They never tell you about the little things in all the novels. I've found that it's the smallest luxuries in life which can have the greatest impacts, and right now I'm struggling.
I bathe myself in a river near the castle, which is a huge hassle to get to, wash myself, and come back from. Not to mention how unhygienic it feels to have no soap.
The amount of salt that you could find in a diner's salt shaker would be worth the annual income of one of the maids or footmen, and I make no money at all. The vast majority of my food is ridiculously hard and dry bread, or the occasional couple of bits of meat if one of the guards took a break to go hunting.
I'm not even going to get into bathrooms. Just let it be known, that if I ever get to see a flush toilet again, I'll cry real tears of joy.
All of which to say, my quality of life has been greatly diminished. I was sat down at a small table, picking at my bread slowly.
Still, having any food was a luxury now, and having meals everyday was almost definitely not the norm. So I didn't really have any room to complain. One of the maids, a younger girl with fluffy brown hair walked timidly up to me where I was sitting alone.
I say younger but she was probably older than I was, am, whatever. She looked around her low teens, maybe 13 or 14 if I had to field a guess. I looked up at her, and she pulled on the longer strands of her curly hair.
"Um. Did…what…do you know what happened a few nights ago? we think you were the one that yelled, and the guards won't tell us anything."
It makes sense that they would be curious. I hadn't been told not to tell anyone, but I stopped to consider. On the one hand, hearing an assassin had been sent after her might garner Lilith some sympathy. On the other hand, the fact that Lilith fended off a trained assassin at age 9 might be terrifying to them.
I just had to present it the right way. "An assassin from the [Church of Purification] came intending to kill Lilith in her sleep. I yelled when I noticed, and Lilith got out of the way. After the guards came, she used something to kill herself and set the room on fire."
The girls eyes were wide, and her face somewhat pale. "Oh my gods. Are you alright?"
I still had a very visible bruise on my face from where the tutor hit me, twice. "I got slapped around a little but I'm fine. I think the guards got it the worst, but it was all kind of a blur."
The girl nodded, sitting down next to me. "A few of them had pretty severe burns from what I heard, but no one died. The head of the guards apparently had seen something like it before, and got them all out. At least, that's what I heard from some of the guards. They wouldn't tell me who or what had happened though, so thank you."
I shrug, clamping my teeth down on my bread and tear a piece off with a jerk of my head. Even then I only barely managed to separate a smaller chunk of the hard material. "Thank Lilith. She's the one that saved my life."
"S-She did?"
I nod, editing the events in my head to hide my own presence a little better. "When the assassin used the flask thing, she grabbed me and got us both out the window before it hit. She managed to grab onto the wall and hold both of us there while the fire died down."
The girl looked down, some conflict in her eyes as her mouth pulled into a frown. She looked at me again as I fought my bread. "Why did you spend so much time with her? You could turn down her summons."
"Why would I? She's a sweet kid."
"But she could-"
"I could." I look at her with unimpressed eyes. "You or I could kill the other right here right now. I could trip over one of these tables, slam my head into the floor, and die. Any of the soldiers at any time could take out half the population of servants before he would be stopped." I refocus on my bread. "We are fragile creatures when you get down to it. Lilith is plenty careful, at least enough that she's never done anything but bruise me."
The girl is quiet and contemplative, so I go in for the kill. "You should try talking to her." She jolts in place, looking at me with wide eyes.
"Huh?! M-Me?!"
"Yeah. Have you ever?"
Her lips pressed into a line. "N-No…"
"Try it. I'm not asking you to arm wrestle her, just say hello or goodbye."
"Umm…a-alright, I'll try at some point."
I nod, finishing off my bread with a sigh. There's a sudden noise spreading through the small eating area, as the amorphous blob of noise that is formed by large groups of people all talking picks up in intensity.
Both me and the girl look around confused, before Mainor runs up to me, his hair a total spiky mess as he pants out of breath. "Poe! The young Miss's fiance is visiting, you must attend to her post haste!"
Fiance? Shit.
I steel myself, standing up instantly. Manior throws my little uniform overcoat on my shoulders, and I pull it on as I walk towards the room. "Crash course on what to do?"
"Don't speak unless spoken to, don't be rude, try not to look at him."
Well, it was only a matter of time before I met the main villain, may as well do it now right?
Mainor rushed me into Lilith's room, which had been totally redone in what felt like an instant. It was cleaned to perfection, the shoddy splintered table replaced with a decadent white floral pattern table right where the window is.
Lilith herself is looking shell shocked, staring blankly forwards as a maid tries to comb her hair, the comb being shoddily tied to the blunt end of a broom which the maid is using to keep distance between them. It's not working very well.
I sigh, grabbing the comb off of the broom and starting to comb her hair myself. I'm not particularly good at it, but she's immune to any pain or discomfort from it, so it's fine. She speaks in a low voice. "Um. Poe? What's happening?"
"Your fiance is coming."
"The crown prince?"
I grimace, though she can't see it. "Yeah." That bastard is here.
The main villain of IRAAS. The puppet master behind a multitude of crises and the cause behind an untold number of deaths. He was a shallow character, the kind that only cared about himself with no deeper reason. He was going to be king, and he hated that the MC was going to overshadow him as a [Saint], so, he tried tons of times to kill the MC.
The comb settles frizzled hair into a smooth platinum silver pool. "I'll be right next to you for the whole thing."
She nods, craning her head to look up at me as she sits on her small chair. "He's nice, I think you'll get along with him."
I try not to grimace to her face. "I'm…sure we will."
Her hair done, I put the comb away, and stand by. The door is opened by a regal looking man I've never seen before. He bows, holding it open as a boy Liliths age walks in.
Hair so golden it looks like it could be smelted into a crown, eyes so blue looking into them for too long leaves you dizzy, and a posture and countenance that immediately makes you register him as above you. The crown prince entered the room, and gave a small bow of his head, his eyes narrowed as he looked at the two of us.
While his every move is the dictionary definition of regal, Lilith jumps right off of her seat and walks up to him. "Prince!" She wraps her small arms around him in a hug, and I can see the man holding the door tense.
The prince doesn't react, just standing still as she finishes hugging him and runs over to the seat.
The prince waves at his personal butler, and the man nods, leaving the room. He clears his throat, and gives a small smile. "Hello Lilith. How are you?"
Lilith nods her head. "Good! I've got Poe now so I'm not sad!"
I can actively see him pick me apart with his eyes. It's rather concerning. The blue eyes dart from place to place on my body in an instant. My eyes, the collar around my neck, my arms, my legs, and back to resting. He smiles at me, before walking over to the chair opposite of Lilith's and sitting down.
"Forgive the sudden visit. I would have gone through all the proper channels first but when I heard you had been attacked, I couldn't help but rush here to check on you."
What bullshit. I bite my tongue to keep from speaking, not wanting to cause trouble. Lilith seems touched, giving a wide fanged smile. "Thanks! I'm fine though, she was really weak."
The comment almost provoked a cough from me. I guess from her perspective the assassin must've been rather weak, but to a child like me she was an impenetrable wall. I could fight her a million times and lose every single time.
The crown prince's eyes flick to my face, before quickly returning to Lilith. Damn he was quick. "Yes, I suppose she must've underestimated you."
Lilith shook her head. "She tried to attack me while I was sleeping, but Poe woke me up with a yell." She pointed up at me, and I once again tried not to wince, as the Prince's blue eyes fixed onto me.
"Is that so? I don't believe we've met."
I bow my head. "I'm Poe, the lady's personal butler."
He raises an eyebrow, but doesn't comment further. "Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Poe. I trust you have been treating my fiance well?"
I bow, electing to remain humble. "It isn't my place to say, but I have been doing the greatest I can with my limited capabilities."
He was silent for a moment, and I could almost see gears turning in his head. "I see."
Lilith nodded rapidly. "Poe is super nice to me! We got to make a blanket fort, and he gets me books, and he gives me blood whenever I'm hungry."
Take that brat, I'm the favorite. His smile seems calculating, and his eyes narrow at me. He stands, walking over to Lilith and whispering something in her ear.
Alright, that's not, suspicious at all. I try to ignore his blatant scheming as she jumps up. "That sounds great!"
She stands up, and walks out of the unlocked door. I immediately move to follow her, but am stopped by the prince's arm. His calculating eyes stare me down. "Have a seat please, your future king demands it."
This was going to be rough.