CH83 Yvne’s Mansion
“Well miss Alice, what do you think?” A demon in a butler outfit addressed the black-haired woman. “Working in a direct capacity for the nobility would be a big step up from traveling from town to town peddling wares. Lady Yvne is very generous in her offers of training.”
“It looks like a very well run mansion but to tell you the truth I was just curious more than seeking employment.” Alex remembered being told that townspeople were forced into service by lady Yvne.
The demon-butlers, it seemed, weren't given to arrogant posturing, and not all of them even had red skin. Fire, therefore, was probably not the only thing the demons were cultivating in this town.
Fufi bristled, her clockwork form shifting slightly from where it was pitched beside her in the carriage.
“What’s that wooden thing next to you?” The butler imp asked.
“Oh this? It is a clockwork construct.” Alex patted the bird, then wound her key a few times to show how it worked. “I make toys as well as clothing.”
“Very interesting, while the barony has several seamstresses in employment, there are not any toymakers. Won’t you reconsider? If nothing else, perhaps you can stay the night in one of the guest rooms before continuing your journey.” The imp held out a gloved hand to invite her in.
Alex surveyed her surroundings, noting the striking absence of casually dressed individuals. Instead, several humans in identical black and white frilly maid outfits, complete with matching headbands, were meticulously tending the grounds. Their postures were ramrod straight, and their expressions stoic, a profound seriousness in their work.
Alex didn’t want to be rude. “Okay, perhaps just one night and I’ll be on my way tomorrow.” Alex looked to the clockwork Fufi to see if she would protest. And this place looked very impressive compared to the rest of the town.
The clockwork bird gave a crisp nod followed by some ticking and the key turning slightly.
“See, even this clockwork flamingo agrees.” Alex smiled at the now-disguised Fufi.
“Where’d you see a Flamingo? It is against the law for them to be in the kingdom. I figured you made a goose toy.” The imp curiously eyed the doll Fufi hid in. “Come in, Miss Alice. I’ll assign a maid to lead you to your room.”
"Haha, yeah, my mistake, no way that is a flamingo toy," Alex awkwardly chuckled, urging the carriage onward.
She guided the carriage to a stone stable, parking it against the wall. Like much of the town, fire prevention was paramount due to the demons' peculiar fascination with immolation.
A human maid approached, extending her hand to assist Alex from the driver's bench.
Alex alighted from the carriage, her white-gloved hand clasped by the maid. A flicker of worry crossed the magical girl's mind about the black-and-white-dressed girl’s strength, yet she quickly recalled that this world's inhabitants possessed a system, making most adults superhuman. Her gaze lingered on Fufi, reluctant to leave her behind. However, to maintain their disguise, treating Fufi as a living familiar was out of the question.
“Hello, my name’s Alice. What is yours?” Alex smiled at the maid.
“Maid will suffice Miss Alice.” The maid gave a polite curtsey. “This way. Someone will be sent to cleanse your carriage and tend to your horses.” She blinked a few times and did a double take at the horseless carriage.
“Oh, no horses, it is spring powered, like a clock. It winds up like a toy.” Alex pointed at the carriage, making incomprehensible gestures to explain. “Please be careful if you clean it. There are a lot of moving parts and I wouldn't want anyone to get hurt.”
“Of course, miss Alice.” The maid deadpanned.
The woman, who elected to be addressed as ‘maid’ for some reason led Alex inside the mansion, down some twisted halls and into a well-furnished room. “Shall I prepare a bath?”
"I'm not particularly dirty," Alex told the maid. "My cleaning skill is usually more than sufficient."
"While that may be true, a bath serves a purpose beyond mere cleanliness. Warm water has a calming effect on both body and mind," the maid stated in a flat tone.
"Alright, you've convinced me. I'll take a bath," Alex conceded.
The maid guided Alex from the room, down the hall, and opened a door revealing the very pleasant bathroom. The room was fully tiled, with a tub enclosed by a curtain at the far end.
Alex headed to the tub and inspected it. The tub looked entirely bronze. It had four legs and a drain in the bottom. A pipe came out of the wall above the tub. Alex didn’t see any knobs to turn to open the vales though. “How does this work? I don’t see any way to get the water flowing.”
"Allow me to demonstrate," the maid offered, placing a hand on the wall. Water began to flow into the tub. "There are two runes here, one for hot water and one for cold. If you would kindly undress and enter the tub, I can then adjust the water to your preferred temperature."
Alex, intrigued, pressed the same spots on the wall. Water immediately gushed forth. The magical girl then began filling the tub herself.
"It is this one's duty to prepare your bath and attend to you, Miss Alice. Is this not satisfactory?" The maid extended a laundry basket towards Alex, gesturing for her to place her clothing inside.
"I prefer to bathe in privacy. I don't require any assistance." Alex's mind drifted to the temple of purity's bathhouse. While assistance with bathing was convenient when she had wings for arms and talons for feet, Alex chose caution, unwilling to risk a repetition of the past. This was, after all, demon-controlled territory.
“As you wish.” The maid left the basket next to the bathtub and left. She closed the curtain behind her.
Alex removed her blouse, dress, and undergarments, placing them in the laundry basket before stepping into the bathtub. She soaped herself clean, then drained the sudsy water. Refilling the tub with slightly warmer water, she sighed, leaned back, and closed her eyes.
Time slipped by, and Alex had apparently dozed off. She awoke with a splash, exiting the now-lukewarm bath. Grabbing a towel from a wall hook, she then reached into the basket for what she expected to be her old clothes, but found, to her surprise, a maid outfit.
“Not this again.” Alex grimaced and set the maid dress aside. She turned the clothing basket upside down, hoping that her previous outfit would be at the bottom but it wasn’t. The only thing that came out were some thigh high stockings, an underdress and a frilly white headband.
Alex looked around but the maid wasn’t in the bathroom. Wearing nothing but a towel, she opened the door a crack and peeked into the hallway. “Hello?”
“Miss Alice. You are not decent. I’ve brought a fresh garment for you to wear.” The maid looked distressed that Alex opened the door but was not wearing the provided maid outfit. “Did you not notice?”
“I’m not interested in trying that on. My original clothing will work just fine.” Alex crossed her arms.
“That would be problematic. They were taken to the laundry to be cleaned.” The maid tried to reduce Alex’s concerns. “You didn’t bring any luggage with you so I thought that was your only outfit.”
"This isn't my only outfit," Alex clarified, a hint of frustration in her voice. "I have others in my carriage and change there when needed." She felt the maid was unfairly portraying her as unreasonable for not using the provided clothing. "Besides, my clothes are perfectly clean and don't require laundering. Please, just show me to the laundry room so I can retrieve them."
"Apologies, Miss Alice, this way," the maid replied, leading her down the hall, around a corner, and opening the door to the laundry room.
Alex quickly spotted her clothing in a basket near a wash basin where another, very similar looking maid was working through a substantial backlog of clothing, sheets and blankets. The maid looked surprised to see someone barge in wearing only a towel. “May I help you?”
Alex boldly took her clothing and changed back into her outfit right in front of the maid doing laundry and the maid holding open the door. The door was quickly shut when the original maid noticed that the girl had no shame in dropping the towel in front of two strangers. “There, that’s better. I don’t like it when my clothing vanishes. I had a bad experience that started like this in the past.”
“When was the last time you had that garment washed with soap and water?” The maid at the wash basin sounded exasperated.
Then the other maid added her two cents. “Miss Alice, did you not just travel the dirty roads for who knows how many days? Cleanliness is important. Please reconsider changing to something freshly cleaned before dinner.”
“As you can see, I keep myself quite clean,” Alex said, shaking her head. “I even have a cleaning skill. I consider cleaning one of my strengths.” Alex ignored the mention of soap and water. Did anyone outside the mansion have access to soap? She couldn't recall seeing any in the temple of purity, perhaps they were out, given their decades-long isolation from all but the ice demon sect.
“Well, with that skill you would make a good maid. But a good maid needs to look the part. Anyway, you don’t have to make up your mind now. Let's get you ready for dinner. Your hair is a mess.” The original maid gestured for Alex to sit in a nearby chair that was free of laundry.
Alex sat in the offered chair and the two maids tagged teamed on brushing then braiding her long black hair. They added makeup, lipstick, and painted her fingernails a sensible gloss. After a bit more primping, the two maids, who oddly insisted to be addressed as ‘maid’ , escorted the magical girl to the dining room. Several other people were already there.
Half a dozen people sat at various tables in the large room. Two people wore maid outfits, one man and one woman. They looked concerned and fiddled with the outfits.
Alex noticed this right away and sat down next to the guy in a black and white dress. “Hello, I’m Alice. Nice to meet you.”
“Hello Alice, I’m Ezekiel, Zeke for short. Sorry about my appearance. The maids took my clothing to wash and said that I should wear this. It is a bit embarrassing.” The man sounded like one of the locals.
“Let me guess, you took a nice bath and were offered a maid outfit right after.” Alex deadpanned.
Apparently the other woman sitting down a table away nodded. She listened to the conversation. So there were two nods affirming what Alex thought.
Alex invited the other woman to join them and she moved tables, sitting down with Alex and Zeke. “I’m Alice if you didn’t catch the name earlier.”
“Gertrude, but people call me Trudy.” The woman managed a forced smile.
“I’m guessing you are here for maid training?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, it is not like there is much choice. The baroness makes demands for people to train as maids and the demons just pick people out. I’m assuming that those people get forced to leave this barony and work for other nobles because we don’t see them again.” Zeke sadly stated.
“Only maids? No butlers?” Alex thought that was weird because the group here wasn’t entirely women.
“The only butlers I’ve seen are the three foot tall demon kind.” Zeke shook his head. “I’m a little bit worried about what that means.”
Alex furrowed her brow and considered this. The implications were very concerning.
A maid came by and delivered three plates of food for everyone. “You can go ahead and start eating dinner. Mistress Yvne takes her meals in her chamber so she’ll be here shortly.”
Alex and the others ate the food. It was a salad of croutons, fruits and lettuce.
Eating felt relaxing, Alex felt her concerns drift away and felt at peace. Well, until her phone buzzed. Luckily it was on vibrate.
[Mental resistance has increased to 4]
Alex blinked at the strange message and just held the phone, curiously staring at the screen.
A maid came and tried to pluck the phone out of Alex’s hand. “Miss Alice, I’m confiscating this. You don’t need to be staring at strange magic devices at the dinner table.”
Alex started to panic. She had normal human stats so if these maids were higher level then they would be stronger than her. The confrontation with the stone ax tribe proved that humans were not the same as humans on earth after they started getting up there in levels.
The screen showed a new message:
[Cuteness check succeeded, Maid verses Alex, target does not have stat: cuteness]
The maid, huffing in frustration, ceased her attempts to snatch the phone when it refused to budge. Alex wasn't even gripping it tightly. Despite the maid's swiftness, grabbing it before Alex could react, she couldn't wrestle it away. Peculiar.
"Fine," she conceded, abandoning her efforts to confiscate the device. "Just put that thing away. Table manners are important."