NOVEL WEB Chapter 6: Annette POV 1 – Personal Maid
My name is Annette. I am Tauro-sama's personal maid. Currently walking down the long corridor while holding Tauro-sama's hand to reach her bedchamber, that her highness the queen had prepared for her. Everyone present at the time got pretty shocked, me included, when her highness the queen out of the blue picked me as Tauro-sama's personal maid.
I have only been working here for the past 4 months, so I'm not as skilled as the other maids working here. The only reason I was picked was because I had the same 'wavelengths' as Tauro-sama.
I did not fully understand what she meant by that, the only thing I could think of was probably something related to mana, or the spirits. The other thing that I was told about was that I should do my best to earn Tauro-sama's trust, since she is not only shy, but afraid of strangers.
From the speech she gave earlier, It pretty much declared that anyone who even dared to hurt Tauro-sama, directly or indirectly, wouldn't live to see another day.
Pretty scary if you think about it.
~[15 minutes earlier]~
"My name is Annette. From today fourth I will be your personal maid, Tauro-sama."
"..T-Tauro."
As I greeted Tauro-sama with the utmost respect, she meekly replied back with a quiet voice, while looking down. If I wasn't an Elf, I doubt I would have heard her response. These pointy ears aren't just for show.
"Tauro-sama. Your sister, her highness the queen, Yuzuri, told me that she has prepared some clothing and a room just for you."
"..Mm."
Tauro-sama is really on guard. This is the first time I've seen royalty with no confidence, not that it's a bad thing, but at the same time, it's not a great thing either when it comes to high society. Since I come from a commoner background, I didn't know much about high society until I started working here. To summarise it, being of noble birth sounds like a pain.
I migrated to this kingdom to get a full time job. I got lucky enough to get one here at the royal castle when I visited the capital's job agency. It still baffles me how I even got the job in the first place.
The people working here also does not mind, nor care, of your social standing, which is great in my honest opinion. I've also seen plenty of people at the audience chamber time, and time again trying to bribe or do dumb evil schemes. Well, not like they ever succeeded in the first place after earning our queen's ire. I have also heard stories of her personally destroying a kingdom all alone.
As I was thinking such things, Tauro-sama got enough courage to speak up.
"..U-Um... Are you really my, um... Personal maid? ...You sure you want to attend to someone like me?"
"What do you mean, Tauro-sama? Why would you think I wouldn't want to become your personal maid?"
Tauro-sama started to get teary eyed, so I crouched down and looked at Tauro-sama's with worry. I waited patiently for her to continue.
"..Because everyone has always said that I'm worthless. That I'm weak, useless, waste of space... Uuu~"
I gently hugged Tauro-sama, comforting her as best as I could as she cried unto my chest, with no ends of her tears stopping.
I see... Now I can understand why her highness the queen is so protective of Tauro-sama... But who in the right mind would do such a thing to a mere child? I have read scary stories about how noble families treat their children as mere political tools, but I never thought that it would happen for someone of royal blood...
Is that the reason why highness the queen had a face of disgust when that shitty prince talked about her parents from that time? I mean, not even the people of her kingdom even talk about then, and anything related to them was removed from history, as if they never existed in the first place.
I do not have the courage to ask, as it may be a very sensitive topic... Alright... As I've been assigned as her personal maid, I will do my utmost best to protect her smile! ...No, I must do my best!
I'm not sure how long she cried, but eventually she started to calm down.
"Tauro-sama? Are you feeling better?"
"Mm."
I gently stroke her head as she hugged me back.
"Let's head to your room, your bedchamber, and get you something nice to wear."
"Mm."
I patted her head and got up. But before I could go anywhere, Tauro-sama grabbed the hem of my skirt.
"Um... Annette? Could we hold hands?"
"Of course!"
I said smiling brightly. I did not even hesitate. A simple maid holding hands with royalty is unheard of, but this is a direct request from Tauro-sama herself.
Tauro-sama grabbed my hand and started smiling brightly.
I'm glad that she is able to recover quickly. And that sweet smile, SO CUTE.
Feeling more energy than before, I renewed my resolve to protect her bright sweet smile the highest priority of all priorities. Not sure what that means, but I said it!
~[Back to present]~
As we walked down the corridor, I reassured her that the servants in the castle will not do any harm to Tauro-sama, as she was still afraid of strangers. I finally got Tauro-sama to trust me, so I must make sure to not betray her trust, ever. Not only would Tauro-sama become sad, her highness the queen, Yuzuri, would not hesitate to 'reprimand' me.
She is really really really, REALLY, scary when she's angry.
When we got closer to her bedchamber, we stumbled across the head maid. Tauro-sama looked down, but I reassured her by gently squeezing her hand. In response she looked up at me, to which I simply smiled.
You can do it Tauro-sama!
Tauro-sama looked down for a brief moment, before looking me in the eyes with determination. She was still a bit nervous, though. I've only known Tauro-sama for a short period of time, but seeing her like this, brings a natural gentle smile on my face. Maybe holding my hand also helped her to gain some courage.
"Head maid."
"Hello there, Annette. I see you got selected as Tauro-sama's personal maid. Not bad for someone who recently started working here, and also a great achievement for a commoner. Sorry for the late introductions, Tauro-sama. I am the head maid Lillian."
"T-Tauro."
The head maid then noticed that we where holding hands.
"I was told by Tauro-sama to hold her hand."
"I see. I think the other maids will become quite jealous when they hear about this."
"The other maids will be jealous? Why?"
Tauro-sama tilted her head when the head maid said such. But instead of answering, the head maid simply smiled. I never, ever, seen the head maid smiling. So seeing her smile for the first time gave me quite the shock. She was known as the 'Impregnable Maid'. As an Oni, it fits her perfectly well.
"Well then, I will be heading back to work. Tauro-sama."
The head maid bowed respectfully to Tauro-sama and with elegance, she quickly headed off elsewhere. As always, she was pretty quick on her feet.
"Shall we enter to your bedchambers, Tauro-sama?"
"Mm. Let's."
