Chapter 15 – Sowing Seeds (Aria’s POV)
The city tour ended pretty much as planned. We toured the city, I bought whatever I liked, and I even got some small presents for Letty, Mom, and Dad. The only hiccup was the knight following us around. I know that it’s for my safety and all, but come on! I was so excited for my first date with Letty. So I jumped on the first opportunity to ditch Nora and sneak away with Letty. But Mom predicted that and used Letty to tame me. Well played. Sigh, I guess this date was never meant to be…
Wait until I grow up, and then I’ll see who has the guts to oppose me. Humph.
Anyway, let’s not dwell on useless stuff. Rather, I should focus on the tiny girl standing before me. What should I make her do? Think-Think. To be honest, there isn’t much I can ask of Letty… for now.
“Alright, I’ve decided on what you have to do”
“W-What do I have to do?” Her voice had a mix of fear and excitement in it. I wonder what she might be thinking.
“It’s pretty simple, all you have to do is stop being my maid for a few days” I grinned.
“Eh?” Hahah, her expressions are priceless.
“What I mean is, I’ll talk to Mom and grant you a mini vacation”
“WHAT? Please don’t do this. I promise I will listen to you. So don’t push me away. I only did it because I agreed with Lady Martha and wanted to keep you out of any trouble” She began to panic.
“Relax and let me finish, you idiot. Why would I ever let you go away? What I wanted to say was, For a few days, you won't be my maid. Instead, you will stay here as my guest. Think of it as ‘a friend staying over at your house to celebrate vacation’. Got it? It means, you have to stay with me all day without worrying about any duties. But it also means that you won’t be able to leave my side for the whole duration”
She sighed with relief, knowing that I was not pushing her away. “What? But I’m your maid. How can I stay as a guest at this mansion?”
“Don’t sweat the small stuff. You will be my guest. You’ve got to trust your mistress more. I’ve got it all covered”
“Of course, Mistress!” Aah crap. Although being addressed as ‘mistress’ by Letty, feels kind of nice.
“Call me Aria, it was a slip of the tongue”
“Un” She nodded.
***
So, I had a talk with Mom, and she agreed without any objections. She really has gotten more lenient after I revealed the secrets. From tomorrow onward, for three days, I can have all of Letty to myself. No dumb chores, no dumb maid duties, only my best friend and me. Hehe, it reminds me of my past life. All of my friends used to gather at a rich friend’s house and had tons of sleepovers.
No, I shouldn’t stay in the past.
I’ve moved on.
Next morning,
I got confused as to why Letty didn’t wake me up.
Oh right, she is on vacation. I should get prepared for welcoming her, she’ll be here any moment now.
I got dressed up, and approached the door to welcome a friend over for a stay-over. Why is she coming through the front door, despite living in the same building? That’s because I wanted to welcome a friend to my house at least once. Was it necessary? Probably not, but I make the rules here.
Letty entered through the door in a green colored dress, she looked very pretty. “Welcome to my not-so-humble abode, Letty”
“Thank you very much for inviting me, Aria. Hehe”
For the next three days, another maid will be tending to both of us.
During breakfast, Letty seemed quite nervous and saw Dad glaring at her.
“Dad, you are intimidating her. You know what, I’ll have my meals in my room for the time being”
He let go and didn't rebuke, not wanting to lose his cool in front of Letty.
I then called a dress designer to the mansion to pick out some new outfits for both me and Letty. She didn’t seem very keen on trying new outfits, but she eventually gave in.
Just as I thought that things were going smoothly, Mom tried to sneak in, using Letty. I still have the trauma of the last time she ‘helped’ me pick clothes.
Flashback from four years ago,
“Mom, I was thinking of picking out some new outfits. Do you want to help me pick them?”
“Of course, my baby, let’s go” She left all her work and skidded towards me.
She is even more excited than me!
Back then, I had no idea what I signed up for,
For the next six hours, I suffered…
She made me change into so many different outfits, that I had lost count in the first hour itself. From maid to catgirl, to a boy, she used me as a living mannequin for a quarter of the day.
It was pure torture.
That day, I swore to myself that whatever happens, I’ll never let Mom pick clothes for me.
***
Without a second thought, I barred her from entering and threatened her with the classic ‘I will hate you’ line.
“Uhaa…My baby is so cruel to her poor-old mother. What am I gonna do?” She faked crying. Seeing her like this, Letty almost fell for her trap. I quickly covered her mouth and said,
“No! Absolutely no! Your tricks won’t work on me. Now get out, or I’ll call Dad”
She pouted cutely and left. Hah, nice save.
We tried on a number of outfits and picked out the one's I liked. Letty looks so cute in noble-woman outfit. I wish I had prepared a 'Recording Orb'1Magic Camera, for recording events beforehand.
After that, the rest of my plans went off without a hitch, and we thoroughly enjoyed the whole day together.
Before sleeping, we decided to take our routine bath. But unlike how we always do it, I didn’t let her do most of the work. I washed her back while she washed mine. Then, we relaxed in the warm bath for a while.
“Aria, yesterday when you were planning to sneak away, what exactly did you do? I’m still confused” Letty asked.
I explained to her the events that led me to call Miss Nora as 'Mama' and its implications.
“What is a boyfriend? I’ve heard people say it, but never got to know what it means” She innocently asked.
“Oh my innocent Letty, do you really don’t know what boyfriend or girlfriend means? Did you not hear any gossip from the maids?”
“Sorry, for not knowing everything from my past life…” She pouted. “I don’t talk to a lot of people” She said, looking down.
“Don’t be sad. Let me explain. You know how my mom and dad are married, right?”
“Yes”
“So, when two people like each other, they start dating or get engaged. And when they feel truly comfortable with their partners, and want to spend the rest of their lives together, they get married. So when two people are dating, we refer to them as ‘girlfriend’ and ‘boyfriend’. Does that make sense?”
“Oh I see. Then Miss Nora and the shop owner were like that?” Her face was flushing.
“That is correct. So when I called her Mama. He got the wrong idea”
“That was such a mean thing to do! Why did you do that?” She seriously asked.
“I know, even I didn’t want to resort to that. But the day was ending, and I was getting more desperate. I felt very guilty about it, but that was the only way to…Nevermind, let’s end this conversation”
“Um, does that mean, in the future, even you would get a boyfriend?” She asked me in a low voice and her face darkened.
Oh my, is she... "Hehe…who knows?”
“Aria, do you really have to get married? I always assumed that I will get to stay together with you forever since I am your Slave, was I wrong?” Her tone became even lower.
“Aww don't worry about these useless topics. I promised you didn't I? We'll always be by each other's side" Hearing this, her face brightened a little.
"And Just so you know, even two girls or two boys can marry each other. It’s pretty common in our kingdom” I continued.
“Really?” Her face brightened up even more.
Oh, my sweet Letty, how obvious are you gonna get? So adorable. Let me tease you a little.
“Yes, and I, being the daughter of a romantic such as my Dad. He’d never make me marry someone I don’t like. If I told him that I loved someone, I know for a fact that he’ll let me marry them. Regardless-of-their-social-standings”
She seemed to have connected the dots. I could see her face going redder by the minute.
“Letty, do you have a fever, your face is red” I touched her forehead with the back of my hand. She suddenly stood up,
“Aria, I remembered I have something very important to do. So, wait here, and I’ll be right back” She practically ran out of the bath.
Hahah, atleast cover yourself before running outside, you idiot. I shouldn’t tease her too much. But her reactions are just so cute.
After running out, she embarrassingly came back in again while trying to cover her body. Hehe, so adorable.
“Okay, I’ll stop teasing you, so come back inside”
“Un…I just got 350 SP. You were aiming for that exact reaction, weren’t you?" She asked, while pouting.
“I don’t know what you are talking about?” I shrugged.
***
After that incident, I toned down my teasing, and we fell asleep while reading some folklore.
The next two days went by in a flash. We mostly just hung out as usual, except this time around, she didn’t have any work to go back to. I asked the chef to prepare ingredients for making cookies, and we baked them together. Apparently, Dad likes cookies a bit too much. If I didn’t stop him, he would have eaten Mom’s portion as well. His appearance doesn’t strike me as someone who would enjoy sweet cookies. He gives off ‘bitter coffee’ vibes, you know what I mean?
So, all in all, we had a blast in these past few days.