“Do you need any further explanation?” After saying this and seeing a blushing Rina opening and closing her mouth repeatedly like a goldfish, Clara realised what she had just done. So Clara also turned red, only to pale up again.

In a panic, she turned her back on her maid to avoid looking at her any longer.

“C-Clara?” Rina spoke up after recovering from her mistress's action.

“S-sorry, Rina, I didn't mean to k-k-k-kiss you.”

“So your... action earlier had no deeper meaning?” Rina also copied the blonde's movement and also turned around, so that both girls were now lying back to back under the blanket.

This question made Clara frown. After all, if she were to agree to her maid's question, it would undermine all of her approaches so far. That had to be prevented at all costs. So, Clara had no choice other than to deny the younger girl's question. “It had a deeper meaning.”

“Clara...”

“I'm sorry Rina, I wanted to wait until you reached adulthood too... Only then did I intend to tell you how I feel about you... But...”

“But?”

“But after everything that happened today... you know about the Duke and especially about the girl... and after I heard learned about your pent-up feelings, I kind of lost my patience.”

“So you kissed me?”

Clara nodded.

Even though Rina couldn't possibly see the movement of her mistress's head, she could more or less guess what it was. So, she slid closer to Clara so that their backs were touching and simply replied, “I see.”

Clara, on the other hand, felt a sudden surge of dark emotions. She couldn't even enjoy the fact, that her maid was seeking contact with her for the first time since they had met. It didn't take her long to realise where her dark feelings stemmed from. “Stupid Rina...”

“Eh!?” Naturally, the person in question was surprised at the sudden insult.

“...I've told you so many times now that you have to keep your guard up... I wanted to be the one to take it...”

“You mean my fir-”

“Don't say it... it only makes me feel more miserable.”

“I-I'm sorry.”

“... So will you tell me how it happened? You told me that you met the Duke and that you are going to ally yourself with him... but how did it come to that meeting and how does it have anything to do with the girl?”

“After I had left the party venue to go to your room, I was attacked by two of the Duke's men.”

“What!? But how? Even though that part of the building was for staff only, there should have been more than enough guards around! No one had informed my father or me about this incident!”

“The fact was, I was alone... I'm sorry, it was too sudden, that I wasn't able to defend myself properly... I'm a failure as your guard...”

“That's not what I meant! What I want to say is that it's impossible for you to be attacked unseen... unless we really have a spy in the mansion.”

Hearing Clara's suspicion, and remembering Thalas' threat not to reveal the traitor, Rina couldn't help but flinch.

Of course, Clara noticed immediately that her maid had reacted to her words. “What do you know, tell me everything.”

Rina knew very well, that she was a terrible liar and that she wore her thoughts on her face. Heck, even the Duke, who only had known her for about two hours, could read her mind like an open book. There was no way that she could fool her mistress, who knew her even better and had apparently been watching her for the past two years. So, all she could do was try to change the subject. “There's no need for you to worry about that. As I said, please leave everything to me... I will protect you and your family.”

Unfortunately, Clara wasn't going to let the subject pass and had her own idea of how to get her maid to give her clues as to who the traitor was. So, she murmured quietly, as if to show that she was thinking and loudly enough for Rina to hear. “It has to be someone with enough authority to clear the part of the building where you were attacked of possible witnesses. There are not many people here with that kind of authority.”

“...” Hearing Clara speaking, Rina tensed up. She knew very well what her mistress was about to do, so she concentrated on controlling her body so that she wouldn't give any unnecessary signs that the person Clara was looking for was in fact Arland. Fortunately, they were 'only' lying back to back. So as long as she didn't flinch too much, Clara wouldn't notice.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Unbeknownst to the younger girl's inner distress, or maybe because Clara knew that Rina was in a state of turmoil, she continued, “For example, you, Rina.”

For some reason, when Rina heard her name, her tension eased, as she was not the actual traitor. She didn't even think about how bad it would be for her if she was actually suspected of being one. Naturally, it was clear that Clara didn't actually believe it, but still, it was a mistake for Rina to relax...

“As my permanent maid, you have much more authority than before. Yes, from now on you can command all the staff around you. Only my mother's, father's, and my orders can overwrite yours... Oh yes... and of course... Sir Arland.”

… as she twitched quite visible at the blonde's further thoughts. “!?”

“... I see... Father's personal assistant, huh?”

“... Um... Clara? Is it really okay for you to suspect Lord Eric's aide because of me? I mean, shouldn't you be cautious of me first?”

“I will take always take your side.”

“... I-It's kind of embarrassing when you're this direct... have you always been like this, Clara?”

“Well... you already know my feelings, and I know that my feelings are not one-sided, so I just decided that I have no reason to hold back anymore... Or rather, I think I was pretty obvious even before today... it's only your damaged brain that didn't register my approaches.”

“Y-you're mean...,” was all Rina could mutter, unable to argue with Clara's words.

“No, it's you who's mean, do you know how embarrassing it was to get you to understand my feelings, only to have you brush my hints aside?”

“...” This time Rina was completely silent. There was no point in fighting a losing battle since she now understood that everything the blonde said was true.

“Well, back to the topic at hand... Now it all makes sense to me. It was Sir Arland who leaked your existence and abilities to the Duke. The problem is how to convince Father...”

“Um... Clara?”

“Hmm?”

“Could you please not reveal to Lord Eric the fact that Sir Arland works for the Duke?”

“...” At first, Clara couldn't believe what she was hearing. After all, not revealing a known traitor and letting him continue spying was unheard of. However, she knew that the red-haired girl had her reasons, so she waited patiently for Rina to continue.

“You probably already know this, but the Duke is really powerful and terrifying. And I'm not referring just to his army or his political influence. It's better not to antagonise him right now. And as long as I do what he wants, he has made it clear that he will be your ally. So please let Sir Arland stay for a while, at least until I've earned enough of the Duke's trust.”

“Will you not tell me what it is, that makes the Duke so powerful, apart from his military and political power?”

“... I'm sorry, but I still need to gather my thoughts first... will you give me the time I need?”

“... Will you then tell me everything when you're ready?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“Then it's fine~.” Then, Clara's happy-sounding voice turned serious again. “We somehow got off the topic again... I understand that Arland has betrayed us, that he's the reason why you met the Duke, and why you made a deal with him. But what about that girl? Marianne was her name? How did it come to your kiss with her?” In fact, it was the last question that Clara was most curious and irritated about.

“When the assailants attacked me, they injected me with some kind of paralysing poison.”

“P-poison!? Are you okay?” With a ghost-like face, Clara rolled over and turned Rina around so that they faced each other again. Then she inspected her maid's body.

Seeing Clara's slightly panicked face, Rina couldn't help but be slightly pleased. “Fufu... I'm fine. The poison was cured by an antidote... Marianne was the one who gave it to me... mouth to mouth.”

Hearing this, Clara wasn't quite sure, whether to be happy or not. On the one hand, it meant that her maid's kiss wasn't actually a kiss. One could even say that it didn't count, because there were no feelings or intentions behind it, so she, Clara, had her maid's first kiss.

On the other hand, with a little imagination, Marianne's 'kiss' with her maid could be seen as more intimate than her kiss with Rina for… obvious reasons. But in the end, Clara decided for herself, that her first reasoning was the legit one, as it was better for her heart. So, after convincing herself that she had had her maid's first kiss, she beamed with happiness. “That doesn't count as a kiss! It means I had your first!”

Rina had her fair share of one-sided love. She could more or less understand the reason behind the blonde's blooming face when saying that. That was why Rina could only smile wryly at Clara's conclusion. 'I better keep it to myself, that Marianne gave me another kiss afterwards...' So to let her mistress keep on being happy, Rina changed the subject once again.

“So... Clara. What are your plans from now on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you... like... want to do things that lovers usually do?” From her past life, Rina knew very well what it felt like to be in love with someone and not be able to live a satisfying love life with that person. Furthermore, she could still clearly remember being unimaginably horny for her twin Nina, when she was twelve. The same could be now true for Clara, who was her age at that time.

Since her rebirth, Rina had decided not to pursue a happy life, including a happy romantic relationship. However, for whatever reason, when her body was desired, she would gladly offer it. Like the incident with those men from her village two years ago. So, even though her now nine-year-old body couldn't feel any lust or pleasure yet and was still far too young, she planned to agree to everything the blonde suggested. As long as Clara was happy, so would she.

And indeed, after Rina had voiced her question, she could see how her mistress's blue eyes glinted with lust for a second as they wandered over her body. However, Clara seemed to have realised what she was doing, so she immediately closed her eyes and shook her head as if to clear her mind of her fantasies.

After Clara had calmed down, she shook her head again. “No... you are still too young, and there are things I have to do first. For now, I'm satisfied with our current relationship... And you should really stop offering yourself like that. There are plenty of wolves here who would love to eat you up... like Fran, or Fran, or Fran... *mumbles* or me. *mumbles*”

“So you want our relationship to stay the way it is?” Rina tilted her head, ignoring the fact that Fran's name was mentioned again. She had already given up trying to understand why Clara was so competitive with the elf.

“Y-yes.”

“Okay, if that's what you want!” Rina smiled like a blooming flower. “But please know, that I'll do anything for you! If you want to do lewd things, just tell me, no need to be considerate of me!”

“O-okay... now let's go to sleep.” Realising that Rina didn't take her advice at heart, Clara just gave up and turned around.

“Mhm... Good night.” After saying that, Rina turned around as well, so that they lay back to back once again.

Meanwhile, even though Clara had been the one to suggest they sleep now, she knew that she would get none tonight. Her mind was filled with thoughts of her cute maid right now. It certainly didn't help that her maid seemed to have no problem engaging in lovers' activities with her. So, whether Clara wanted or not, her mind was now occupied with perverted fantasies.

Now, she really wanted to hit her several-minute-old past self for suggesting something that she now deeply regretted.

'There's no way our relationship can stay the same.'