Chapter 58: Childhood pt2
Dylan looked left and right like a cautious cat. He was in a large room filled and decorated by precious artefacts and unnecessarily sparkly objects. The ceiling of the room was about 3 metres high, with tapestries and paintings that hung from the walls. In the centre of the room was a luxurious couch and marble table, along with various vases on wooden tables that displayed them.
As he walked into the room, Dylan noticed that he left a trail of dirty footsteps behind him. His bare feet sunk into the soft carpeting and the dirt clung to the fabric. He lifted his feet up and saw that it was black and rough. Dylan's face scrunched up and he felt heat rushing to his cheeks. What was he thinking, to enter such a luxurious house with feet as dirty as his?
Looking around, Dylan could see the condescension hidden behind the glass-like eyes of the maids. They followed him relentlessly, sometimes drifting off towards the stains in the carpet, looking at it with disdain and disgust.
"You are young master Dylan?" A plump and professional looking woman asked Dylan. Her dark brown hair was tied into a neat bun and she wore a maid's uniform with more decorations than the others. "I am Terisa and I am the head maid. Please follow me, we will get you washed up." She bowed respectfully and walked ahead.
Dylan followed her, feeling apprehensive. He arrived at a big spacious room. The walls and floors tiled and a big hole in the ground was filled with steaming water. Water leaked from a stone lions head like a waterfall and filled the already filled up bath.
"Please put your arms up, young master." Terisa asked. Dylan complied, not quite sure why. In a split second, faster than he could blink, Terisa tore Dylan's shirt off of his body, revealing his pale white skin. He was skinny to the point that his ribs were showing and his stomach was completely flat, but that skinniest was not made apparent until his baggy shirt was taken off.
"Wha-what the?" Dylan covered his chest in a panic. His face flushed with a deep red and he looked at Terisa as if she was a pervert.
Looking at his bashful and stupidly cute appearance, Terisa couldn't not help but to see her son's image overlap with Dylan's. Despite herself, she chuckled and her face softened by a notch. "You need to take a bath, young master."
Saying so, she grabbed him at the armpits and lifted Dylan up with ease, silently lamenting how light he was. Dylan waved his arms around in a fluster and kicked his legs about. His eyes looked desperately into Terisa's eyes, emitting a sense of helplessness and pitifulness.
Terisa looked away and avoided his gaze while the other maids swiftly undressed him. After that was done and over with, Dylan found himself standing on the tiles surrounded by fully clothed maids. They each had a bucket full of water in their hands and then began, the shower torture.
The maids tipped the buckets of warm water over Dylan, rinsing away the filth and dirt. Even the black puddles were flushed away by the water. After he was sufficiently washed up, they began to apply soap to his hair and washing that. Long story short, they gave Dylan a good scrub down before bombarding him with water again and dumping him into the bath, after which they finally left him alone, retreating off to the side and blending in with the background.
Released from the torture at last, Dylan soaked in the hot water and took a moment to fully digest what in the world was currently happening to him. First, he was invited to this giant mansion and was made to ride on a horse for half a day, only to instantly be dragged into the bath as soon as he had arrived. The two people that led him here weren't even present, disappearing as soon as they arrived at their destination. The only thing that they had told him was that they were going to take him to see him father.
As a smart child, Dylan came to the obvious conclusion that his father was the lord of the mansion not a steward or something. No one would treat a steward's child so nice and even bathe him and call him 'young master'.
Dylan sighed and blew bubbles in the bath, silently enjoying the warmth and relaxing sensation of the bath. Though he did get out soon after, not accustomed to the heat and also the stares of the almost robotic maids on the sidelines.
Dylan got dressed (with some help from the maids) into the clothes prepared by the maids and transformed from a dirty street urchin into a bona fide young master except that he didn't have the young master aura. After being made to look like a young master, Dylan was then taught some basic manners in hopes that he would at least not act in an offensive manner.
Terisa led Dylan to a living room where she sat him down and poured him some tea. Dylan looked at the tea with curiosity, not hesitating in the least to give it a sniff and sipping on it. He belched, unfamiliar with the strange taste of tea.
"Young master, it is rude to express such distaste towards things. A noble must always carry himself with elegance and grace, smiling even in times of hardship." Terisa warned.
Just then, a loud grumbled roared from Dylan's stomach. He covered it shy and ashamed, he hadn't eaten since the morning and was honestly just exhausted.
"Girls, bring the young master a snack." Terisa ordered. Two maids swiftly moved in a pair and left the room, soon returning with goods such as bread and soup. Seeing such delicacies, Dylan beamed with excitement and drooled unashamedly. He picked up the spoon, casting glances at Terisa every time he moved or touched something.
Terisa creased her eyebrows wondering why and soon realised that he was unsure as to if the meal truly belonged to him. The child was probably accustomed to having to fight and scavenge for food. Perhaps thoughts such as 'can I really eat this?', 'What do I have to do to make up for it?' or 'maybe they are just tricking me' were running through his head.
"You are hungry, are you not? This is for you to eat. It will be a problem if you were to suddenly collapse from hunger during our lessons." Terisa told Dylan, ensuring him that there are no strings attached.
After hesitating for a while, Dylan finally could not resist the aromatic smell of soup and freshly baked bread. He rudely grabbed the bread with his bare hands and chomped on it. Whilst still chewing, he dipped the bread into the soup and shoved that into his mouth as well.
Watching the boy eat in such a fierce and uncivilised manner, Terisa secretly shook her head. It was her job to transform the boy into someone fit to meet the lord but from the looks of it, she had a long way to go.
Terisa then heard sniffing amidst the sound of chewing. She saw that Dylan was unexpectedly crying and eating at the same time. Shoving the food into his mouth in a desperate manner and wiping his tears then eating some more.
Genuine pity for the boy arose in the head maid's heart but she snuffed it out and adopted a more professional attitude. It was her job to teach him, nothing more and nothing less. Feelings were unnecessary and often got into the way of nurturing, as she has discovered in the past when training new maids.
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Author: Hah, poor Dylan. Violated at such a young age. Does Sherry know of this?
Dylan: It was a bath, Author, get your mind out of the gutters.
Author: Yeah, yeah, whatever you say.
Dylan: [Face palm] You never listen, you're the author for god's sake. You should know!
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