Alan was quiet and vaguer most of the trip to Valerie's hometown, but now that they were leaving he was as happy as the sky was blue.
"Mommy! Mommy! Do you think papa would like to go fishing and swimming with us just like we did yesterday?" Alan beamed.
He was a glowing ray of sunshine instead of the dark cloud of death that he was not only an hour ago.
"I'm sure he'd love it Alan." Valerie responded, but she knew that Malphus would be to busy to go fishing and swimming with them.
Yes, he could banter with her during his work time, but that was because she was usually in his workspace with him. If she were still a normal maid, then he'd probably barely make time for her.
And with that thought, Valerie's heart crushed.
"Of course, what was I expecting?! I'm just a maid, I was a friend and could have still been, but for whatever tax reason I can't anymore. I need to stay in my place." Valerie thought, and that's just what she did.
She took her own bags in the castle and to her room, she immediately changed out of her outfit and into her uniform.
She walked just down the hall to Malphus study and knocked on the door. She waited a couple of minutes and there was no answer, so she knocked again. No answer. She walked in the study and no one was there.
'He's probably off with Francis doing fancy things not even thinking about me.' Valerie thought as she started organizing the papers on his desk.
'At least this makes it easier on me' Valerie wouldn't get half as distracted or be half as slow without Malphus in the room.
'Honestly, I think I've turned a blind eye for far to long. The reality is that I am a maid, I'm working for money while my husband does who knows what, and I now basically have a child who basically has a pet bunny.' Valerie thought reality was worse than that, but actually her life was quite simple and her job was quite simple.
She got paid to feed the King and organize his work. Nothing more, nothing less. She had it pretty easy and she was thankful. She could be getting paid 10$ a week at a library or 15$ a week at a school, but no. She was paid well over 100$ just for organizing.
This was simplicity that Valerie could live with. She'd be fine if that's all she did plus play with Alan daily, and so that's what she did.
She formally greeted the King, she didn't make small talk when bringing his food, she cleaned his study then left.
During that time she barely felt as if she was even seeing the King daily. He had become such a part of her daily life it was like he just vanished now, and Valerie didn't mind at all.
Instead of always thinking about some useless form of banter, she was actually able to make friends. Her old friends wouldn't talk to her, but some other people gave her a chance and she made friends with them.
"So your the one that keeps this little muffin safe." One of her new friends, Raver, said.
"Yes, didn't he tell you that he lived in the castle?" Valerie asked, sure that the boy had uttered something.
"Nope, he did what I asked and was gone as soon as we finished. He's really good help." Raver said ruffling Alan's hair.
"Thank you Mr.Mommy's friend." Alan gave his thanks for being praised of his helping skills.
"Rave, just call me Rave." Rave said, and Alan nodded his head.
"Ok Rave. Mommy, can I go play with Arlo now? I'm sure he's lonely without me." Alan begged Valerie.
"Yes,but remember if you feed him, only feed him salad." Valerie shued the boy away.
"Alro?" Rave asked.
"He's Malphus' pet bunny that he doesn't keep. He basically gave him to Alan a while ago and we've been keeping him ever since." Valerie said, thinking of the time when Malphus said that she and the bunny were alike.
"Oh. No one told me Malphus got a new pet." Rave said a little confused, maids were usually itching for any gossip they could find, even if it's just about the King getting a new pet.
"Yea, he found it in the woods while coming back from Ashton and decided he wanted to make it his pet, but after that he barely batted an eye towards it." Valerie said, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
"No wonder." Said Rave ruffling his own hair by forcing it back.
"I should probably go watch Alan, he likes to try to feed Arlo human food." Valerie waved to Rave.
"See ya later Val." Rave walked the opposite direction.
As soon as she entered the room she saw Alan crying.
"Alan! What's wrong?!" Valerie ran to try and comfort Alan.
"Arlo. Mommy, he's missing."