It felt so surreal, the way he touched her head. It wasn't compared to the other times he would have his arms on her. It was as if Lord Ellis had this power to suddenly make people yearn for his praises. No wonder Miel seemed to be trying his hardest to be the best seneschal he could.
It's just that the system notification sprung out of nowhere.
Not that Artie was shocked she gained a sliver of trust, but she was shocked by what she needed to do just to get three percent. Moreover, she gained Apostasy points instead. 'Apostasy? Why am I getting Apostasy points from my task? Don't I have the Veneration route by default?
'Ay, wait, I was evil. Of course, that was Apostasy points...'
"Hahaha! Look at such a very energetic little bride!" The same person from earlier laughed out again as he even hyped the other middle-aged men in the group. "Larkin really knows what he wanted. Yes, yes, tell us when you're getting married so we can send gifts to the little bride!"
"You're so kind." Artie Shen only smiled at them and decided to ignore them now. It would be weird if she continued to be very sweet and innocent right after they saw her vicious moves against women who openly insulted the archduke.
…
When Artie heard knocks on her door, she was so sure that it was Miel. He must have heard about what she did and was getting ready to skin her alive. She tiptoed and listened if the knocking would come again. She hoped Miel would give up and leave if she wasn't around.
"Please leave, please leave. I don't want to feel bad about disciplining wenches..."
Click! The lock of the door was disengaged, and Artie was shocked.
Miel used the master key to get inside her room and forced her to face him. His cold gaze descended on her, but he soon sighed as he closed the door behind him. "What you did at the dinner table..."
"I know it's bitchy—" "Was marvelous."
They both paused and stared at each other. Miel actually had the same level of shock as Artie had on her face. A few seconds passed before Miel cleared his throat. "What I mean is… Lord Ellis never cared about those who insult him. No one wanted to be aggressive, but they would say things like he's air.
"Thank you for teaching those women a lesson. Perhaps in the future, I would be able to harm them openly as well." Miel huffed. "Lord Ellis didn't reprimand you so it must mean he would appreciate actions as such. However, of course, I also came here for a related matter…
"The ladies you disrespected might not be important at all, but you need to exercise caution when facing others. There are some duchesses and dukes that you shouldn't teach no matter how ill-mannered they have become." He then took out a small custom book. "Here. A list of the nobles.
"Try to memorize all these faces. That would help you see who you can confront directly and not."
Artie received the book, and she browsed it carefully. There were photos attached to names and short descriptions of them. It was also noticeable that the book was old and worn as if it had been used again and again. Perhaps it had become Miel's cheat sheet when he was just new to being seneschal.
She then chuckled as she waved the book gently. "You know if you're not all 'I will skin you', you're really a very cool guy! Thanks a lot for this!"
Miel frowned at the strange language, but he only smiled slightly. "You'd be with Lord Ellis in places I won't be. Even if you're not completely trustworthy, I would like it if you help me watch over Lord Ellis. He might not be old yet, but he ignored a lot of things he deemed unnecessary even if they were.
"He's a grown man, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't get in trouble."
He then paused a little before sighing. "I can't believe I'd say this, but… you said you're here to answer the prayers of the people. I don't know which prayer you'd be responding to, but I hope someone was worried about Lord Ellis. That way it would be your responsibility to keep him safe."
Artie's eyes widened at the words she heard. Wasn't it too much for Miel to open up like this? It felt quite fast. Then again, maybe it had something to do with the fact she was an angel in a devildom ruled by demons. Could it be that the people's hopelessness had summoned her here?
In the end, Artie didn't get an answer even after Miel had left.
She then sat on her bed and browsed the small book slowly. "It would be a pain to memorize all these faces. I wonder if I could carry this book everywhere I go." She finished the book and inspected the back. "Hm, this book sure did hold on for so long, staying in the sweaty hands of a nervous seneschal."
As soon as she flipped it over…
[You have finished reading 'Miel's Nobility Cheat Sheet'!]
[You have unlocked the skill: Eternal Memories!]
[This passive skill will let you keep an archive of browsed and inspected items inside your mind, recalling them as swiftly as necessary.]
[Contents of 'Miel's Nobility Cheat Sheet' have been archived!]
'Is this real?' Artie closed her eyes, and a seemingly innocent white hardback book opened in the void she saw. The contents of the books were categorized into sections: Character, Skills, Memories, and Items. She focused on Items, and the book flipped the pages to another list.
'Wow, the cheat sheet is here! This Heaven Creation system really is something!' Artie moved to the skills and could only take a look at the two skills she had, Gaze of Confession and Hideous Brown Rat Transmutation.
Memories only had one entry: her descent to the castle of Ellis Plains.
As for the character, she could only see her naked image and the short bars of her route meters. There were strange empty hovering slots around the character, which seemed to be for equipment. Then again, what could an angel equip? She wasn't going on an adventure after all.
Artie exited the archive and looked around the room she was in. She got to her feet and looked out the window. From the castle, she could see the distant city. From the colors she could find, it seemed to be a very busy and bustling district.
"I'm here to answer the prayers of the people. I wonder if I get to earn anything from the townspeople." Artie suddenly winced at the thought. "Oof, what if I collected too many quests that they would only expire while I try to juggle everything in my head? Wow, that's going to be too much of a headache."
However, she still looked out and stared at the horizon. Instead of a pacified look on her face, her brows seemed to knit closer to each other.
"Is that smoke I'm seeing? Huh? Something in the city is on fire?!"