Chapter12 - Astrid (4)

As her hand neared one of the pieces, Hati was inwardly surprised by her apparent choice but didn't let it show on his face as he kept a confident smile. Astrid's hand hovered over the first piece, representing her freedom, but before she took it, she looked up to see Hati's expression and was disappointed to see no difference in it. 

She then said, "You know, you promised to get to the matter of how you got to be so different from a normal 5-year-old, but I haven't heard it yet."

Hearing this, Hati quickly realised what she was doing, so he started to chuckle and thought, 'I see, so that's her game. She's trying to find out more about me and making it seem as if her choice depends on my answer. 

Too bad for her. She'll be disappointed. She does seem like someone I would enjoy having around, but not enough for me to tell her my greatest secret. Besides, I'm pretty sure she's bluffing. There's no reason for her to pick the first option unless her desire for freedom is abnormally strong.'

Thinking so, he answered her while still smiling confidently, "And if you keep serving me for long enough, eventually we might get to that, but it won't be here, and it definitely won't be now. I like you, Astrid, but not enough to start spilling my secrets just to keep you around."

Astrid, now pouting, kept staring at him for about another minute, with Hati staring back, unconcerned. She felt unhappy that Hati now knew everything about her, or at least everything she herself was aware of, while she still knew very little about him. 

Eventually, though, she realised that this was the difference between Master and servant. So Astrid slaked a sigh and moved her hand to grab the second piece, forsaking freedom and choosing to enter Hati's service of, more or less, her own choice. 

She commented on her choice, "Fine, I was bluffing. No way am I going out there on my own. I hope you'll keep your promises, Master, including the one about exploring my past.".

Hati smiled gently, contended in the knowledge that he was right about her bluff, and said, "You don't need to worry about that. One of the first things you'll need to know about me is that I am overflowing with three emotions: pride, lust and wrath. 

And because of my pride, I have never broken – nor will I ever break – a promise. Unless the person I made the promise to betrays me, of course."

Astrid looked at him suspiciously, "And how exactly is a five-year-old overflowing with lust? And, what's this about wrath?" Her last words were said with a bit of fear in her voice, thinking he might start beating her in the future. 

In response, Hati took on a cold expression and cocked an eyebrow at her while saying, "I allowed this earlier because you had not made your choice yet, but I don't appreciate you questioning me. We are not that close yet."

Astrid was startled and quickly realised she had gotten a little too comfortable with her Master. She was actually a little surprised at herself for how quickly she opened up to this boy and how comfortable she felt with him just now. 

She even felt a little sad at his last words. Even so, she scolded herself for forgetting she was speaking to her Master. She looked down and said, "Sorry, Master. I got carried away."

Hati's cold expression melted as ice in the sun, and he laughed lightly, "Good! I do enjoy it when you are comfortable with me, but never forget who the Master is." He added the part about lust and wrath to instil a bit of fear into Astrid. 

Although you never want your subordinates to serve you out of fear alone, making sure they fear you at least a little is just good business. Still, he felt the need to assuage some of her fear, so he added, "And don't worry about the wrath thing; I save it for my enemies. Just make sure you don't become one." 

He winked at the last part, making Astrid shiver a little, and then he continued, "Anyway, I'm happy I'll have someone more or less my own age around here. I'll ask my mother to let you sit in during my lessons. There's a good chance you know more about the world than me, but I still want to ensure my maid is well-educated."

Feeling the tenseness of the previous situation fade away, Astrid felt relieved and immediately took on a happy expression when she heard her Master talk to her about education. "Thank you, Master! They spent no time at all on general education back at the market, so I look forward to it!"

Hati nodded at her words and said, "Good. Before we go and introduce you to my mother, however, you should know I don't act as mature with my family as I did with you. I did it with you to test you, but I don't want my family to think I'm anything more than a particularly intelligent child. 

And that is not a reason for you to start speculating more about my exact circumstances. I suggest you simply let it go until I tell you about it myself. Consider this a test of your loyalty and ability to adapt to different circumstances."

Astrid just nodded at his words. She felt a wild and chaotic mash of emotions about this new Master of hers, but she already decided that, for now, it was better just to follow and obey. Telling his family about this would only end in disaster. 

No way would they believe her over him. Besides, in the end, despite his mysteriousness, her Master did not seem so bad. In fact, she couldn't deny she felt some feelings she had never felt before…

— — — —

Hati walked through the hallway of his family mansion with Astrid walking a few steps behind him. They walked in silence as Hati was thinking about his interaction with Astrid, 'That seemed to have gone well. Astrid seems like a curious and active girl, which is where the fact that she is eight years old shines through, but she is also mature and intelligent enough to realise the position she is in.

I think I managed to break down most of the walls between us while also instilling some obedience and fear. Furthermore, I was able to show some goodwill while maintaining some mystery around myself to make her more interested. In the future, I will simply be kind while making sure to keep embarrassing her to remind her who is in charge. 

Then, when I feel more comfortable with her age, I can start adding orgasms as a reward. By the time I get old enough to leave the house, she should be submissive putty in my hands.' 

If anyone asked him whether he felt bad about manipulating a child like this, he would give them an emphatic "Hel no!" Ultimately, it's always been him and Luna against the world, and that was on Earth, while this world seems to be much more dangerous. And besides, it's not like he will harm the girl.

In fact, as his maid, he'll probably treat her better than 80% of the rest of Asgard would have. Although his mother had told him very little about the real horrors of Asgard, and Astrid had not elaborated on some of the stories she had heard, he knew, based on Earth's history, that the fate of a beautiful slave girl was generally not destined to be a good one. 

Meanwhile, they had reached a closed door, which Hati promptly opened and walked through. On the other side was a large room with large and numerous bookshelves spread around the room. In the middle of the room was a seating area with a table and various comfortable chairs. 

Like most of the rooms in this house, this one was also decorated in a Viking-like style, with many furs and a lot of wood. This was the library, otherwise known as his mother's favourite room in the house, and the place where they decided to continue his education now that he had his own room.

Sif was sitting in one of the seats in the room while reading a book. In the last five years, Hati had quickly noticed that his mother's second favourite pastime was reading books while relaxing, with her third favourite pastime being naps and her first favourite being, obviously, snuggling and playing with Hati. Basically, Sif was a lazy bookworm and a loving mother. 

After entering the room, Hati ran up to his mother with open arms, yelling, "Mother!" He then jumped into her embrace, knocking the book away and making her giggle. "There you are, little Hati. Did you meet with your maid?" Nodding while still hugging her, he said, "Yeah!" He gestured towards Astrid and continued, "This is big sister Astrid, Mother."

Astrid just stared dumbfoundedly at the scene. Despite Hati's warning, she still caught herself wondering where that domineering Master character from before suddenly disappeared to.