A few days after the incident, I sat in my room reading and heard a knock on the door. I ignored it until another knock came. My eyes didn't move from my book as I made a noise in response. The door opened and a maid entered followed by a child, "Miss Moao."
Without raising my eyes from my book, I hummed. "Mmn?"
The maid pushed the child in front of her. The child had fair skin with freckles. Her light brown eyes anxiously scanned the room while she smoothed her brown hair in an effort to calm herself down. The maid nudged her anxiously, "Introduce yourself."
The child curtsied, "It's a pleasure to meet you Lady Moao. My name is Amanda." She curtsied once again and looked up at me bashfully.
"Mmn."
Amanda looked back at the maid with a worried expression. The maid cleared her throat to give herself courage in order to speak to me, "The Baron wanted to get you a maid your age in order to keep you company. From now on she will be serving you every minute of the day."
I finally raised my eyes and looked at the adult maid, "Why."
The maid shifted uncomfortably under my gaze, "The Baron thinks you may be getting bored since you seem to threaten his life whenever you see him."
I looked back to my book, quickly losing interest in the conversation. The maid could tell she didn't have my attention anymore and patted the child reassuringly before quickly rushing out of the room. As the silence continued, Amanda began to shake visibly.
On the other hand, I was completely unaware of how nervous the girl in front of me was. She wasn't even in my eyes.
Amanda pulled at her hair as she stuttered out anxiously, "I-I was told that y-you are really smart and would like to have more i-intelligent conversations?"
She waited for a response but received none.
She shifted uncomfortably, "I am the top of my class and I know all of the customs. You won't have to worry about my ability."
She nodded in dignity as if she was trying to persuade herself more than me. However, I barely listened to her since I could care less about having a child "around my age" to have intelligent conversations with.
The only problem was that the more I ignored her, the more she would talk.
And Amanda LOVED to talk.
She always seemed to have something new to say. Listening to the gossip and nonsense every day completely drained the little energy I did have. My head felt like splitting over the endless information. Thanks to my curse, I couldn't forget a thing. That was why I hated gossip the most. The more I knew, the more I was forced to remember.
Finally, I couldn't handle it any longer.
I immediately stopped walking causing Amanda to bump into me. I turned around and spoke flatly, "Stop talking."
Amanda instantly closed her mouth. My eyes were drawn to her lips that began to tremble pitifully. She started wailing at the top of her lungs. I stood there looking at her indifferently without knowing what to say. I wasn't used to these kinds of situations.
I looked around awkwardly to see if anyone was around, "Why are you crying?"
She spoke between sobs, "B-Because you d-don't l-like me!"
I frowned feeling slightly irritated, "I just said to stop talking. I never said anything about not liking you."
Amanda wiped away the tears in her eyes, "So, y-you like me?"
I watched her blubbering expression, shocked at the mentality of this girl. I shook my head in exasperation, "I don't dislike you."
Amanda choked on her sobs and gave a toothy grin, "I will serve you throughout life with everything I have!"
I looked at her snotty face apathetically. What is wrong with this girl?
Later, I discovered what Amanda had meant.
She was no longer afraid of me as she used to be. She used to always shake in my presence, but now she was overly friendly. She would watch me with unfaltering devotion as if I was some type of goddess.
I became convinced this girl had hit her head.
I was sitting outside with a cup of bitter tea, enjoying the summer breeze. I heard servants in the distance and noticed the Baron walk over to me in my peripheral vision. He looked at Amanda who was staring at me with starry eyes and a bright smile. The Baron spoke to me, "Seems like you two are getting along well."
I looked at the Baron, "Would you like to have some tea?"
He grimaced and quickly walked away. Amanda gasped, "Wow! My lady must really love the Baron!"
"Hm?"
"You must! My lady almost never speaks and yet she invited the Baron for tea! But, why would he walk away? No one in the right mind could refuse my lady. Unless... Maybe he is too embarrassed? Yes, it must be. Having tea with the lady would be like tasting heaven!"
I watched as Amanda began to prattle on about her delusion. I didn't bother telling her that I hated my father for his misogyny and heartlessness. Nor did I tell her that I threaten his life every time I see him.
Although, I wonder if Amanda would even listen to me. It seemed as though Amanda believed me to be without faults completely.
I still don't understand what I did to earn this much trust.
If I were even slightly ambitious, I probably would have tried to figure out why.