For the time being, I prioritized on finding Bel. The sky is starting to get darker and the full moon is about to start. Though I still have some worries inside of me, I prioritized helping Bel in the meantime. Half of the reason is to keep my mind of distracting things. I’m not in the position to be distracted as anything might happen later. Though there’s nothing that will happen towards me later, I still need to focus on helping someone.

The other half is because of Bel. For all the things that Bel had done for me, I sometimes feel this incredible guilt inside me. I felt like I’m abusing her kindness for some reason. Such, on times like this, I want to repay her in some kind of way that I can do. Bel has been the family I never had. At least to me, my relationship with Bel isn’t something as trivial as Master-Servant.

I went around asking for Bel’s whereabouts. Some of the maids in the house recognized her as the head maid’s daughter, such, inquiring the servants that are in the vicinity was proven effective. I obtained information that Bel was currently in the kitchen and helping her mother cook some herbs to be used by some of the family members later.

Bel’s mother was the epitome of a perfect maid. Flawless service, top-notch skills, and the most notable characteristic, she is strong. As a wolf, she was one of the strongest in the pack. One of my family rules is family’s servants should be capable as well. There’s no servant in the house that is considered weak. They are trained to protect their masters in times of need and danger. Remember what I said back then when Bel’s friends are talking about the probability of Bel getting assaulted by a maniac? The maniac will be the one suffering for his mistakes.

In the past, I met Bel’s mother a couple of times. She does her work seriously and trained Bel with all her own to become an outstanding maid. If there’s anything that I consider a flaw, it’s that she’s too uptight. She doesn’t accept anything that isn’t perfect. While this is good because her service is the best among all the servants but for others, no matter what they do, Bel’s mother considered it as imperfect. No one can match up to her standards, even Bel, her own daughter cannot escape this.

After asking for the whereabouts of the kitchen, I went there immediately. To be honest, I’m kind of uncomfortable meeting Bel’s mother. This is because I’m the failure of the family and seeing she’s a perfectionist, I’m kind of like an unremovable speck of dust in her eyes. She wanted to remove it to make the scene perfect, but she cannot because I’m the son of her master. I have mixed feelings about her as well, if not for the fact that she’s Bel’s mother, I probably would’ve avoided her at all cost.

Well, it probably isn’t that bad. Bel grew up to be the nicest and gentlest person I knew, her mother should have similar qualities as well. As the saying goes, ‘the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree’ or ‘like mother like daughter’. From what I can see, Bel’s mother cannot let go of her pride as a professional maid, such, some of the unnecessary traits are removed, only to be seen by people close to her or when she’s not on duty.

I arrived in the kitchen and saw the brilliant scene of servants that are hard at work. To a lazy bum like me, this scene is almost majestic. So this is the look of servants behind the scene whenever we held an event or whenever we have a party. They are all over the place, working hard for the masters they served under. As for what drives them to work this hard for someone, is something I wouldn’t understand. They probably have their own reason for doing these kinds of stuff.

I tried my best not to interfere with their work and went inside as without drawing as much attention as possible. Of course, that is deemed impossible as a young master walking inside a territory only for servants would sure attract anyone’s attention. The servants that are busy running around stopped and greeted me. They all dropped whatever they are doing and bowed. So much for not drawing attention for myself.

The nearest maid beside me asked me if I have some kind of business inside the kitchen.

I coughed. “Nothing is wrong here, continue with your work.” I felt uncomfortable when multiple eyes are on me. I dismissed them and asked the nearest maid for Bel. The other servants continued what they are doing earlier. Since the full moon is in a few hours, this is not the time to stand around and gossip. They quickly went on and continued their tasks.

“I asked around for the whereabouts of Bel, the other servants said she’s at the kitchen. Can you call her out?” It’s probably for the best for me to just call her outside and continue from them. I already received a strong reaction from the outside of the kitchen and I can imagine the other’s reaction when I went inside so it’s better to call Bel outside.

“Understood.”

“Thank you and sorry for disrupting your work.” Bel is probably busy for the preparation of the full moon. I don’t want to disrupt her but if I don’t find her now, it will be hard to find her later with all the commotion going around. It’s best to meet her now and decide where to meet later on. I went and sat in an empty chair at the side and waited for Bel to arrive. I don’t want to hinder the servants earnestly doing their work. Also, I don’t want to gather needless attention to myself, though my presence here attracts attention like a magnet to passersby.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

One maid was kind enough to serve me some tea while I’m waiting. I’m not too fond of teas but rejecting her or demanding for a coffee instead will make her uneasy and thus interrupt her work more. I drank the tea silently at the side. The tea the maid gave me was bitter and I didn’t really like the taste. I sipped a couple of times before setting it aside never lifting it up to drink it again.

Soon after, Bel arrived but someone came alongside with her. I didn’t expect her to come to. They soon arrive on the front of me. Bel saw the cup of tea that was set aside on the table and her face became a little dark.

“Master, tell me the name of the maid that served you tea even though you hated it. I’ll talk to her later.” So that’s how it is. I don’t really mind though and I don’t want to interrupt the maid’s work.

“Don’t worry about it, she probably doesn’t know that I hated teas. She was kind enough to serve me anything while I was waiting, I don’t mind.” I replied to calm her down. She probably inherited a little bit of her mother’s perfectionist trait. Seeing another maid serving me tea maybe triggered the inner trait.

Bel calmed down a bit after that. I want to get to the point but Bel’s mother was staring right at me, seemingly burning holes in me with her gaze alone. We aren’t really on peaceful terms but since Bel is here, I’ll show a little bit of good will.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. Mejia.” I lightly nodded at her. I kind of knew the reason why she’s here. She’s always a strict person and I doubt she will let me go for disturbing Bel’s work. I’ll try explaining to her that I’m here to help Bel for tonight’s full moon. Maybe she’ll soften up a little.

“Master, what did you call me here for? Have you recovered your injuries? I suggest getting more rest.” Bel initiated the conversation after sensing the mood. She was worried about what happened earlier but since she saw me alive and better than earlier, she didn’t probe too much about it. Though I’m a bit hesitant to say anything while Bel’s mother was killing me with her gaze, I guess I can’t do anything about it.

“I’m already fine, thank you. I’m bored lying around in bed all day long so I came to find you since the full moon is about to start. With all the commotions going around, I’ll have trouble finding you later so I asked around about your whereabouts. Have you finished your preparations?”

“Yes. My preparations are already prepared since earlier. I asked my mother here to help me prepare a healthy meal for your recovery. I was planning on visiting you after this.” So she asked her mother to help her prepare a meal for me.

“Thank you, Mrs. Mejia.” I thanked her mother. It was nice that she helped Bel on her request. My guess isn’t really far off, she really has a nice side like Bel.

“Bel, prepare the meal, he can eat it here.” Bel’s mother ordered Bel to get the meal. Bel nodded and left the vicinity. And here I thought that Bel’s mother would leave with her as well but she surprisingly stayed around. She put away the cup of tea on the table and ordered a maid passing by to serve some coffee. She sat on the other seat and glared at me as she did earlier. Feeling uncomfortable, I sat on my original seat earlier. There was an awkward silence and I can’t think of something to say.

“So, I heard that you’ll help Bel on the full moon later?” Bel’s mother broke the silence.

“Yes, since I don’t have something to do later, I might as well watch over her while she’s meditating.”

“I see. Are you fond of Bel?”

The question caught me off guard. What kind of question is that? I like Bel, but I don’t think honestly replying here is the right choice. I have to think more deeply on this question.

“What do you mean by that?” Unable to think of something, I asked her what is she implying on that question.

“Nothing, it’s just Bel seems so happy around you. Not just Bel, even Lette always talks about you whenever I’m at home. I’m wondering what’s up with you lately.” I’m confused right now. Lette suddenly came up and I don’t know how to continue this conversation.

“I’m glad that Bel’s happy when she’s serving me but I don’t know about Lette.”

“Is that really so?” She smiled mischievously. I suddenly felt a shudder down my spine. What that she mean by that? What about Bel and her little sister? I was saved by her crushing gaze when Bel arrived holding a tray with a pot.

“Well, it was nice talking to you, young master Kane. I’ll leave my daughter to you.” She giggled and then left. Others might say that the giggle is cute and all, but the only thing I felt is it was scary.

“Mother!” Bel got flustered and chased her mother away. She served the soup mixed with various herbs. The aroma of the soup was nice, I can feel my energy recovering with this.

“This is my mother’s specialty soup. It can greatly recover your energy and it can even increase it. I asked my mother about its recipe so I can let you eat it, Master.”

“Thanks.” In my mind, I hoped that her mother didn’t mix some kind of poisonous herbs inside. Well, Bel was the one that cooked it so it’s probably safe.

“Master, did my mother told you anything weird?” A little bit flustered, Bel asked while I was eating.

“Nothing much, she asked if I’m fond of you.” Bel’s face got red and she was flustered all over the face. She whispered something like ‘What is mother doing?’ or ‘I wonder what Master said.’

“I didn’t really reply to the question as things were a little bit awkward.”

“Is that so…” Bel calmed down a little bit after hearing that.

“Well, I do like you.” That turned out a little bit wrong, but it’s not a lie though. I like her as a maid and as my friend. I was planning on correcting myself but Bel was so shocked, she isn’t replying to anything. I feel like I messed up here.

After a while, Bel returned to her senses and I explained it to her. She was a little upset at that time but at least I cleared up the misunderstanding.