With Clara's little brother in her arms, Rina made her way to the veranda.

“Rina, who-?”

When Clara felt that her maid was returning to her, she wanted to ask who had the audacity to disturb them in their free time. She could already guess, that it was Marianne. After all, the brunette had clearly shown interest in her maid and had even deliberately come between them, when it seemed that her relationship with Rina was about to progress. It was also the reason why, much to her very dismay, they were still in the mistress-servant stage. To make matters worse, her maid made no effort to develop their relationship into lovers, so it was all up to Clara.

But when she turned to the red-haired girl and saw that her little brother was in Rina's arms, Clara stopped herself.

“The young master wants to see you, Clara.” Rina, said after she sat and put the toddler on her lap.

“Wong!... Wina! Not Lara!” The young boy shouted out, disgruntled by Rina's words.

When Clara heard her brother complain, she frowned in displeasure. Marianne was only half of the truth as to why she barely had any time alone with her maid. The other half was her brother's fault.

After his birth over two years ago, he had sought Rina's attention as if he knew she was his fated one. To make matters worse, their mother Lauren and her brother's nanny often left him in Rina's care, as he never threw a tantrum in the red-haired girl's presence. Clara couldn't even complain about it, as her maid seemed to enjoy taking care of him. So all she could do, was pout, even if it was unbecoming considering her age, and scold her brother for being selfish. “Claudrick... stop bothering her... Rina is busy.”

“Liar! Mayanne said you're free! Wina free!”

Hearing her brother's words, Clara glared at the brunette girl, who had just stepped onto the veranda. “... Don't use my brother to get between us!”

“Ohoho... What do you mean Lady Clara... I would never do such a thing!”

At these words, Clara's glare intensified even more, which Marianne returned.

Watching this scene, Rina could only sigh inwardly. In the past, Clara had always argued with Fran for some reason. Clara had told her later, that it was because Fran had looked at Rina with lecherous eyes. Of course, considering what Clara felt for her, she understood, why the blonde didn't like it.

But even then, Rina found it hard to believe that Fran had looked at her that way. So, she had just dismissed it as Clara's paranoia. Things then got even worse, when Marianne arrived and also joined the fray. There were even times when Rina felt a little lonely and even envious of being left out of the friendly banter. But there was no way she could have intervened, as it had all been about her.

True, considering her mistress's tendency to jealousy, Rina could more or less understand why Clara didn't like the brunette. After all, Marianne had kind of confessed to Rina on the day of Clara's social Debut. But again, Rina hadn't even taken that confession seriously.

After all, there was no way that beautiful girls and women like Fran and Marianne could be seriously in love with her. Even believing that Clara's feelings were sincere was hard enough. But because Rina had always been on the blonde's side for several years, she could somehow understand why Clara could fall for her. But Marianne and Fran? No way.

What Rina also didn't understand, was why Clara still hadn't sought her out for nightly activities. Rina had already mentioned several times, that she would oblige if Clara wanted her. At first, Rina had thought that Clara wanted her to become an adult first, but even after she had turned twelve, the blonde still didn't show any signs.

That was why Rina had thought that people in this world, including her mistress, didn't feel that much lust. But as Clara's personal maid, Rina was naturally in charge of doing Clara's laundry, including her underwear. So Rina knew that the blonde sometimes did it herself.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

So, even though Rina was determined not to seek a lover for herself, she had considered doing so for Clara's sake. But in the end, she decided against it. After all, there was always the possibility that her mistress's feelings for her might change. Rina didn't want to dirty her crush's body if that would be the case.

Back to the topic at hand, where Marianne and Clara seemed to be moments away from killing each other on the veranda. In those moments, Rina had learned to reduce her presence and fade into the background. So she did just that and turned her attention to the ball of cuteness overload on her lap.

“Young Master, would you like some snacks?”

“Yes! Wina! Snacks.”

Rina chuckled with delight at the toddler's happy response. In the past, including her previous life, she had never known, that children could be so adorable. Well, considering her upbringing in both worlds, she didn't have to think for long as to why. But now, seeing a toddler, who, for some reason, was even extremely attached to her, she couldn't help but think that she might be someone who felt at ease around them.

After all, those pure, sky-blue eyes in front of her sparkled with curiosity and didn't have even the slightest animosity towards her like the people back in her village. Even though the people of the Dragonherz family didn't look at her with hatred, Rina couldn't see through them the way she could with Clara's little brother, Claudrick.

She reached out, grabbed a biscuit, broke it into small pieces, and fed one to Claudrick.

After he had eaten and swallowed it, he looked up at Rina and smiled brightly. “Yummy!”

Rina nodded in satisfaction. “I see, do you want some more.”

The toddler shook his head. “Milk! Wina, I want milk!”

“Hmm, wait here for me, okay, I'll go get you your milk.”

“No!!” Claudrick turned around on her lap so that he and Rina faced each other. He roamed his hands over Rina's upper body, especially around her chest area. After a few seconds, he stopped and tilted his head. “Wina? No milk?”

“...” It took Rina a few seconds to realise what he meant. And when she finally did, all she could do was yell out in exasperation. “Ehh!?” (x3)

For some reason, however, Rina's voice wasn't the only one that rang out, as Clara and Marianne had also joined her in screaming.

This caused Rina to look at the two, who had already stopped what they had been doing until now and had turned their attention to her.

On the one hand, when Rina met Clara's eyes, she could clearly see, how the blonde averted her eyes, blushing. Marianne, on the other hand, wasn't red at all. Quite the opposite. Instead, she looked at her for a long time and then shook her head. “Young Master Claudrick, you won't find your milk on these plains.”

“Y-you! Marianne! Where are you looking at!” Clara was, of course, not amused, by the way the brunette was ogling her maid.

'There they go again...' Rina thought, rolling her eyes, and stood up with Clara's brother in her arms.

“Clara, Marianne, I'll take him to the kitchen and fetch him some milk. Please don't destroy the building.” Saying this, Rina was about to leave but was interrupted by Marianne.

“Ah, no wait!”

“Hmm?”

“This time, I didn't come here to interrupt you guys in your flirting.”

“... Really?” Clara eyed Marianne suspiciously but was royally ignored.

“I was sent by Lord Eric and Madam Lauren to fetch you. Young Master Claudrick only came with me because he threw a tantrum when he found out I was looking for you, Mistress... Ah, and Lady Fran is also present.”

Fran had moved out of the mansion two years after Clara's social Debut, meaning a year ago. Back then she had just said that there was something important for her to do and then just up and left.

Even though Clara and Marianne hadn't shown any concern at the time, Rina couldn't help but worry about the elf. After all, Fran had told her several times how important it was for her to use those Dark magic powers to protect the world, and that Fran would stay at her side to see that duty fulfilled. So it wasn't like Fran to leave like that.

But now, hearing that Fran was back in good health, probably, Rina sighed with relief. Unfortunately, that feeling didn't last long, as Marianne's previous playful expression was replaced by a serious one.

“We better hurry up... they, or rather Fran, seemed to be in great distress.”

“Do you know what they want?” Clara asked, wary of the situation. If it was just her parents who wanted to see them, she would have no problems. However, Fran's presence made it much more complicated.

In the past, Clara had deemed Fran to be trustworthy. In fact, in her eyes, the elf still was. Clara still saw Fran as a valuable ally to have. However, Clara was extremely cautious of the former High Priestess, when it came to Rina. And it was not only because she feared that the elf might take away her maid.

Clara had found out, that Fran still had some hidden agenda for Rina. Unfortunately, she hadn't been able to find out what it was. That was why she was so wary of the elf, as her maid's health might even be at risk.

Unaware of Clara's inner distress, Marianne shook her head. “They haven't told me anything, only that they want to see you, especially Mistress, as fast as possible. But from the mood that was in Lord Eric's office, it seems that...”

“”...”” Both Clara and Rina waited patiently and tensely for the brunette to continue.

“Problems are on the horizon.”