Sebastiene looked flustered for a moment before looking at me straight in the eyes, searching for any trace of joking at what I had requested.
He sighed when he found none.
"May I ask why?" He asked seriously. "Do you not have one?"
"We only have a single maid." I replied lifting my skirt a little to stand on the shallow water.
Sebastiene gawked at me. Like what I said was something unbelievable.
I looked at him and shrugged then continued playing in the water.
The next thing I heard was a boisterous laugh from him. I stopped what I was doing to watch him laugh out loud. He rolled on the ground holding his sides which I suppose is hurting from laughing too hard.
'Does he think I was joking?' I thought to myself while watching him. 'Nahh. I'll just let him be.'
"Little g-girl," He said between chuckles, "Are you t-telling me that house C-Castellan only has one.." He raised his index finger while trying to stop himself from laughing. "One maid serving them?"
"Yes." I replied.
Sebastiene's laughter stopped at my honest answer.
"So house Castellan really only has a single maid?" He asked squinting his eyes as he scrutinized my facial expression.
I nodded.
His eyes went wide in disbelief.
"You really have no maids?" He asked again.
"Like I said, we only have a single maid." I sighed answering him again.
He sat down crossed leg on the ground with his right arm resting on his leg and his left hand rubbing his chin.
I guess it was his thinking pose.
I got out of the water and sat down on the ground beside him. I was looking around for something to dry my feet with when he handed me a folded cloth looking embarrassed. I took the cloth in his hand and started wiping my feet when I remembered the book we read on manners at the library. Ladies in this world never lets men see their feet. Weird right? I looked at him blankly.
"Ehem. Little girl, how old are you?" He asked, smiling again.
"I'm ten years old." I replied.
"Ten. Hmmm" He said rubbing his chin again. "Why are you hiring a butler? Shouldn't you be hiring a maid instead?"
"I'm planning to." I answered as I put on my shoes.
Sebastiene looked at me in amusement.
"Do you accept my proposal Mr. Sebastiene from the Hebi clan?" I stood up and looked at him.
"What would I get out of it?" He asked with a sly smile.
'This bitch.' Was what I thought.
I sighed.
"You will be keeping your word that you will do anything I ask if I won against you." I smiled.
Sebastiene let out a soft chuckle and stood up. He offered his hand for me to shake.
"Then I look forward to working with you." He smiled.
I looked at the hand he was offering then looked up at him with another blank expression.
"No." I replied which made his smile freeze. "You will not be working with me, you will take the oath of loyalty to House Castellan and serve me until I let you go."
"The oath of loyalty?" he asked retracting his hand. "Isn't that just for knights?"
This time, it was my turn to smile slyly.
"You will be a knight as well as a butler." I answered. "My butler cannot be weaker than the head of the knights as our enemies will not only attack us but everyone around us too."
"Aren't you asking for too much little girl?" He asked with a forced smile.
"No." I smiled sweetly.
"Haaaaah." Sebastiene sighed as he scratch the back of his head. "Fine, I shall take the the oath of loyalty and become your butler slash bodyguard."
"Good!" I said happily. "But first, promise me that you will serve me to the best of your abilities. Promise that you will never hurt a Castellan, never betray the Castellans and to never turn your back on the promise you made today."
Sebastiene looked at me with a very serious expression before smiling slyly.
"Little girl, how would you know that I will keep a promise I made with a little girl like you?"
"I know someone you can't make false promises to." I smirked at him. "She will be my witness."
Sebastiene looked around us again and raised his eyebrow at me curiously.
"There's only the two of us here." He smiled.
"Come," I felt her heed my call. "Parsua."
The goddess Parsua appeared in her summoned form, floating midair behind me. Sebastiene's eyes went wide before bowing down on one knee and not daring to look up.
"Now, with Parsua as our witness, do you accept my proposal?" I asked him again.
"I accept." He replied still not looking up.
"Look at me and promise to me what I want." I ordered him.
"I, Sebastiene Valittu Hebi, the first demon king, promise to follow you until you decide to free me from this promise." He stated. "I shall never bring harm to you or any other Castellan, I shall never betray you and will always keep you safe. Your enemies shall be mine as well. These words I will keep until I die and if I break it, my entire clan shall pay the price."
I held out my hand to him which he took and kissed the back of. Parsua hugged me from behind and peeked at the scene. She floated closer to look at Sebastiene and smiled at him kindly.
"Take care of Melody my dear demon king." She spoke in a soft voice that's very calming. "She is still young and needs guidance."
"I promise to the goddess of life that helped in creating me, I shall stand beside her until I pass or until she no longer wants me." Sebastiene spoke with reverence to Parsua. She smiled at him before returning to my side.
"I shall watch over you and your people." Parsua spoke as she faded. "If you break your promise, you and your people shall suffer."
When Parsua was completely gone, Sebastiene raised his head to look at me.
"You are a vessel for the goddess of life?" he asked amazed.
"Yes." I replied signalling for him to stand up. "Yet people went around saying our family was abandoned by them."
"I know," Sebastiene stood up and dusted himself. "I heard it myself. Do you have plans to stop the spread of those rumors little girl?"
"Not really," I replied. "my sisters will take care of that. For now, finding horses is my priority."
"Why are you looking for horses here?" He asked. "Does House Castellan also have no horses? Is your family suffering from financial problems?"
"No." I replied, snorting at his deduction.
I started to tell him what happened the last few days while we looked for horses. I told him about the missing women and children, the betrayal of our butler and most of our men and the attack planned by Marquis McClare. He listened to me intently while attentively helping me move faster by paving a way for me through the forest. We went deeper but still did not find any horses so we decided to head back.
"Why don't you just kill that marquis?" He asked me after I was done talking.
"I have a better revenge plan." I smiled.
"If you need any help, I am always available at your disposal little girl." He replied smiling coldy.
"I know. Anyway, you need to undergo an interview before you start working." I told him as we got closer to the entrance of the forest. "All you need to know about your pay, benefits and schedule will be cleared at that time.
"Oh? I didn't know I get to have benefits and pay for keeping a promise." Sebastiene smiled teasingly. "I wonder how much you are willing to pay a demon king."
"Who knows? I am not the one to decide that." I shrugged.
We got out of the forest and made our way to the front doors of the castle. Sebastiene looked around as if looking for other people.
"I told you, there is only a maid here besides our family." I said before opening the door.
The first thing we saw when I opened the door were Athy's summoned spirits carrying stacks of paper headed by Skirr.
"What the hell?!