With each step a droplet fell to the floor, leaving behind him a bloody trail. When William noticed this he lamented over his misfortune. They had cleaned these halls only yesterday, and now it was being polluted with his own human filth…

No thanks to his insane ‘father’... What would his reason be the next time? That because William existed it made him vexed? Where was the logic in that?.. William grumbled to himself as he took off his bonnet and used it as a rag to soak up the liquid. No matter the setbacks, nothing was going to stand between him and his reward!..

The moment the head servant saw William, dislike was immediately written across his face. He didn’t enjoy the sight of a small injured girl waltzing into his chamber. The man scuffed and said, “What happened to your skull, dear girl? Do you need the doctor to take a look at that?”.

William had noticed the other’s negative demeanor. Yet, he was surprised to learn that the head servant was actually a kind hearted soul. He was unsure if it was purely out of courtesy that the servant asked. So he weakly nodded. The head servant stuck his head out the door and ordered one of the guards to fetch the doctor.

“Thank you”, William muttered. The servant swatted his hand around and said, “No need for gratitude. It is simply my duty to make sure the servants are well taken care of”. The head servant looked William up and down before suggesting, “... Mirabelle, I suppose?..”. William nodded again. The servant smiled, then he handed William a bunch of clothes. “This will be your new uniform…”, he explained.

The head servant treasured materialistic things and so with careful grace, he guided out a sleeve to present to the young lady. “It’s a beautiful colour isn’t it?.. Only first dip, but the blue is very rich, nonetheless… Why don’t you try it on and see if it fits?”.

The head servant directed William along with his hand, towards a folding screen. But before he was left to his own devices the servant said with a bit of teasing, “Or maybe you should wait… We don’t want to give the blue tunic and white cote, a new set of spots, do we?”.

So they waited for the doctor to give William a sturdy bandage around his head. It wasn’t stylish in the least. It took the form of a cap. Covering his ears and most of his head, only leaving the skin on his face uncovered, allowing it to breathe. William found that It almost resembled a nun’s headpiece.

After a change of clothes the head servant praised, “It seems to fit you perfectly… That is good indeed. Now you are ready to have the great honor of serving our lord’s oldest son: Brice”. William halted his body from whatever it was doing. Before these news hit him, it was on the verge of exploding from anticipation. However now?.. He wanted to explode and die on the spot to forfeit this road that his life took. Since the head servant was so nice, William dared to ask, “How is that a reward?”.

The servant didn’t take it as the insult it was. Instead he innocently thought that William was simply curious to know how great it is to serve the lord’s successor. He smiled and said, “Our future lord is a gently, spirited young man. If you serve him well he will show you just how generous the Blaises can be… Of course you also rise in payment. However your freetime gets cut a bit here and there. It is a full time job, which many folk can find enlightenment and joy in… I hope the same goes for you, little girl… Now-”. A knock came at the door. This, the head servant had anticipated.

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He said with bubbling joy, “Such gracious timing. One of Brice’s former servants will show you the robes today. You should head out with them now… There is much to learn”.

The servant that wore the same uniform as him, came over to guide him to Brice’s personal chamber. Like other parts of the castle it was decorated with plenty of detail. Fine murals in soft colours were painted all over the walls. The room also came with a neat fireplace and a dining table fit for four. With lots of room made to eat and hold discussions in. On the elaborately carved table, sat a rich tray of fruit. Displaying how luxuries the taste of nobles’ were. And of course it was all lit up by candlesticks.

Placed between the coloured glass windows, was a four-poster canopy double bed. It was filled with intricate figures and it even had curtains in rich yellow and red, flowing down from each corner. It truly was a room fit for a lord… Which sadly was also included.

The lord’s son was sitting before his desk, receiving a writing lesson from Remony. The sweet girl taught him with soothing words and guided his quill to form each word beautifully. The scene was tranquil until William arrived… Brice seemed shocked to find the two servants spawn in his room. Normally he could sense people from as far as 400 meters away but ever since Gibby died he has been feeling vulnerable.

To not let the others know his weakness, he simply glared at the face of his new servant. It seemed oddly familiar. A smirk slowly formed on his lips as he mocked, “You must have found a new purpose in life? And may I add you’re quite good at it!.. I mean, how can I be wrong. You must be pursuing the job of a jester, right?... Because other than that, it just doesn’t make any sense to me that you would appear before me twice! Wearing some ridiculous headpiece?.. Haha, maybe you even have a splendid excuse to blab about like the last time we met?”.

The experienced servant found this kind of behavior to be the norm. She coldly spoke on William’s behalf, “From today and onwards, she will be taking over my duty of overseeing you… She is one of your new servants”.

“Oh, really?”. Brice found it a bit odd but didn’t question it any further. Instead he looked to Remony who seemed just as surprised to see William here and said, “Don’t bother with them. Let’s continue shall we? Is this word spelled correctly?”. And like that, William and the servant was ignored the rest of the day.

****

It had been a week since William took over as one of Brice’s servants. During these days his whole body had been filled to the brim with frustration. For never in his life had he met such an arrogant creature before. Along with his new frustrations a daily routine was added. You could say that all these pent up emotions, fueled his desire to go the extra mile!

He strengthened his body everyday now with push-ups, sit-ups, back exercises and balancing acts. Totalling to about 20 different exercises. All of whom he had practiced in his former life, in an effort to get the perfect male body. Although he never got to achieve that dream in his past life, he was glad that these exercises were now proving themselves to be useful.

Once he had worked up a good sweat, he would take a broom that he had ‘stolen’ and start practicing with it as if it was a sword. Sadly it couldn’t compare to the real thing. Yet, there was no need to fret, for soon a genuine blade would be in his grasps.

As he forced his body to improve, he kept a sharp eye on his money-jar. When its contents could touch the lid, he had the intention to ask Joss to accompany him to the blacksmith. There they would get him some steel teeth to bite those who would try to wrong him!

Thinking of Joss, he also thought it was high time that he gave his friends something for all their troubles… Maybe he could craft him something of significance? Like Joss did, when he carved dinosaurs for him. With these motivating thoughts on his mind, William swung the broom around with more vigor.

Change was definitely in the making.