บท 15: Elaina's Personal Maid
"You are quitting?" Alfred frowns as he stares at the resignation papers currently on his table.
"Yes, Your Majesty. With Her Highness Elaina no longer around here, I don't think I can continue working here. Besides, I don't think that the other maids here would like for me to remain here and do nothing and yet I still receive payment. Without my master here, I don't have any real work done at all."
"...Fine. However, once your master returns, I will employ you once again and you are always welcome here. I might not have employed you directly but you are one of the trusted people that my wife has employed."
The maid nodded silently, not saying anything beyond what she just said.
"Well then, please excuse me."
"Collect your severance pay to the butler. He will see you out personally."
She nodded before she left Alfred's office. Her mind is a bit troubled right now. However, she already has an idea of what to do next now that she has successfully resigned.
After going back to her room and packing up her belongings, she left her room which will be vacated permanently. She looked at her room one last time before she closed the door and left with her baggage in tow.
At the main entrance, the butler is already waiting for her.
"The Master has already prepared your severance pay. You should be grateful that he still gave you a pay even though you have barely any work done here."
The maid didn't say anything and just accepted the bag of gold that was her severance pay. She can still feel the hostility of the butler to her but she doesn't care as that is her last time experiencing that as she is now leaving the household.
Looking at the mansion she once lived in, she will be saying goodbye to that lifestyle.
She started walking in the distance, devoid of people from the area. If one could observe her, they would have noticed that she started to disappear like smoke even though there is nothing that would make her do that...unless she uses magic.
...
...
...
Elaina used her knowledge to butcher the Hybrid Direwolf without ruining its fur. With how thick the Direwolf's fur is and the dust-resistant effect it has, this is a perfect material to be made as a coat for winter.
She made a good way of butchering and cleaning the remains of the monster using her tools. It might not be perfect, but it is not sloppy either.
"This will do. Still, I kind of feel like I am getting rusty now," Elaina sighed disappointedly as she washed her hands to clean off the remaining blood on the knife and her hands.
She divided the meat she got for her consumption and the meat that she had to ship to the shipping bin. With that done, she went to prepare for the meat to be preserved. She bought a pot before to store clean water but since the water on the stream is much cleaner than Elaina anticipated, the pot has not gotten any use which is why she found a new way to use it.
Putting all of the meat that was meant for her consumption, she takes out one magic crystal that activates ice magic. It was a tool used to freeze fish and keep them usable for longer. Using this method, she activated the ice crystal and put it in the jar together with the meat. The pot is then covered in a lid, allowing the cold to flow only inside the pot and would then slowly but surely freeze the meat without fully freezing it on the spot. She learned how to do it her way back then and it turns out, this knowledge would still help her right now.
Next comes the forageables. Emptying her rucksack, the forage she got after a few hours of walking around the forest was fruitful even though most of her time was wasted when she was dealing with the Direwolf and yet she managed to get lots of stuff already.
"I knew the forest was a good place but didn't expect only a few hours and I would still get a full rucksack of resources in just a few more hours of walking and surveying the surroundings. Not only that but wild crops are also present. I don't know how much they will fetch but these are so fresh, I might as well use some of them for food. Yes, I think that is the plan."
As Elaina is sorting out her forageables, Elaina unexpectedly throws off all of what she is holding when a person suddenly appears before her while carrying some baggage.
Elaina instinctively went for her sword, but she forgot that she put them away on the side after going back home so instead of her sword, she grabbed the nearby knife and went to combat stance.
As everything finally settled down and the smoke that caused the surroundings to blur a bit, Elaina slowly noticed and learned who this person before her was.
"Julia?"
The person in question turned around, and with the smoke dispersed altogether, Elaina finally knew who appeared before her. Her personal maid and right hand, Julia.
Although Julia is a professional maid, she is a young child that Elaina had adopted back when she was still a princess and has not yet married Alfred. She was still 10 back then when she lost her home from the monster rampage and she was one of the survivors of that incident. Elaina incidentally met her when the former helped the cavalry and the hunters to eliminate the remaining monsters. Back then, Julia was more on selling some goods that she managed to recover from the wrecks and selling them to other people for some coins to buy food.
Because Elaina seemed to have taken a shine to her, Elaina decided to bring her back home and wanted to adopt her as her child but because her parents did not agree to this, since it would ruin Elaina's prospects of marriage, the adoption process was canceled but since Elaina is pretty much persistent in keeping Julia in her wing, she decided to hire Julia as her maid which persisted until Elaina got married.
"Your Majesty..." Julia looked at Elaina a bit before starting to break into tears. She lunged herself to Elaina and dived to her bosom, as she started to cry.
"Waaaaahhhh! You had me so worried! Why did you suddenly leave without informing me?! Did you forget about me? Why leave me all alone, there?"
"I...I am sorry. You were still busy with the task you were given by His Majesty which is why I couldn't afford to speak or tell you my plan in advance. I am sorry to leave you there," Elaina rubbed the silky purple hair of Julia that reminds her of an Amethyst. Although she has grown wonderfully ever since the first time they met, Elaina couldn't help but think of her as her real daughter. Her motherly instincts kicked in.
Still, Elaina had to explain things properly to Julia about her plan and how urgent she had to do it just so she could do her task and due to this matter, thoroughly explained as well as to why Elaina couldn't tell Julia in time due to the chances that she will be discovered earlier if Julia were to also know.
"Master, I know you still treat me like a kid, but I can handle a few secrets on my own and besides, I may not look like it but I am dependable enough that you shouldn't worry about me exposing you to Sir Alfred. Still, I am glad my magic worked and I arrived here without a hitch! I was worried I would be transported into a gutter or might have clipped into another scary dimension..."
Elaina is happy that she got reunited with Julia, but she then turns to Julia after learning the last bit.
"Wait...You can use magic? How? When? How come I only know about this? Also, why are you here in the first place?"
Julia then wears a smug look on her face as she looks at Elaina with a puffed chest to proudly reveal her trick.
"Hehe, surprised? Yeah, I think you would be. After all, I kept it a secret for 5 years that I have an affinity for magic and I practiced using it multiple times. See how good I am at keeping a secret? Even you who know me like the back of your hand didn't even know I could use magic."
Elaina couldn't help but be shocked and also proud that someone like Julia who was seen as a lowly maid by many and a low-born commoner was a talented sorcerer who could use magic. Any people who can use magic without any problems are considered nobles in many places and are respected by both nobles and other people alike. Still, how come Julia is here now?
"To answer your question, Master. I quit the job as I resigned and submitted my papers to His Majesty just so I can find and follow you, Master. I am your maid and you are my benefactor that changed my life. As such, I will remain your loyal maid even if you don't want to be the empress any more."
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