Chapter 10 - Astrid (2)

After losing nearly all control of his life in the last five years, Hati was enjoying this familiar feeling of being in complete control of a situation. He was trying to instil some obedience into his maid by first making her feel vulnerable in his presence and then making her feel helpless to do anything about it. 

Of course, these were the negative emotions. Now, it was time to give her a few positive ones, much like the carrot and stick method. But first, he had to make her acknowledge him as her Master.

Currently, Astrid was still pressing herself against a wall, having abandoned her effort of covering up her body with her arms. Meanwhile, Hati was standing close to her, keeping his hands behind his back and keeping his face just a few centimetres away from Astrid's. 

That annoying smirk appeared on his face again as he said, "So? I'm still waiting for that apology, you know. My uncle may have tricked you, but that's no reason not to take responsibility for your own actions."

Astrid, having gone through a rollercoaster of emotions in the last few minutes, could not bring up the desire to argue with him and just said, in a slightly meek voice, "I - I'm sorry for using your room to change without permission, young Master."

Hati responded while still sporting the same smirk, "Almost, but leave out the young part. It implies that your true loyalties do not lie with me but with my elders. So, are you my personal maid, here to accompany me for the rest of my life? Or are you someone else's maid and simply assigned to me?"

Still feeling a little overwhelmed and meek, Astrid felt the desire not to disappoint the boy in front of her, and so she responded, "I- I am your maid, Master, no one else's."

Hearing her answer, Hati immediately revealed a dazzling smile, temporarily stunning Astrid's already muddled brain, as she thought, 'This little monster is surprisingly cute when he smiles.' This contradiction only spawned more feelings in her that she desperately did not want to have.

Hati then turned around and said, "Feel free to finish dressing now. I promise not to peek!" Astrid, hearing this, immediately slaked a sigh of relief until she listened to his next sentence, "Unless my perverted maid wants me to, of course." 

Astrid quickly yelled, "No!" Then, she started pouting as she said, "Master is a bully!" Instinctively, she felt as if her Master would not punish her for calling him a bully. And she was right, as Hati seemed to simply ignore her remark. However, if Astrid had stood on the other side, she would have seen how his smirk widened upon being called a bully. 

Being called a bully by a maid made him remember some fond memories of bullying the maids back on Earth together with Luna. This then brought about a wave of melancholy, which was quickly suppressed by his pride. He missed both Luna and his previous maids. Quickly giving a prayer to gods he didn't believe in, he hoped that most of the maids were still alive and well back on Earth.

Astrid, meanwhile, had both finished putting her clothes on and managed to uncross all the wires in her brain and think normally again. Still, instead of speaking up, she stared at Hati's back for another second, wondering why her new Master was the way he was. 

Truthfully, she hadn't exactly met many five-year-olds, so she couldn't be absolutely sure whether Hati was very abnormal or just slightly odd. Not only did he act and speak much more maturely than what she would expect from a five-year-old, but he was also physically bigger, being just as tall as her, who was three years older.

She then decided it was a bad idea to make her Master wait longer than necessary, so she said, "You can turn around now, Master."

As Hati did so, he immediately put a dazzling smile on his face as he complimented her, "You look beautiful, Astrid." Then, with a wink, he said, "I look forward to seeing you grow up alongside me." Astrid immediately started blushing again, thinking this new Master of hers really was too much.

Looking around, Hati noticed an hnefatafl board, so he asked Astrid while pointing at the board, "Do you know how to play?" Astrid looked at the board, and although she had no memories of playing it, she seemed to instinctively know the rules, so she answered, "It seems that I do."

Hati, looking at her expression going from slightly confused to clear, cocked an eyebrow and asked, "It seems that you do? What does that mean?" Astrid, hearing this, was a little startled. She wasn't actually planning on talking about this, but she didn't think there was much of a point in hiding it. There was a good chance that Leif was already told about this by the slave merchant, not to mention that she didn't feel like she had anything left to hide from her Master. 

So she answered, "Uhm, the truth is that I have no memories of my life before the age of 7. My first memories are of walking along a road towards the capital. I still knew basic common sense, I could read and write, and I even had instinctive knowledge about some random things, like this hnefatafl. But when I try to think about any events that happened before I wandered on that road…" She shrugged before she continued, "I draw a blank."

Meanwhile, Hati had seated himself on the table with the hnefatafl board. He listened to Astrid's story and responded, "So there is a little mystery about you, huh?" He then furrowed his brows and adorned a serious expression, "Let me make you a promise, Astrid. As long as you follow me faithfully, we will find out what happened in your past together. Assuming you wish to, of course."

Astrid was a little taken aback. She had wanted to figure out her past for as long as she could remember, literally. That being said, she wasn't really sure how much she could trust this person's words. 

Even if he seemed sincere now, he was only five years old, and a lot of time would pass before he could make good on his words. Even so, the offer made her heart feel sweet for a moment as she said while smiling, "Thank you, Master. I would really like that."

Hati nodded at her response, confirming that they had a deal. As he set up the board, he asked her, "So what happened after you found yourself wandering a road without any memories as a 7-year-old?" 

Astrid put up a sad smile and shrugged as if her fate was simply one of many, "I suffered the same fate that I suspect most young children with no parents or other background suffer. I was picked up by a group of adventurers and sold to the first slave merchant they came across. After that, I spent a year in maid training with a few other girls and women, and then I was bought by your uncle."

Meanwhile, Hati had finished setting up the board for their game, and Astrid took her place on his other side after she finished talking. As she waited for Hati to make the opening move, Astrid started to think some more about this bully of a Master she had found. 

He actually seemed relatively reliable and sincere, at least when he wasn't embarrassing her. But she also knew, more instinctively than anything else, that there was something wrong with him. He was much too mature for his age, even more so than herself. She started squirming in her seat a little as she really wanted to ask him about his strangeness but wasn't sure if he would be angry or not.

Hati, noticing her burning gaze and squirming behaviour, let a small smile slip on his face as he asked, "Is there something you want to ask? Feel free to speak your mind."

Surprised at his sudden question, Astrid hesitated for only a second before she asked, "I haven't met many five-year-olds, but there were a few young children at the markets besides myself, including some boys.

But none of them were anything like you. In fact, you seem more like the grown men who came to buy slaves every day. So… since I've told you something about my past, can you tell me about how you ended up this way? I don't believe you are simply an ordinary boy."

Hati immediately started smiling mischievously when he heard her question. She had finally taken the bait. He had been acting much more like his previous self than the child persona he adopted for his family ever since he entered the room, something he only dared to do because his uncle said the room was soundproof. He did this specifically to draw out this question from her. It was time to have a little more fun with her.