Chapter 44: Hidden Flames
"[Ignition]?" The woman asked, blinking in surprise. Loraine nodded in response, further confusing the woman as she didn’t know how to react from this question.
"Mhm! That...is the name of the Skill you used, right?" Loraine asked, having used her [Eyes Of Appraisal] Skill to peer into the abilities of the chefs and cooks, a nervous sweat rolling down the side of her face.
"Yeah, it is." The woman replied with a nod, crossing her arms under her chest. "It’s a Skill that allows a culinary class to spark flames, it’s mainly used for lighting up stoves with your mana, or creating fire when you’re out in the wilderness." She explained. "It doesn’t really have much use outside of cooking."
The woman said, looking up at Loraine, a suspicious squint to her gaze. "That being said...why do you wish to learn such a Skill? You aren’t awakened, are you?" She asked, the question making Loraine a bit nervous.
Could she reveal her secret to this stranger? Surely not, it was far too risky. But the [Ignition] was something she so desperately wanted, it was another culinary skill, but it’s uses could become far deadlier in her hands.
Why you ask? It’s simple really, a simple spark magnified by 10x its radius and power is simply an explosion!
"Actually-" Loraine was about to try and cover up her question, but the woman cut her off.
"It’s no use trying to hide it, I already know." She said, "I’ve seen multiple people cook before, unawakened and awakened alike, but none of them moved as gracefully as you did." She said, staring into Loraine’s crimson depths.
"You were amazing, far too amazing for an ordinary person." She spoke, before chuckling softly.
"But don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me. I won’t tell anybody." She said, placing a finger on her lips as she smiled warmly.
Loraine blinked in confusion, visibly taken aback. She didn’t even have time to lie, were her movements so obvious? She remained silent for a moment, not sure if she heard the woman in front of her correctly.
"Was it really that obvious?" Loraine asked, placing her hands on her hips. The woman simply laughed, finding Loraine’s distress amusing.
"Of course it was, not even our [Head Chef] could move like that, you were simply astonishing. It was obvious you definitely practiced this a lot, I have no idea how, when, or where, but you moved like a seasoned veteran." She explained with admiration in her voice.
"I suppose you’re correct to a degree." Loraine said, though she wouldn’t admit that most of the work was done by her [Cooking Excellence] Skill, and it’s busted effects multiplied by 10. "I’ll take you keeping my secret as a sign of your gratitude." She said, extending a hand.
The woman blinked in surprise, a small flush crawling up her face as she gazed at Loraine’s slender hands. "Of course, I simply wish to better myself under your guidance." The woman said, shaking Loraine’s hand.
"I haven’t introduced myself," The woman said, "I’m Christine Bernheim, It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance." Christine said with a smile on her face.
"It’s a pleasure to meet you Christine." Loraine said cheerfully. "I really appreciate you looking out for me, as sudden as it all is..." She said, her next words rather icy and colder than the initial warmth she carried, startling the young cook for a sec as she felt a chill run down her spine.
"O-Of course, I’m simply repaying the favor. We would’ve gotten into a lot of trouble if the food hadn’t been prepared well, or worse..." She shuddered as she didn’t even want to imagine the consequences.
Loraine smiled, happy to have gained another ally. She knew not to let her guard down too quickly, but if someone could easily figure out that she awakened just by watching her, then she would need to cover up her tracks better moving forward.
’If push comes to shove, I can always get rid of her if I suspect she might tell on me.’ Loraine thought, shaking her head to herself. ’I really hope it doesn’t come to that, she seems like a nice person, but I can’t trust her too quickly either.’
She turned her gaze back to Christine, her expression turning serious as she stared at the woman in front of her.
"Now then, mind teaching me this Skill of yours in greater detail?"
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Back in the garden....
The air was tense as Alice and Beatrice simply stared at each other, either one not sure how to respond after their failed endeavors. Beatrice placed her cup down, cradling the warm mug in her hands, the warmth seeping into her hands as she breathed out a shaky sigh.
"What do you think we should do?" Beatrice asked, uncertainty creeping in her voice. She saw how shaken up Alice was by all of this, her fear that Loraine might have awakened scaring her, but Beatrice didn’t want to believe it.
It just wouldn’t make any sense.
"Do you think we should try another strategy? Perhaps steal something valuable and place the blame on Loraine instead?" Beatrice said, offering up ideas for what their next plan of action should be.
She wanted Loraine to suffer for what she had done, endangering the lives of every maid because of her outburst, it was simply unforgiveable! Every maid in the house harbored even more hatred for her ever since that day, and they would never find it within their hearts to forgive someone as worthless as her.
"No, that wouldn’t work, Loraine doesn’t have access to the other rooms of the mansion anyway." Alice said, staring down at her hands.
"If Loraine’s really changed then we need to confirm it first." Alice said, interlocking her fingers as her expression turned serious. Beatrice blinked upon hearing this, surprised by how determined Alice sounded.
She remembered how much fear she suffered under young master Valmont’s wrath, she was certain that she would’ve died, no, they all would’ve died if he hadn’t calmed down. The only person that was supposed by have died that day was Loraine, but she miraculously survived a blow with the force to level down a house, as an un-awakened being at that.
"Once we’ve got our answer, we’ll take our revenge on that brat, and finish her off for good." Alice said, her eyes burning with hatred. It didn’t matter if Loraine awakened anymore, she was simply outnumbered, one newly awakened being couldn’t take on hundreds of maids and servants.
’I will be the one to bury you with my own hands,’ Alice said to herself mentally, a promise filled with malice and hatred having been born.
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Back in the mansion....
[Learning Skill: Ignition]
[Rarity: Uncommon]
[Current Comprehension: 2/100%]
The door clicked shut behind Loraine as she entered her room, leaning against the hard wood for a moment as she exhaled slowly. Tonight had exhausted her in every way possible, and she was in much needed state for rest as of right now.
The system screen however in the corner of her vision, recalling the skill she was learning from Christine, [Ignition], and yet even after the little progress she had made, Loraine didn’t really feel anything right now.
All except for the dire need to get some shut eye.
"I gotta go to bed before I pass out on the floor," Loraine said in a defeated whisper, lurching toward her bed like a zombie as she flopped onto the mattress, too lazy to undress out of her maid uniform as she melted into the soft sheets.
Her eyes lazily closed, her breath falling and rising as she was drifted away to a whole new world all together, completely fading from reality as she fell asleep.
The next morning came rather quickly, the sun shining through her blinds as she slept peacefully, all the fatigue and mental exhaustion having burned away the previous night. The sounds of birds chirping and the sounds of movements going past her door finally awoke her, her eyes shooting open as she jumped wide awake.
"Shit-!" Loraine cursed, eyes scanning the room as she looked around in panic, her heart racing in her chest. "I overslept!" Loraine muttered to herself, jumping out of her bed as she instinctively activated [Cleanse] over herself, the bright light enveloping her body as her body and clothing became as good as new.
’I didn’t get a notification or anything, did I miss it!?’ Loraine thought to herself, grumbling under her breath as she opened up her Daily Quest.
[(Updated) Daily Quest]
[Quest Description: A maid’s duty solely lies in servitude, catering to their home and ensuring complete adequacy. To ascend in the maid rankings one must prove their worth and rise above mediocrity.]
[(Incomplete) Sweep the Great Hall (0/1)]
[(Incomplete) Attend To Two Areas In The Garden (0/2)]
[(Incomplete) Bathroom and Lavatory Duty(0/2)]
[Incomplete) Laundry Duty(0/2)]
[(Incomplete) Clean The Study 0/1)]
[Failure To Complete This Quest Will Result In A Loss Of Experience Points.]
’The maids are already up and moving, I definitely lost a lot of hours. I’m usually the first one up, guess I really was more exhausted than I thought.’ Loraine pondered inwardly with a sigh, a bit bummed out.
"Guess I’ll to push myself even harder today if I want to meet the deadline," She said, glancing at her [Ring Of Storage] for a moment, she wanted to check out what other contents this ring could have been holding, it was a Legendary item of the 3rd Tier, and from she had gotten out of those bandits she had fought last night, it belonged to someone very important.
And undoubtedly, very powerful as well.
"I must hurry, and make full use of ring while I still have it." Loraine muttered to herself, walking toward her door as she pulled it open, the door slamming shut behind her as she immediately began with her chores.
She would have to put the teachings taught by Christine on using [Ignition] to learn the skill later, and check out her [Ring Of Storage] as well.
’Took me so long just to comprehend 2% of the damn skill, this is gonna take forever!’