Now knowing more about Poppy, Arad returned with the information to his wives so they could discuss it and modify their plan. From what Alcott explained, twenty years ago, Poppy’s alchemy skills were already as high as Claug’s, at least in the departnt of alchemy and not diseases.
This ant that most poisons and strange potions won’t work on her, and that if she tried to attack with a poison, it would be hard for them to counter quickly. Claug was confident enough that, given so ti, she could stomp anything Poppy cos up with, but that was the problem: ti.
Gamond had also fought Poppy now, and so she also shared her thoughts about the fight, explaining well that Poppy wasn’t just smart and strategic, she was also calm and collected, opposite to what is expected of an insane woman. Her madness was eerie, silent, and malevolent in a subtle way.
She isn’t the kind of person to hurt soone, but she is the kind of person who would watch you die and smile. She won’t lie to you; she’ll omit details and watch you lose your mind. She was a deceiver, a manipulator, a crazed ntal terror.
That also explained why she targeted Agnar and his family. They weren’t close to Arad, and weren’t strangers either; they were sowhat in the middle, so she might’ve wanted to use them to slip closer and start slowly tightening her grip on those around Arad. They caught her now, but who knows? She might’ve already had other vessels slip past the defences and into Arad’s inner circle.
Who knows? One of his wives, maids, or servants could already be infected without them knowing it. Due to that, Isdis declared an urgent command to all maids, wives, and servants who could get into Arad’s private quarter.
All day long, seven days a week, from now forward, Arad and rlin would constantly monitor the location and thoughts of everyone inside the private quarter. Add to that, beside Arad himself, Eris, who was a true goddess, and Kali, who’s too monstrous, everyone else won’t be allowed outside without having a ntal bind on them.
After all, you can’t be brainwashed if you’re already brainwashed by soone else. It was the only spell that would guarantee that Poppy couldn’t infect their mind, and so, everyone quickly got it. It was uncomfortable, yes, but they had no other choice. While going to the bathroom, one of the maids tried to call Arad and rlin, only for them to reply and confirm that they were watching and listening to any possible change in the function of her mind.
As far as they knew now, Poppy’s mind takeover happens in the span of seconds, so being under surveillance is crucial if they wanted to save anyone before they are overtaken.
After the eting was done, it was already nightti, and all of his wives, most of them, had returned. Kali, for example, was still out at the frontlines of the war, commanding her troops.
Mira sighed as she walked out of the bath alongside her personal maids. The day was exhausting, and she had more work than she expected. Her maids were just as exhausted, and so, they imdiately headed to the living room to rest.
It was only that her maids realised sothing. The three of them, Camilla, Roana, and Alicia, were the last three maids to join the private quarter, but for so reason, they were already being treated like mistresses.
Camilla stared at Mira, and then at the other maids pouring tea for them. "Is it really okay for us to rest like this?" She asked, and Mira lifted her head and looked at her.
"Well, of course, you’re my personal maids. Your job is to always be with , do whatever I ask, whenever I ask for it." She replied, "They are different." She then shifted her gaze to the maids serving them.
The maid spoke with a smile. "We are also her maids, but not personal servants. Our job is to maintain her room, wash her clothes, adjust and bring her food if she didn’t eat with everyone else, and entertain her if she ever feels bored."
Mira added with a smile. "Their job is also to take care of you three, my personal maids, so you can focus on serving ."
One of the maids approached Camilla and whispered in her ear. "We make sure you can serve her well, but don’t worry, no one envies your position."
Another maid approached and whispered after throwing a glance at Mira. "I don’t think this will ever happen, but if Lady Mira happens to anger Lord Arad, it is your job to draw his ire and get beaten in her place. So... careful there."
"That happens?" Camilla gasped, and the maid shook her head. "Didn’t happen here, but it’s common within noble houses. I’m the daughter of a noble, and my mother’s personal maids often shielded her."
Another maid approached, "You ca after this happened, but there was one ti when it almost happened. Lady Isdis, I’m not sure what happened at the ti since I’ve heard it from other maids, but she ssed up so badly that one of the maids thought Arad was going to snap, and tried to shield her by quickly pulling the bla on herself, saying she was the one who caused the ss."
Another maid added with a whisper. "It was scary, but it seems that Lord Arad didn’t get mad or move an inch. He looked mad, but he was just annoyed and confused. Lady Eris said that Arad doesn’t get mad that easily, and that no matter how we ss up, we won’t get him mad."
"I hope so..." Camilla giggled, picked up her teacup, took a sip, and sighed. She had worn her armor and carried her sword all day long while being on the edge due to Poppy’s last attack. All of that stress had worn her down, and now, she was feeling sleepy.
Roana was the sa, too scared and worried to think straight, so getting through all of the math for the bridge today was a true nightmare. She couldn’t wait to give her pillow a dose of much-needed love.
Alicia did help both Camilla and Roana through the day, and while she wasn’t as exhausted as they were, she was pretty beaten up as well. The only one who looked still energetic was Mira herself, thanks to her divine body.
In fact, they were fairly certain she wanted to have so fun tonight, while they just wanted to crash and sleep. But they didn’t know how to tell her. As her personal maids, they were stuck with her no matter what.
"Mira," Arad approached them, "Astrid and Frida finished digging the river today, so they went back to their ho, and I’m invited. Would you want to co with ?"
Mira looked at him, "Their Mother Hati called?"
"Sothing like that. She said they should co back at least once; their sisters are missing them. I’d also like you to take a look at the forest there and see if there are any rare types of wood that you’d want to bring."
Mira stood, and her maids did as well. It was ti to get back to work. But Mira suddenly turned toward them. "You three stay here and rest for the night. Tomorrow you’ll handle receiving shipnts and sending orders; anything else will wait until I’m back."
Camilla stared at her. "Are you sure?"
Mira nodded. "Yeah, rest and recover. I have a painful and exhausting task waiting for you when I return." She tapped Camilla on the shoulder, gave the other two a smile, and approached Arad so they could leave.
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