Eve was depressed. Eve's mood had been extrely foul ever since Lusius went to the ball. She was so depressed that everyone in the mansion could tell she was in a low-pressure state. When she first ca to the mansion, she was like a well-honed blade, difficult to touch, but recently she had been swaying like a reed, flaunting her lethargy.
"Haa..."
Eve was once again perched on the office desk, rolling a pen. Aira watched her and gave a bitter smile. If Sieri had been here, she would have said a word about not sitting on the office desk, but there was no one in this mansion to stop Eve.
"Is sothing wrong?"
"No."
Eve told a clumsy lie with a face that declared sothing was indeed wrong. In fact, there was no reason for Eve to be depressed. Lusius had originally no intention of going to the capital city's ball, she herself understood why she couldn't go, and she was the one who had given up the opportunity to go.
Honestly, Eve didn't have the confidence to endure it if soone mocked her at the ball. So, it was right for Sieri, who was more patient and affectionate than anyone, to go to the ball with Lusius. But even while thinking that, she couldn't help feeling bad. Eve clicked her tongue and got up from her seat.
"Ah, are we done for today?"
Aira, who looked forward to leaving work more than anyone, asked with a cheerful face. Eve nodded and said.
"The rest will be done when my husband gets back."
She roughly finished her work and went outside, heading for the swimming pool. Cellu looked at Eve while swimming in the pool. Cellu was Eve's adopted mother. The rmaid who had accepted her into the group when she, after escaping the slave market, had co running with only the rumor of an island where rmaids lived.
"You don't look too good lately."
Cellu said. Eve furrowed her brows and retorted at those words. Her inner guilt burst out, creating a sharp response.
"Fuck, everyone I see says that. Do I look that miserable? Huh? Didn't I always look miserable?"
"Usually, you looked like you'd just killed soone, but lately, you look like soone died."
Cellu said, as if used to Eve's sudden outbursts. Eve gave up on getting angry again at Cellu's leisurely attitude. In the first place, she was confused about who and what she was angry at.
Eve took off her shoes and dipped her feet in the swimming pool. Dipping her feet in the cold water seed to make her feel a little better. Cellu swam gently in the water, occasionally humming in a way only rmaids could.
"Mother, you're just like a duck."
"A duck?"
Cellu asked, poking only her head out of the water. Cellu also knew what a duck was. Since ships often carried duck or chicken at as food, she had eaten it many tis even if she had never seen one directly.
"Why bring up ducks all of a sudden? Are you hungry?"
"No, it's just..."
Eve said, rubbing her knees. Born from an unwanted pregnancy, she lived an unwanted life before fleeing to the sea as if she were cast out. While killing people, she coincidentally t Lusius, married him, and was now the lord's wife. But Eve couldn't tell if she was truly happy right now.
That was why Eve thought Cellu was like a duck. A duck swimming leisurely in the swimming pool, living a life of ease. In the park near the slave market, there were always ducks swimming on the lake. Her mother, who was a rmaid, had told Eve, "rmaids swim as freely in the sea as those ducks." But in reality, there were no rmaids who lived more freely than ducks.
It was because they all feared humans, and their lives were a continuous cycle of avoiding humans every single day. To Eve, Cellu's appearance—not fearing humans, casually brushing off the gazes directed at her, and seemingly having abandoned even hatred—looked like a duck.
"Mother, aren't you angry?"
"Angry?"
"You were originally the leader of rmaid Island, right? The king of the rmaids, but now you're not even properly called a wife by my husband, nor do you have freedom of action. Isn't this the worst life for you?"
Cellu didn't answer Eve's question. She stuck out her tongue and laughed.
"Heh. The way you ask makes you seem more unfortunate than ."
"Fuck. Don't change the subject. Mother. We're having a serious conversation. And why am I unfortunate? I'm fucking happy. My husband loves , I beca the lord's wife, and I wasn't punished for killing people. It's fucking great."
"But you can't go to the ball."
"Fuck, there you go again. You... no, you're talking fucking bullshit. Mother. I'm the one who made the concession. Huh? It's better for Sieri to go. Right?"
"But you wanted to go. Even when you were on rmaid Island, you sotis talked about humans. You said they eat delicious food and dance extravagantly, and wondered why rmaids just sing boringly."
"Why are you bringing up the past again. Huh?"
"Why does it make you angry that you can't go to the ball?"
Cellu asked. Eve couldn't et Cellu's eyes. Cellu grinned and poked Eve's cheek.
"It's because you're human."
"...I'm a rmaid."
"Then there's no reason to be angry about being ostracized by humans. Would you be angry if elves shunned you? Would you be furious if beastfolk ostracized you from their pack? No. You'd accept it. But right now, you want to go to the ball with the humans, don't you?"
"I said no!"
"Then what is it?"
"Fuck, I an, that..."
Eve fumbled. As she swirled the water with her hand, searching for words, Cellu brought her face closer and asked.
"So what is it?"
"No, I an... that..."
Cellu asked, rubbing Eve's knee.
"What could it be?"
And at those words, Eve's face turned red and she shot up from her spot.
"Argh, really! Because I wanted to dance with my husband, why!"
At that, Cellu grinned and said.
"Heh. As a mother, I'm happy to hear you say that."
Eve shook her head and said.
"...Fuck. Don't be so mushy. Okay?"
"Your husband asked if he could call mother while having sex with ."
"...That fucking bastard, really."
Eve thought she would have to confront Lusius about this matter when he returned from the ball.
While the rmaid mother and daughter were talking, Elsi was on patrol in the village with a knight. Since Elsi was naturally quiet and showed little emotion, the knights found patrolling with her very burdenso. Whatever they said was t with one-word answers or silence, and though she told them to give her work, her expression never changed, making them constantly doubt whether it was okay to assign her tasks.
"The weather's nice today, isn't it?"
The knight patrolling with Elsi today spoke to her, intending to get closer. Elsi perked up her ears, looked around, and then nodded.
"It seems so. It's not going to rain either."
"Wow, you have a talent for predicting the weather. That's amazing."
"It's nothing special."
To Elsi, the knight's complint felt like praising a human for 'knowing how to pick things up with your hands! Amazing!', so she answered without much emotion. On the other hand, she was thinking that she wished Lusius would praise her for such a talent.
"It must be convenient for drying laundry."
"It is."
The knight decided to shut his mouth again. It would have been better if Robin were here; he was better at talking. Just as the knight fell silent, Elsi pointed to a spot where people were gathered and asked.
"People are gathered."
"Let's go see."
The knight, eager to break the awkward atmosphere, hurried to where the people were gathered. There, people with their faces painted white were holding vials and calling out to the crowd.
"Here! Everyone! A cure for depression that will blow away all your worries! A potion of happiness that makes you happy when you drink it! Made by grinding precious rlglass and brewing a secret herb that only grows in the Elf Forest!"
"What is rlglass?"
Elsi asked the knight. The knight didn't know what rlglass was either, so he shook his head. In fact, it seed no one here knew what rlglass was. The rchants were chattering amongst themselves as they sold their goods.
It was not permissible to let them sell a suspicious item that no one knew anything about. The knight, who had been briefly pondering what rlglass was, shouted.
"Stop for a mont!"
At the knight's shout, the people slowly stepped back. The rchants gave an interested look, seeming to find it novel that the knight had brought a beastfolk with him. He scanned Elsi and said.
"Sir Knight... you've brought a slave with you. Perhaps you'd like to buy one of these elixirs?"
"Under whose permission are you conducting business?"
"The lord, of course. Here, here is the permit."
The rchants smiled awkwardly and held out a permit. The knight took the permit and began to read it slowly. In the anti, Elsi, seemingly interested in the rchants' potions, was tapping a vial with her finger.
"Hey, hey! You can't touch that!"
A rchant, startled, tried to push Elsi away. But with his ager strength, the rchant couldn't even restrain her arm, let alone push her away. Elsi shoved the rchant holding her to the ground and asked another one.
"You said it's good for depressed people?"
"Ah, yes, yes..."
The rchants, having confird that her strength was no ordinary, hurriedly adopted a polite posture. The rchant who had tumbled to the ground looked like he wanted to start a fight, but another one stopped him.
"W-Would you like to buy one?"
the rchant asked awkwardly.
Elsi nodded and said.
"I'd like one bottle. A rmaid has been depressed lately."
"Yes, under... a rmaid?"
The rchant, who was about to hand over the vial, paused for a mont and looked at Elsi as if he had heard sothing he shouldn't have. Elsi, annoyed by the rchant dangling the vial in front of her hand, snatched it and threw him a coin. The rchant looked at Elsi and the knight with a very flustered face.
The knight returned the permit and asked.
"This... is not a permit for our territory. Looking at the permit, it seems you took a wrong turn on your way here. This is not the Amur Territory, but the Peta Territory. I won't punish you separately, so pack up your stall and go back imdiately."
The rchants' faces suddenly turned pale as they packed their luggage and hurriedly tried to leave. The knight thought their behavior was suspicious, but he planned to handle it by simply sending them away, given that there was no damage to the territory and the permit was real.
"O-Of course! Oh my!"
"H-Hey, you have to give back the vial...!"
One of the rchants tried to snatch the vial from Elsi. But Elsi shook her head firmly and said.
"No. I'm giving it to the rmaid."
"You can't! Th-that's bad for rmaids! Do you understand?"
"Earlier, you said it was a dicine good for the body. Did you lie to ?"
When Elsi revealed her claws, another rchant, startled, clamped his hand over his colleague's mouth.
"N-No! It's nothing! It's a really fine product! It's just bad for rmaids! Th-there's nothing suspicious inside at all! If you don't believe , I'll down a bottle right here!"
The knight and Elsi nodded at that reaction. These bastards. Sothing's up.
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