Typer’s room: Hello guys. On time and track today with an actual chapter! Hooray!
Anyway, as you might notice, I did a small change in PoV for this chapter. Its not like the entire arc will be done only with her, but I thought it would be an interesting idea to go and try to make other character’s views on the situation.
On another note, I initially planned on releasing a fake ending for this chapter as an april’s fool joke, but since I had to make something for my main story, I ended up losing the energy to finish the secondary ending. Still, for those wondering, I may post the April’s fool version later (it’s pretty dark considering the usual story).
Finally, today I may also take this chance to ask a question that will, sincerely, change a LOT the destination of this series. To school or not School? For those wondering, I WILL start Lia on blacksmithing AND deeper spiritualist cultivation this arc, so no need to worry about either of these answers.
As I said before, this is VASTLY a work in progress, and wasn’t made to be posted initially, so there might be some inconsistencies. If so, please do tell me, as I want to make it an enjoyable read ^^
May your reading be enjoyable.
----
I slowly breathed out, letting all the air flow out from my lungs as I reached the final stage of my daily morning cultivation. Opening my eyes and feeling as the cool morning air entered my lungs, I saw a small white cloud form as I breathed out. Feeling my mind wander off for a moment while watching the spectacle, I shook my head to recover before looking around.
Seeing the garden of my mansion without its usual greenery thanks to the coming winter, I felt a slight tinge of loneliness at the sight. Quickly shaking off the feeling, I let my Chi calm down before deciding to call it a day here. Master Roshi often said that overtraining might actually be harmful should one try to do too much, so we often only keep to his schedule when it comes to our daily training.
Speaking of overdoing… I quickly looked around me, searching for my usual companion in training. However, what I saw was simply the ever expanding grounds of the garden around me, where not a single soul stood besides the couple of guards I would often see in the morning.
Well, if I think how the sun didn’t even raise on the horizon, it’s no wonder that most of the servants would still be sleeping.
Sighing helplessly, I shook my head while preparing to stand up, only to stop when I felt something soft under my hand. Turning to my side surprised, what I found there was a neatly folded muffler that rested atop a small pillow.
Muu… Somehow I feel that she’s always two steps ahead of me. How dare she!
Picking up the muffler and coiling it around my neck, I felt as it slowly built up the comfortable warmth that one would come to expect. As I enjoyed myself, the sound of something hitting wood somewhere far in the distance echoed. Having my attention grabbed, I quickly turned towards the source of the sound and, following the stones set on the ground, I made my way to the other side of the house.
What I found was the more than familiar sight of a young girl standing upright while holding a kid-sized bow in one hand and a metallic arrow on the other. With her long dark green hair falling all the way to the waist, she was almost an entire head smaller than me, which made the bow look oddly big in her hands.
Wearing an alluring black robe that seemed to shine green whenever the light hit it, she had a strangely serious and mature look contrasting with her small, cute and round face. This only served to make me want to hug her even more, thanks to her short stature.
“Good morning, Milady.” She said to me when I was but a couple of steps behind her, a small smile appearing on her face.
“Good morning, Cuddly aide.” I said while approaching her and hugging her from behind, resting my head on her fluffy hair.
Muu, why is her hair so fluffy? It feels so good to simply hug her and keep doing this… I feel like I could keep my head here for the whole day if possible.
While going through my daily charging routine, I felt as my Cuddly aide left her bow resting against the tree and put the arrow besides it. For a few seconds the two of us simply stayed there while enjoying each other’s warmth on this cold day, but I quickly remembered what I wanted to tell her, so I put on my serious face and let go of her.
She turned to me with a slightly curious look, and just as I prepared to say what I had in my mind, she quickly went on.
“Ah, yes. I already asked one of the aides to bring us our breakfast, Milady.” She told me with a wide smile. Ah, now that she mentions it, I am hungry.
“I see. Fu fu fu… it seems that I indeed have an eye for capable aides.” I said proudly, satisfied that she knew me so well… No! Wait a second. Noticing that I was getting caught up in her pace I quickly decided to put on a serious expression. “Listen, Cuddly aide, you...”
“I’ve already prepared some warmer clothes for you to wear after you finished your cultivation, Milady. I can help you change whenever you want to.”
“Indeed. The weather today is a bit chillier than usual.” I said with a nod. Such a considerate young aide! Even though she’s younger than me, she still… And she did it again. “...Cuddly aide… You...”
“Heh? Did I forget something?” She asked me surprised while tilting her head. I stared at her for some time before finally sighing. “H-Huh? Lachy Chiian? Wacha yuu doin?”
“Listen here, Cuddly Aide. Haven’t you been a bit too assertive recently?” I said while pinching her cheeks and making her look at me. “It is my duty as the noble to guide you on what you should do.” I told her annoyed. “But with you being so proactive it becomes difficult for me to do that, you know? How am I supposed to guide you if you are always one step ahead of me, huh?”
“S-Shorry!” She said while holding back a laugh. “...Neeh… Lachy Chiian… Can chuu lech go of mah cheechs now?”
Hmmm… But they are so soft…
I sighed before letting go of my Cuddly aide’s cheek, receiving a thankful smile from her as she rubbed her reddish cheeks, I couldn’t help but smile amused. Jokes aside, I really had nothing to complain about her even after all these years she had been following me. Although I could have her be a little less overprotective at times, it’s not like I can help it after what she had gone through.
Turning my head back to the bow she was preparing to put away, I couldn’t help but be slightly amazed by her creation as I saw the results on the opposing side of the garden.
“So, is this your new creation? Looks quite interesting for a bow.” I said amazed.
“Yeah… But it’s still not quite what I want.” She said with a sigh. “It’s still not a weapon for a Spiritualist as I hoped it would be.”
“What do you mean? Isn’t this something that only spiritualists can use?” I asked confused, but she quickly shook her head.
“Well, it’s not like it’s not useful. It’s just that in the end it’s still just a bow...” She said dejected, but all I could do was look at the poor tree that had been used as target for my Cuddly aide.
“I don’t think an arrow shot from ‘just a bow’ would manage the dig entirely into the trunk of a tree like that, you know?” I said while pointing to the short parts of the arrows that still stood outside of the bark.
If the arrows were similar to the one she was holding before, it would be correct to say that almost nine tenths of the arrow is buried deep into the tree. As far as I knew, if only the arrow head was buried would be enough to leave most archers happy.
Hearing a brief giggle from my aide, I couldn’t help but smile with her.
Still, I decided to take on her offer for putting on some warmer clothes. Even with our training making us a lot more resistant to cold and hot climates, it’s still a very uncomfortable feeling.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Making our way back to my room where, just as she said, a set of thicker clothes laid neatly folded in my room. Looking at it in wonder for a moment, I soon started removing my robe with the help of Cuddly aide.
I somehow miss the way she would get embarrassed whenever we were taking a bath or she was helping me with my robes. It was so cute seeing her trying to hide her reaction by trying to act normal, nowadays she doesn’t even bat an eye…
Having helped me put on a winter robe, we immediately went to the kitchen, where just as she had said, one of the servants was preparing to leave with our early meal. She quickly seized the plate of food and, after thanking the servant, took it to the dining hall where she quickly set it up where I could eat.
Seeing as my Cuddly aide simply stood behind me with a happy expression instead of sitting down, I turned to her slightly curious.
“Have you already eaten?” I asked curious, to which she nodded. “When?”
“While you were midway through your cultivation.” She replied proudly.
“...Was that after or before you prepared my breakfast?”
“Before.” She replied briefly while tilting her head confused. “Why do you ask?”
“Hmm...” I thought for a moment while choosing my words. “I’ve been interested in it for some time, so why don’t you entertain me by telling me your doings this morning?” I asked curious. She blinked confused for a moment but nodded nonetheless.
“Well… I woke up early as always and quickly went to take a bath before anyone else woke up for reasons.” She said while eyeing me suspiciously. I quickly put my attention back to the meal at hand while avoiding her eyes. “Afterwards I prepared myself a meal and ate my breakfast and started preparing and cleaning the kitchen for the others to use. Seeing that our usual training spot was littered with dead leaves, I decided to take my time to sweep it away.” Waah, and that’s all before she even woke me up? “Then I took the few minutes of free time to start practicing archery with my new bow.”
“Which is when I found you.” I said with a nod. I must say that as her master I’m feeling slightly ashamed of seeing her working so much more than me in the mornings like that…
“Not really… That was later.” Huh? “After I practiced a bit with the bow, I saw that it was about time for me to wake you up, so I started heating up the master’s bath before going to help you up. While you were in the bath I separated your training clothes and the leisure clothes which I left in the changing room and your bedroom respectively. Feeling that it was about time for me to start cultivating my Chi I went on ahead of you and started my daily routine. That said, I had to sweep the grounds one more time since the wind blew some new leaves back our way.” She put on a small pout while saying this while I simply stared at her stupefied. “When I was about to reach my limit, I saw Milady besides me and thought that the weather was a bit chillier than expected, so after leaving the muffler for you, I asked the new aide to prepare breakfast for milady while I went on to practice a bit more with my bow.”
After being bombarded with her entire morning, I stopped for a moment to process all of what she had said while trying to understand what exactly she had done, as one small piece of information simply didn’t seem to fit with what I had in my memories.
“...Cuddly aide… Correct me if I’m wrong, but… After last night’s spar you went to sleep at the same time as me, is that correct?” I asked her, to which she nodded.
“Hmm. I only changed clothes before sleeping. Why?” She asked me confused.
“Then… Doesn’t that means that you slept pretty late?” I asked, remembering how deep into the night we were after having our training. She nodded while tilting her head cutely. “And… if I understood, you’ve been awake for much longer than me, is that correct?”
“Yes?”
“...Have you slept enough?” I asked worried despite her usual cheerful expression.
“Yup. I don’t need to sleep that much to be honest, so I’m fine.” She said with a cute proud smile and clenching her fists as if making a fighting pose. After she gave a light bounce I finally sighed.
“But… Didn’t you sleep for at most two hours then?”
“Hmm!” She nodded excited.
“... Don’t tell me you’ve been doing that every day?” I asked seriously.
“Yes?”
“Cuddly aide. Sit down here. We have something serious to talk about.” I said in a low tone to her. Jumping on one of the nearby chairs, she sat on her knees while looking at me slightly scared. Waah… She looks like a cute puppy! “So… For how long have you only been sleeping two hours a day? Huh?”
“Erm… For… Quite some time now...” She said while dodging my gaze.
“As my servant, I expect a more precise answer from you.” I said while staring down at her.
“Well… Maybe… Two or three years… I guess...” She said as her voice slowly died out.
“You’ve… You’ve been going almost sleepless for two whole years already?” I said in shock.
“Waah! But… But… I don’t really get that sleepy… And when I wake up I feel so fresh… So I just...” She started saying, but I quickly stopped her.
“Cuddly Aide. From today forth you are forbidden from working while I am not awake.” I said briefly, only to receive a shocked expression from her.
“But lady Tian! I can’t...”
“I’m not accepting a no as an answer.” I said angrily, to which she replied with lowering her head and giving me an upturned look. Aaah… I want to pet and comfort her… NO! “Cuddly aide. Even if you say that you are feeling fine, I can say that it’s only a matter of time before you start getting sick due to overwork.” I took a deep breath before looking at her worried. “It would be unbefitting of a noble like myself to see her Cuddly Cute Plebeian Aide friend get sick thanks to something like that, you know?”
She blinked surprised for a moment before finally smiling awkwardly and nodding.
“...I might have to stop helping father with my nightshifts then...” She muttered.
I felt a vein popping up on my forehead.
“Cuddly aide…” I said in a low tone. “What did you just say?”
“I SAID THAT MASTER BO, LADY SUI AND YOUNG MASTER FENG ARE ABOUT TO ARRIVE!” She said in a hurry. I blinked surprised for a moment before sighing and turning to the door. “T-That was close...” She muttered while looking away. I sighed briefly while shaking my head before turning to the door.
Just as she had said, not only a moment had passed before the doors of the dining hall opened, and in came father and mother, who carried my younger brother in her arms.
“As expected. Tian, Lia; The two of you are already awake.” Father said amused.
“I’m thinking that these two have even more energy than young Feng here.” Mother said amused while gently holding my baby brother.
“It’s not only you, my dear.” Father said with a brief smile before turning to me once again. “Still, we have more important matter to talk about, isn’t that right, my daughter?” He asked me.
I simply blinked surprised while trying to remember what he could possibly be talking about. Frowning slightly I quickly noticed that nothing came to mind before I finally turned towards my Cuddly aide besides me, wondering if she knew what he was speaking about.
“It’s your coming of age, Milady.” She told me with a playful smile. “Don’t tell me you forgot about it?”
...AH! That’s right! Today’s my tenth birthday!
Having completely forgotten about it, I quickly turned to father who had an amused expression.
“Well, since my little girl is finally reaching the age of an adult, a worthy present is needed, isn’t that right?” My father said. “That said, I’ll leave that for after breakfast. The day is still long afterall!”