The next day after the storm there is no sign of it. The sky is clear without a single cloud and the sun shines brightly high in the sky. The birds are chirping and it seemed like a wonderful start to a new morning. Unlike yesterday, the estate is swarming with servants who don’t know where to jump first. There is a bright aroma coming from the kitchen, the food they are preparing is probably one of the local specialties.

Maria stood at the door of Alfonso's room, watching him destroy and reassemble the ruined toys.

I've been watching him all day and he just keeps making a mess and telling me to clean up after him. I honestly come across more like a nanny here. This day and the next I leave right after lunch. If I knew this was going to be my job I wouldn't even bother coming here...

Maria sighs softly. Alfonse seems to have gotten tired of destroying toys and without saying anything he runs to the window. Luckily it's protected by bars so he can't fall out of it.

Maria bends down to the toys and automatically cleans up the havoc he left.

"Oi!" he yells at her like she's some kind of dog without even looking at her.

Maria looks up at him and doesn't forgive herself an angry snort. Alfonse, however, takes no notice and continues to stick to the window.

"Lunch is coming up soon so I'll show you around before then, so get my clothes ready." He jumps down from the window and starts shedding his clothes.

She annoyingly ditches the cleaning that's been getting on her nerves for the few hours she's been here and goes to the closet to pick out some clothes for him. She opens the black, not very well preserved wardrobe and notices that she doesn't have much choice in what to dress him in. The only formal clothes she has here are two wrinkled white shirts, one dark tie, and a black dusty jacket. So she opens the second wardrobe, but there's not much in it either. A couple of shirts and trousers resembling the attire of a citizen of the village close by rather than someone of the nobility. She looks at it for a moment and then just grabs one of the shirts that looks the least ruined and a pair of polo shorts, due to the warm weather. Maria rummages through the drawers that the closet contains and finds a pair of suspenders, she might give those to him since most of the clothes he has look like they're at least a size too big.

As soon as she puts it on he runs out of the room and Maria has a hard time keeping up with him. When he notices that Maria has no intention of running, he slows down.

Along the way they meet many servants and maids, but none of them greet Alfonse or bow. They acted as if he wasn't even there.

"Aren't you even going to ask where we're going?" He asked without giving her a glance.

"It's not polite to ask questions of a master."

"I heard what you and Schmidtz were talking about yesterday, I followed you the whole time." He tries to strike up a conversation, but Maria isn't in the mood to talk so she stays silent. "I can tell you don't exactly want to stay here, especially after seeing the state my room is in." He continued.

Maria just barely held in her reply. Even though this whole situation is a literal disaster, she doesn't plan on insulting him for it.

It seems like Alfonse doesn't have any servants, the only one who cares about him is Schmidtz, who, judging by the state he's in, won't be here much longer. In the entire trip, none of the servants even bothered to give him so much as a glance. All the clothes he owns are shabby remnants that his older siblings couldn't fit into. Even as she was dressing him she noticed that he could put on some weight. Alfonse didn't even have breakfast, he said the old man usually brings it to him every morning. But Schmidtzs hadn't shown up at all today. Alfonse said something about him having back problems lately, which was probably why Schmidtz had summoned her to this estate - to replace him until it's his time. Although the young master he serves doesn't seem to listen to him twice, the old man cares for him very much.

"Most of the servants, after hearing that I am the seventh of my eight brothers, are determined to reject me. So don't blame Schmidtz if he behaved the way he did before, he didn't mean any bad. In fact, he's the only person I trust. He's been taking care of me since my mother died, I don't even remember her." Alfonse said with a slightly sad voice.

"I don't blame you." Certainly not after the state she had seen him in a few minutes ago .

Alfonse threw a look at her. He was rather surprised that she had spoken. "I'm glad," he muttered without Maria hearing. He curled his gaze to the ground again and continued to the road.

They both turn the corner to tell the truth, she comes to think of this place quite like some kind of maze. The hallways are long and endless, they can walk straight for ten minutes and reach no end to this. It's quite a wonder that such a small child can navigate their way around here easily. To make matters worse, the walls are very thick, there could easily be a murder going on in the next room and they wouldn't hear a peep.

"You know, I used to have a maid, she was with me for about three months." Alfonse said in a slightly sad voice and was silent for a moment before adding: "I trusted her quite a bit and she betrayed me. She is currently in the service of my older brother."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

This is a fairly common case. Servants will infiltrate the estate of one of the younger - and easily influenced masters, for the sole purpose of getting closer to the older and more successful ones. While I can understand and make sense of these actions, I personally disagree with them. It seems to me that if someone does this, they shouldn't deserve anyone's trust. Overall, this is even more disgusting when something like this is done to a young child.

"Me about the wolf and the wolf before us." Said Alfonse

Two figures loom in the horizon in front of them heading in their direction. As they get closer Maria is able to make out that it is a child quite similar to Alfonse. Although enough is an understatement. The boy looks like he's fallen out of his eye. The woman is the opposite of Maria. A tall, slender figure with long golden hair. The glare on her face suggests she's using a porcelain doll to possess herself. These types may look beautiful, but they are very easy to destroy or damage in any way.

When the two groups are only three steps apart, they stop. Maria bows her head slightly, ready to greet the head’s son in front of her, but is interrupted by Alfonse who slaps her quickly across the knees. She looks at him in confusion and he merely shakes his head. So she straightens up again and stands next to him instead.

His brother, who has been watching this the whole time, merely snorts in amusement. "But if it isn't Alfie with his new servant."

"But, but, if it isn't Heinry..." Imitating not only his brother's tone, but also his expression. "Our silly little Heinry with his baby snake." The mockery is clear in his voice as he wipes his imaginary tears.

Heinry flushes red with rage, Maria could almost swear that his ears are smoking.

"Hahaha!" He laughs out loud, a bit too much. Alfonse can't resist pointing his finger at the teased Heinry. He turns to Maria. "Did you see his face?!"

But that's the last straw for his brother. With a loud "Shut up!" he swings his fist at Alfonse, whose laughter immediately turns into a startle. He flinches, closes his eyes, but all he feels is a gentle breeze caused by the swing.

When the blow doesn't come, he opens his eyes. The fist is still there... Just not on his face, but a few millimeters in front of him. Maria managed to stop the hit just before it landed.

Alfonse immediately recovers and starts laughing again. Maria almost regrets stopping the blow.

"Let me go immediately!"

He tries to free himself from her grip, but unsuccessfully. Maria rolls her eyes at Alfonse and waits for the order to release him.

The maid next to him bends down and tries to free her master from her grip.

"If I were you, I wouldn't do that; he has delicate bones, and a wrong move could actually break his arm." Maria warns her coldly.

Tears well up in Heinry's eyes. Maria slightly loosens her grip to prevent accidentally breaking his arm or causing him harm as he keeps trying to wriggle free.

"Did I say you release him?"

Alfonse's voice sounds quite cold compared to the mocking tone he had a few seconds ago. With what he told her on the way, she understands it to some extent; after all, betrayal is betrayal.

Maria tightens her grip on Heinry’s hand, but not enough to hurt him. However, it's sufficient for Heinry to burst into more tears. He quietly continues begging her to let him go for a while, until Alfonse got bored and waved his hand.

"Let him go already; I'm starting to feel sorry for him." Without a single glance at his brother, he walked away down the hallway. Maria did as he said and released his hand.

The blonde lifted her master into her arms and quickly disappeared from sight, presumably taking him to the infirmary.

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"Well, here we are," he said and pointed to the worn-out door with the number three hundred twenty-six. "This room is reserved for my future servant. Since I've never had one, if you're going to stay here, you'll have to clean it yourself."

Maria grabs the doorknob and tries to open it. It takes a moment, so she pulls the door towards her and then turns the handle. There's a click, and she gets a glimpse of the room.

He was right; this place definitely needs cleaning. It's in an even worse state than his room, and that says a lot.

She enters the room, but as soon as she inhales, she has to cough due to the dust. The only source of light here is a small round window. The walls are adorned with mold thriving in this environment, given that probably no one bothers to ventilate the room. Corners are filled with cobwebs, and Maria doesn't even want to imagine what it looks like under the bed; she wouldn't be surprised to find a rat's nest there. At this moment, she realizes how grateful she is that she could spend the night in the guest room and didn't have to endure a night here.

"Thank you Mari."

This word surprised Maria so much that she turned to Alfonse. His gaze is fixed on the ground, hands behind his back, and the tip of his shoe is tapping the floor. As if sensing her gaze, he lifts his head and looks into her eyes for a second before blushing and lowering his gaze again.

Since Kristoph's death, she thought she would never hear this nickname again. Thanking a servant is something unimaginable in these times when they are treated more like toys, but using a nickname is even more surprising. Judging by his reaction, even at his age, he realizes how nice this is to her.

She quickly recovers and bows deeply, concealing the smile that doesn't suit her current position as a lifeless puppet. When she straightens up again, Alfonse presses his lips together and takes a deep breath.

"You know, most of those who were here before didn't stop the beating, even when he was hitting me on the ground... They just watched. You are the only one who stood up for me and stopped his fist."

A moment later, he shook his head as if trying to shake off embarrassment.

"I'm glad you like the room," Alfonse said with a pronounced irony in his voice and smiled. It was again the same guy she met yesterday.

"The room is not a problem; a little cleaning, and it could be as good as new in a few days. After all, it only serves for a night," she replied with an equally playful tone.

A loud knock repeats at least three times.

"It seems like it's lunchtime. Can you clean this place up before I return from eating?" As soon as he said that, he ran away. Maria just turned to look at the room behind her and sighed.

From one of the maids she met on her way, she borrowed a cobweb broom and a few other things and started cleaning up.