Maids

As I turned my head, I caught sight of Charlotte walking behind me and laughing quietly to herself. She waved at me, signaling that everything was okay now.

For the rest of the journey, Charlotte stayed quiet, leading us through the winding paths throughout the castle.

When we finally arrived at the palace gates, everyone rushed inside.

We passed by the guards. Some were smiling, but others wore solemn expressions on their faces. They were obviously worried because of the upcoming war.

We stopped at a room where two women dressed in maid uniforms were sitting together.

There were many well-designed buildings and houses, entire streets brimming with merchants trying to earn a living.

Amongst the crowd, there were some werewllf beastmen, Lizardmen, some that didn't walk, rather crawled on the stone-paved road while some more than 2 to 3 legs---even a horned guy with nothing but a giant eye merged blood red veins that seemed to pop out plastered in the middle of his face, much like an Aldurx.

Neia could see that the buildings didn't follow any set type of architecture or design either. Some were made from hard stones while some were made of lustrous woods and aesthetically pleasing to look at.

But they weren't here to stare at the floors or admire any of the scenery. After going through a long-distance and crossing various streets, finally their group stopped around a large castle with multiple people guarding the entrance. Which was a big as a complete football stadium.

King Edus palace.

They had to enter through the front to avoid looking suspicions and surprisingly nobody stopped them. As soon as they entered inside of the palace, Neia looked towards the flights of stairs leading to the top half of the castle.

"This is where we split up. Kaz don't do anything stupid to fuck up the plan." Charlotte repeated.

"Stop being a worrywart, I won't do anything to ruin your precious 'plan'." Kaz exaggerated.

"Okay, we'll see you later." said Neia and left with Charlotte following close behind.

As soon as they were out of earshot Neia questioned, "where are we headed?"

"We need to find the head maid so we can get access to certain rooms without looking suspicious. There should be a changing room somewhere here." Charlotte reported.

Since the night sky had silenced the world with its presence in additional to the fact they didn't know the room was located; It took them an hour of painstaking searching did they finally stand in front of changing room.

Apon entering, no signs of a living soul was found, the room completely deserted.

"They must have already left. What do we do now?" Neia quipped.

"I guess we wait?" Charlotte answered.

Thankfully, the two did not wait long before a maid strolled in. The maid let out a screech when she noticed them leaning against the wall.

Who are you?" The maid spoke once she had calmed down.

"Please be quiet, I can't even hear myself losing the will to live." Charlotte muttered facing the window.

"Don't mind her. I'm Neia and this is Charlotte." Neia spoke trying not to scare the poor maid away.

"And what business do you have in here?" The maid spoke sending her a questioning gaze.

"We were looking for the head maid to see if there was any space for new maids." Neia recited the answer she had practiced multiple times.

"I see..." the maid paused before she smiled brightly. "You have impeccable timing because there is exactly two positions that recently popped up."

Neia forced a smile back at her.

"Yes, we are quite lucky to have come across this opportunity." Neia replied promptly.

'It was only by mere coincidence that we knew those maids planned to have a "early" retirement.'

Walking past them, the maid grabbed two matching maid uniforms and a batch of keys.

"It's getting late now so most of the staff are asleep so take these and I will show you around before taking you to your rooms." The maid spoke handing them to Neia.

"Thank you,Miss." Neia spoke in her most polite voice.

"No worries, dear. It's good to know that

there is still some respectful youngsters in this world." The maid said grimly.

In this new era, who can be described as a "good". Power is everything, the difference is as long you are at the top that is all that matters.

"The prince is not a big fan of random outsiders serving him so I do hope it will not be my mistake in hiring you."

"We will do our best to live up to your expectations." She said, nudging Charlotte in their stomach.

Reading the atmosphere in the room, they groaned in pain to the bone

clutching pain of their ribcage being fractured.

"I agree with Neia's previous statement." Charlotte exclaimed.

They walked in silence down a long hallway where the head maid lead them to where they would stay. Neia was about to comment why some of the doors had locks, when the maid stopped at the last door in the hallway.

"You both can stay here while we get your rooms cleaned up for you."

Perking her head into the room---Neia was visibly sweating, her skin completely pale.

It was a nice room. There was a long silver curtain draped over the window, a small study desk placed in the corner of the room and a drawer. The brick walls making it look bigger than it was.

It was nothing out the ordinary so what could have possible made Neia tense up. Her mind was racing with possibilities, most likely some kind of threat.

However, she couldn't pinpoint the source of her uneasiness so she decided to ignore it until a better time comes.

After closing the door behind them, the maid bowed and left, leaving Neia and Charlotte in the unfamiliar place.

They were left alone, neither of them wanting to say anything lest their thoughts overwhelm them and make them feel anxious.

They just stood in a silent spot with nothing but the sound of their breathing filling the air around them.

It felt awkward and suffocating yet they were at a loss on how to break the deafening silence.

Charlotte cleared her throat first.

You have got to be kidding me." Neia said in utter disappointment. They rolled their eyes whilst walking to the drawer.

She turned away moving in her spot uncomfortably seeing Charlotte undressing in front of her.

She had no clue what to do nor how to react to this situation. Not to mention, she has been so distracted since they stepped inside the room.