Suddenly there was a knock on the door. In reaction, Meia looked at her alarm clock, but it was only ten past three. It was probably not someone who wanted to pick her up.

Meia went to the door in her bathrobe. She didn't open the door straight away. There was no peephole, so she listened first, but there was nothing to hear.

Meia opened the door a crack and looked out. She saw a young girl with freckles standing in front of the door. She was at most 14 years old. Her head was bowed. Her eyes were closed. She was wearing work clothes with a corset, skirt and fine gloves. The colors were platinum, blue and white. The outfit was so cute that you would have thought she was selling sugar. The skirt was short with dozens of long ruffles. There was fluffy fabric on her shoulders, like cotton balls. She had the same hairstyle with a headband that Meia had, only her headband was frilly. Judging by her appearance, she was a chambermaid here at the castle, even though she was still so young.

At the same time, the girl glanced quickly up and down over Meia, then lowered her head again and continued to wait.

Meia pulled the door all the way open and the girl took a step back and then made a full curtsy.

Meia was slightly startled. Maids didn't usually introduce themselves like that. It told Meia a lot about the girl's background that she felt this type of curtsy was necessary.

"Good afternoon, Miss Arvis. I would like to welcome you to Castle Seeblue. I will be your chambermaid for the duration of your stay. You can call me Karin. If you have any additional tasks for me that are not included in the normal daily schedule, I will be happy to help you. Please note that I am only on the site from eight in the morning until four in the afternoon. In addition to me, you also have a maid who will introduce herself to you this evening provided you are present. Do you have any questions or is there anything I can do for you?" The girl spoke haltingly. It was as if she had memorized the text. Her face always looked as if she was thinking about what to say next. At the end, she exhaled as if she was relieved that she had got it right without making any mistakes.

"I need underwear."

"Huh?" At that moment, the girl's knees went together. Meia had the impression that the girl had the wrong idea.

"I don't have any underwear." Meia continued talking quietly. "I don't have any panties."

"Um..." The girl looked overwhelmed. She glanced to the sides several times, as if trying to see if there was someone else in the hallway. Meia wasn't sure what it meant.

"I can't find my panties. I don't have time to get a replacement. Can you help me?"

"Um... Unfortunately, the stores are closed today. I can buy you some tomorrow if you give me money."

"No. I have to go to a ball today. I need one today. The sooner the better."

The girl's eyebrows furrowed. Meia was sure she was wondering why Meia needed a new pair of panties for the ball. Apparently the girl had no idea what it was like to be a maid. Meia had no privacy when getting dressed later today. Her two colleagues were responsible for that if there was any festivity.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Meia grabbed the girls' hands. This meant that Meia reached next to her body, pulled her hand towards her and held her hand with both hands.

"Please. You have to bring me one."

The girl now felt visibly pressured by the pleading and hand-holding, but Meia had no choice.

"Um... I-" The girl blushed, as if embarrassed by the whole thing. "I'll see what I can do."

"Thanks." Meia squeezed her hand tighter. "Thank you."

The girl said nothing in return. She looked even more embarrassed than before.

After a brief final discussion, Meia eventually let the girl go.

"I'm counting on you."

The girl hurried away. She didn't look back once more. It had something of an escape.

The girl might have been embarrassed by the situation, but not nearly as embarrassed as Meia.

Meia closed the door. With her head hanging down, she went to the bed and picked up her clothes and then back to the bathroom to get dressed.

The girl would make it until four, she said. Unfortunately, Meia was already gone by then. That meant she would have to put her old underwear back on until this evening.

One might not have known what the chambermaid's full curtsy meant. There were various gestures of respect that could be used to express different things, such as reverence or gratitude. A bow was certainly the best known of the gestures of respect. The deeper the bow, the greater the respect. A curtsy was a special gesture of respect performed by girls and women. There were many types of curtsies with different meanings, but with curtsies as well, the deeper the curtsy, the greater the respect.

Of all the curtsies there were, there were three that a maid had to be able to do at least.

The first curtsy was the simple curtsy. In principle, it was a slight bow where you also lifted your dress with your hands to look more feminine. As an example, Meia would make this curtsy in the kitchen at work when one of the cooks was kind enough to let her pass. Under other circumstances, this curtsy might never be seen. Meia hadn't done it all last week because she wasn't wearing a dress or skirt. In such a case, a simple bow was more appropriate.

The second curtsy was the classic curtsy. It was similar to the simple curtsy, but you lowered your head more and also bent your knees so that you were lower. In addition, the left leg was stretched out behind the right leg so that only the tip of the left shoe touched the ground. This was the curtsy that women most often made. It was the curtsy that maids did before addressing someone or before walking away from someone. Meia also made this curtsey when she said goodbye to her father. Meia had also done it earlier to say goodbye to Minister Schoppe as he had such a high position. Meia hadn't been wearing a dress, but had made the hand gesture anyway. Yesterday, when she had left the carriage, she had not curtseyed. The situation was unusual, but perhaps it would have been better if she had.

The third curtsy was the full curtsy. This curtsy was a female genuflection. You went down on your right knee, lowered your head and lifted your dress. As the queen's maid, this was not a curtsy that Meia should make. There was no one of such high rank that it was appropriate. Meia wasn't allowed to make this curtsy anyway because she was a noblewoman. Even if the king himself were to save her life, she would not be allowed to make this curtsy. The nobility bowed to the king, but not as far as down to the knee.

These were not nearly all the curtsies there were. For example, there was even a deeper curtsy on both knees. There were also many local variations of the three explained.

Meia knew that her chambermaid was just a normal person and had probably only got her job through luck. She had a lower status than Meia, was younger than Meia and rather reserved. All this was fortunate for Meia. With a different chambermaid, she might not have dared to give her such a task.

The girl hadn't wanted any money. Unfortunately, Meia could guess where she would have to get the underwear from...

.../ End part