good mood, which ended up in her being mischievous towards her target of affection. So, in order to restore the mood of her mistress, Rina apologised, “I'm sorry Lady Clara, my words went too far.”

The honest apology came so suddenly that Clara didn't know how to react for a few seconds. “N-No, you just misunderstood me... I wasn't angry with you if that's what you think.” During their time together Clara had noticed how the younger girl often put herself down and apologised for no apparent reason. She didn't like it when Rina became like that and looked like an abandoned puppy, so Clara quickly explained her bad mood. “Our magic instructor comes today, right?”

“Yes, Master Eric told me that she will come today. I think she will arrive in a few minutes.”

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“Has Father told you who it will be?”

“No, he didn't.” Rina shook her head.

“I see... Our instructor will be that wretch Fran.”

“... Mistress Lauren would faint if she heard you saying such words... but you said Fran? As in 'Former High Priestess Fran'?”

“Yes.”

At Clara's confirmation, Rina facepalmed inside her mind. 'Master Eric!? Why would you have one of the two people your daughter hates most enter your home?' Of course, she knew that the blonde girl hated Former High Priestess Fran and Former Vice-Commander Milia because they were the main reason for the death of Clara's grandfather. So Rina couldn't understand Eric's decision to employ one of them as their magic instructor.

But as if Clara could read her maid's mind, she continued. “Do you remember when I told you that I negotiated with my father whether you could be my maid or not ?”

Rina nodded.

“At that time I also agreed that he could choose my magic instructor and that I would have to accept this person without any complaints.” The blonde said dejectedly. “But I had no idea that he would choose that wretch.”

Having her inner question answered, Rina sighed again at her mistress's choice of words. “As I already said, Lady Clara. Please refrain from using such words.”

“Who cares? We're alone, so I can stay true to myself, and I trust you that you won't sell me out.”

Hearing this, Rina was at a loss for words, and could only look away from her crush while trying to keep herself from blushing... which, by the way, failed miserably if one might add. So, to cover it up, she spoke her mind. “So, you voluntarily swallowed a bitter pill to have me as your maid?”

In her previous life, Rina had distanced herself from her sister Nina, when she had found out about her sexual preference. Now, looking back, she could see that it had been a mistake. Not only had she hurt herself, but she had also wronged her beloved twin, who had been so kind to Rina back then.

The fear of her being rejected, the fear that her body would act on impulse and do something irreversible to her twin, and the inability to accept her abnormality... all these combined had led her to the irrational decision to avoid everyone, including her sister, and to isolate herself.

But now, things had changed. Rina herself had changed.

She didn't have to accept herself anymore. In fact, nobody had to accept her existence. After all, it wouldn't change anything.

She wasn't afraid of doing irreversible things anymore, because this time Rina would bury her desires and wishes deep inside her heart, not letting them out, but still keeping them dear.

She didn't fear being rejected anymore, as she didn't wish for acceptance in the first place. So, Rina couldn't get hurt by rejection anymore, and even if she did, would it even matter? Not one would care, not even herself, if she was in pain.

As long as her loved ones and those around her smiled, everything would be fine. She would do everything to keep them happy.

Even though she no longer wished anything for herself, the feeling of being trusted and needed still made her incredibly happy, so much so that a natural smile appeared on her face. “...That you trust and need me so much makes me very happy, Lady Clara.”

Hearing these words and seeing that expression, Clara couldn't help but be mesmerised by Rina and felt her face heating up. After staring at the younger girl for a few seconds, the blonde remembered what she was doing and stammered in panic, “D-d-don't misunderstand me! I-i-i-it's not t-t-t-that I d-d-did it for you!”

“Hehehe, I know, Lady Clara, but I just wanted to let you know that I'm grateful to you anyway,” the red-haired girl giggled and stood up. “I think our magic instructor will be arriving soon. We have to greet her.”

At the thought of one of the two people who she hated the most coming, Clara's face immediately cooled down again. “The mood was so nice just now, why do you have to mention that wretch again?” She stood up and headed to the mansion's entrance, closely followed by her maid.

“Hmmmm, Clara, my tongue might slip when I talk to Mistress Lauren and tell her about your choice of words if you keep talking like that,” Rina spoke up, while they were waiting for their teacher to arrive.

“Okay, okay, I'll stop.” The viscount's daughter gave in to her servant's threat. “Still you are the only one I allow to treat me like this.”

“I know, Clara.”

“H-hmpf!” The blonde crossed her arms and looked away from Rina, only to smile in delight afterwards.

So they stood there for a few minutes, enjoying the pleasant silence and the, once again, good atmosphere between them, until a carriage arrived at the entrance. When it stopped in front of them, its door opened and a woman stepped out.

If Rina had to guess the woman's age by her standards, that woman looked in her late teens or early twenties. But her long ears, peeking out from her blonde, waist-length, open hair, indicated that this estimate was surely wrong, for elves had long life spans and look youthful for a very long time. In addition to that, the newcomer's symmetrically built face and deep green eyes made sure, that Rina couldn't look away.

True, the blonde, ten-year-old girl standing next to Rina was a cutie, but still, Clara couldn't hold a candle compared to the mature beauty standing in front of her.

'As expected, Elves are truly beautiful.'