None of the kids even acknowledged the pair who were discussing matters that were not about them, even if they kept glancing at them occasionally. Rose was reeling from the memo. Lady Aurora had not answered, but the head butler of Castle Dyne penned and stamped this response himself.
"This…is...we…" After a stumbled pause the instructor simply spit out. "Nothing we can do about it."
"Am I to understand, that I have been remained here?" Looking rather flummoxed the noble slipped back into formal speech.
"If Sir Bandersnatch tells us, then that's how it is. He commands the castle when the Lady isn't around." Rose placed the memo on the desk, uncertain what to make of the whole incident.
"Memo?" Struggling to come to terms, Tiffaney latched onto the unfamiliar word.
"Oh, someone in the Dyne Family called it that, definition, a short letter."
"I see than I shall return to-to…" Observing the child wander back, the senior didn't have a heart to scold the lady. Unlike the rest of them, the lady had talent and skills. Her background made her extremely valuable, even if circumstance rendered that not ideal. It was one of the more unfortunate things about being an instructor, it made her realize just how small she was relative to the world.
"It's ok, Miss Rose scolds us all the time too!"
Realizing that a five-year-old was trying to cheer her up, the noble lady felt even lower. Sir Octave Bandersnatch was a far more merciless opponent than she thought. No wonder they hadn't imprisoned her, they knew she couldn't escape.
"Its fine, let's try this macaroni thing you talked about yesterday." Diverting the children from causing her to become more depressed the noble continued the arts and crafts lesson. It was absurd that her fate hung in the balance, and her best action was to paste hard pasta to construction paper.
As the oldest, it naturally irritated her that the children were not mindful of returning things to their proper places. Her work of a multi layered flower made from curved macroions was a huge hit, being hung next to the sparrow she drew earlier. After the rest of the children were released, the newest maid was busy putting away the leftover supplies.
"Don't worry too much." From the door frame two maids leaned into the room, looking like a stacked doll.
"Maid Big, is right, there's nothing to worry about." Maid Mare competed from behind the curvy maid.
"What do you mean big?" Tring to turn around in the door frame to come to grips with the coat hanger maid.
"Big white shoes." This was of course not true, instead referring to her chest, large for the group of underdeveloped kids.
"My feet are dainty, say that again and ill crush you!"
"Mare! Jac!"
Even Tiffaney who had been present for three days, knew that when the titles came off it was bad. Rose who had always treated her softly developed a sudden fierce aura. Eyes and brows furrowed into knife edges, as she affixed them with a death stare.
"Is this how one conducts themselves, had the rest of the class been here I could only choose discipline instead of reprimanding you now!"
"Heh you're in trouble, her feet are too big to fit the discipline task." Maid Mare sarcastically snaped off; A dig that maid Jac's boobs would be in the way.
"Would you care to repeat that…Mare?" Shivering on the sidelines, the noble could only expect what came next.
"Got work!" Mare shouted running like her namesake.
"Traitor!" As predicted the teen maid sprinted away, artfully ducking under a spear trap without much thought. Distracted by the breakaway sprint, maid Jac was unable to dodge the approaching Rose.
"That girl is young, and I will deal with her latter as for you…"
Tiffaney didn't have to be targeted to listen to the lecture that spilled out. Grabbing the older sister by the ear, Rose mercilessly insinuated that the maid needed to reflect on all her life choices. It turned to be that her education excelled at looping her words circularly.
'She repeated the same set of reprimands three times yet each is different, quite skilled." Sneaking away while the two were distracted was an act of prudence. Wandering the corridors was fine since fancy cones blocked off the harsh traps from being triggered. No one had ever scolded the noble like that, so the scene was uncomfortable. She had a sinking thought that it was her family that was wrong, not the world.
Those thoughts were unproductive, so a few shakes were all it took for the noble to refocus. Refocus into the bucket trap on the left. Water soaked the noble through her clothes, another thing she didn't need to have. It was fitting that she couldn't stay, a place this nice to all was for those who weren't to be discarded.
Wetness was inherently miserable, and it was the right state for her, but last time there was a huge fuss when she got paint on her uniform. It helped that most of them wore the same thing, there was less to ridicule.
"I should change, before someone makes trouble over this, I don't want them to be bothered." Behind her, the unofficial Tiffaney protection squad, desperately restrained themselves from running to the small girl. In her room the noble removed the wet clothes before finding a towel to dry herself.
"Why does the big sister need so much assistance." After dressing in a new uniform, the maid remade her roommate's bed. There was no further class and the prosect of dinner seemed so distant to her melancholy. Did she really need to leave, this nightmare wasn't completely black like her last one. If it hadn't been for that letter.
"I must leave, if the lord of this castle is going to decide my fate, I must continue to try to live. I must, that's all I can do, I must, I must, I must…"
Elsewhere-Oaken Staff estate
"At least the last one was halfblooded; this trash has nothing for it."
Spiting at the person on the ground, the person refused to break. Unlike the noble who had occupied this position before her, she had no reason to give up and refused to accept matters. It had been less effective than fiction would lead one to believe, in where the so-called noble daughters could force others to fall for her. It remained to be seen given that this random person had been abducted and was told that they would be the new counts daughter.
"I'm still a noble lady-" A fist slammed into the whisper thin side. Having staggered to their feet, the slip of a human crashed back into the wretched stone floor. Whatever the person had wanted to say was cut off, it was clear to the two servants that had been tormenting the young girl that she was now were unconscious.
"Nerve of that girl to act like she was better than us."
"Right, thinks just because the count says she's a noble is all it takes."
"If that were it, we would be kings, no?"
Chortling to themselves, the two were part of a large group that bullied others for fun. As a house, the count took bribes from others and channeled his funds into oppressing the enemies of said family. Not that the family cared they lived beyond a counts lifestyle by sucking up to the earthen fire Everberg steward, smuggling humans, wine, and drugs into the sacred lands. Rich ores and magical gems were more than enough to drive the despicable decadence.
It was no wonder that they felt that abusing a child was meaningless if they were fine. It didn't matter to the person who no one asked or checked to see if they were alive or even if the child, they picked was a girl.
A noble wanted it to be done, if they wished for a chance they had to survive first.