"Of course, it would be an honor for a soldier like me to dine with a noble " Sylvia replied
Just let me get ready, oh wait where is my armor?
It was only then that Sylvia realized that she was wearing a white nightgown and there were no signs of her weapon or her armor, so then she asked: um I'm sorry lady? I don't know your name. I have a question where are my belongings?
'We are servants of his majesty although we possess individual names we do not use them while serving his majesty as for your second question your attire is safe they were dirty and damaged so we sent them for cleaning and repairing same with your weapon '
Sylvia was shocked,why they were so kind towards her? Her sword was badly damaged from the impacts against orc axes and her armor was no better, then she remembered that she had no money on her and even if they repaired the damaged equipment she wouldn't be able to pay them back, she didn't want to be indebted to a noble,nobles have their own desires and political plans she didn't want to become a pawn in somebody else's game, and then again there was the risk of angering the noble,specially a noble like this who can afford such luxurious room just for their guests.
I'm sry lady maid but I don't have any money I can't pay you back for the service.
'That matter is none of your concern my lord will never ask for compensation from a guest his majesty is the most generous being this universe has ever seen' Her eyes were shining brightly when talking about her master as if she was about to burst from joy.
Hmmm, a generous master? He must be kind to his servants otherwise they would never say his praise to this extent, she seems genuinely happy when she talks about him I guess I shouldn't worry too much he seems like a good guy, Sylvia thought to herself.
But then again lady maid I don't have any attire fit to attend a dining session with a noble and not just any noble someone with the status of your master, Sylvia was getting the hang of the situation the man she was about to meet was surely of great status possibly one of the dukes connected to the royal family by blood and was probably banished by the royal family to this secluded place in fear of being one of the contenders to the throne and that's why there was no record of him living in this area,she had heard rumors about royal family banishing their relatives to consolidate power before,but still he was a Duke nonetheless so she had to be careful.
As she was thinking about this situation the maid replied: you don't have to worry about such mundane matters her majesty will provide his guests with anything they desire and that's why I'm here pls follow me, Then she gestured her hands towards the door as to invite her to leave the room.
Sylvia was doubtful but she got up and walked out of the room the scenery changed to a corridor with gold-covered candles and majestic chandeliers hanging from the ceiling the carpet her bare feet touched was so soft as if she stepping on the clouds, the maid left the room after the guest and then walked towards the end of the corridor, Sylvia followed her without thinking twice they walked and walked until they reached a door, then the maid stood next to the door and said: please take a bath its necessary for a maiden such as yourself to get rid of the filth that she accumulated during her recent battle and also this bath will help you to refresh your mind.
Sylvia didn't hesitate this time and accepted her suggestion when she entered the room she confronted a sight that she had never experienced before, when the maid described taking a bath she expected there to be ewers and shallow washbasins or at best a wooden tub, but there was a huge tub made out of pure gold and hot water was trickling like a waterfall from some device she had never seen before, this is the fifth time today that I'm totally dumbfounded I don't know what to be shocked by anymore!
When she got out of the room she was presented with a bathrobe,she couldn't figure out the material that it was made of, but it was shockingly soft and comfortable,then the maid brought her to another room and some other maids came into view, they were waiting for her, they brushed her hair and cut down some parts of it then they presented her with hundreds of dresses in a huge closet,she was asked to choose one of them, it was only then that her survival instincts kicked in again.
These dresses are too beautiful they look like what I always imagined princesses wear in those stories my dad always read for me when I was a little girl, their price must be staggering I can't afford a single thing here,I don't want to be indebted to this noble even tho it seems like he is not malicious but this is too much, she tried to look for a cheaper one but they all seemed straight of a fairly tale book, so she turned to one of the beautiful maids and said: Sorry but I'm not used to these kinds of dresses is there any way for me to get something simpler
The maid replied: unacceptable you are going to meet a supreme being your attire shall be of utmost quality please choose one of these or we will have to kill ourselves from the shame of not being able to present a guest properly to our master.
BAM!
It was then that all the previous assumptions Sylvia had made up to that point were shattered, she called him a supreme being? No way a simple maid would call a noble," a supreme being",even if the said noble was of direct blood of the king, he must be a grand mage or some crazy wizard, I was always scared of mages you never knew when they decide your life is expendable, for them other human's lives are worthless, and what is with the thought of killing themselves, I thought that their master was generous and kind is he that cruel as to punish these maids for their inability to help a guest choose an attire?
What kind of situation have I got myself into, I'm fucked!
No Sylvia it's not time to give up, you are a soldier you have to regain your composure this was Sylvia trying to somehow come to terms with the situation at hand.
After she pondered for a while she reached for a white dress that seemed the most simple one.
'Good choice' one of the maids cheered let's get you ready the lord is gonna have his dinner in exactly an hour so we don't have much time.
With that, the tiresome process of applying makeup wearing the dress and choosing appropriate jewelry started, as one can imagine she was not the tiniest bit happy about the jewelry part, but she had no choice but to comply she couldn't just run from the maids not in the castle of a noble or the worst case scenario a fucking mage!
After those grueling tasks were finally over they accompanied her to another room and told her to wait there.
As she was trying to make the tiniest sense of the situation at hand she started to smell a fancy fragrance coming from the corridor outside of her room and then she could hear the sound of someone walking towards her room, as the door to her room opened she saw a woman in her thirties wearing mostly black and red attire that she had never seen before, she was also like all the other people she had seen in that castle up to that point was extremely beautiful but now Sylvia was kinda used to it.
' Hello my name is Scarlet' she introduced herself, I'm an assistant of lord neoh pls let me accompany you to the banquet hall.
"Of course " Sylvia replied it would be an honor.
Then she got up and started following Scarlet who was leading her towards the other end of the corridor but suddenly she stopped and mumbled: hmm this should be a good spot then she chanted something and a portal opened in front of her she turned towards Sylvia and said: after you lady Sylvia.
Sylvia had never seen portals before she had heard in legends about people that were able to use teleportation but they were just legends, it has been a thousand years since a mage was able to achieve teleportation that knowledge has been lost to humanity for ages, but now in front of her eyes somebody conjured a portal out of thin fucking air! And she did it effortlessly too! Sylvia's worst fear was becoming a reality by every second she spent in that damned castle she wanted to scream and run but, where could she run? That damned witch just opened a portal in front of her she could never run from her, no! Not in a thousand years.
But wait,suddenly she realized: I never told my name to them and they never asked, how does she know my first name?
Her head felt dizzy and she felt she was about to throw up from the sheer amount of fear she was feeling.
It was then that Scarlet put her hand on her shoulder and all that fear and doubt was washed away like a tidal wave washing away the beach.
She must've used a spell but I will never figure out what she had used, Sylvia thought, she was in no position to refuse her and she was kinda thankful for the timely help,otherwise the white dress would've been stained by contents of her belly and that would be a disaster.
After that, she hesitantly stepped into the portal and a completely new view came into sight!