After Elaina finished taking a bath, she returned to her room where Julia was currently unpacking her things. Elaina went to her dresser, removed the towel on her hair, and let her golden hair flow down.
"Master, do you want me to comb your hair?" Julia asked.
"Thank you Julia but no, it's fine. Also, I think you shouldn't call me "Master" anymore. Calling me Elaina or even Sister would be fine since I am no longer a high-ranking person who needs any kind of respect before you can call them. I am now just an ordinary farmer and an ordinary mother right now, so calling me Master is just awkward in many ways."
"Eh? But is it alright to call you "Sister"? We are not related by blood in any sort of form for me to be able to call you as one."
"Hehe, it is fine. Besides, I am already treating you as my unofficial younger sister that is not born from my mother. I insist."
"Then...I will call you Sister. I don't want to be disrespectful so calling you as Sister is a much better way for me."
"That's fine by me."
After finishing whatever they are doing, the two slip into the bed, covering themselves under the blanket.
"Hehe, sleeping next to Sister...I have always been dreaming about this," Julia giggled.
Elaina smiled and turned off the little light crystal that was giving them light.
"Sister...do you think you would still go back to the castle and return to your duties as an Empress of Luminiera Kingdom?"
"To be honest? No. With my twins in my belly and after their birth, the church would immediately deem me as someone who shouldn't be qualified to rule. That is one of the things that I would think will happen once I return. And besides, I can't forgive my husband as well."
Julia was surprised. "Eh? You can't forgive His Majesty, Alfred? This is news to me! I thought you left the kingdom due to your pregnancy with the twins!"
Elaina then realized why Julia didn't know about the real reason she had escaped. Knowing Alfred, he didn't share the content of the letter with anyone else and let the populace believe I left on my own.
"You deserve to know the real reason why I left."
Julia who also likes to listen to any sort of gossip starts to listen and the two are having a lively night. Still, the two slept early after their little gossip as Elaina also needed to wake up early and do her work.
...
...
...
A new day begins again and Elaina is ready to do her job once more. Julia is still asleep, perhaps due to her tiredness finally sinking in, or perhaps she has decided to sleep a little longer now that her job as a maid is finally over. Either reason is fine for Elaina and it's not like she is forcing her to wake up early like her.
Elaina is also surprised that her morning sickness didn't occur that day. Perhaps it was a good day that she didn't feel any sort of pain at all and she didn't feel dizzy or even nauseous. Happy with herself, she washed up, prepared herself, and ready all of the things she needed for the work that day.
Elaina carried her watering can as she went to the stream and filled the empty watering can with water. As Elaina is currently refilling the can, an egg fell from the tree. Elaina noticed it and she was about to catch the egg in her hands but she missed it. She managed to touch the egg with the tip of her hands but because she wasn't expecting it, the egg fell into the stream of water.
Elaina immediately tried to look where the egg fell but before she could even react, a blinding light suddenly engulfed her vision she had to cover her eyes with her hands.
"Wh-what?" Elaina rubbed her eyes for a bit as her vision slowly recovered from the blinding light that engulfed her eyes.
"Hmmm, that one was a weird egg. A boiled one would be a good offering but I guess a raw one should do just fine."
Elaina was startled at the floating person before her. She was too surprised that she did not know whether the person before her was a ghost or something else. After all, no normal person suddenly appears out of nowhere and starts floating above the water.
"Who are you and what the heck are you doing here?!" Elaina quickly used her authoritative voice since her sword was not on her side at that time. After all, who would bring her sword while she was just taking water from the stream and watering the growing crops?
The person looked at her and frowned.
"Hmm, are you the new human who decided to take over the farm? Then that's good. As the new farmer, you should treat me, the Harvest Goddess with utter respect as I am the one who keeps the land healthy and fertile. And because of that, you are obligated to offer your harvests straight to me. Without me, you won't be having a good time right now. Alright human, remember that I like fresh vegetables harvested or fruits freshly gathered. Poultry products are also good but I prefer them boiled. I hate milk and other dairy products as they just get diluted to the water and I don't get to drink it."
Elaina is stunned that she decided to call the god watching over her.
"Hey, are you the one who put this weird person floating before me?"
"[Weird person? What do you... What the...a lesser god?]" The god who was watching over Elaina seemed to be also surprised as well.
The one called a lesser god seemed to have also noticed what Elaina was doing and she frowned.
"Hey, who are you talking to?"
The god heard the lesser god and decided to materialize as a parrot.
"It seems you have hidden yourself too well to the point where I can say that I commend you for hiding your presence too well. However, how dare you decide that the blessed chosen one should offer something to you?"
"Well of course! After all, I am the Harvest Goddess of this land. Without me, this place won't be that..." Before she could continue what she was about to say, the parrot took action.
The parrot suddenly flies at full speed and tackles the so-called goddess causing her to fall back into the water. She didn't drown though but she reappeared again but this time, only showing her head as her body was just submerged underwater.
"Why did you tackle her like that?" Elaina asked.
"If she is truly the Harvest Goddess of this land, then why is she asking for bribes to people? A Harvest Goddess will remain as one and will perform as one without the need to look or get a bribe from farmers. Perhaps you are also one of the reasons the former owners of the farm have moved out in fear aside from the danger nearby."
The Harvest Goddess pouted but she didn't say anything to deny it. It seems some or maybe all of it is true.
"Then, are you going to chase her away from here?" Elaina asked.
"No. Her actions might be a bit of a questionable one but her job is really good. If not for her, this place would be too barren and it would not be a viable place to farm. So I guess I can just ignore her previous actions. Of course, she should change her ways of asking you to offer your harvests to her. Be a responsible god without the need for reward. If you decided to offer some harvests to her voluntarily, then that is fine but you shouldn't feel the need to be obligated to offer anything to her as what she was doing is her job."
Elaina felt a little sorry for her but what the god said was right. Even this god is not asking anything for her to immediately offer things as a way of thanks for the blessings. Guess even the gods have it tough with other gods as well