A perverted skeleton appears! No wait, it's just Orethon. Well, there's really no difference. But what is he doing here? Doesn't he have work to do? Is he skipping? Tchh! Don't abandon your work! You are the boss of this place after all!

"M-my lord, h-h-how nice to meet you!" Charlotte exclaims while panicking before bowing deeply. There's no need to bow, he's just a lazy perverted skeleton after all.

"Ah" Orethon exclaims, "there is no need to bow Charlotte, we are all equal here". No, you are a lazy pervert, Charlotte is 100 times better than you. But I appreciate your kindness and that you know her name. I might look up to you one day. "Might".

Charlotte rises but she still seems slightly panicked. Well, it's only natural to be nervous when with your boss after all. My dad always used to panic before meeting his boss. One time he passed out. Ah, memories. Orethon turns towards me. Oh, my turn now I guess.

"Good day lady Ruth" he says while bowing. Hey, didn't you say we were all equal? "How pleasant to meet you this beautiful day".

"Good day Orethon" I say, smiling. While he may be a pervert he's a polite pervert and "treat others as you want to be treated yourself", as my dear mother always said. But I will not forgive him for skipping work. "May I ask what you are doing out here? Don't you have work to do?"

"Oh, well, you see... The thing is I..." he mumbles while looking up into the sky. I god darn knew. You ARE skipping work. I cannot allow this. I am living here now and I am not gonna allow him to turn it all into crap. Time to turn on my villain mode.

"Lord Orethon" I say with my coldest, most emotionless voice. Orethon flinches and I can see Charlottes eyes widening in surprise. Well, she's never seen me like this before. I would also be scared if a little girl suddenly spoke like this. "While I appreciate everything you have done for me and my companions so far I will not allow you to ignore your work. If you do not return to work I will have inform Bekkhildr, or perhaps telling Erica would be better?"

"Ah, no!" Orethon exclaims, taking a step backwards. That's right. Fear me. I am your doom. Please don't stare at me like that Charlotte.

"L-lady Ruth" Charlotte stutters, "perhaps lord Orethon  decided to relax and take a walk?". Oh Charlotte, sweetheart, no.

"Y-yes! That's exactly it!" Orethon says, almost shouting. I give him a disgusted stare. Don't you lie. "Ehem, anyway, lady Ruth, I wanted to ask you something".

"And what is that?". Less disgusted stare.

"I was wondering if you wanted me to lift that curse you have".¨

"My curse... Do you mean my madness curse!?" I exclaim. I've had it for so long that I kinda forgot about it. "Can you lift it?"

"Yes, it is within the range of my abilities" Orethon says. "Would you like me to lift it now or..."

"Now, now is fine, now is perfect" I say, interrupting him. If he doesn't do it now I will just forget, I am that dumb after all. Don't argue with me, it's true. Oh, you were agreeing with me? Well, ok. Ouch...

"Well, my lady, if it is that you wish then I shall oblige. Please, take my hands" he says while offering me his hands. I hand over Babbit and the Bleeder to Charlotte and do as he says, thinking it's a part of the de-cursing or whatever it's called. His bony hands are cold and my hands are much smaller than his.

A sudden chill runs through my body as if showed snow down my shirt. I shiver. It feels... weird. Are you doing something you shouldn't do you lazy perverted skeleton? If you are then I will make sure to tell Erica and turn you into dust. I mean it. Kinda.

Huh? What is this orb of light gathering between us? It's pretty. But what is this ominous sensation it gives off?

"What is this light, Orethon?" I ask, tilting my head.

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

"This is your curse, my lady. I know it may look harmless but trust me, it's not". So this is the curse? I thought it would look more, I don't know, evil? But I guess the most beautiful things are more than often the dangerous ones. "Now I will destroy the curse so please stay still, my lady". I nod and Orethon begin chanting something. The light that is the curse grows weaker and weaker until it finally disappears.

"It's.. gone?"

"Yes, my lady, I have dispelled the curse" Orethon answers. "You will feel a slight discomfort for a while but it will get better. If it doesn't then feel free to call for me".

"I understand, thank you Orethon!" I say, giving him a wide smile. My opinion of you have risen. You are now just a perverted skeleton. Perhaps I misjudged you? Ah, I should take this opportunity to ask him about THAT. "Excuse me but can I ask you something?"

"Of course!" he says with an exited voice. "What can I help you with?"

"Ever since I arrived here I have felt something following me around. I cannot see what it is but I can sense it all the time. May I perhaps ask what that is?"

"Ah, that's probably the ghosts" Charlotte says before Orethon have the chance to say anything.

"The ghosts?" I question. I kinda expected there to be ghosts in this world but... well, I didn't expect them to be such stalkers.

"Yes, Charlotte is right" Orethon continues. "It lives quite a lot of ghosts in this castle and they must have been following you, my lady, since you interest them".

"I see... How do I make them stop following me around everywhere?"

"Well, I could ask them to stop it but..." Orethon says before pausing. "... May I ask, what do you mean with they are following you everywhere?"

"I mean they are following me EVERYWHERE. They watch me when I sleep, when I have my lessons, get dressed, bath, eat-"

Suddenly the air gets colder and I can feel an ominous aura emerging from Orethon. The grass around him start to wither and die. The feeling of death surrounds me. Th-this is dangerous! I turn around and see Charlotte with a pale face, sweating profusely and Babbit... he passed out!

"Those fools!" Orethon growls with an inhuman voice. "Peeping on my lady's n-n-naked body! Unforgivable! I will banish them to the void! No! I will make them regret the day they were born!"

"O-Orethon, it's ok!" I exclaim, trying to calm him down. He's not listening! Crap, Charlotte looks as if she's about to pass out too! I need to do something, but what!? Think Ruth, think! Ah, that could work.

Before anyone can react I put a hand on each side of Orethons head, lean closer and… head butt him with all my strength, which is not a lot. I take a staggering step back. Ouch, that really hurt. If I don't heal this then I will get a bruise. Well, it was worth the pain. The reaction of Orethon is instantaneous. The evil aura disappears, the temperature returns to normal and he is no longer muttering curses. Wait, did I do something weird again? I should apologize.

"I-I'm sor-"

"How admirable!" Orethon exclaims, cutting me off in the process. Eh? Orethon grab my hands and go down on his knee. If he had eyes they would probably sparkle right now. "In order to stop me from doing something regrettable you decided to use mild physical punishment so that my body would learn! Now every time I think of doing something like that again I will immediately remember this moment and stop myself from doing it! Truly exceptional!"

... I don't know what to say. I-I am baffled. He is a complete pervert! A masochistic pervert! Esther was not the only one! My innocence is in danger! I need to escape.

"Charlotte!" I exclaim while turning around. "We should head to the next lesson, right!?!"

"Eh? Eh, yes, well, yes!" she say, not sure what just happened. I don't blame her.

"See you later per- I mean Orethon" I say, waving at him before taking Charlottes hand and leaving. I don't even look back. I don't want to.

----------------------------------------

Charlottes hand is warm and soft compared to Orethons. Well, he is nothing but bones. She is still quite shaken up but she is starting to return to normal. If I were her then I would probably react the same way. The only reason I'm not is because I am used to near death situations. That's probably not a good thing.

"By the way Charlotte, what is my next lesson?" I ask.

"It's etiquette with lady Erica, afterward it's self-study".

"Oh, Erica is going to teach me herself? I look forward to it!" I exclaim excitedly. Erica is very kind and I desperately need someone to teach me etiquette before I seriously offend some stuck up royalty or noble by mistake.

Hmmm, I wonder if I should drink tea with my pinky finger extended, that's fancy. Oh, should I say "we" instead of "I"? No, that's to snobby.

"Ah, by the way, do you know how Esther and Florent are doing?" I ask, remembering last night.

"Apparently both are suffering from a massive hangover. Not even healing magic helped" Charlotte explains. "I am not surprised to be honest, lady Esther did drink a significant amount of dragon sake".

"Erica mentioned that before but what is so special about dragon sake?"

"Dragon sake is a kind of rare alcohol, famous for its pleasant taste and strength. Apparently it can even make a dragon drunk in a few gulps, which explains its name". Suddenly Charlotte let's out loud sigh while massaging her forehead with her other hand. "I saw the room where the dragon sake where stored. It seems that Esther was denied access to it and decided to use force instead. She even broke through the seals... The damage was... extensive to say the least".

"Oh dear..." I mutter. Really, how did she ever become a general? Compared to Bekkhildr she seems incapable of such duties. No, she have to be good at something. Otherwise she would never have become a general in first place: I doubt Orethon would make someone incapable a general. Sigh, I feel bad for Florent though. He didn't do anything to deserve that hangover.

My parents never got drunk, at least when I was around. Mom never drank and dad only took a beer with his buds once in a while. My mom apparently stopped drinking when she found out she was pregnant with me.

I have never even tasted alcohol myself. I was always too busy reading light novels and playing games... My life was awesome. Ah, that's some of the things I am sad over. The books that I will never read, the mangas I never finished, the games I didn't buy. But I also miss my friends and family. I have made a lot of new friends in this world but I miss my old ones. It's like moving from town and leaving all your loved ones behind except you can't contact them. Ever.

Ah, I have been avoiding thinking about my old life too much.  It always fills me with such a sad feeling. I don't like feeling sad. I get this heavy feeling in my chest and I have a hard time breathing. I wonder how the others felt when I passed away...

"Are you feeling alright Ruth?" Charlotte suddenly asks.

"Oh, yes, I'm fine" I respond while smiling. "I was just thinking about something".

"Well, if you are ever feeling down, I am here you know" she says.

"Thank you Charlotte" I say, giving her another smile. She's so kind.