The following day came, and I lay in bed with the sun shining through my window onto my face. I failed to realize that the sun was shining through it the day before, which meant it would have shined through my window the next morning. I rubbed my eyes. “Ohh man, morning already?” I grumbled. My vision was somewhat blurry due to being awoken by the sun. I noticed something on the ceiling. It looked like an oil lantern. I stood up, reached up, and removed it from the hook from which it dangled.

Sure enough, it was a light source I had missed the previous night. I gave it a shake to see if it was filled with anything, but instead, it turned on, suggesting that it was a magical light that needed to be fiddled slightly with. I placed it back on the hook, and it went out. I assumed that it was due to the fact it was already bright. At least I have a light in here. I walked over to where my bag was and reached into it. It was like reaching into your hand into water. It felt cold and as though there was plenty of room for whatever I could put in there.

My hand touched a solid, metallic object. I felt around more and came to determine it was the handle of a sword. I looked at my weapon rack, it was empty. So I pulled the sword out. It was a Katana that the note talked about. The handle of the sword appeared to have been specifically made to increase your capability to hold it firmly. However, the handle wasn’t that of a typical katana, as the edges were metal wings folded towards the blade itself. The sheath was black, with gold strips winding down along the tip. The sword was sharp and glimmered in the morning sun. “Wow… this is amazing,” I thought. I placed it back in the sheath and placed it on the rack.

I looked around my room for a moment, wondering what I should do. I assumed I could do whatever I wanted since nobody had knocked at my door yet. I looked at the bookshelf, thinking about how I should start reading about how to heal, as that is an important skill to know. However, as I went to grab it, I heard my door slowly opening. I turned around, and standing before me was Gabriel. He looked at me briefly before turning and walking away. I was slightly confused and walked to the door to see what was going on. He stood in the middle of the wall, looking at one of the other doors.

“You know, Thadeus, I was once just like you. Young, defiant, curious about everything.” He looked back at me. “I, too, was in your shoes at one point and was an apprentice who managed to work my way up through sheer hard work and determination. That is how I got to where I am today.” He turned again and started walking to another door. “This room was mine when I was in your position. I have many good memories here. Tell me, Thadeus, what good memories do you have?”

He looked at me. I stood there, unsure how to answer his question or where he could possibly be going with this. He must have caught on to this as he came back towards me and placed his hand on my shoulder. He gave me an odd smile and then patted me on the back.

“That’s fine. You don’t have to answer the question. We can save that for another time.” He said quietly, staring at me for a few seconds before his facial expression changed.

“I heard about last night and how you wandered into the quarters of those servants. Under normal circumstances, I would advise you not to waste your time with them as they are neither wife material nor worthy of beings like us. However, I am glad to see that you’re adjusting quickly and learning that even as a lower-ranking Master Angel, you can do what you wish with whomever. Suppose you wish to have one of those ladies temporarily until you finish your training and the task you get assigned. In that case, I will gladly give you a larger quarters to suit your needs.” He stated this with a father-like tone.

To say this offer didn’t tempt me would be a lie. However, I would mostly want to take him up on his offer because it meant getting a slightly bigger room and one less female being used as some slave. But, I decided against it at the time as last night was a complete accident, and I still didn’t feel right after having myself forced upon two females from my previous interaction with Gabriel. I finally mustered up the courage to respond.

“My lord, thank you, but I will decline the offer of having my own live-in female. Suppose the offer for that larger room is still on the table with no stipulations. In that case, I’ll gladly take it as I could use more room to study my reading material. My room doesn’t have a desk or anywhere to focus on meditating and learning important skills. However, if you wish for me to stay here in this room, I shall.” I replied while attempting to sound confident in my words.

Gabriel walked past me and went into my room. I waited outside as he looked around the room I had been given upon arrival.

“This room isn’t even fit enough to be called a room for you. I was under the impression that you would have a far larger room with more amenities than what has been provided. Is this some sort of joke? No right-hand of mine should have to live in a room fit for that of a lower-class servant. I will have your room moved immediately.” He shouted. I could see steam coming out of his ears with how mad he appeared to be. He waved me to the doorway. “Are these all your belongings?” he asked, pointing at various things in the room.

“The only things that aren’t mine in here are the bed, side table, and the lantern. The rest of the items belong to me.” I replied.

He looked around again, thinking before raising his finger at me. “One minute, I’ll be right back, " he said. I have no clue why he was so different today from how he had been towards me the last week or two, but having him be so calm was a relief.

I decided to sit on the bed while I waited for his return, and started to think about what I wanted to learn first. Of course, energy-based healing was at the top of my list, and I was already a proficient enough Swordsman, but I knew I could be better, and I wanted to be the best at it. I heard what sounded like multiple groups of people walking around. I stood up as some, who I assumed were servants, wore cloth cloaks with sandals. I could hear Gabriel chewing someone out just outside my door.

“Do you think this is acceptable to do to my right hand? Do you think that my right-hand deserves to be put in such a tiny room with very little to his name? Do you think this is some sort of situation that requires humor to be had? Why would you place Thadeus in this room knowing that he is my right hand man? Do you understand what his position is at all?!” he barked.

“No, sir, it’s not acceptable. No, sir. I had no information other than that a potential apprentice was showing up. Had I known who it was, I would have set him up in a different room with far more luxuries than found in this room. I swear. I do now, sir; I had no clue that she-“ he replied before being interrupted by Gabriel.

“SHE?! HOW DARE YOU COMPARE HIM TO THAT OF A WENCH. HE IS FAR BETTER THAN THAT.” He yelled immediately after hearing that. “You better seek forgiveness from him and I shall allow him to issue out whatever punishment he finds fit for you.” He added.

I looked at the man. He was wearing half-leather armor, and his badge indicated that he was in charge of ensuring the quality of the castle, among other things. He looked back at me and kneeled. “Young Master Angel, please forgive me as I have made a mistake. My life is in your hands, and I will accept whatever punishment you think is fit.” He said, remorse in his voice.

I looked at him briefly before coming up with something. By this time, a couple of the servants were trying to lift the bookshelf but didn’t have enough with all of us in there. “Everyone, stop what you are doing and exit out of the room except for the one kneeling before me.” I requested with an authoritative tone of voice. Gabriel stood outside, looking in awe as if he was expected to kill this one for his mistake.

“For you overlooking key details for my living quarters, it is requested that you move all my personal belongings to my new quarters, and only you. If you fail to do it by yourself, you shall be banished from Gabriel’s castle immediately.” I said, trying to sound as though this was the worst punishment I could offer. Gabriel looked at me with an approving look on his face and walked away.

One of the servers slowly raised his hand. “Yes, what is it?” I asked.

He slowly looked up but didn’t make eye contact with me. “Sir, does this mean we dismissed?” he asked. I didn’t realize, but he wasn’t one of us. He was human and sounded like he grew up in a remote mountain region, as his words weren’t fully completed. Why were there humans working as servants here?

“Yes, all of you are dismissed and may return to your original duties. Nobody help this man though as he is expected to do all this himself.” I said. The truth is, this guy was large enough to be able to do all this by himself. Looking at all the servants closer, they were all human. This surprised me because I didn’t realize that the Kingdom had utilized humans as servants.

The servants all nodded and left with Gabriel right behind them. Once they were out of earshot, I looked at the one who was still kneeling before me. “Get up and stop kneeling already,” I said quietly. He stood up and patted my shoulder. “Young Master Angel, thank you for sparing my life, but I had made a mistake and would’ve understood had you chose to execute me or kick me out of the castle. I will get to carrying your stuff up to the 3rd floor where your room is. If you wish to meet me up there, your room will be the 3rd door on the left. The first door is a bathing room, the second door will be the balcony.

This entire floor is yours to do with whatever you like. On the opposite side, there are two rooms: a guest bedroom should you have guests over and a study room where I’ll place your books.” He stated with a calm tone. While his response seemed monotone, I could tell he was thankful I had spared him. His task was simple, as I barely had any items.

He exited the room briefly before coming back with a thin piece of wood, which he used as a cover to help him carry the bookcase up the stairs, slung the bag over his shoulder. He had attempted to pick up my sword to carry that, but I retrieved it from him and carried it myself. I walked behind him as he walked towards the stairs carrying the bookcase and wondered if he’d be able to carry it up the stairs. As we hit the first step, I could tell it would be a challenge. The stairs were meant more for humanoid creatures to walk up/down and weren’t built for larger objects to be carried up. Thinking about it, I could have just told him to take it outside and fly it up to the balcony, but when I issued the punishment, I didn’t know about it yet.

But at this point, it was a little late. We eventually got up two sets of spiral staircases to the third floor when I told him to put the bookshelf down. He gently placed it down. “This is good enough; you carried this thing up all those stairs, and I think that’s punishment enough. If you wish, you may return to whatever it was that you were doing before,” I stated.

He looked at me, not seeming to understand this new order. Rather than walking away, he picked it back up and carried it to the door.

“Did I not tell you to stop?” I asked, confused about why he was still carrying it.

“You told me I could return to my duties. My current duties as of right now were to get you set up in your new room.” He replied. I started to wonder if he did not have anything else to do today but to help me. Did Gabriel make me this guy’s sole priority? I decided to go around him and open the door to this new room of mine and was surprised at the amount of empty space I had.

“Excuse me, sir, where would you like this?” he asked. I started to look around for a perfect spot. The room was rather significant, even with a bed that looked like it could comfortably sleep 6-8 people, a large desk near the bed, a large table in the middle of the room, and a couple of windows.

I wasn’t quite sure where I wanted it, and the only words that came out where “Uhhhhhhh”. I moved out of the middle of the doorway and just shrugged, letting him find a place that made sense to him. He looked around for a second and decided to place it on the desk. It was large enough to where the bookshelf didn’t take up much room, and I only had a few books anyway. The shelf itself was approximately 3 feet in height and appeared to fit about ten small books on the first couple of rows, while the last row was reserved for larger books or even more small books stacked in rows on top of each other.

He handed me my bag, bowed, and walked back to the staircase before vanishing into the spiral of stairs. I placed my bag on the back of the chair at the desk and leaned my sword up against my bed. I had planned on using this day to try and read up on healing, but this whole process took at least a couple hours of my day away. I looked at the bookshelf, thinking about how I should start, but got distracted by someone knocking at my door.

I turned to see one of the females from the incident in Gabriel’s office standing before me. She wore a thick cloak that went well below her feet and fully covered her arms. She looked out towards the store before coming in and closing the door quietly. Something about this didn’t feel right, so I slowly started to reach for my sword. “Wait…” she quickly said while raising her hands. “I’m not here to do anything bad, I’m just here because I wanted to talk… I heard the human slaves talk about how you were being moved here and wanted to come see you briefly.” Her tone sounded as though she was nervous to be here.

“Speak then, what brings you here, and are you supposed to even be here?”

She slowly slid her hood off while keeping her hands in plain view. She was her average looking self. She had blue feathers with a yellow hue to them and a very distinguishable beak. I noticed a branding on her neck, “V”, but didn’t know what it meant exactly.

I stood there, waiting for her respond as she fiddled with her hands. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen as she started to walk past me and towards my bed. As she was about to sit down, she lifted the cloak off her and laid back on the bed for a few seconds before sitting upright again.

I had one of my hands wrapped around the butt of my sword and the other on the sheathe, wondering if she was here to cause trouble. She still hasn’t explained herself, and I felt as though anyone could knock at my door any time and discover one of Gabriel's slaves in my room at any moment now.

“Answer my questions,” I demanded.

She looked down at the floor, wondering why she had shown up, as if this was just a random thing for her.

“I uhh…” she started, sounding unsure herself. “I… I want to thank you for last night for standing up for me and not punishing me the way he wanted you to do so. I’ve been refusing to submit for Gabriel, and it’s caused some major frustration from him.” She said in a strangely sweet tone of voice.

I looked at her, wondering what her true intentions were, as the tone in her voice gave me the feeling she was here for far more than a simple “Thank you.” I stood there, trying to think about a response. While thinking about how to respond, she tossed her cloak at me. I was lost in thought when it hit me in the face. It had a sweet smell to it but felt incredibly itchy, as if it was made from several burlap sacks. When I finally removed it from my face, she was lying there in a human-like form, fully naked, on the bed.

She looked over at me while rubbing her breasts. “Ohhhh, Master Thadeus, I liked how you groped me last night, and I’d love for the Right Hand to right-hand me.” She moved her legs about like a cat, kneading at a blanket. This tempted me as, this time, she wanted my touch. I let go of my sword and climbed on the bed over her. I placed one of my hands over her mouth and another on one of her hips. Judging from her eyes, she was enjoying this. I removed my hand from her mouth. “Oh, Master, yes, allow me to please you, my lord.” she quietly said.

I sat back with my legs underneath me, moving her body closer to me. I felt her body stiffen slightly, and she had a look on her face telling me she wanted this. I brought her close to me until her pelvis was against my body before lifting her up slightly. She was staring into my eyes as I was with hers.

“Listen…” I quietly said. She looked at me, anticipating the next set of words to come out of my mouth or for me to touch her in a way that would bring about extasy for us both. “You must go now,” I demanded as I took her from the bed onto the floor. I retried her cloak and tossed it at her.

She looked at me, still in a human-like form. “I thought you would want this…” she said as she threw the cloak back over her body.

“Look, I have far too much to do. The longer I avoid training, the shorter my time is. I think you are beautiful, and your body is acceptable, but I have other business to worry about for now.” I said sternly.

She put her hood back up, bowed, and quietly left the room. I still felt terrible about the night before. My entire experience in this castle, in just a day, has involved experiences with females in odd situations. I was starting to think that maybe dying on that first mission may have been a better option for me before I remembered the voice telling me that it had plans for me. But I don’t necessarily know if these were the plans.

I sat there on the bed for several moments longer, trying to figure out if the females of this place had been mistreated for so long by Gabriel and the others here that it caused them to try to have sex with the first one who showed them any sort of kindness or defiance towards Gabriel. I was so distracted by what had just happened that I didn’t hear the knock at my door or someone standing there.

I heard someone clear their throat loudly, which snapped me back into reality. Standing just inside my door was one of the servants from earlier. “Excuse me, sir, I has something fer ya.” He was holding a rather large bag. I motioned for him to set it down on the desk. He slowly walked closer to it and set it down. “Okey, here ya go.” He stated. He looked at me. “Sir?” he asked.

“What is it?” I asked, wondering if he was also going to try to seduce me since it wouldn’t surprise me at this point if he attempted since multiple people had already tried since last night. He looked at me.

“Sir, is you okay? You don look too good. Maybe go up three floors to see healer, feel better after.” He said, sounding concerned. I nodded at him and thanked him as he bowed and walked out the door. I stood up and thought about how there was a Healer a few floors up. I wanted to go up there but didn’t want to waste his time. I looked down at my sword.

“Noooo….” I tried to tell myself as I picked up my sword. “Ah, fuck it,” I said under my breath. I picked up my sword and removed it from the sheath. I held my arm out and was trying to figure out how to slice myself in a way that wouldn’t cause me to bleed all the way up the stairs. I wanted to make it seem as though I was lying in bed, was careless about my sword, and cut myself by accident. I eventually made the cut, and it was slightly deeper than I expected, but looked as though it was accidental.

I quickly went up the stairs with blood occasionally dripping from the hand I was using to hold pressure against the wound. When I finally reached the floor I needed, I saw a sign in the hall that said “Healer” with an arrow pointing towards the room. I walked towards the sign and realized that there wasn’t a door there.

“Ah, Master Thadeus, please come in. It looks as though you have cut yourself, correct?”

“Yeah…” I said, trying to sound like it was an inconvenience.

“No problem, a simple cut will be easy to fix. Take a seat.”

I sat down in a chair next to him. He grabbed my arm and held his hand over the cut. I watched his hand, figuring I would try to imitate what he did to heal myself later on. I noticed that his hand was emitting a mixture of gold and white energy, which somehow closed the wound on my arm. The cut healed quickly. He gave my arm back and looked at me.

“You know, young Master, you didn’t have to cut yourself to try and learn from me. You could have just come here before you did this, and I would have been more than happy to teach you, as it’s been quite some time since I last taught anyone. The method I use is far more powerful of a healing ability than that of the books you’ll find in most of the archives.” He stated.

I looked at him, surprised. “How did you know this is self-inflicted?” I asked. He let out a short laugh and adjusted himself in his chair.

“Well, you see, had this been a real wound, it would not have looked like you held your blade at an angle and cut yourself. Your other hand also has discoloration from your blade, suggesting that you either haven’t used it yet or have freshly cleaned and oiled it.” He stated in such a way that made it sound like he had a lot of wisdom.

I didn’t know how to respond other than to laugh. Thinking about it, it was somewhat absurd that I went to that length to visit this Healer to try and learn his technique by watching and attempting to do what he did. I looked at my arm, and it appeared as though I had never cut myself together at all, aside from a little bit of dried blood surrounding the area.

“So young Master, how about it? Do you want to learn my technique or not?” he asked. I closed my eyes for a few seconds and could feel that the Healer was eagerly waiting for me to agree to him teaching me his healing technique. What little I read about healing sounded like it could take ages to do it on my own. But here I am, with a Master Healer in front of me, offering to train me. How could I say no to this?

I reopened my eyes. “Master Healer, if you will accept me as your apprentice, I would be greatly honored.” I enthusiastically responded. I’ve wanted to learn about healing since I set my eyes on that one book. I had been trying to learn on my own time but was failing to learn anything since I hadn’t exactly had much time to myself. The doctor held out his hand. “Grab my hand with your right hand.” He requested.

I did as he asked. To my surprise, I felt my hand go cold for a moment. He stood up, walked over to a table, and retrieved an item before returning and sitting down again. He held the item up so I could see what he was holding, which turned out to be a dagger. It looked like it had seen better days, but the blade looked as though it was mostly in pristine condition. He sliced his hand enough to draw blood. He looked at me.

“Okay, so I’ve taught you the ability to heal by sharing a portion of my ability with you. If you can heal my hand on the first try, then you’ll be able to figure out how to heal much more advanced wounds later on.” He said, sounding optimistic about my capability.

I looked at his hand, blood was seeping out slowly. I placed my right hand a few inches above his and focused. I instantly knew what to do. I focused on his hand and saw my hand glow a white and gold color. The cut on his hand started to quickly fade as though he had never been cut. Once I thought it was fully healed, I stopped, and he looked at his hand, followed by a look of shock on his face.

“You managed to master this ability on the first try, young Master Angel. This was something that took me a couple hundred years to get to where I am. He exclaimed. He looked back at me. “Thadeus, you are incredibly talented, and I sense you will do great things with your life at this rate.”

I looked at him in disbelief. This Healer gave me a shortcut to learning the same healing style as him, but I managed to somehow master it on the first try. I couldn’t find any words. I could tell that he was stunned, but also gave off jolly vibes. “I will let Master Gabriel know in two to three weeks from now that I trained you on healing. This will be our little secret, as he would be incredibly jealous knowing you’ve managed to master a healing skill in the first ten minutes after learning it. So, try to keep this on the down low and do not attempt to heal others fully until then.” He quietly stated.

I stood up, nodded, and thanked him for his time. He waved at me as I was leaving and closed the door behind me. I walked over to the staircase entrance and started to think about how I was expecting to learn this skill over the next few weeks. I knew little about healing from the little reading I managed to read on the subject, but I hadn’t had time to practice it. It sounded like something that was going to take far longer than the short period of time that was given to me.

I didn’t know what to do with my day now as I had expected to be struggling in my room to learn a healing ability. Not just any healing ability but someone who worked directly with Gabriel as a healer. If this healer was chosen to be in a place like this, he had to be one of the best healers in the Kingdom and entrusted me to learn his way. I felt terrific but was also slightly disappointed with how I could learn and master it on the same day in just mere minutes.

I had considered going back to what was essentially my personal floor, but I also was curious about the rest of the castle. I couldn’t imagine that a castle this large didn’t have some sort of shop where I could pick up some extra supplies. While I loved having the sun shine through my windows, I also wanted to block one off as the sun was awfully bright this high up, and it shined through the window closest to my bed.

I figured it wouldn’t hurt to return to my quarters to get my sword as I left it there. Upon getting to my floor, a female servant in a white dress was lying against my door and appeared to be napping. I walked over to her and gently nudged her. “Hey, wake up.”

She made a noise and mumbled, “Just another five minutes…”

I nudged her and slightly increased the volume of my voice. “Hey! C’mon, get up. This is not a place to sleep.” She put her arm out and started feeling around. Her eyes were still somewhat closed when she felt my foot before her, then her hand went up my leg. She looked as though she had been there for a while. Odd, how long was I away for? She stood up suddenly, holding what looked like a silver tray in one hand, and had a piece of paper in the other, which was wet from drool. She stood as close to the door as she could, hiding her face behind the tray. She wasn’t as tall as some of the other females.

Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

She also looked fully human, with long, curly brown hair, green eyes, and no visible feathers or wings. She was wearing a long, white dress that looked old, as the shoulders were held together in a knot with string.

“P-please sir, I-I-am sorry. I-I…” she stammered. She had fear in her eyes and showed signs that it was possible others may have beat her in the past for possibly doing similar things. I took a knee to be more on her level, as she was tiny in comparison to me. She watched me slowly come down to her level, looking as though she was expecting me to scold her or potentially smack her.

“Young lady,” I said while making eye contact with her. “Tell me, what are you doing here, and how long have you been here?”

She started to lower the tray from her face and seemed to have calmed down a bit. I was pretty sure that coming down to her level possibly helped her relax, and hopefully, she understood I had no intention of punishing her for napping. I clearly took longer than expected to return, and if her main task was assisting me, then I’ve probably kept her waiting for quite a while.

As I was about to ask her a question, I heard someone wearing full armor coming up the stairs. They didn’t try to hide their arrival. I turned to the stairs as a guard with a red line on his right shoulder pad stepped onto the floor.

“You there, servant, you have not yet finished with your task yet? I sent you to Master Thadeus’ quarters two hours ago to find out if he needed anything, and here, I see you standing near the door, with him on the outside. Do you not care about the needs of our people? We brought you here from that tiny village to give you a second chance at life. You humans have no respect for your masters, " he angrily stated. He walked over and grabbed her by the arm and was about to yank her away, but I grabbed his arm before he could pull back. I tilted my head slightly towards him and made eye contact with him out of the corner of my left eye.

“You dare lay a finger on this one, and I shall have you killed. I spent the last couple of hours chatting with her as I wanted to know further information about the castle and lost track of time. Also, if it took that long, then why are you just now seeking her out? Should you not have done that sooner? What if she had found a way to escape? This seems like carelessness on your part as I assume you’re potentially in charge of the Servants and where they are supposed to be.” I said in a cold yet serious tone. The human touched my arm, not sure why. She didn’t say anything or give off any vibes that she wanted to say something.

The male let go of her arm and backed up slightly. He had his hands slightly in the air, showing that he didn’t want any trouble.

“I apologize Master Angel; I did not realize that you had taken up this ones time like that. Had I known you were conversing with those under me, I would have not come down here. Should I expect this servant to be assigned to you? Do you plan on turning her into… you know…?” He started to make me wonder if he was going to be odd about this. This human female looked as though she was potentially young for her kind. I was already disgusted by the idea of having a personal servant, let alone a sex slave. Others in the Kingdom may have been okay with this, but not me.

I stood back up and turned to the guard in charge of the servants. “Had I had my sword, I would have struck you down for your temperamental behavior against a more fragile servant of the empire. As of now, I am claiming this servant for myself.” I stated, trying to sound as serious and threatening as I could muster while trying to shove my distaste for some of my words down.

He looked at me as though he was somewhat confused by this whole situation as if he didn’t expect a “high-ranking” angel such as myself to want a mere human as a personal servant. Truth was, I didn’t. But I also couldn’t help but feel as though I should try to help this one out, as she seemed to be the runt of all the servants I had seen so far. He looked at the young girl.

“You will now be the personal servant of the Right Hand. Do you understand? If you fail to do your duties faithfully and refuse any order or advance from the Master Angel, you shall be immediately executed.” He commanded her.

I looked back at her, who briefly looked at me, before looking at the idiot still behind me. She held the tray out in front of me and a motion as if she wanted me to grab it, so I did. She then gave the man two thumbs up and nodded. He let out a sigh.

“I guess I should mention to you, Thadeus, this one doesn’t talk. When we found her, her village had been razed down to the ground, and she was one of five survivors that we found hiding under a pile of debris that, we think, their families may have placed there. But she is your problem now, and you are to do what you see fit for her. Please come to floor twenty-eight if you need anything for her or need to replace her with a new servant, my lord.” His tone was slightly disappointed, yet relieved, while he no longer had to deal with this one.

He turned around and went on his way up the spiral staircase. When we could no longer hear his armor clunking around, I turned back to her. She gave me a smile and a nod. I looked at her and went back to her level, and she didn’t appear to be fearful of me anymore. It was confirmed when she gave me a hug and a head pat. I was somewhat confused as I swore, I had heard her speak just moments ago, but the servant keeper stated she was non-verbal.

She leaned in close to me. “Thank you. You are not like the rest; you are kind, " she whispered. She struggled to push the door open but eventually was able to do it. I watched her as she went in, placed the tray on the table, climbed up the chair, and finally sat down. She seemed to be very comfortable already.

“So, what is your name, and why don’t you speak to others?” I asked her.

“My name is Selyse. I don’t talk to others because they’re mean. But not you.” She looked at me. “You are nice.” She said with a smile on her face. She stood up in the chair, sat cris-crossed on the table, and started looking at the books. She looked at me for a second, contemplating what she thought I should read.

Eventually, she pointed at a book and said, “This one, Master, pick this one.”

This specific book was strangely on the shelf backwards, and I could only see the edge of the book with the pages sticking out towards us. I was surprised, as I hadn’t seen this before, and had I, I would have corrected it. I carefully pulled it out and looked at the title.

It was an older looking book, bound by leather strips and felt as though it was made from Pig’s skin, and had looked ancient. “Huh..” I stated, I could make out only two words. “Guide” and “Ancient”. I opened the book and started looking at the pages. I looked at Selyse, wondering if she picked this one out because its title was facing inward, and she may have thought it silly.

She grabbed at my arms, pulling them down to a level where she could catch a glimpse of the page I was looking at. She looked at it for a moment and made a motion for me to close the door. I looked over at the door and had the feeling that maybe it would be a good idea. “Hang on, I need to get comfy.” She said. She lifted her dress from underneath her and threw it on the chair. I glanced the other way since she was now only wearing a pair of makeshift underwear and nothing else.

“Oh, it’s okay, Master. I don’t mind if you look. I trust you and know you don’t want me like that. You helped me, so I help you in return.” She said, sounding very adult like.

I looked back at her, noticing some marks on her chest that suggested she may have been pinned down at some point recently.

“Bad man you talk to earlier hurt me because I dropped drinks in laps of others.” She turned her head and lifted her hair up, revealing several marks on her back. “Bad man also use whip to hurt Selyse.” I touched the marks gently on her back. She let out a quiet whimper, indicating that they might still be tender.

“How fresh are these marks, young lady?” I asked, feeling a mixture of emotions. They seemed fresh; if that was the case, I could use my newfound healing ability to heal them. I looked at her and gave her a smile as I went from lightly touching them to poking with light pressure to get a better idea. She didn’t like this as she had a few tears running down her face. So, I stopped.

“Master… that hurts. Bad man hit me with whip many times on back two moons ago for being weak.” She stated while whimpering.

“Okay, so I’m going to try something, but I need you to hold still, okay?” I said, trying to sound comforting.

She nodded and wiped the tears out of her eyes. I placed my hand a few inches away from her back and tried to focus on that healing skill I had learned earlier. I figured this would be a great time to practice. My hand started to glow again, but this time it was layered. The pattern of colors emitting from my hand was white, followed by gold as the bottom layer. I looked at her back and saw the marks quickly dissipating before eventually completely fading away. I stopped and gently grabbed her arm to let her feel for herself.

Her face lit up, and she was so happy.

“You fixed me!” she shouted.

“Shhhhhh, nobody knows I can do this yet. Only you and the Master Healer.” I responded quickly. She covered her mouth and nodded. I looked around her more and was curious about something.

“Stand up and remove your underwear.”

She looked at me weirdly, as if she was about to cry, as she grabbed the corners of the makeshift underwear. “I thought you were different,” she cried as she slid them down and kicked them to the side.

“Oh, it’s not like that. I just want to make sure the rest of you is okay too, all right? If I touch you in a way that makes you feel scared or nervous, please let me know, and I’ll stop.” I told her, trying to reassure her that I only had good intentions.

She was lightly crying but nodded and said, “Okay.”

I lifted her arms and was using my finger to poke around for sore spots around her chest, her stomach and her sides. When I finally got down to her genital region, I looked at her to see if she was okay. She nodded at me while sniffling a bit. Something about her left pelvis seemed off, so I poked again and asked her about it. She shook her head and closed her eyes, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

I sighed, placed my hand over her pelvis, and went to work healing it. In my mind, it appeared to be fractured. I looked at her again as I was fixing that up, and she patted me on the head and tried to smile but couldn’t quite get it to form.

After I had finished, I turned around and noticed she had a few bruises on her butt, but nothing out of the ordinary. Once convinced that she looked okay, I returned her underwear. She quickly put them back on and gave me a hug.

I looked at the makeshift underwear she had on. They were dirty, had a hole, and looked kind of small. I grabbed her dress and held it up in the air near the window to get a better look. The dress looked like her underwear, and while the others saw her as just some servant, I wanted better for her.

“Selyse, how long have you had these clothes?” I asked, fearing the answer.

“I think I am nineteen now, so uhh… “she shrugged. “I came here when I was nine or ten. I don’t exactly remember.” She spoke. I looked back at her. She didn’t look nineteen, but one of the perks of being in this place was that no matter how old you were, you still looked young.

“So, for nine years now, huh?” I thought out loud. “Listen, Selyse, if I were to be able to find new clothes for you, where would I go?” I asked her.

She looked at the ground momentarily before shrugging and scooting to the table's edge, jumping into the chair below. I could tell she wanted off the chair, but it was meant more for beings of my size than human height. There was at least a four-foot drop. So, I picked her up and sat her down on the floor.

“I had other plans for today, young lady, but I’m somewhat ahead in my studies, as you can possibly tell.” She looked up at me and remained silent.

“However,” she continued looking at me, eager to see what I would say next. “… We cannot allow you to remain in filthy clothes. So if you stick close to me, you should be able to follow me to any floor, and we shall try to get you at least a new set of clothes, possibly more.” I said, wondering if I could abuse my power as Gabriel’s right hand.

Her face lit up, and her smile looked as though it was about to fly from her face. Damnit, this isn’t how I expected to spend my day. Why did I care about this young lady enough to save her? I opened the door and stood in the doorway, waiting to see what she’d do. I reached behind the door, remembering my sword this time, and attached it firmly to my hip. She grabbed the sheath and gave me a thumbs up, indicating she was ready to go. I wasn’t sure what the proper procedure was for having a “servant” come with me to certain areas of the castle as it was never explained to me, nor did I ask. But who the hell is going to argue with me? I ensured my badge was easily seen and the insignia on my shoulder wasn’t obstructed. Everything looked good to go. I turned my head slightly, looking at her through the corner of my eye. “Don’t let go of my sword unless I tell you to. If anyone tries to grab you or anything, make a noise of some sort, and I’ll handle it. Understand?”

She nodded.

Since she was much shorter than I was, I had to walk slower than I wanted to. I considered carrying her, but that wasn’t feasible on the stairs as they were barely large enough to handle a fully armored soldier with a bookshelf.

Occasionally, I’d glace behind me to ensure that she was still close behind me. To my surprise, she was. I didn’t know where we had to go, though, and I remembered that a couple of floors up from me, there was a servant’s quarters that seemed to have really enjoyed my company the last time I was there.

When I got to the floor, I thought it was, I saw the sign above the door. Rather than knocking, I opened the door and saw that the room was different. Two females were in there, looking at what appeared to be a hole in the wall. I told Selyse to let go of my sword and hurry up in the room while I looked at the other end of the hallway and listened for a moment before turning my attention back to the room and closing the door quietly.

“M..Master Lord Angel… it’s not what it looks like.” One of them said, sounding scared like I had just discovered something I should be concerned about.

I motioned for Selyse to sit with the females, to which she happily ran over, sat in one of their laps, and started playing with their hair. I went over to the hole in the wall on the other side of the room. Last time, there were a couple of makeshift beds against this spot. I looked back at the girls and pointed at my ear and the door. She picked up on what I was saying as she ran over to the door and placed her ear against it.

I crawled into the hole, it looked as though they had cleared a way to what looked like a kitchen, and there was a fancy-looking blanket that appeared to have been knotted every couple of feet, secured by a large stone. They used what looked like some old wood to attempt to keep the hole hidden from that floor. Not like it’d matter anyway; none of the utensils were up in a place that would cause anyone to notice.

I crawled out and momentarily sat on the floor, thinking about what to do. The one by the door was trying to get my attention, indicating someone may be coming. I walked over to the door and could hear someone getting closer. I had a choice here; I could either alert the guard of my findings or let it be and distract the guard.

I quietly told the one watching the door to go sit down by Selyse and the other. She was a little hesitant but went and sat down next to them. Selyse was still playing with the others’ hair, having no cares in the world. I quietly opened the door, stepped out, and closed it. I stood outside the door, facing the hallway, waiting for whoever was approaching this part of the hall. A few seconds later, I saw a foot come around the corner, followed by the rest of the guard.

“GUARD!” I shouted. He stopped at the end of the hallway and looked at me before kneeling.

“My lord! How may I assist you?” he responded.

I could see Selyse and the other two's shadows close to the door, probably listening to what was going on.

“I need your assistance. I have a young servant with clothes that are unacceptable for a servant of the right-hand of Gabriel, and I am still unfamiliar with the castle's layout. Take my servant and I to the right place.” I said, trying to sound authoritative.

The guard stood up and walked to the staircase.

“Please, sir, follow me.” He stated.

I tapped on the door, indicating I was going to open it. Selyse was to the left of the door, and the other females were a few feet away. I glanced at the hole in the wall and waved my hand in a way that suggested I was saying, “Fix it.” Selyse came out of the room and grabbed my sword again.

“Let’s go,” I told the guard.

He nodded and took us up several floors to a floor that I somehow had missed while making my way up to see Gabriel that one night. He pointed to the hallway and kneeled again.

“Anything else, my lord?”

I thought for a moment about what I could use. Anything to help buy some extra time for those two back in that room. I felt they had been up to something but didn’t know what exactly. I had no intention of reporting anyone unless necessary. I did not want to see or hear about anyone innocent being harmed.

“Yes, I need a map with all the floors and what I can find on them. Find one for me and bring it to my quarters, " I said.

The guard nodded and took off down the stairs. I grabbed Selyse’s hand and brought her in front of me. In front of us, several signs over different doors with words letting us know where to go were posted. I looked back into the stairwell to make sure nobody was coming up behind us as I kneeled closely to Selyse.

“Listen, remember, you’re a servant, for now, so you must act like a servant. Around other servants and in my quarters, you can act like Selyse, but anywhere else, you’re just a servant girl,” I told her, feeling slightly terrible.

She nodded and suddenly snapped into character. She placed her head down to the ground and put her hands to her side. I stood back up and stepped in front of her, leading us down the hallway. All the doors on this floor were open, so it was far easier to see what was in these rooms. We finally discovered that the 2nd door on the right had what we were looking for.

I walked in with Selyse. The person sitting behind the counter, facing a window, stated: “We don’t allow servants in here; this place is reserved for actual inhabitants of the castle, not for lower-class scum such as herself.”

“Excuse you, but is this the way you would speak to Gabriel?” I snapped back.

He tilted his head slightly before falling out of his char. He quickly stood up, realizing who he was talking to.

“No, my lord, please forgive me. I will be more than happy to serve Gabriel’s right hand and his lovely servant. Please, please, come in and select whatever you’d like. Everything here is free to you as you live here and, of course, for your servant girl, too. Please let me know if I can help you with anything!” His tone did a complete turn-around once I had used my position to make him aware of who he was talking to. I found it humorous how others talked to me upon approaching them.

“I am looking for some clothes for this one. Human, female. As my personal servant, do you believe these clothes to be fitting for someone who serves me?”

He looked at Selyse, looking like he was thinking. The clothing here in this area appeared to be far too large for her, but I was hoping that as a tailor, he’d start taking measurements or have something stashed away that may fit her. He looked at me, and I could see that the gears in his head were turning.

He came from behind his desk, walking around her, thinking about who knows what.

“May I remove her clothing, sir?” he asked. I looked at Selyse, who looked up at me and didn’t seem to like the idea of her clothes being removed by someone else. I looked back at the tailor.

“You shall do no such thing. I shall do it myself.”

I moved her arms into the air and lifted her dress off her.

“Oh no, no, no. This is not good. This is not befitting of such a loyal servant of the Right hand. This dress is filthy and delipidated. Her undergarments are also not okay.”

He turned the dress over a couple of times. Selyse removed her underwear without being asked and held it up as if she were making an offer to the sky. He retrieved a dagger from his desk and used it to grab them.

“Thanks?” he said, with a look of disgust on his face.

“So, what can you do for my servant?” I asked. He looked around for a few seconds before flinging the underwear at the feet of Selyse.

He used his dagger to measure her height and wrapped his hand around her thigh. Selyse did not like being touched like this, but he was allowed to do his work. After a moment, he walked away, reached into a chest, and brought some new clothing for her.

“Here you are, my lord; these should fit the girl, " he said as he handed me the clothes.

I looked at them, expecting them to be more our size than hers, but they were relatively small.

I handed her the underwear first, which had golden seams but somehow outlined certain areas.

I looked back at the man. “These are the only things I have on such short notice. If you give me a few days, I can make something for you, but as of right now, I only have slave undergarments.” He said with a slightly worried tone in his voice.

I looked back and unraveled what I thought was a shirt but turned out to be semi see-through nightgown instead. At this point, I was disgusted and couldn’t believe that the only available items for her on such short notice, but wasn’t surprised.

I looked at Selyse, and she just nodded. I think she understood that her choices for now are old, ratty clothes or skimpy slave clothing, and she seemed okay with the new outfit for now. I handed her the gown, which she put on.

I turned around to see the man writing down notes on a piece of paper. “I have her size recorded, my lord. I will have the clothes sent to your quarters directly. Do you have a color preference?”

I didn’t turn around but thanked him as we walked out and back towards the staircase. I looked out a window and noticed it was starting to get dark, so I decided it was time to return to the room. I hadn’t expected to take all day to do such a simple task. We eventually got back, and the light on my ceiling was already on, giving it quite a comfy vibe.

I closed the door behind Selyse as she came in and looked at her. I wasn’t quite sure what to do with her as I hadn’t expected all this to happen. I started to get lost, thinking about how I could have done anything different today. I didn’t notice Selyse said my name until she smacked at my leg.

I looked down at her, shocked that she smacked me.

“Sorry, sir, but I have a question.” The tone she had made me wonder what she wanted.

“What is it?”

She smiled oddly before removing her gown and pointing at her chest, slightly blushing.

“Do… uhh… do you wanna touch them? I’m okay with you touching them since you are kind,” she said nervously. I stood there for a moment, staring at her chest and wondering if I should take her up on that offer. What would one touch be? I stuck my hand out, slowly moving it towards her and grabbing the gown from her shoulder.

“Look, just put this back on. Please.” I said while turning away. Outside was completely dark, with lights here and there in the distance. She sighed as she put the gown back on. The sigh sounded as though she was frustrated that I didn’t want to touch her despite giving me permission to do so and wanting me to do it.

“Where do you wanna sleep tonight?” I asked her. She immediately pointed at the bed. It was more than enough in size to accommodate both of us. Despite the stunt she tried to pull with me, I decided to give it a try to see how it went. Even if someone did walk in with us in the same bed, it wouldn’t matter as to everyone else here, she was my servant to do whatever with. It might make others less suspicious of me.

I picked her up and placed her on the bed. She settled down in the corner and seemed ecstatic to be sleeping in an actual bed versus a makeshift bedroom on the floor. I took my armor off, as I wasn’t going to sleep with that, and placed it in the chair before finally lying in the bed next to Selyse. I lay on my back, looking at the ceiling and wondering if the light would turn off or at least go dim. I felt Selyse grab my hand, and the next thing I knew, it was over her chest, with her hugging my hand tightly. She looked up at me, slightly red, and smiled.

“You’re the best one here, master; please keep your hand here…” I could feel her heartbeat, and it was slightly elevated. I sighed, completely giving up, and just allowed my hand to remain there, as she seemed quite content, and I didn’t want to ruin it for her. “Good night, young lady. Sleep well because we are going to have a busy day tomorrow.”

I didn’t get a response from her, as she quickly fell asleep. I lay there longer before falling asleep, wondering how tomorrow would go. I guess that’s what I need to worry about tomorrow.