“I’m going to the church.” I said stiffly.
“I will go with you.” The little lionkin girl declared.
“I will as well.” The thirteen-year-old fairy girl added.
“Why do you need to go?” I cried out toward the maid girl. “Neither of you need to come!”
“My lord, First said a lioness must guard you at all times. You left everyone else behind. I must guard my lord!” The lionkin girl squeaked.
“Master, Mistress Faeyna said that when Master is in the capital, I must attend to him at all times,” the maid cried. “She only just let me on my own to watch this household. She only just gave me enough trust to watch this property yesterday. I wasn’t expecting Master so soon, but I’ll do my best!”
“Okay…” I looked at her consideringly.
The young woman seemed to turn red under my gaze. It seemed like Faeyna had been impatient to get both properties watched, and so she sent one of her oldest students to clean the seemingly abandoned property as a test run. It certainly needed cleaning after months of abandonment. There were signs she had only just started cleaning recently. The maid noticed the dubious look on my face and grew frantic.
“Master, I have experience with house cleaning.” When I raised an eyebrow, she continued. “My parent’s died when I was young, and no one paid their resurrection fee so I was sent to the Orphanage. I lived in the Capital’s orphanage. To fund it, the old witch there would send us to clean the properties of rich merchants and lords. A perverted lord took a liking to me, and the next thing I knew, I was being sold.”
“Why is your story so sympathetic?”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“No, it’s okay.” She forced a smile on her face. “Just before I was sold, all of the slaves were suddenly purchased by Master. We were taken to Chalm’s Crossing and freed. Of course, I had nowhere to go and no one needed cleaning. Thankfully, before I starved to death, Mother Fairy came and rescued us”
“Mother… Fairy…”
Mother Fairy must have been what they called Astria, but her story was still really sad even though she was saved from some noble, her story still led her to be an experiment.
“After that, Mistress Faeyna found us and offered us all jobs in Master’s mansion.” She finished before pointing her thumb at her chest. “That’s why I must work hard so that I’m never thrown away again.
My heart hurt. I looked over at the lionkin.
“Please say your story was less depressing…”
“Of course.” The lionkin girl declared confidently, crossing her arms. “I lived a very happy life.”
“That’s good.”
“My sister and I were forcefully taken from our parents at a young age. I was put into a program where I had to make my first kill by five. Lionesses must compete for being the top. It’s cutthroat, and death is common. I lived with my life on the edge, allowing me to reach level thirty even though I’m only 9. Hehe… I only experienced death twice.”
“Haaaah?”
“Of course, I was also trained in the sexual arts. It’s all in preparation so when I came of age and was given to King Roth. If I didn’t work myself to death, then there was a real risk I would have also been thrown away, which is why I’ll do my bodyguard duty properly!”
“…”
So, that was how I ended up walking through the capital adjoined with two loli- ahem… young children.