“You kissed him?!”

Raja was nodding to the extreme question she got from Celia after recounting the date.

“Then you are ahead of us by a large margin~”

“While I understand that Master was with each of us on dates, by going so far, you made me slightly regret the work we did to make your dance with Master possible.”

“I am sorry Seria, it came over me without being able to resist, I needed to tell him about my… our feelings.”

“Hah, don’t sweat it! But I wish I had told him myself while we bought sweets, hah…”

Celia was a bit down, unlike her usual demeanor. Alice was rather calm and Seria was still a bit miffed.

“Raja, as compensation you will be taking Masters side in bed only after three days again, is that clear?”

“...understood Seria.”

“Ah, how cruel Seria! I am angry too, but she is our sister is she not?”

“It is a bit harsh~”

“...two days then.”

“Thank you Seria. Thank you Celia and Alice for speaking up for me.”

“So, did something else happen?”

“He… wants to marry us.”

“I see, he… huh?”

“Ara~”

“Merr… Mama… MARRY US!?”

Explaining his words and feelings all were shocked and had chaotic feelings in their hearts while comprehending what this means. Their girl talk was long and loud, but no one was listening in or were there any working surveillance devices.

Meanwhile Drak was in the Bath thinking about how impulsive he laid bare his heart to Raja and could imagine her to tell the others about his plans he thought in his mind.

“What should I do… Why did I tell her the truth just like that?”

His own mind was in chaos. His feelings for them were slowly and steadily changing as he got into puberty and now he did the unthinkable and just told one of them, he still had no idea how to work with those feelings.

—

“So did he go out with his fourth maid too?”

“Yes, and apparently she is rather versed in engraving Methods, as she could find out about some of the tricks a store used to keep their own works of special engravings secure.”

“Oh, not only is she adept in sword and some kind of Magic, she is knowledgeable about laying mystic line work? She could be one of his tutors for his rather stellar theoretical work in Magic.”

“We will update her Dossier. After the shopping they went different routes-”

“Not staying together? The other three had some kind of outing with him, no?”

“Well they also had, but it was more elaborate, which made it necessary for special attention to detail.”

“Ho? Can you elaborate?”

While Eleonora was rather bored about the going ons in Drak’s life, this seems to have some kind of gossiping flair, and her interest lied more on this aspect, as most other things were rather dry and tedious work of keeping simple Information sorted.

When he first was going out with one of them she was rather bored, but came to like some of the more private aspects, for they hold room for speculation and also might show some kind of ‘hidden love’ between him and one of his Maids. As she had not much to do in the Imperial Palace, she often listened to the whispers of the maids about some maybe true, often false rumors about different Stewards getting closer to different Maids or special maids cleaning the bedchambers of her cousins ‘at night’. While she did not understand at first, she got the gist later and overheard many things just to not get too bored until she was designated as a potential spy in training.

‘Something special? Maybe he has a deeper connection to her? The smaller one was only out for sweets and while he bought his rather strict maid a pendant it could not be seen as too much appreciation. That black haired one, um… Alice was it! That one he was going on an evening dinner, and might be his petal to a rose… But that Raja one had something even more special might be changing it again! Do not let it show how giddy you are and keep composure!’

“As you wish Princess. Her private time was disbanded at the end of the shopping for the specific engravings. It is as expected for enchanting the previously bought carriage. This carriage has been already studied, but it will be impossible to secretly insert some devices, as we do not know what will be modified. If it were to be found out, it could start another retaliation like the bathroo-”

“Don’t remember me! Skip the failure of surveillance devices, I want to not remember right now!”

‘And stop with the boring stuff, where is the MEAT!?’

“Ah, of course Princess. The wards can be seen to only be defensive and in regulation of Imperial Norms. Nothing to worry about. It is now obvious, the Money is not from his Ducal family, as all the spendings are now way over budget for being reasoned with ‘high pocket money’. He would have to get one platinum a Month for over four years to be able to buy all of this. If we include how he was traveling to school before, he is obviously not one to spend so much money normally. This can not be out of miserly thoughts, but lack of money.”

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Eleonora nodded and tried her best to not scream her inner voice out to get to the next topic. She felt like her willpower got a hard workout.

“After the purchase both parties went their own ways for a time, where the Maid named Raja was heading for the entertainment district and Drak Berklin went directly back home.”

‘So he went home, but why is Raja going to the entertainment district? Don’t tell me she is going to those kinds of establishments with oiled muscled dancers? No, that is not possible, is it?’

“Drak Berklin was made ready for the rest of the evening by his other maids, while Maid Raja went into a previous rented small event venue to change into different clothes, prepared in advance.”

“Please don’t say the spies did what I fear!”

“Your orders were heeded, and after she went into the changing room no personnel had surveilled her until she came out herself.”

* sigh * ‘Please do not do dangerous things, my heart can’t take it! …She changed, in what exactly?’

“Um, what kind of clothing did she change into? Some kind of venue staff uniform for a meeting?”

“No, she put herself in a rather simple but still stylish azure dress. The pattern was on the left side of vines with flowers, but that is not really a needed detail, I believe.”

‘For me it is!!!’

“A… a dress, interesting. Did she accompany him to the gathering?”

“There was no gathering.”

‘But you said VENUE! Do I have to pull your teeth before all Information comes out in one go?!’

Noticing the rather heavy atmosphere around the Princess the Spymaster started to continue quicker. He might not understand why she is too interested in such low value information, but he also knows he has some defects in his assessment as he was just a low infiltrator in the most direct way, prior.

“There was no gathering, the whole venue was for her and Drak Berklin, who was after a short while being driven by his new Coach to the Venue. When he entered the Maid started the Music and danced.”

“Danced?”

“Yes, it seems either practice or for personal gratification. Either way it was only dancing for a few hours until the… oh.”

“What is it?”

‘Someone, bring me some tongs to remove his teeth!’

“At the end a spell was cast for voice inhibition and they talked about some things. After a short while they kissed.”

“Kissed…?”

‘KISSED! HIDDEN LOVE! SECRET DATE! BLOOMING FEELINGS BEHIND THE SHADOWS! YAHOO!’

“The Maid kissed her Master. She was rather flustered and while the Magic was still working the inhibition wavered as the emotions were in turmoil maybe.”

‘Of course they would be in turmoil, you unfeeling piece of rock! Never had a love in… oh, right he was trained since birth, poor guy…’

While the Spymaster did not notice the mixed feelings boiling inside Eleonora, he continued.

“There were keywords that could be understood through the wavering ward. ‘love’, ‘heart’, ‘regret’ and ‘help’. Afterwards Drak Berklin had taken the initiative and kissed his Maid back. The ward was getting back to normal but we could ascertain two words from him too which were ‘too’ and ‘marry’, but as we have no connection to other things, we can not deduct if he meant to requite her love or if he told her he would marry into nobility and it was just a pipe dream. Afterwards they danced a short while after and went home directly. She did not change but took her maid outfit with her on Drak’s order.”

‘Love, Regret, Marriage… Does he want to elope and flee the clutches of his Nobility? Would he throw away everything just for her? My mind is going to explode! What should I do? I know, I can write my ideas down and review their possibilities later!’

“Ahem! Anything else to report about this evening?”

“These are the direct ongoings. A review was made of the engravings and possible weak points and counterattack possibilities for later, if there might be a reason to break his security on the Carriage to either apprehend him or rescue the Princess from a Situation. An emergency Signal is already in manufacture which circumvents all common and those specific wards on his future carriage. Please look over those Documents and tell us, if you are having some queries or things to change in them.”

‘Don’t wanna read, I wanna write!’

“I will look over them tomorrow, as it is the last rest day. Is the Letter to my Uncle being delivered?”

“The Letter was delivered and we already have an answer.”

“Why did you not say so? That is important to me! Give me the letter.”

“At Once."

Giving over the sealed envelope, the wardings are pristine and show no tampering. Also the Gracia seal was genuine by checking it with her Magic. Using her own Magic she opens the seal which otherwise would disintegrate the message and harm the one who tampered with it.

- Dear Dough Bread

As you know, the Imperial Castle is right now working on special events and can not be disturbed. I have read your Letter and will greet your friend when I go to the Market. If you need something out of your drawers from home, I can send a Maid to deliver you some different clothes. Do remember to be happy and if someone bullies you, do not forget to tell me, so I can talk to their parents about it.

Your Uncle Anderson -

Reading the Letter she deciphers the Text for the hidden meanings. ‘Special events’ are the undercurrents working against each other, and would be too dangerous to meddle in them, as they are on the bottom of the food chain in the Castle.

‘Friend on the Market’ was deducted as the black Merchant and he will greet him, which means her Uncle takes her warnings and opinions to heart in the upcoming discussion.

If she needed something, he would send her stuff in secret, as maids are meant to be invisible. If he had written ‘Servant’ it would be open, but he specified Maid. Drawers are meant to be locked and closed, so things that are not public and maybe even some illegal stuff for her to keep her safe.

Clothes are also a code word. ‘Keep everything you get on your person, like your clothes’ was the meaning.

Bullies are Oppositions and talking to their Parents meant he would take care of the ones behind the scenes, if she needs support.

The last thing she looked at was the first line. ‘Dough Bread’ meant… exactly what he said. He had this Nickname since she was born, as her cheeks were so puffy like dough and he never stopped to call her that. She was always embarrassed about it, and even after trying to change it, he never did.

‘He just wrote that for me to destroy this Letter right? How can he embarrass me so much!’

“You can go. I need to work on a few things. Please inform me if something happens. Otherwise I will go to sleep after a bit of Study.”

“As you wish Princess.”

With this the Spymaster left the Room and Eleonora was alone. After disintegrating the Letter, she sat a few seconds silent on the Sofa until she jumped up and ran to her study desk to grab paper and a pencil to hurriedly write down every single Idea of Drak’s love affair with his maid in full detail.

Drak would never have believed to have fanfiction about him and his Maids being written by Eleonora in such passion. She was up all night and went through a lot of paper before finally being at ease and sorting it into a hidden compartment of her desk.