Chapter 2:
The Creeped-Out Maid
Lilia used to be a royal handmaiden for the Asura Palace harem. In addition to her usual duties as a lady-in-waiting, the role also called for her to act as a guardswoman. She’d been expected to take up arms and come to her master’s defense should the need arise. She was devoted to her duties, and carried out her job as handmaiden without flaw or fail.
When it came to her role as a fighter, however, her skill with a sword was merely adequate at best. As a result, Lilia found herself wholly outmatched when an assassin struck at the newborn princess, her opponent’s dagger catching her in the leg. The blade had been coated with poison, the sort meant to kill even a member of the royal family, a troublesome toxin that could not be cured by purifying magic.
Thanks to the wound being promptly tended to by Healing magic, and a doctor’s attempts at neutralizing the poison, Lilia had managed to survive, but there were lingering aftereffects. They didn’t pose an impediment to her daily life, but she could no longer run at any real speed, her gait reduced to a clumsy stagger.
Lilia’s life as a warrior had come to an end. The palace promptly discharged her from her position. Lilia understood why perfectly well. It only made sense to lose a job she was no longer able to perform. Although this left her unable to pay even her basic living expenses, given her position in the court, she considered herself lucky not to have been executed in secret. And so, Lilia left the capital.
The mastermind behind the princess’s assassination attempt was still to be found. As someone familiar with the palace harem’s inner workings, Lilia was well aware that she was a likely target. Or perhaps—had the palace set her free to lure out whoever was behind this plot?
When she’d been brought into the court, she’d been curious why they’d taken on a lowborn woman such as herself. Perhaps they wanted to hire a simple maid who could easily be disposed of.
Whatever the case, for her own safety, Lilia needed to get as far away from the capital as she could. Regardless of whether the palace really was using her as bait, she no longer had any standing orders, no longer had anything holding her back.
She no longer felt any sense of obligation to her old life.
After taking a series of stagecoaches, Lilia arrived at the Fittoa Region, a vast agricultural area on the borders of the kingdom. Apart from the Citadel of Roa, the city where the local lord resided, the region was little more than a grand expanse of wheat fields.
It was here that Lilia decided she’d look for work.
With her leg impaired, a career as a fighter was now off the table. She could conceivably still teach swordsmanship, but she preferred to find work as an attendant— mainly because it paid much better. Here on the outskirts of the kingdom, there were plenty of people who could wield a blade and teach others how to do the same. There were far fewer people who were fully trained royal maids, capable of overseeing the running of an entire household. Even if the pay was lower than she hoped, money was still money.
Being hired as a handmaiden by the lord of Fittoa, or even the high-ranking nobles who served him, was a dicey prospect. The people in those circles had a pipeline right back to the capital. If they found out she was a former handmaiden who’d attended the royal harem, she stood a good chance of being caught up in someone else’s political machinations. Lilia wanted no part of that. She’d already had one brush with death, and that was enough for her.
No offense to the princess, but Lilia was going to do what she wanted, someplace far away from the war of succession.
The issue was that less-wealthy families couldn’t afford to retain her services. Finding a place that was both safe and still paid decently proved rather difficult.
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After a month of wandering about Fittoa, Lilia finally came across a job posting that caught her eye. A low-ranking knight in Buena Village was looking for a housekeeper. The posting specified that they were looking for someone with experience in raising children, who could also act as midwife.
Buena Village was a small hamlet on the far edge of the Fittoa Region. It was out in the middle of nowhere, even by middle-of-nowhere standards. The location was inconvenient, but otherwise, it was everything Lilia had been looking for. Her employer being a knight, even a low-ranking one, was another unexpected boon.
It was the employer’s name, though, that really got her attention. It was one that Lilia recognized: Paul Greyrat.
Paul was another student of Lilia’s former master. One day, back when she had been studying swordplay, the lazy, no-good son of a noble family had turned up at the training hall. Evidently, he’d been disowned by his father in the wake of a fight and would now be studying the sword while sleeping at the hall.
Paul had also studied swordplay at home, so despite having practiced a different style, it wasn’t long before his abilities surpassed Lilia’s. She was less than amused by that, but chalked it up to her own lack of ability.
Paul, on the other hand, positively radiated talent. One day, however, he abruptly left the training hall after causing some kind of big stir for reasons unknown to Lilia. He left with one final declaration: “I’m going to become an adventurer.”
The man was like a hurricane.
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It had been seven years since Lilia had last seen Paul. And not only had he become a knight since then, but now he was also married? Lilia could scarcely believe it. She didn’t know what ups and downs he had been through, but if he was still the man she remembered, then he wasn’t a bad fellow at all. If he knew she was in trouble, he’d probably help her out.
And if he didn’t…well, she’d just have to dredge up some stuff from the past. She had several stories up her sleeve to use as bargaining chips if she needed to. Having done that bit of mercenary calculus in her mind, Lilia headed for Buena Village.
Paul welcomed Lilia with open arms. His wife, Zenith, was due soon, and the couple was quite frazzled. Lilia had the essential technical know-how from seeing to the birth and rearing of the princess; plus, she was a familiar face that one of them could vouch for. The family was happy to have her aboard.
Also, the pay was better than Lilia had been hoping for. To her, it was like a dream come true.
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And then the child was born.
The birth itself was problem-free, with everything proceeding as it should according to Lilia’s training. Even at the junctures where one could typically expect complications, everything went smoothly.
But once he was born, the child did not cry. Lilia broke into a cold sweat. The infant’s face was expressionless, his nose and mouth having expelled amniotic fluid, and he made no sound. For a moment, he looked like he might have been stillborn. But when Lilia reached out, she could feel the baby’s warm pulse and the movements of his breathing.
Still, he did not cry. Lilia remembered something she’d heard from one of the handmaidens who’d taught her: Children who didn’t cry at birth tended to have a host of abnormalities.
At that very instant, however, her thoughts were interrupted.
“Ahh! Waah!”
The baby turned his face toward Lilia, his expression slack, burbling random sounds. Relief washed over Lilia.
She didn’t quite know why, but it seemed like things were going to be okay.