Was she crazy?
Arthur began to wonder if the long slumber drove his daughter nuts. She was a sickly girl who had a powerful unknown curse that ate away at her lifespan.
It'd been two years since she went to sleep due to the curse's effect. When Arthur heard that she woke up, he couldn't believe his ears since the curse could only make things worse…. So what changed?
Arthur had a suspicion that maybe, just maybe, his daughter's curse was now gone due to some goddess's miracle. No, this wasn't a suspicion, rather, it was a faint hope he had.
Seeing his daughter being so lively after so long made him happy, but to suddenly ask him permission to go out and hunt some monster…?
Arthur took a deep breath and recovered from his shock. Then he began to think deeply about his daughter's request.
"My dear Luluka, why do you want to go hunt monsters now?"
Luluka looked at her father innocently and smiled in a cute manner. "I just woke up after so long, so my body might have gone rusty already. I just want to recover my lost strength."
Arthur was slightly surprised upon hearing his daughter's answer. He then broke out into a laughter. "Hahaha, Since when did my daughter become so strong? You talked as if you're some kind of Dragon King who wants to recover his strength after a long slumber!"
Arthur continued to laugh at his daughter's answer. Luluka saw her father laughing and began to pout, but soon after she also broke out into giggles.
The father and daughter pair kept laughing for a while.
"Alright then my dear dragon king, let's say your strength and body got rusty, but you still remember about the curse right? You just woke up miraculously after the curse ate your life away. I think it's too risky to do anything that might trigger the curse again."
Arthur's eyes became gentle as he approached his daughter and hugged her again. "You are my one and only precious little daughter. I love you so much and don't want to lose you to a stupid curse. Just go get some rest, dear…"
Hearing her father's words, Luluka's eyes became gentle and a little watery. "I love you too, dad. I love you so much."
She understood her dad's reason, but—his worry wouldn't be necessary anymore…
Luluka gently let go of her father's embrace and looked her father in the eyes. A beautiful smile blossomed on her face.
"Dad, you don't have to worry about that anymore, okay?" She paused for a second. "Because my curse—is gone now."
The room broke out into silence…
Luluka would never forget her father's reaction after that. His eyes went wide and his mouth agape! He was totally shocked after hearing what his daughter said!
"Wh-What?"
Had he heard it wrong? Arthur started to wonder. He recovered from his shock and asked his daughter for confirmation.
"Luluka dear, can you repeat what you said just now?"
Luluka's smile grew wider as she repeated her sentence word by word.
"I said, The. Curse. Is. Gone."
Arthur's eyes widened even more! What did she say? Her curse was gone?!
He hurriedly used a skill [Analyze] on her and found out that her cursed state was indeed gone!
Unfortunately for him, he was in such a hurry and missed out on his daughter's new race and skill and more importantly, her title…
Now confirmed that he'd heard it correctly, Arthur broke out into a tear of joy as he once again embraced his daughter strongly.
"Argg! Dad! You're gonna kill me!" Luluka felt slightly suffocated.
Arthur let go of her and smiled apologetically. "Sorry sorry, I was so happy that your curse is gone," he said in a shaky voice.
Luluka laughed, finding her overjoyed father funny. Arthur then embraced his daughter again, but gently this time.
After a while, they let go of each other. Arthur took a deep breath and looked his daughter in the eyes.
"Alright, you can go out and hunt some monsters, BUT on one condition." Arthur paused for a second. "You have to bring Ruby with you."
Luluka frowned upon hearing that. "But dad, Ruby is a human. If she found out about my racial skill, she might report it to the church."
Arthur smiled and gently flicked Luluka's forehead. "Dummy, I've only allowed you to go out and hunt monsters, but using your racial skill in an outskirt of the city is too risky. You're not allowed to use it."
Luluka pouted at her father. "Fine! I'll just use my sword, stupid father!"
Arthur laughed at his daughter's cute reaction and said goodbye to her after one more long hug. Luluka got out of her father's study and headed to her bedroom.
She got dressed into a more suitable cloth and equipped herself with her trusty short sword her father gifted to her on her 10th birthday. Her father taught her swordsmanship since she was young so she could protect herself if something happened.
She didn't go out of her home much, but once in a while, she would go out with her father to hunt some low level monsters in the outskirts of the city.
After she finished preparing her equipment, she got on her personal carriage with Ruby following her.
'On to the monster hunting, here I come!'
—————
[Ruby's POV]
What was her mistress up to?
Ruby couldn't help but wonder.
Her mistress had a severe illness and was very sickly. She rarely went out of her house at all.
Two years ago when her mistress went into a long sleep with no sign of waking up, she felt like her heart was bleeding. She went to the church everyday and prayed for a miracle to bring her mistress back.
And it worked!
After two years of praying, a miracle happened. Her mistress woke up and seemed to be as lovely as ever!
Ruby began to blush once again as the scene of her mistress kissing her cheek flashed across her mind.
She was so happy that her mistress finally woke up, but—an order she'd just received from Lord Arthur left her in shock and worry.
Her mistress wanted to go out and hunt monsters? But, she just woke up after such a long time. She shouldn't risk her health like that!
Ruby wanted to say that out loud and convince her mistress not to go, but an order was still an order. She was a maid, so she could only follow her master's orders unquestionably.
With a worried expression on her face, Ruby seated in the carriage and tried to convince her mistress to change her mind. And sure enough, her mistress laughed at her saying that she was a worry-wart.
Ruby could only sigh and resolved herself to protect her mistress with all of her ability.
On the surface, she might look like a normal maid, but she was actually a trained fighter, the so-called battle maid!
Ruby grew up in a small town located on the border of the human continent. The area she lived in was considered a red zone by the kingdom.
Once in a while, some demonic races would break past the border's security and cause some trouble in her village. But they would be taken care of by the adventurers soon after.
Why would the demonic races risk their lives to cross the border just to be killed soon after?
Ruby was once wondering about such a thing, but she couldn't find the answer to that question.
She lived there in a hard environment—until one dreadful night changed everything.
That night caused her to be filled with vengeance and pursued power until Lord Arthur found her and took her in.
That was when she met Luluka, her lord's daughter. She was cute, friendly, charming, and sometimes mischievous.
They became closer to each other and their relationship became more like sisters. Her vengeance-filled heart slowly melted away with the warmth Luluka gave her.
She swore to herself that no matter what it cost, she wouldn't let any harm come to her mistress. Never again was she going to let those bastards take her family away from her!
Ruby was filled with determination as the images of that dreadful night flashed across her mind. She clenched her hands into a fist as she resolved herself.
'I'm going to protect my mistress no matter what—even if my opponents were those bloodsuckers who took away my family!'