Aisha’s mind felt sluggish—too sluggish to tell left from right or to wonder how she had gotten here. Trying to think was like trying to grab hold of a summer heat haze. But somehow, she felt like she knew exactly where she was.
She was in a small, slightly worn-down house with only two rooms. A breeze blew in through the gaps in the wooden walls. This was the house in which she had lived with her father.
Lying in bed and unsure what to do, Aisha looked over into the other room where her father was making food. He was a formidable man with broad shoulders and a number of scars marking his toned body. Aisha couldn’t wait for dinner to be ready. She kicked her little legs in anticipation as she waited, but despite her cutesy affectations, she felt a little gloomy. The truth was that she wanted to help.
Ever since Aisha had turned ten, she had wanted to be useful to her father. But if she ever so much as touched a knife, her father would be beside himself with worry. He would stop whatever he was doing and watch over her carefully to make sure she was safe. One time, she had happened to cut her finger, and her father went storming out of the house declaring that he was off to buy a potion. Aisha had tried to stop him, and in the end, it had turned into a big argument. All she had managed to do was cause trouble for her busy, hardworking father.
That was why she no longer tried to help out in the kitchen, instead merely watching while kicking her legs. The only kitchen chores she could manage were drawing water or washing the vegetables, and even then, the small, weak girl would often struggle to carry the water back from the well. Sometimes, she would spill the bucket, wasting their precious drinking water and making her worried father come running to check up on her.
Aisha was happy, but more than that, she was frustrated. She lowered her eyes. She was bad at pretty much everything. If only there were some way she could help her father. It felt like more than she could bear. But surely her sitting here looking miserable would upset her father more than anything else! Still staring at the ground, she made up her mind to go out and speak to him.
“Ah, hello, Aisha!” He would say. “Would you mind fetching me the pot over there? And the water bucket next to it too—the big one!” He would tell her there were plenty of things she could do.
Aisha would just smile happily and say, “Okay! I’ll go get them for you, papa!”
She felt a voice reaching her in the white expanse of her consciousness. A familiar, gentle voice. It made her feel safe. “Ai...sha...”
“Mmm... Papa...?” she mumbled, still half dreaming. Her sleeping mind couldn’t make out who was speaking to her. She reached out unconsciously, grabbing at the air with her tiny hands. Suddenly, she felt her hand brush against someone’s smooth, warm skin. “Weh... M-Mistress?”
Aisha’s dim vision began to come into focus. She saw her mistress’s sweet-smelling, dark black hair, wrapped around her like the night itself. She opened her eyes further and saw her face—so lovely that she struggled to look at it directly. The golden rings around her irises were focused directly on her, and she was smiling gently.
“Good morning, Aisha,” she said.
“Good morning, Mistress,” said Aisha. Just waking up like this and saying good morning to her mistress filled Aisha’s heart with an indescribable happiness. It was unfair of her, really, to have so much of an effect on Aisha’s heart.
But Nacht’s kindness didn’t stop there. “I cooked up some silver rice in an earthenware pot,” she said. “We’re having a Japanese-style breakfast today!”
“We are? Oh, I can’t wait! But I’m sorry. I didn’t help you cook at all...” Aisha said.
“You were sleeping so soundly! I didn’t want to disturb you!”
“I’m sorry...” Aisha repeated, looking a little gloomy.
Nacht gave her a smile. “Then, would you like to help me now?”
“May I? Oh, thank you! I’ll do anything!” She couldn’t help it. Being useful to her mistress was Aisha’s greatest pleasure in life. But Nacht smiled again, seemingly telling her to wait.
“Taste it for me, then,” Nacht said, bringing a pair of chopsticks full of lustrous rice to Aisha’s mouth. “Say ‘aah.’”
“Huh?! Um, I can eat it myself...”
“Say ‘aah’!” Nacht repeated, unrelenting.
The shiny, aromatic rice made Aisha’s stomach rumble. Her face flushed red, ashamed of her faithless body. “A-Aah...” she said, opening her mouth. The clump of rice went inside it, filling her senses with an unfamiliar sweetness. As she chewed, the rice became even sweeter. It was a delicious morsel.
The second she swallowed her mouthful, Nacht brought up another bite—tofu topped with red bean paste this time. “Say ‘aah’!”
“Mmh... Aaaah...!”
“Say ‘aah’!”
“Aaaah!” In the end, there was no resisting the overwhelming assault of delicious food. Aisha did as her mistress desired.
“Do you like it?”
“Yes! It’s delicious!”
“Have another bite, then! Say ‘aah’!”
“Yes, Mistress! Aah!” She opened her mouth wider this time, like a baby bird awaiting its food. What was left of her pride was vanishing rapidly as she accepted bite after bite.
Eventually, Aisha finished all the food, letting Nacht dote on her the whole time. When she returned to her senses, she curled up into herself, clutching her head in shame. “Nineteen! Nineteen whole bites!” she sobbed. “I’m a failure as a servant...”
Nacht, however, looked completely satisfied. “I guess that does it for breakfast!” she said. “Ready to get going, Aisha?”
A spasm ran through Aisha’s body. “D-Do we have to go?” she asked.
“We should,” Nacht said. “I’d rather not drop a last-minute cancellation on the princess.”
“Nhh...” Aisha whined. “Can’t you go on your own, Mistress?”
“You said you wanted to go, didn’t you?” Nacht asked, but the truth was that Aisha didn’t remember it. She had been half asleep while studying at the time. And though she hated to disappoint her past self, now that she was awake, she found herself wishing she hadn’t. “And besides,” Nacht went on, “you are my servant. I’d like you to come with me.”
“That’s mean, Mistress, putting it like that!” Aisha protested. “But...okay. I really, really don’t want to, but I’ll go. And in exchange, you absolutely must behave yourself!” Aisha was sure that Nacht would get into some kind of mischief if she didn’t promise otherwise.
“Of course!” Nacht said. “No problem!”
“You’re just going to talk and go home! Nothing else!”
“Ah ha ha!” Nacht laughed. “You don’t need to tell me that! I’m interested in what I can learn, you know. I don’t plan on running around causing problems for everyone.”
“I know...” Aisha said.
The knight pointed her sword, silver-bladed and hefty, straight at Aisha. She was wearing silver armor emblazoned with a crest of lilies, marking her as one of the princess’s royal guard—elite lady knights devoted to safeguarding the women of the royal family from any and all harm. They were the strongest fighters in the kingdom.
Why was someone like that pointing her weapon at Aisha? She had felt that something like this was going to happen. Had she allowed Nacht to lull her into a false sense of security?
How did such a thing come to pass? It began a bit earlier...
~ ‡ ~
“Let’s go back...” Aisha said. “I can’t do this. You should go meet her alone, Mistress...”
There were two great noble houses in Free Market City: House Lenvell and House Valoua. Their estates towered above the rest of the city. But there was one—and only one—that was built higher: the Royal Estate.
Aisha sat in a mansion’s waiting room, staring up at the crest carved into the wall—a shaft of wheat symbolizing a bountiful harvest, a sword symbolizing justice, and a crown set above them both. It was the emblem of the royal family. She had begged Nacht to leave her behind three times now. The first was at the inn, the second before entering the mansion, and now again in the waiting room itself.
“We’re already here, Aisha,” Nacht said. “It’s a little late now.” Nacht disliked being kept waiting as well, but she was glad to have time for Aisha to calm her nerves.
“But... But it’s Her Highness...” Aisha said. “She’s like someone out of a story! I’m sure I’ll mess everything up! I don’t want to be beheaded!” She seemed to have some strange ideas about what was going to happen. She kept glancing fearfully from left to right. Nacht thought it was rather cute. “You seem to be enjoying this, Mistress...” Aisha grumbled.
“Ah ha ha!” Nacht laughed. “I’ve done this before, you know. It’ll be fine!” Meeting princesses was always an exciting event. Back in the game, Nacht had had plenty of occasions to interact with the royalty of several of the world’s kingdoms. Nacht had accepted her share of quests from them as well. They had sent her to war, on dangerous monster exterminations, and to do any sort of busywork imaginable. Nacht couldn’t help getting excited in anticipation.
“I can’t stop worrying, though...” Aisha whimpered. Nacht couldn’t figure out what had her so concerned, though. After all, right by her side was none other than Nacht herself.
“You don’t have anything to worry about!” Nacht reassured her. “If you commit some horrible offense and they decide to behead you...” A sinister smile played on her lips. “...I will wipe this kingdom off the map.”
The pronouncement did nothing to lift Aisha’s spirits. She clutched her head in her hands. “That just makes me more worried...” she said.
In reality, Aisha’s fears were groundless. Krista had told them that the kingdom’s second princess was brilliantly crafty. She was somewhat impulsive and selfish as well, but she was an open-minded woman who would appoint anyone to an official post if she believed in their talent. Krista had dealt with the princess’s bullheaded whims many times, claiming that while she was a fearsome person, she was not by any means wicked.
Krista may have meant to imply that the princess and Nacht resembled each other in their impulsive selfishness, but that was Krista’s misunderstanding. Nacht believed herself to be neither especially impulsive nor particularly selfish.