Not thinking on anything else, Judith had continued her sweeping and when she was done, Qui Lin had made her way down the mini Levate, with her Lergobeast Fashu behind her.
Once the Levate had made it to the ground, Qui Lin locked gazes with Judith, before turning to the bucket full of rocks beside Judith.
"Took you long enough." She said, then made her way out the training room.
Judith meant to ask where she was going, but quickly remembered this woman wasn't her friend, relative or anyone in relation to her that would warrant such a question, so she remained silent.
"After you dispose of that, lock up the front door and head back to your room. I won't be needing you for the remainder of today." Qui Lin said just as she was about to exit the training room and enter the parlor.
Once these words had sank in, Judith frowned, realizing something, then ran out to catch Qui Lin.
"What about your meal? You haven't had breakfast, and I believe it's already lunchtime." Of course Judith was no cook, at least of Qugan cuisines. But the day before, she was told by Qui Lin to fetch cooks that would prepare her breakfast, lunch and dinner. And that she should learn how to prepare such meals, because she would ask her unawares to prepare them one day, and if she failed, the consequences would be dire.
Judith in this time frame had grabbed a couple of things, maybe one and a half cuisine at best. That is if a person could grab half a cuisine, but it was better than nothing. Though she wasn't expecting to cook for Qui Lin right now, her question was aimed at calling up a maid to prepare her lunch, so she could learn more.
But Qui Lin did not seem to care, she just waved a hand at Judith, then made her way to the door. As she was about to reach for the door, Judith thought for a moment, then made to call out. Qui Lin said she won't be needing Judith for the rest of the day. But Judith hadn't done anything this day.
Apart from cleaning these immediate messes, she hadn't done the other things Qui Lin had tasked her with each day.
As she meant to call out, Qui Lin turned to her and spoke, "Right, I almost for. Your maid, go and get her from the stocks, I think she's been punished enough."
With that, Qui Lin left the room and left Judith stunned.
***
Supporting Tsai into their room, she had placed her in a corner once they made it inside. Breathing a bit heavily, Judith turned to the door and shut it, before turning back to Tsai and finally asking, "What the hell happened?"
Judith had asked this, as she stared at Tsai, who was obviously in pain and covered in a juices of some rotten fruit and vegetables.
After Qui Lin had told her that Tsai was in the stocks, she immediately went to find her after disposing of the trash and locking up the door to Qui Lin's room. It hadn't been easy, but after asking other maids for the location, she finally found Tsai at the roof of the castle, where she was truly in stocks, with several bratty children of nobles tossing rotten fruits and vegetables at her.
"Do you really need an answer?" Tsai had said with a soft smile while squinting from the pain she was going through.
"Of course I do." Judith had said, then took a few steps closer to Tsai and bent low.
"It's honestly not a problem." Tsai had said, clearly avoiding the question.
"Tsai?" Judith called out, so Tsai met her gaze. "Talk." She added.
After a moment of silence, Tsai finally spoke, "I...woke up this morning, and took care of the room. Made sure it was tidy so you would wake up with a calm state of mind." She paused, then continued. "But, you refused to wake up, even though it was time for you to attend to Lady Qui Lin."
Judith listened intently as Tsai spoke, and began to fear the worst when she saw where this was going.
"And I saw you were very tired, so..."
"Please don't tell me you told her to let me sleep in?" Judith had interrupted, not eager to hear the next bit.
"I told her, that I would fill in for you, just for today. And..." Tsai paused, leaving Judith anxious.
"And?" Judith asked.
"And she agreed, but she said I would stay in the stocks as punishment for defying her." Tsai added rapidly, causing Judith to sigh in irritation.
"Why didn't you wake me up?" Judith had asked, feeling a bit more annoyed as the seconds passed.
"You were asleep and I knew you had a very long day, so I wanted you to rest. After all, I'm your maid so I took it..."
"Tsai," Judith said, stopping her from speaking frantically. "You aren't my maid, okay?" She said, trying to instill this fact into Tsai. Judith had thought the last time they talked about it Tsai understood that she didn't want her to be a common maid. She wanted her to live her own life at one point, so while they were together, she expected Tsai to just be a friend…a friend.
"I don't accept that." Tsai responded, like an angry child.
Feeling her thighs burn, Judith decided to sit on the floor beside Tsai and rest her back on the wall.
"Listen, I know you feel indebted to me and all. But you will repay me, just not now okay?" Judith had said this to make Tsai feel better. If she wasn't going to get repaid, she honestly didn't care.
Staying silent for a moment, Tsai pointed her gaze to the ground and then spoke, "If I'm not your maid, then what am I?"
"How about a friend?" Upon hearing this, Tsai's eyes lit up, then she slowly turned to Judith.
She held Judith's gaze for a couple of seconds before falling hers once more.
"I would...like that." Tsai said, feeling a sudden warmth in her heart. "But that doesn't change the fact that I will repay you one day," she turned back to Judith with a renewed vigor as she spoke, "And also, you're not allowed to do anything around the house."
Still smiling, Judith felt that there was nothing she would say to make Tsai change her mind, so feeling defeated, she decided to accept.
"Fine." Judith said, then rose onto her feet, "Come on, let's get you washed up." She had said with an outstretched hand to Tsai.
Following this, Tsai meant to raise her hands, but found she couldn't lift them.