Strongest Maid In Another World

Sarah pressed her back against the door for a moment, a tear running down her cheek as she sank to the ground, burying her face in her knees. Her body began to tremble violent as she began to sob uncontrollably, Loraine’s footsteps slowing down to a halt as she stopped a few inches from Sarah’s door.

Loraine stood outside the door for a long moment, her chest heaving as she stared at the door between them, her senses heightened by [Maiden’s Intuition] as she could hear every sob, feel every single tremor in her body and the true depths of her pain, and that itself caused Loraine to feel pain in her chest too.

’What have I done....’ She thought to herself, her expression turning to one of pure guilt as she glanced down at her hands, as if she had just committed the greatest crime she thought possible.

"Sarah...." Loraine whispered her name, loud enough for her best friend to hear as she gently placed her palm against the surface of the door, the guilt evident in her tone as her voice cracked slightly.

"Go away....sob...." Sarah said with a sob, Loraine shaking her head to herself as she knew that doing so would be abandoning her best friend, and she wouldn’t dare to ever do that.

"I’m sorry, I messed up." Loraine apologized, taking in a deep breath as she continued. "I didn’t think you’d react this way, I wasn’t taking into account how you felt and I feel ashamed for betraying your trust, right when I told you that I wasn’t going to do anything rash." Loraine said, a long awkward pause looming between the two of them before she continued.

"I wanted to see what I was capable of Sarah, I wanted to know if I could pursue this goal of mine of becoming an adventurer, even though I knew that I could’ve died." She said, "But do you know why I did it? Why I want this so bad?"

Loraine’s question hung in the air, Sarah’s eyes widening as she wiped the tears off her face, turning her head back to listen to the reason why Loraine could’ve done something so careless and utterly foolish.

"Because I made a promise," Loraine started, wiping her tears as her voice gained a sense of conviction and determination. "I made a promise that I would always protect you ever since I had awakened, that I would never let anyone or anything, ever harm you ever again."

"And for me to be able to do that, for me to be able to see you smile, to see you thrive, and to see you happy, then I needed strength, Sarah, I needed to become so strong that no force in this world could ever dare challenge to hurt what I hold dear to my heart!"

Loraine said, pressing her face to the door as her body began to tremble with the restraint of trying to hold her tears back.

"I hate being weak, Sarah....I always hated being weak when I always had to rely on you for everything," Loraine confessed, tears streaming down her face, landing on the ground with a soft splash that only she could hear with her heightened senses.

"I hated how for the majority of my life, I had to lean on you because I was too incompetent, too afraid, and too weak to stand up and fight for what I held dear to me."

"I hated being weak because I couldn’t protect you Sarah, and I still hate being weak because I know that if I don’t become strong enough, that if I continue to remain the way I am, that I’ll never be able to protect what I hold dear to me."

"You’re my best friend, the most important person in my life, and I want to pursue strength so that I never have to experience a memory of you being hurt ever again."

Loraine said, taking a deep breath as she started to pant with the pain in her throat of talking too much with so much emotion in her voice, sobbing as she fell to her knees on the other side, her heart breaking in her chest.

She thought back to the young master of the Ashbourne mansion, to the abuse they constantly endured under the hands of Margret, and the emotional turmoil they went through every single day, just to find sanctuary in each other’s presence and comfort.

She swore to herself that she would take revenge on Young Master Valmont, to bring the bastard that dared harm her friend, and bring him to his knees, her hands clenching into fists as she whispered.

"So please Sarah....open the door." Loraine said, her voice cracking with emotion as she exhaled slowly.

’Loraine.....’ Sarah thought to herself, her eyes heating up with tears as she stared at the door behind her for a moment, listening to the sincerity and the broken sobbing of her best friend, a trickle of guilt and sadness lingering in her own chest.

Her heart began to beat in a steady rhythm, the heavy weight, the worry, the pain in her chest, all of it slowly began to lift as she heard Loraine’s reasoning behind her foolish actions, and the dream that Sarah was so against.

She was doing it for her, she was doing it to protect her, and the thought made Sarah feel a bit bad for how she had initially reacted, having though that Loraine didn’t care about her worries, now feeling foolish that she had doubted her friend.

Slowly, she rose from the ground, Loraine’s ears twitching as she heard the slight rustle of fabric, her eyes widening in anticipation as she dried off her tears with her sleeve.

She stood up to meet Sarah as the door opened slowly, Sarah standing there as she looked her best friend in the eyes, the two of them not saying a word for a long moment.

"Fine...I forgive you."