~So her name is Rujell. Then Lijeux must be the other maid? Lijeux and Rujell. Hm, Rujell...~ Meia was not as knowledgeable in this regard, but if she remembered correctly, Rujell was a type of praline. ~Rujell. The bittersweet praline whose alcoholic filling warms your soul on cold days, or something like that? Rujell. An irresistible temptation.~ On the other hand, Lijeux also reminded her of chocolates. ~Lijeux. The light praline that melts in your mouth and leaves a hint of fruit. Lijeux. The only thing I always buy. Somehow this works with everything. Meia. Simple chocolate from simple mountain cows. "Buy Mee-a~" ~Now I want something sweet.~

While Meia was thinking, she noticed the maid cast an inconspicuous glance over her shoulder to her.

It was not the first time she had done that and each time it had seemed like a snide look. Meia, however, was no longer intimidated by it. To some extent, she had already been able to decipher her aura. It was either the shape of her eyes or the way she positioned her head. Maybe she lifted her chin too much? In any case, it had nothing to do with her personality. In reality, she was probably a nice person. After all, so far she had done nothing to contradict that. So the backward glance was probably out of concern that she was walking too fast.

Afraid that the maid would say something, Meia immediately increased her own pace to catch up with her, causing the maid to glance back again.

She seemed truly mischievous. The contrast with her cute uniform almost made it look as if she had been forced to wear it.

~'You disgusting pig, forcing me to wear something like that!' - 'Oh, still so rebellious, what little girl, then from now on you'll also wear this headband.' - 'Huh, A headband? Why a headband?' - 'It's got cat ears.' - 'Noooooo!'~

"Hehehe."

"Huh?"

"No-nothing."

Meia wondered if it was not a problem how the maid appeared? But who was she to judge? Maybe it was even an advantage for her. Especially as a maid, with the swing of her hips and the skimpy skirt, she was in danger of being groped, yet certainly no one would dare to touch her. Then again, that probably did not happen in such high circles anyway. At least, Meia could not imagine that someone like Mr Monet would do such a thing.

Meanwhile, the maid suddenly slowed down, so that she quickly fell back to Meia's height. Taken aback by this, Meia dared to take a quick look at her face.

It remained at that one look.

Meia had been mistaken. She had not got used to it. The snide look was not an innate flaw, but an expression of her inner hatred for all life.

"How-how far is it to the reading room?"

"We have to go up one more floor, then it is right at the stairs."

~Another floor?~

"We-We were already at a staircase?"

"Yes, unfortunately, due to alterations, only the middle staircase of the house currently leads to the upper floors, hence this diversions."

~The other staircase looked accessible though?~

"But the staircase was clear?"

"Only the upper part of the stairs is affected by the alterations. The railings were taken down for painting and have not all been reattached yet. The long walk will be worth it, however. Normally, guests are not allowed to enter the reading room. That you are allowed in is an exception and I can assure you, you will be surprised by what you find there."

~A torture chamber! A secret room that only I am allowed to enter. Maids assigned only to me. They're so that I can't escape! That's why I was invited in the first place - because no one would miss me. And there's also only one person who could save me, if it's not too much of a chore for him.

"My-my father knows where I am."

"I do hope so. After all, we had letter contact and agreed exactly when you would be where." she explained with a smile.

At first glance, her smile might have seemed assuring, but it certainly was not. ~As I feared, the old man is in on it...~ "Ah!" ~That's where the money for the tank comes from. My life was traded for a water tank. Like a cow. If it doesn't bring money anymore, you make sausage out of it, and the stupid cow is even happy to be bathed one last time before the butcher. But not this cow. This cow is more intelligent than the other cows. When we are in the reading room, I just overpower her and-~

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

Meia noticed that a gaze had been on her for some time - that of a demon.

~This cow is just a cow. She's hoping for a quick death.

"Are you alright, Miss Arvis?"

"Erm... It-It's..."

"Because you asked me several questions earlier, I had assumed you wanted to have a conversation with me. I apologise for misjudging. I will keep more distance from you again."

"No, you were right." Meia stopped her. In truth, Meia had been trying to distract herself from her insecurity with the horror scenario. Of course, she did not really believe that she would end up in a torture chamber. There was at least a 51% chance that she was wrong. So why not just ignore reality then? "I-I wanted to ask you something."

"Please do not address me with politeness."

*TL-Note: There are two forms of politness for 'You' in German. Meia always uses the more polite form for everyone and the maid is not happy to be addressed like this.

"I'm sorry."

"Please do not apologise to me."

"I-I understand." Meia replied meekly. She had changed her mind. She did not want to ask anything anymore. Unfortunately, however, the maid was waiting for a question, so she had no choice. "Well, Mr Monet showed me around the garden and then we were at the pool, but then.... erm..."

Meia unfortunately had not yet thought about how she was going to phrase her questions and became quieter and longer in tone towards the end in order to stall for time.

"What is your impression of the garden?"

"Oh, The garden? The garden was really beautiful." ~But also scary, like several things on this estate.~

"It would have made Master Luca- Excuse me, I wish to correct myself. I'm sure it would have pleased Master Luca Monet if he could have heard that."

"Why is that?"

"Luca Monet, that is, Mr Monet's elder brother, sadly passed away earlier this year. Did you not they hear about this?" Towards the end, her voice became more admonishing.

"Of course, I have. I am sorry for your loss." For a moment Meia bowed her head in silence. She already knew that Luca Monet died earlier that year. "I really only meant that I thought the garden had been planted by Mr Monet himself? When he talked about it, it sounded like it. He knows so much about it too."

"That is not entirely true. The garden was laid out years ago by Mr Luca Monet. He had always taken care of everything on his own. It is only since this year that we have had a gardener on staff. The flower meadows around the property are in equal part his doing. Mr Luca Monet created all this. The only thing Mr Monet changed after he took over the property was that he had these vines sown. It is said that they make it easier to maintain the garden. The gardener is of the same opinion. I personally cannot explain anything about this. I have no knowledge in this regard."

It somehow sounded like she did not like the vines. Fortunately, Meia had not mentioned which part of the garden she found beautiful. Mr Monet did not come off all that well in her explanation either. Meia also had not failed to overhear that at first she had referred to his brother only by his first name and then on top of that as Master. ~Master Luca? Very suspicious... Maybe a love affair?~ Or maybe Meia just read too much trash. ~I should investigate,~ she decided nonetheless.

"You always refer to Mr Monet as Mr Monet, but not Master Monet?"

"Mr Monet wished it that way. It is not for me to judge this wish."

~I didn't ask for any judgement?~ As she put it it means, I don't like it, but I'm forced to. ~So much for the love affair... Oh, no, the first name!~ Meia had information she wanted. She just did not know what investigative questions might push the maid in that direction to elicit an inadvertent answer from her. To ask it directly would be rude and would end in a lie anyway. Meia was neither good at lying nor at spotting lies, so it would be pointless.

"Mr Monet told me to call him by his first name from now on."

"That is just like him. He is a very open person."

~This was useless.~

"Mr Monet called me by my first name earlier."

"I'm glad for them." the maid declared with a strange smile, then increased her distance.

~Hm, What did I expect? - 'Ah, That reminds me, Master Luca used to call me by my first name too when we secretly made love in the attic. With him I was happy, but since he died away, I deeply detest the world.' - Or something like that?~

Meia gave up. It was not so important anyway whether anyone loved anyone. Much more important was the question she had not been able to ask because the maid had simply thrown her own in between. Which she had only been able to do at all because Meia had briefly considered how best to phrase it so that she would not seem too clingy.

"Can you tell me where Mr Monet went? It is not that I really care. It's just conversation."

Indifferently, Meia shook her hand as if to shake the question from herself.

"I cannot answer this question. Mr Monte only arrived this morning. When he entered the courtyard earlier, it was the first time I had seen him in months. He has not yet been able to share his daily schedule with us. For that reason, I do not know it yet, nor can I give you an answer."

"Earlier, a man wearing a waistcoat came to our table and whispered something to him, after which they left together." Meia noticed that her expression became thoughtful. "Can you tell me who that was?"

"The man is Mr Monet's secretary. Insofar as Mr. Monet had to go with him, I am sure it was for a business reason."

~I already knew that.~

"What exactly does Mr Monet do for business?"

"Away from his duties through the Crown, Mr. Monet is involved in many different areas of commercial activity. However, the focus of all of these businesses is always agribusiness. I hope this answer was enlightening for you?"

~Why does she want a customer review?

"Yes, erm... the man in the waistcoat mentioned a fire. Do you know anything about it?"

"Miss Arvis, because you still won't refrain from it, I now ask you again to stop addressing me with politeness. You should not do so. You are belittling yourself, and I would also like to presume to give you another piece of advice. Restrain your curiosity. It is rude to Mr Monet to try to interrogate me about him. It is not graceful, and especially not for a person of your standing."

Meia felt caught, but it had been worth the attempt and she had been able to learn a little bit.

.../ End Part