The haze in Maria's mind was particularly potent; in her panic and confusion, her subconscious raced to quell her building unrest. Her previous guilt, mixed with the sudden trauma of witnessing two murders, warped her sense of thinking; she began to feel elation at the thought of being freed from the conundrum she had faced so many times before. The path ahead was clear to her, and as such, she began to view the murderous child as her savior. In a sense, Kedra's luck had finally turned around, as it seemed that Maria's mind was very dysfunctional.
"I swear to serve you to the best of my abilities, my lady!" A smile grew over Maria's face as she bowed in reverence. Her previous emotions had been totally eclipsed by the euphoria of being liberated from her guilt. The sight of the woman, who was previously sniveling and shaking, becoming so resolutely enthusiastic surprised Kedra.
'What in the world is wrong with her? It doesn't seem like she's hiding anything; if anything, it looks like she's more clear-headed than ever before... Is she already suffering from Stockholm syndrome?' Kedra quickly dismissed her worries, focusing on the other two maids with a cold gaze.
The remaining servants were much more predictable; they were hesitant and scared, still shaking from what they had just witnessed. Noticing the child's gaze, they quickly replied in a moment of panic.
"W-We also swear to... to serve you, my lady."
'It seems the blonde one is the only crazy one then... ironically, she might end up being the most trustworthy of the three.' As she internally chuckled, she carefully stowed the knife along her side in an attempt to appear slightly less threatening.
"In the ten years you've been here, I've never once heard your names, so go on then, tell me." She spoke in a cold, authoritative tone that was a far cry from the brat that the maids had seen all these years. Though faced with the murder of their two colleagues, a change in manner of speech was the least of their concerns.
Maria was the first to speak up, pointing at herself, then at the other two maids. "I'm Maria, my lady; this here is Lucie, and that one is Mona." Maria stood at an average height and build; her medium-length, dirty blonde hair was shaggy and frazzled from rain and panic. Her face was surprisingly beautiful for a servant who lacked any form of skincare, the highlight being a set of piercing blue eyes.
Lucie was the shortest of the bunch; she had long chestnut brown hair tied into a ponytail with a set of glasses resting upon her nose, making her dark brown eyes look slightly bigger than normal and placing an accent on an otherwise unremarkable face. An air of defiance permeated her person, yet she was not so foolish as to act upon it; she had seen what happened to the youngest servant and had no interest in repeating her mistake.
Mona was tall and lanky, with shaggy brown hair tied into pigtails. Her light brown eyes were glistening with the tears that had naturally found themselves pouring out once she witnessed the grizzly scene. She too would've been perfectly unremarkable if not for her height and cowardly demeanor; she didn't even dare look at the young girl, paralyzed by her fear.
"Alright, first things first, give me the keys to a room with a lockable door, and clean up this mess by tomorrow." Despite her apparent decisiveness, Kedra doubted the likelihood of the three actually listening to her. She steeled herself, preparing to take the life of the first servant, who refused.
"Very well, my lady! You may have the keys to my room; I'll make sure this place is spick and span by breakfast!" Maria enthusiastically dug her room key out of her pockets and handed it to Kedra, who aggressively snatched it from her hands like a starved dog would a piece of meat.
With a fast and decisive stride, Kedra marched out of the kitchen and down the hall, taking the knife with her. Moving towards the room that she had remembered Maria frequenting the most in the past, she flung the door open and quickly set foot inside, locking the door behind her. Maria's room was cozy and, most importantly, clean; the furniture and bed were simple, but compared to her previous room, it was heaven.
Laying down on the bed, she felt her fatigue catch up to her in an instant; the adrenaline had faded a long time ago. As such, as soon as her eyes closed, she immediately fell into a deep slumber.
Meanwhile, the maids had begun to calm themselves, and Maria had already started dragging the bodies of her two previous colleagues towards the kitchen's back door. Lucie and Mona stared at her in disbelief, mouths agape in shock, before Lucie spoke up.
"What's gotten into you, Maria? Are you actually going to listen to that brat's demands?" The maid's frustration was obvious—a sentiment that Maria could not even begin to understand in her current state.
"Of course, I can finally atone for the terrible ways in which I treated her; why wouldn't I take this chance that has been presented to me?" As she spoke, she didn't bother to interrupt her cleaning; she responded to Lucie's question while carrying the butchered corpse of their senior outside.
"I always knew you felt pity for her; even I did sometimes, but how can you still empathize with her after what she's done!?" Lucie suddenly stood up, grabbing Maria by the collar and preparing to drown her in endless accusations. However, a quick strike to her stomach made her jaw clench and her grip weaken as Maria freed herself from her grasp.
"I will serve the lady no matter what; as I see it, you can do as I do or you can die, either at the hands of the young miss or at the hands of the patriarch should you decide to run away from here." Maria's was apathetic, now that she had accepted Kedra as her master, she found Lucie's defiance threatening.
"I um, I'm fine with listening to the girl. I mean we don't really have much of a choice do we Lucie ? It feels like Maria would kill us just for glaring at her wrong." Mona had dried her tears and found the strength to finally speak up, Maria's eyes lit up at the thought of someone understanding her, while Lucie glared intently at Mona before relenting.
"Alright fine ! My life's not worth risking over petty revenge for two people I hardly ever cared about. Speaking of which..." Lucie turned to look at the two corpses that Maria had pilled up in front of the backdoor.
"We really should clean those up."