Chapter 81 – Master and apprentice

In the dusty room, with furniture covered with the cloth, three human-like torsos were appearing from the walls and ceiling at different places, while swiping away the layers of dust, that accumulated with many years without being touched.

Three maids, with faces covered with cloth to keep dust away, were busy cleaning the mansion that had been neglected for decades, when they felt vibrations spreading through the woods of the mansions walls and ceiling.

"They are at it again." Said Dahlia with only her body coming out of the wall up to the waist, while sighing with a strange look on her face while watching the chandelier on the ceiling sway a bit.

"They really are lively, arent they?" Said Zinnia with her torso coming out of the ceiling while listening to the light sound if thuds coming from the distance.

"Are they doing it in their monster forms again?" Asked Aster, with her torso swimming out from under the table as if the wooden floor was pool of water.

"It seems so." Said Zinnia with a strange shine in her eyes.

"This guy is really strange. Have you ever heard of a human willingly mating with a monster?"

"No." Said Dahlia. "Such a thing is simply preposterous in human society, but then again, that guy is not ordinary either. I mean look what he did to the forest back then. No normal system could give him such an abominate skill. There is a reason mother interested in him so much as making us serve him." She added shaking her head.

"Still…" Said Zinnia softly with a shine in her eyes. "That looked hot!"

"Stop it! You pervert!" Said Aster.

"What didn't you at least wonder? What it'd be like to be in ber shoes right now? I mean like seriously. If this guy has no qualms doing it with a monster, would he be fine with us in our true form?"

"Stop it, you both. This is rude. We are sent to be maids of his house, by our mother. If we shame her with our behaviour, we will never be forgiven. Just do your job and keep your mouths shut." Said Dahlia and turned away to continue the job.

"Yeah, yeah. Said the woman with her cheeks red as tomatoes after I said imagine yourself in place of the madam over there in the bedroom." Said Zinnia grinning and quickly disappeared as if sinking into the ceiling when something flew in her direction from Dahlia.

"She does have a point though." Said Aster. "Spiritual beings are looked well upon by humanity because, they are sentient and non aggressive, so they can be conversed, while monsters are mindless and dangerous. So there are many people taking a liking to spiritual beings like us. They may be dreaming to be with a dryad with our human-like forms, but how many of them would really have no qualms doing it with the true form of dryad after seeing it?"

"I can't imagine any human having no repulsion had they really been offered a pass at the dryad in her true form." Said Dahlia sighing. "But what's the point of dwelling on it? You want a male find someone of our kin."

"That still makes you wonder. What's so special about him, that he could overcome that repulsion, doesn't it?" Asked Zinnia from behind the cupboard looking at Dahlia.

"Just continue working!" Said Dahlia and sank into the wall.

Zinnia and Aster looked at each other and smiled at seeing their serious sister Dahlia flustered by this topic.

******

"No, no. Not like that." Said Noah taking a hammer out of the puppets hand. "See here. That's how you do it."

They were standing near the shed with work tools. The very shed where Noah appeared when came to this mansion. A bunch of wood lay on the ground near them with nails stuck into them.

Noah thought of making a puppet helping out in the house with some minor chores and repairs, however girls just snorted at him when he asked them to teach it. It seemed that even the thought of holding any construction tools disgusted them, as they considered such manual works beneath their status of - ladies. All he could do is shake his head and take it upon himself, although he himself as a part of noble society had absolutely no knowledge regarding it.

There was a minor gratification though. Even with Noah's almost nil knowledge he was a master compared to a puppet who's basic knowledge was at the very bottomest of the bottom.

At first Noah thought that making it strike on the nail with the right side of the hammer would be the hardest thing to explain, but he understood how wrong he was when the battle golem smashed the hammer precisely on the nail head so hard that half his arm went underground together with the hammer.

Noah smacked his face with a palm and heavily sighed before taking the hammer out of its hand and then carefully hammered a nail with a bunch of light hits.

"See? Look how the nail head just slightly went into the wood. That's how you do it." He said and puppet dropped to the ground to see how big was the gap between the nail head and piece of wood from the side.

"Noah! Lunch is ready, dear." Shouted Tessa from the terrace calling for him.

Noah smiled and said he will be right over, then he instructed the puppet to control its strength and try to achieve the same result as he showed.

He walked inside the house, washed his hands and went to the smaller dining room where he saw Tessa filling plates with an elated look on her face and Aster with blank face and dead eyes helping out. He sat down smiling while remembering what happened an hour ago.

******

"Oh, you girls have already started with lunch preparation?" Said Tessa walking inside the kitchen with Noah behind her slightly after their bout of hard fucking.

"I am sorry, I forgot to tell you that you don't have to." Said Tessa smiling.

"What? You are going out Madam?" Asked Dahlia.

"Oh, no no. I will take care of lunch myself. You girls can just take care of breakfast and dinner." Answered Tessa.

"Madam, as your maids we can't allow you to…" Started to refuse her offer Dahlia.

"Oh, don't worry about it please. It just pleases me to see my man happy so I want to give him the best this house has to offer." Explained Tessa with a smile in her lips but not in her eyes.

"Huuuuh?" Voices Aster losing all pretence of servitude. "That sounded awfully similar to saying you are far better at cooking than us….Madam." She said with a cold voice coming over to Tessa and watching her sternly.

"Aster!" Screamed Dahlia shocked.

"Oh, dear did it sound like that?" Said Tessa with a sweet voice. "I am glad, because that's exactly what I meant." She added with a menace in her face and water freezing voice.

Noah gulped down and step by step retreated from the kitchen.

"That is quite a boast. I hope you don't mind showing me what you are truly capable of then." Answered Aster.

"Oh? Do you wish to challenge this lady? I am afraid you are a couple hundred years too early, girl." Said Tessa in a challenge.

Dahlia and Zinnia followed Noah's example and skittered away trying to be as unseen as they could.

"Let's see who's cooking skill is better then…Madam." Said Aster accepting Tessa's challenge.

*****

Looking at them both now, Noah had no doubt of who was victorious at the end. Well if he had to be honest, he had not doubted Tessa's victory in the slightest. And the power of love had nothing to do with it. It was plain logical. Dryads had plethora of duties in the Labyrinth and even if Aster loved cooking it was her hobby at most. For Tessa however, even if it was a hobby as well, it was a hobby she killed time with for century in her solitude out here.

Tessa smiled at Noah with a smile full of shine when she noticed his look and sat down near him taking a serviette that was folded with a beautiful design, putting it elegantly on her knees to prevent spill on her dress.

"Let's eat, dear." She said to Noah with happiness.

*****

"Don't be so down." Said Zinnia through her almost full mouth from wolfing down the food. "It's not a shame to lose to someone so good."

"Umm." Voiced Aster while slowly eating.

"She is right." Said Dahlia, sitting from across her behind the kitchen table where the battle of cooks commence just recently. "It's not that you are bad. It's just she had centuries of experience above you. You will gain on her with practice….someday." She added wolfing down the leftover food from the kitchen battle, just as fast as Zinnia, only making it look more elegant.

"Would she…" said Aster a bit later. "Would she agree to make me her apprentice?" She added making Dahlia and Zinnia choke on the food.

A small spider in the kitchen corner skittered away and a moment later Tessa's smile of elation grew even wider, actually scaring Noah a bit.

"Sorry dear. Just could not help feeling elated, from imagining being called Master or Teacher."

"Umm." Said Noah warily.

"By the way. I think it's time for my girls to return soon. Cassandra may love them as their own but she can't nanny them for too long, she has her own duties to attend to and as you understand, my girls are not someone that could just be left to walk around by themselves. It could cause…problems." Said Tessa.

"I see. It scares me a bit, imagining how they would look at our relationship. Considering they are a lot older than me."

"In their age only, dear. Not mentally." Said Tessa sighing.

"Ummm. Meaning."

"You will see." She said, smiling coyly.

*****

"I will be coming over too." Said Cassandra's matter-of-factly voice from the magic-far-talking device.

"I understand. Just please be good, dear." Said softly Tessa sitting alone in the room after lunch looking out of the window how Noah was teaching the puppet to use a saw as if it was a kid and actually smiled imagining him as a father. But then shook her head thinking it was way too soon thinking such things yet.

"That depends on whether I approve of it or not." Answered Cassandra.

"Don't be this way Cass. Just try to be patient. You tend to be overreacting so just hold the horses, alright? Don't ruin it for me….this is serious. I mean it."

"Alright. But this is all too strange, Tess. I don't like it."

"I know how wary you are. But you know me. Know what I am like. Trust me."

".... See you tomorrow." Said Cassandra and broke the connection.

Tessa sighed, placing down her device back on the table near the armchair.

"God, I hope everything's goes well." She muttered gazing out the window at her new mate with worry