While Nyx was being taken somewhere, outside the duchy walls, in the forest, a wolf with red eyes appeared as it looked at the walls from afar. It growled deeply.
Seeing the guards on the ground, it growled again and stepped back into the forest.
----------------------
Meanwhile, Nyx was being dragged by the blonde guy, Gerald, and Evelyn was carried by the female knight, Mira. After a few minutes, they arrived in front of a luxurious white mansion.
There were guards at the gates. Seeing the four people arrive, they straightened their backs as they opened the doors. Unlike Gerald and Mira, these guards didn't have any symbols on their chests.
Entering the mansion, they went straight to the main door and entered.
Nyx was quite surprised as she saw the inside of the mansion. It seemed like a court, with a throne in the middle of the hall and seats on each side of the throne, looking like a fine courtroom for discussions.
Upon the throne sat a woman with long silver hair that cascaded down to her butt. Her red lips gave off a sexy look, and she had a beautiful, mature body. Her bosom looked like it was about to spill out from her dress as she sat on the throne with a stone-cold face, one leg crossed over the other.
She was wearing a white dress which gave off a noble vibe, and the gold pattern on the edges of her dress shimmered beautifully.
Just beside her, a maid in a maid uniform was standing. She had black hair bunned behind her head with black eyes, and she wore glasses.
There was another person in the hall - a man with short gray hair and a beard. He looked quite old, and he was kneeling in front of the throne with his head hung low.
"So Duke Hermon, do you really intend to say that an eight-year-old child escaped your supervision, and no one in this mansion knew where she went? You didn't even realize she was missing until I came back," Queen Isabella spoke with a menacing voice, as though she was about to explode with anger at any moment.
"Your Highness, the servant assigned to Princess Evelyn was found passed out on the ground, and princess Evelyn had somehow escaped the guards," Duke Hermon said as he sweated.
The woman stood up and walked in front of him, and the maid followed her.
"I'm going to search for her myself. It's my fault for even letting someone as incompetent as you take care of my child. And those two idiots - I should punish each one of them with a hundred whips. They can't even take care of a child." Just as she said that, she heard the sound of footsteps coming from the entrance.
Gerald and Mira entered the hall, bringing the two kids with them.
When the queen saw the silver-haired girl held by Mira, her cold eyes showed a gentle spark for a moment before returning to normal. She secretly heaved a sigh of relief, seeing her child safe and sound.
Evelyn suddenly wiggled and escaped from the cloak, jumping down as she ran towards her mother and hugged her legs.
"Mama, mama, Mira and Gerald are bullying me and my new friend," Evelyn said in a cute voice as she put on a pitiful expression.
"Eve, didn't I tell you not to go out from the mansion? Did you disobey my orders?" Queen Isabella said with the same cold voice she had used when speaking with the Duke.
Evelyn fell silent but kept the pitiful look.
"Do you know how worried I was? This is the third time you've done this." Isabella continued to scold, but when she saw the water at the corner of Evelyn's eyes, she stopped and sighed as her eyes turned gentle. She put her hand on Evelyn's head and caressed it.
"All right, don't cry now. I'll forgive you only if you promise that you won't do something reckless like this again."
"I promise!" Evelyn immediately shouted, and the water in her eyes had already vanished.
"Good," The queen said with a small smile on her face.
Then her eyes fell on Nyx, who was looking at all of this with a fear-filled expression.
Nyx's face was indeed filled with fear, but it was just an act. After all, she was a normal girl now, not the Demon Queen who would stay stone-faced in situations like this.
"Mama, see, Gerald scared big sister," Evelyn said.
Hearing this, Gerald almost screamed. 'What did I even do?' But he controlled himself and just stood there normally.
"Big sister? It seems you've gone through quite an adventure this time. I need you to tell me everything that happened and what you did out there," Queen Isabella turned to Evelyn and asked seriously, and Evelyn complied.
Of course, she omitted all the dangerous things like the bear attack and replaced them with something like, "I found Nyx on the ground, passed out, so I brought her back."
Hearing this, Isabella thought there was something missing, but since her daughter said something about slaves and such, she gave more importance to that.
She walked towards Nyx and knelt down, putting her hand on the little girl's shoulder. All the while, Nyx acted like she was scared.
"So, your name is Nyx, huh? Don't be scared. Tell me about the bad guys that you escaped from," She talked with a little cheerful voice, so as not to scare the girl anymore.
However, Nyx felt something - she felt some kind of energy enter her body through the shoulder and pass through her entire body.
'She's probing me with mana! But it's no use because I'm still in human form,' Nyx thought in her head.
"I-I escaped from them when they stopped the slave carriage for a rest. There were four big, bald guys with beards. T-they also had many others. I-I was taken away from my village, which was in the south," Nyx said.
"The south? You don't have any parents?" The Queen had a surprised look on her face, not because of what Nyx said, but because of what she found while probing the girl's body with mana.
Nyx shook her head but didn't confirm it with her mouth.
'For some reason, even though I don't get the girl's memories, I know a lot about the vampires and the geography where the human race lives. The 'south' means south of the Silver Wood Duchy, where there are many scattered villages outside the kingdom.'
"Did you notice anything about the bad guys in particular?" Isabella asked.
"I-I don't," Nyx replied.
'I've already said enough. Don't need to be overly smart now,' She thought in her mind.
"Hmm," Queen Isabella put on a thoughtful expression, as though she was thinking about something.
"The Holy Empire has banned slavery, and in tandem, our kingdom has also done the same. Going against the royal orders is punish worthy of death. You don't need to worry; I'll take care of them."
"However, you said you don't have parents. Why don't you work for me?"
"Work for you?" Nyx said in a confused tone.
"Haha, you must be confused because you were suddenly dragged here. Let me introduce myself."
"My name is Isabella Nemarosa. I am the Queen of this kingdom. I came to this duchy to handle some important matters. That's when my daughter ran away and met you. Is that enough explanation?"
Nyx slowly nodded, hearing this, but still asked, "What work?"
"You should become my daughter's personal maid. And not only a maid - you will be trained and taught magic. If was Evelyn is in danger you will protect her, and you can also become friends with her. If you do this, you will get a monthly salary and food to eat every day. You can also live in a very big house."
Evelyn, the two royal guards, and even the maid behind the Queen put on shocked expressions.
And Nyx also had a stunned expression, this time not acting but real.
'She wants some random slave girl to become her daughter's personal maid and protect her daughter. Did she find out something when she probed my body with mana? What an interesting and beautiful woman.'
Nyx acted as though she was thinking, and after a few seconds, she nodded her head.
"Haha, good. You take rest today. When we get back to the capital, you'll be taught how to be a maid and also taught fighting," Isabella said with a small smile. Then she looked back at the maid who was standing behind her.
"Rosy, take Evelyn and Nyx inside. Show Nyx her bedroom."
The maid, who had been shocked a second ago, reverted her face to an expressionless look as she nodded. She took both Evelyn and Nyx's hands and guided them inside the mansion.
"Haha, Rosy, does that mean I can play with big sister every day? Is she going to be with us from now on?" Evelyn started asking questions while giggling happily.
Nyx sighed inwardly as she walked. 'Why did I have to walk into the lion's den? She indeed found something about my body, although it may not be related to me being a vampire. And now she wants me to be her daughter's maid - the worst thing is I can't even refuse it. If a normal 9-year-old slave girl were to hear all the offers that woman made, they would instantly take the bait.'
Although she knew what the queen was doing, she still agreed. The reason behind it? Maybe because it was the first time she spent time with someone without being the Demon Queen, that she became attached to Evelyn. After all, she was such a cute girl.
Even if she were to be thinking logically, even if she escaped, she knew it would not be easy to survive in this world without having much information and being a 9 year old. But if she became the maid, she would receive enough education and training in fighting, just as the queen said.
It's not like she had some big goal like conquering the world or something. So for now, she was content with the situation. Of course, if anything went wrong, she was already thinking of an escape plan to use if needed.
Of course, everything comes with a downside - she can't use her vampire powers nor train with them. But as long as she could become strong, it wasn't really a problem for now. With the skills she still remembered from her previous life, it wouldn't be too hard to become strong quickly.
On the other hand, Mira and Gerald were still shocked at the queen's decision. Gerald stepped forward.
"Your Highness, we still don't know about the girl's background or if what she said is true or not. So wouldn't it be a risky decision to train her as the princess's personal maid?"
"Gerald, you idiot, do you think Her Highness didn't think about this? There must be something special about that girl, that's why Her Highness took this decision," Mira said as she looked at her queen.
Isabella smiled as she looked at both of her personal guards. "Indeed, that child has something special about her body."