As soon as I step outside, I see that “several” turns out to mean three. There were two men and a woman, all three humans. The young, auburn-haired woman is wearing a black, extremely frilly dress with an equally frilly white apron and bonnet. One of the men that is taller and thinner, with the entire top part of his gray hair missing, is in a suit. A quite nice suit. Lastly, the other guy is shorter, with a round belly and a jovial twinkle in his eyes.

  “You drama queen! You scared the shit out of me!”

  My kitty companion cackles crazily in my head as she nonchalantly cleans her face with her paw, completely unnoticed by our guests.

  “Um, hi? How can I help you?”

  The woman shoots a confused look at the elderly man, while their rotund companion releases a boisterous guffaw.

  “HA! HAHA! That’s a right funny thing to ask us, lad!”

  I just stare blankly at him, switching my gaze to the old man as he bows slightly and begins to speak.

  “Master Vidadura, my name is Jorvid. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. We—”

  Nope. Nuh-uh. Not a fucking chance in Hell.

  “Luck.”

  My tone, while mostly flat, carries a sliver of a sharp edge. The man takes a tentative step backward, likely due to the glare I’m sure I’m most likely directing his way. His own voice sounds confused with a touch of apprehension, though his face remains completely professional.

  “Pardon?”

  Continuing to level an icy gaze at him, I pause momentarily.

  Yeah, maybe a bit more clarification is needed.

  “Call me Luck.”

  Clear, concise, and straight to the point. That’s all I should need to say.

  Jorvid bows his head, his arm before him as his waist bends ever-so-slightly.

  “As you say, Master Luck. We are, in fact, here to assist you.”

  Why the fuck do I need assistance?

  My thoughts reflect my next statement’s sentiment, though the utterance is much more… tame.

  “With… what?”

  Nodding as if he expected no less and had prepared his answer pre-conversation, which he may or may not have actually done, Jorvid begins his explanation.

  “I am a steward. I shall keep track of your day to day needs and visitors. Shinoa here is a maid, she will take care of the premises, run your baths, and clean your clothes. Hamlin is a cook. His job is self-explanatory.”

  The jovial man steps forward, reaching his hand out to shake mine.

  “Aye, tha’s me. But chu c’n call me Ham. Well met, Luck.”

  Looking at the young woman, she blanches, curling into herself a bit before offering her own mumbled greeting.

  “H-hi M-master Vida— Master Luck!”

  Well, at least I got one of them to just call me Luck. What’s her deal anyway? More importantly…

  “Why?”

  The steward looks at me, his expression a mask of neutrality with a pinch of perplexity. He responds with a question that I should have seen coming, but didn’t.

  “Pardon? Why what, Master Luck?”

  My arms begin to gesticulate, punctuating each question with a wild wave as the volume of my voice invariably increases.

  “Why are you here? Why am I in this big house? Why do I need staff? I thought I was going to the capital, so why go through all of this? Why am I being treated as if I’m the next Kithlan Breathweaver?!”

  By the end, I’m one word from wishing I’d kept my mouth shut, though the man remains undisturbed.

  “I must apologize, Master Luck, as I have the answer to only one of your questions. You need ‘staff’ precisely because you are in this ‘big house,’ as you say. The rest, I’m afraid, you must take up with the Guild Leader or someone with more authority than I have.”

  Honestly, Jorvid looks genuinely disappointed that he couldn’t answer my questions. But that expression appears only for an instant before being replaced by professionalism.

  “Now, please excuse us to go do our tasks.”

  I stare at them, an awkward silence building as a full minute goes by without them moving. The big man starts chuckling about halfway into the wait, but other than that there is only the sound of the outdoors.

  What are they waiting for? He couldn’t have… Could he?

  “Did you… mean that… literally?”

  Jorvid nods, his affirmative gesture causing a bad feeling to well up before his response.

  “Yes, sir.”

  Cheese and fucking rice! Really?!

  “Okay… I guess you’re… excused?”

  “Very good, sir.”

  With that, the three move past me to enter the manor proper. As they get a bit farther into the building, I catch a snippet of their conversation.

  “I like the lad.”

  “He seems… scary…”

  What? How am I scary? I think that’s probably just a ‘her thing.’

  “Young Master Luck is—”

  As the voices fade, I sit down with Delilah in order to watch the sunset. The cool air chills my nose, but my cloak does well to protect the rest of me from the post-winter weather.

  “This whole thing is throwing me off, Delilah.”

  My melancholic undertones quickly turn into a weary sigh.

  “Speaking aloud might cause the staff to think you’re crazy, Human. Have you already forgotten?”

  Scoffing in a not unfriendly way, I look down at my faithful companion.

  “So what? Let them. I won’t be here long, and when I come back to this Etheri-forsaken hellhole to take care of my unfinished business, I won’t see them anyway.”

  If I do, they won’t be able to do anything about it.

  “Rumors spread like wildfire and always come back around to remind you that your actions are not as anonymous as you might think they are. Just remember that, Human.”

  It’s cute that she worries.

  The withering glare that follows not only tells me that she resents my words, it proves that she also read my mind.

  Again…

  I choose to ignore the act, as it’s clear that she won’t stop any time soon. Instead, I reach over and pet her for a while before responding.

  “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, you adorable little fuzzball. I smell bacon.”

  …

  Turns out Jorvid is dead set against me sleeping in any room aside from the master suite. He didn’t even blink twice when I put Koa on a bed in the blue room I had originally planned to take for myself, but Etheri forbid I sleep in there with her.

  “Sir! You are the master of this house for however long you reside here. It is only proper for you to use it as intended.”

  Again? That’s the third time! At least that bacon was delicious. Silver linings, Luck. Silver linings. As to this…

  “Alright, alright, I get it. I’ll sleep in the damned room. I’m not going to die on the hill of etiquette.”

  With a nod that speaks volumes, Jorvid jumps in with another point of contention.

  “Very good, Master Luck. I shall have Shinoa change the bedding immediately.”

  I have a sneaking suspicion…

  “Is it… dirty?”

  The simple question gives him a ghastly visage, his tone insinuating that his words should be taken at face value.

  “Of course, sir. It has not been changed in two days.”

  This better not be going where I think it is…

  “And… someone slept here in the last two days?”

  “Of course not, sir. That’s a preposterous notion. This manor is only used in the rarest of circumstances.”

  Etheri-damned steward!

  “Right… so… I’m not going to touch that last statement, because that will just bring up questions that you don’t have the answers to. The bedding hasn’t been used, so don’t worry about changing it.”

  His face takes on a look of astonishment, as his words sound taken aback. Unsurprisingly.

  “Master Luck! That can not be! What if the dust were to cause sneezing fits in the middle of the night? I simply could not conscience that.”

  No way I’m backing down this time.

  “Jorvid. You won the first one, at least let me have this victory.”

  The man shakes his head with a small smile, then turns serious again and nods once.

  “Very well, sir. You may have won the battle, but you have not won the war, as it is said. May I be excused?”

  I nod, and the man gives me a wink, showing that he does in fact have a playful side, before walking away.

  Thank Mother that that’s settled.

  …

  “Father…?”

  My eyes shoot open, expecting trouble, only to realize that it was just Koa. The night is still in full force, darkness filling the windows.

  I know she wouldn’t wake me without cause, but did it have to be at midnight?

  I put as much compassion as my groggy thoughts can muster into my response.

  “Yes, Daughter?”

  Voice filled with hesitation, her next words bring a smile to my face.

  “I don’t like sleeping alone…”

  Awww, she’s so adorable…

  Flooding the bond with a feeling of love and acceptance, I raise my arm up a small amount, pulling on my ability to summon her.

  “Okay, come here.”

  That said, Koa appears in my hand, and I gently lay her on the bed next to me. I try not to disturb Delilah, but she starts purring after I settle back down, and I quickly drift back into slumber. Before the darkness takes me, I hear a whisper in my head.

  “Good night, Father. I love you.”

  …

  The morning comes quickly, the dawn light waking me upon its arrival. My clothes are neatly folded on top of the ornate chest at the foot of the humongous bed. After standing up in my underclothes and walking to my outfit, it takes me entirely too long to notice that Shinoa is standing by my door at attention. Her face is a deep shade of red and her head is turned slightly away from me, even though her body is facing forward.

  “AGH!”

  I quickly dive back onto the bed and bury my nearly naked body beneath the blanket. My exclamation comes out in an extremely embarrassing squeak as I nearly panic.

  “What are you doing here?!”

  She tucks her arms tighter to her sides as she tries to shrink into herself, letting out a scared squeak of distress.

  “Eep! I— I— I ran y-you a b-b-bath!”

  Still staring at her, horrified that she saw me in my underclothes, I try to relax my shoulders a bit. Using a much softer tone, I respond as politely as I can.

  “Thank you, Shinoa. I also appreciate you cleaning my clothes for me. So… how long have you been… standing there?”

  She straightens her posture, saying the next line as if by rote, her voice still quivering.

  “A-a-attendants are to report t-to the master suite exactly one hour before dawn and are to remain in— in position until the master awakens. Does this… d-d-displease you… M-master Luck?”

  I quickly raise my hands, waving them in an attempt to rid her of the notion. That backfires when she flinches, clearly having experienced… displeasure… before.

  “Of course not! No! You’re just doing your job. But… you just have to stand there until I wake up? What if I slept all day?”

  To my surprise, this only seems to confuse her. To my relief, confusion seems to distract her enough to give her a bit of confidence.

  “That… never happens? Not often at least. Mercenaries usually wake with the rising sun, if not earlier.”

  Good… maybe she’ll actually warm up to me. Though that’s only if I’m here long enough.

  “That actually makes a lot of sense. No reason to waste time when you could be training.”

  That’s actually easy for me to say, I train all night long. I just need to get used to it while I’m awake, too.

  “Okay… um… could you please leave, Shinoa? I, uh, don’t want you to see me… again.”

  Her face turns beat red at my words, and she nods once before hurriedly scurrying through the door.

  Now, I wonder which tub she filled…

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.