The youngest servant at Kolodor's manor is Anaya Kaser. She was born to two servants and is now eight years old.
Her mother, Teria Kaser, is in her mid-20s. Elegant as Gallia but has a more mature vibe. She does giggle and smile, but much less often than Gallia. Her figure is more noticeably fuller. She has long, nearly waist-length hair that is frequently styled in a low-plaited bun. Anaya seems to have inherited her brown hair.
Anaya’s father is Sinther Kaser. He is in his late 20s. He has a decent physique and is tall. His short black hair is usually slicked back. His eyes are midnight blue, which Anaya takes after. He has a clean-shaved face, but there is a noticeable scar on the left side of his chin. He can be seen from time to time personally serving Lord Halakar, usually alternating with the head butler. The two parents had their wedding in this very manor.
Anaya is proud and feels blessed to have been born under them. What are the odds of being born into a noble family and immediately serving under them? But there is a problem: an invader. A nobody born from farmers, is living under the lord’s care.
Anaya can’t understand how he is so well liked. He has an emotionless face, and he goes around doing his own thing. He goes out to an unprotected territory. He even put a hole in his room’s floor, which the Lord has so kindly offered him. And of course, he rightfully got in trouble for it.
Anaya is pressing her ear against Kei’s door, trying to listen in on the conversation inside the room. She didn't care that there were two butlers waiting nearby. She regrettably could only hear muffles.
Malicra is yelling furiously at Kei, and he is saying something to her. It got quiet. Then there was a sudden, loud thump. Anaya hears footsteps getting closer from the inside. She tries to get away and hide, but she is too late; the door opens.
“You are to use magic ‘only’ when I’m present! Got that!?” Malicra yells. From the half-open door Anaya can see Kei rubbing his head. He notices he was seen. She huffs at him between the small gaps. Kei purses his lips, forming a straight line and rolls his eyes.
They later fixed the hole using alchemy. It wasn’t much of a big deal.
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“Why do I have to serve Kei? He's weird!” Anaya says in an upset tone as she picks up the wet laundry. Teria giggles, then coughs to return to her calm demeanor. She takes the laundry from Anaya. They are out in the backyard, nearly covering the whole field with clothes and sheets hanging on a long wooden rack.
“He is special,” Teria says.
“Yeah~ weird special…” Anaya retorts. Her mother giggles and calms herself again.
“Well, you will be serving him for a while. Why don’t you take this chance to watch him carefully? He is indeed different, but he isn’t bad,” Teria says as she hangs more laundry. Anaya scowls tiredly.
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The next morning, Teria and Anaya sleep in the same room that can hold two beds, a single desk, a cabinet, and a single window. The sun is barely making its appearance, but Teria wakes up. She gets dressed and leaves the room first. An hour later, Teria comes back and wakes Anaya up. She has some trouble, but Anaya sits up with her eyes half open and bed hair that seems to defy gravity.
Anaya gets up and gets herself dressed for the day. She tries to fix her hair, but a few lively strands won't seem to listen, so she leaves the room with her hair down for now. Their room is on the second floor in the dark servant’s hall, only lit thanks to the window at each end of the hall. When she reaches the end, she turns to her left and heads to another hall. At the end of this hall is her new charge. She sighs. She continues down the hall as she passes several arched windows on her right and reaches the stone chimney protruding through the wall. She walks down the swirling staircase, and as she does, she sees a few servants cleaning, dusting, and polishing the living space. She greets them all, and they greet her back. She heads to the kitchen, located next to the dining hall to the left.
As soon as she opens the door, a mixture of scents blows out with a warm wind. A smokey but delicious smell. The scent of fresh baked goods and well seasoned stew.
The kitchen is roomy. There are 5 people working on food: cooking, stewing, baking, chopping, and mixing. But there was one butler with medium-length light brown hair standing by the doorway that leads outside. Anaya picks up a small wooden bucket from its collection in the corner.
“Good morning, Anaya. Today is a big day for you,” the butler says sarcastically, making Anaya pouts.
“Please, give me some water, Ski,” Anaya says monotony lifting the bucket in front of him. The butler smiles. He puts his hand up and a sphere of water forms above the bucket, but it was too much. The floating water drops splashing and the weight suddenly yanks her arm down. Anaya looks at Ski in obvious annoyance. Ski just grins back at her cheekily.
“Ski, the room is getting hot,” one of the cooks said. Almost synchronizing, all the cooks turn to him and nod, unnerving Ski.
“Ah- okay, okay,”Ski walks towards a wall with a torch holder holding a glass orb with engravings on it. He picks up the orb, and it glows. After a few seconds, he puts it back. "How’s that, everyone?" All the cooks give him a thumbs up. Anaya takes a deep breath of the newly chilled air before she takes the bucket of water to clean herself.
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Now freshened up and tidy, she is standing in front of Kei’s room. Her French braided, neatly-fixed bed hair is now hidden beneath a bonnet cap, but she still double-checks everything by patting her head and adjusting her apron and outfit. Before she knocks on the door she imagines what Kei’s morning will be like.
After a few knocks, Kei might finally open the door, but he will be squinting, rubbing his eyes and disheveled while still wearing his pajamas. Anaya clicks her tongue in disapproval. She creates a different scenario in her mind.
After knocking for a while, he won’t open the door at all. She will step into the room anyway and see him in an unruly position while still in bed, sleeping. She will call out and even shove him a couple of times, and he will say, "Just a little longer…" She clicks her tongue again. She sighs.
Finally, Anaya knocks on the door. To her surprise, a muffled sound came from inside. The door opens, and there stands Kei, dressed lightly but nonetheless dressed, albeit out of breath and sweating.
“Wha-What were you doing?” Anaya asks.
“Oh, ah- nothing,” obviously not. Anaya steps inside his room to see if anything is out of the ordinary, like putting a hole in the wall. Nothing, but if anything it was really warm.
“Your room is really hot,” Anaya mentions.
“Yeah, but what can you do?” Kei inquires.
"You can. Let the servants know, and we’ll do something about it," Anaya says. Kei’s eyes widened at her. He then faces the ground, rubbing his chin and thinking. He looks back at her.
“How?” Kei asks with glittering eyes. Anaya shows obvious annoyance, but Kei seems to not have noticed her sour mood. Anaya sighs and explains to him.
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There is no lesson every 3 days. Malicra says she needs to sleep all day. This is not normal for all dark elves, she just selfishly wants to, and today is that day.
Servants eat after the lord's family has finished their meal in the grand dining hall. Anaya takes this chance to watch Kei carefully behind the kitchen door with two young servants, a little older than her but young.
“I want to eat when it’s hot and fresh too,” a male observer says, but Anaya didn’t care to respond.
Kei eats his meal quickly but neatly. He is first to finish his food.
“That’s a peasant for you, afraid his food will be taken away,” the girl viewer said. Anaya nods in agreement.
Kei waits patiently until the rest of the family is done with their breakfast as he listens to them talk. He only joins in the conversation when he has questions or is asked to join the conversation. The one to do that most of the time is the young mistress Halinia, who he is sitting next to. She notices that he ate all his food. Kei shakes his head and says something.
"WHY!?" Halinia yells out, surprising everyone in the dining hall and some of the onlookers in the kitchen. Everyone at the table looks worried. Kei explains himself. Halinia sighs in relief, and everyone else’s expression relaxes too, but Halakar shivers as he covers his face, and Salishia is giggling. Halakar takes a deep breath, calming down.
"Arden" Halakar calls out. A butler standing by walks over. Arden Kavna, He is the head butler; he is often seen with the Lord throughout the day. He has gray hair and an anchor-shaped mustache and beard. His facial wrinkles certainly show his age, contrary to his upright posture.
Halakar speaks with the head butler, who nods.
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Finally, the servants can eat, and they get to use the dining hall. There are over 15 servants living in the manor, all eating their meal together. Fortunately, the meal is still warm and plentiful. There is no reason to be rowdy, but there are always a few unruly ones in a large family.
"What’s so special about that peasant?" The girl who was with Anaya before asks with her mouth full. Anaya nods with her stuffed face.
"I don’t care; I just wish I was the first to eat," the boy butler says with his mouth full. For someone who thinks about food all the time, he isn’t that round.
“Aren’t you the one who always sneaks bread before anyone, Dacker?” Ski says, ratting him out.
"But I have to admit. It was funny how he was in so much pain when he was stuck in bed. I just touched him on the back like this, and he was shaking and shivering," she says as she points her index finger outward and bends it in to show the gesture she took. Anaya nods as she eats. The maid in her early teens giggles, covering her mouth, but then sighs. "It was almost cute how he tried to hold it in."
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"Sila, Dacker," Gallia calls out as she stands, "this was not the decision made by Sir Arden ‘or’ Halinia. It was made by Lord Halakar. Do not disrespect him," she says with a strong tone and a stern stare at Sila. "Or I will personally punish you…" Gallia lifts her hand and opens it wide, and fire forms on her hand. The children's eyes were filled with fright. All the adult servants start to laugh and giggle.
Arden, at the end of the table, finishes his meal first. He wipes his mouth with a cloth and stands, taking his plate to the kitchen. This is a sign that the other servants must finish their meal in the next 15 minutes. The servants become quiet to focus on their food. While everyone is still eating, he comes back and walks toward Ski.
"Ski, may you come see me after your meal?" Arden asks, standing behind Ski’s chair. Ski gulps nervously. Is he in trouble? Anaya, who's sitting in front of him, smirks, and he notices.
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After the meal, everyone leaves to go back to their work. Half of them will rotate between light, medium, and hard work each day.
Anaya leaves the dining hall and sees Arden with Kei and Ski talking in front of the unlit fireplace. She quickly hides behind the door. While talking, Kei was holding a wooden basket. Ski smiles while slouching slightly in relief and rubs his head, then his chin, in thought. Ski talks to them and turns toward the group of servants.
“Can someone call Gallia to come over?" Ski speaks up. A few moments later, Gallia comes over elegantly with her hands clasped together in front of her. Ski is now talking to Gallia about something. Gallia giggles, covering her mouth, then bends down to give Kei a little pat on the head. After her, Arden does as well. And after Arden, Ski crouches down and rubs Kei’s hair into a mess. Kei, obviously annoyed, shoves Ski’s hand away. Though Kei's lips press together tightly in indignation, his face is flushed. The servants surrounding him start to laugh and giggle at his expression.
Ski speaks briefly with Gallia before walking away, and she follows him. Arden motions for Kei to have a seat on the couch. Kei shakes his head and says something. Arden smiles and takes a seat on the couch himself. Kei fidgets a bit, then decides to put the basket down on the round table in the living quarters and takes a seat next to Arden.
A few moments later, Gallia and Ski come back, both holding something. Gallia was holding a glass orb similar to the one located in the kitchen. Ski was carrying a leather water pouch. Kei stands up and picks up the basket he had set down earlier, and Arden stands up as well. Gallia puts the orb into the basket, and Ski kneels down and puts the strap from the pouch onto Kei’s left shoulder. Noticing the obvious, uncomfortable shift in Kei’s posture, Gallia kneels down and adjusts the strap, putting it over his right shoulder to cross his chest. Kei bows to Gallia and the other servant, and they smile. They all speak for a moment before Kei shakes his head in response. They agree with a nod. Arden talks to Gallia and Ski for a moment, and they nod in agreement. Kei bows one more time to them, and they smile.
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Kei exits the manor through the front, which leads to a small yard filled with flowers. He notices Salishia watering the garden with a watering can. Anaya hides behind the door again. She had entirely forgotten about her responsibilities.
Kei greets the mother and lady of the house. She turns to Kei, giggles, puts down the watering can, and walks over to Kei, going around, avoiding stepping on the flowers in the garden. They talk for a moment. Salishia nods in understanding.
Salishia turns and calls out to the sky, “Halinia, Kei is leaving now~!”
Halinia's head suddenly emerges through the bushes, some distance behind Salishia. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Kaber runs over to Halinia and lightly pats her on her face. They both burst into laughter. Halinia stands out from the bushes and pats her dress to remove some leaves, but there are still some remaining and some even in her hair that she didn't care to remove. Halinia tries to approach them, but Kaber grabs her dress from behind, tugging on it. Halinia slowly walks toward them at the same pace as Kaber.
The siblings gather in front of Kei and talk for a moment. Then Kei bows to the Madam and young Miss and waves at Kaber, but he ducks and hides his face behind Halinia’s dress. Kei tries to smile but starts heading towards the entrance gate. Anaya panics and steps outside, but pauses when she sees Salishia and her children have finally noticed her presence.
"Is there something wrong?" Salishia inquires. Anaya is at a loss for what to do. Should she continue to follow him? Suddenly, Anaya feels a tap on her shoulder from behind; it was Teria.
“Are you going to continue following him?” Teria asks with one hand behind her back. Anaya takes a moment, she nods and her mother smiles gently.
“Very good; you’ll be needing this.” Teria shows her another leather water pouch and hands it to her. Anaya wonders why water is so vital that not only was Kei given it, but her mother had also offered it to her. “When the time comes, share it, okay?”
“Okay…” Anaya turns around and continues her stealth.
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Kei is in the middle of the dirt road, surrounded by wooden and stone houses for the guards, knights, and mages. There are rowdy groups, calm groups, and shady groups, as well as youngsters. Kei stands out with his neat and colorful clothes, but so does Anaya with her pristine black and white dress.
Anaya notices people look at Kei with unsavory stares, but there are some who greet him warmly. One of them is a man sitting on a short log together with two of his friends, cooking something in a pot hanging on a wooden tripod rack over an open flame.
Kei approaches them and speaks to them. After a few minutes of conversation, one of the men who was leaning against the wall walks away. then at the other two, who both shake their heads. Moments later, he comes back with a small cloth tied off like a bag and hands it to Kei. He turns to face the man and says something. The man shakes his head and responds. The cooking man lets out a hearty laugh, stands up with a bit of trouble, and walks into the building behind him. Soon he comes out with a cloth bag of his own. Kei seems to be troubled, but the three people laugh, and then the two people look at the one who didn’t offer anything in silence. Kei says something, but the third man rubs his head and walks away in a different direction. While waiting, Kei bows his head to each of the two remaining men. They shake their hands and heads in an attempt to get Kei to stop bowing. The third man returns with a little bag and hands it to Kei, making him bow fervently. The first man observes Kei's awkwardness and begins to urge him to move. Kei does, but then turns around and waves to them one more time.
Anaya was hiding behind a barrel in an alleyway, wondering what those guys had handed Kei, where children were playing a prank by tugging and lifting the skirt of her dress.
Anaya almost lost Kei because she was furiously chasing after the children that messed with her. Though, after leaving the gate to the central village, it is very easy to spot him being in an open field, which also makes it easier to spot her. Kei continues to walk, carrying all his luggage, without turning back, but just in case, she goes through the crops to hide.
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About 30 minutes have passed. Kei takes a break under a tree, sitting on the dirt and grass floor. He wipes the sweat off his forehead, and after looking at the sleeve he wiped, he rolls it up towards his elbow. He is not out of breath, but he is tired.
As for Anaya, she is nearly hyperventilating and has been wondering why she is doing this at all. She has unfolded her bonnet cap to get a better shade over her face, making it a nuisance to wipe her sweat. Luckily, she is in the tall crop area, helping to avoid the sun and be less conspicuous. She continues to watch Kei through the gaps between the plants.
Kei uncork the large pouch and pours water into his hand with some struggle. Then he takes a moment, wondering what to do with the pouch. He sighs, lets the water from his hand drop, and stands up, stepping closer to the tree. He tries again to pour water into his hand, but this time he leans the pouch against the tree. He wipes both hands and pours water again, but this time he wipes his face. He takes a refreshing breath. He finally takes a sip of the water, plugs the pouch, and walks toward his basket. Anaya takes his example and does the same. But when she was having a drink, she suddenly heard someone call out, making her choke on her water.
“Kei?!” a child calls out. It was a small girl who seemed to be just about Kei's age. She was walking with her mother. They talk for a moment. The mother can be seen giggling. Later, the child and the mother continue on their path, but Kei seems to be contemplating something..
“Ji, wait!” He gets to his feet quickly and walks towards them with two cloth bags in hand and hands one to Ji and her mother. She opens it up to see.
“Jerky!?” the little girl yells out excitedly. Kei tells her to be quiet by putting his index finger to his lips, even though there is nobody else around. Ji suddenly embraces Kei, and the mother pats him on the head with a soft smile on her face. After a few more moments of talking, Kei walks back to his luggage.
“Bye bye!” Ji calls out as she waves her hand.
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Along the way, Kei would greet farmers; some would greet him back, and some would ignore him completely.
Then he encounters three children older than him by a few years or so. They pick on him, trying to take his basket and pouch away, and pull at his clothes, but Kei calmly says a few things. The group of children stops, and they look frustrated, but they don’t walk away without doing anything. One punches him in the head, another on the shoulder, and the third kicks him in the back. He falls but makes sure the basket falls up right and safely. The three kids ran off after that. Kei gets to his feet, brushes himself off of dirt and dust, but leaves a big footprint on the back of his shirt. He then checks the content of the basket. He sighs in relief.
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An hour later, he reaches his destination. Anaya seems to have lost some weight on this journey and is almost out of water. She is worried about how to get back home alive.
Kei enters the wooden gate on the stone hedge. A woman is in the yard doing some laundry, and she notices the squeak from the gate and faces that direction.
“Kei!?” The woman rushes towards him and holds him tight on his shoulder. She wipes the sweat from Kei’s face while saying something. Kei then hands her the basket, and she gives him a shaky smile. It was his mother. Anaya can’t see his face from where she is, but Kei is slouching, and his ears are visibly red, most likely from embarrassment. It became obvious to Anaya what was going on now.
He is a child. A 4-year-old child is taken away from his parents by people he doesn’t truly know and lives in an unknown environment. He has to walk for nearly 2 hours just to see his parents, and he needs to make up excuses just to go see them again, if only it was just that. There are kind people, of course, but she knows there are some who look at him with jealousy and scorn. Talking badly about him behind his back, and some teasing him. Anaya knows; she's seen it, and also... Because she is one of them.
Her emotions welled up as she imagined herself in his shoes. He would be scared, being surrounded by unknown people towering over him. Frustrated by people’s scorn and picking on him from fortunes he had no power over, yet he doesn’t cry, yell, or fight back. He keeps a calm face and doesn’t complain. Anaya wouldn’t be able to handle it; just imagining it is making her tear up. She felt ashamed to be part of his complicated environment…
BUT… THAT WAS NOT THE CASE! Kei was being courteous towards his parents in a sense of showing gratitude to his grandma or grandpa for taking care of him for many years. His ears were red because he was being treated like a baby, even though he is mentally an adult. He did notice people's jealousy and scorn, but he understood their frustration. Whether he says or complains about it won’t make a difference. He is not frustrated or saddened, but more so embarrassed that he would like to scream at the top of his lungs… But she will never know…
Soon Kei’s father comes to join them for lunch. Inside the basket there was 4 small bread rolls and a pot of stew with a lid wrapped in cloth preventing it from spilling too much during his fall. They are still warm thanks to the glass orb used for winter. Jerky is given to his father to be eaten when he is bored or while working. Kei joins them to eat. As for Anaya, she is crouching behind a tree nearby with puffy, red eyes.
“Yo, kiddo,” said Ski, and farther up the road were horses and a carriage. “Come on, get in the carriage.” Anaya just nods and walks past him, her shoulders slumped forward. Ski watches her back and just gently smiles.
After a while, Kei and Anaya were taken back to the manor together in complete silence. Kei was wondering why Anaya was here as well.
From that day on, Anaya has treated Kei a ‘little’ nicer.
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In 5 months, Kei's parents will be moved to the inner village, which is much closer to the Lord’s manor than where they are currently living, and it will take him only 30 minutes to go visit… but this will be a mistake nobody saw coming.