yemalu

A week has passed since I had first arrived in our new house.

I still have yet to get used to how things were done here.

Before this, I was already having trouble adjusting to leaving the menial task to be handled by Katsuki. Now, I was being assisted in some way or another the very moment I stepped out of bed.

Mary and Katsuki would be there in the mornings to wake me up and dress me. Breakfast would be served by the other servants and I would eat with Mother while letting her fawn over me.

After that was my own training where I would run around the estate before doing my physical exercises. Thankfully, there\'s weights around here so I could finally use them in my own training as well.

Lunch and tea time would take place with the latter being in the garden where I could have all the delicious sweets and tea I wanted. It was so, utterly blissful~

Then it was bath time where either Katsuki and Mary would wash me or it would be another team of maids. Like I wasn\'t even supposed to wash myself it seems.

Sometimes it would be Mother who would be the one washing me instead which I was already used to anyway so no big deal.

Then finally we would have dinner before heading off to bed and that would be the end of the day.

That was how I passed my time for the past few days until I realised something…

"Mommy! I have yet to explore the city!!" I exclaimed during breakfast that morning.

"Ara, ara? You\'re right my little one. Why don\'t you take a break today and take a walk around the city? Mary and little Katsuki can accompany you~"

"Is that ok, Mommy?"

"Ufufufu~ Of course it is. With Mary beside you, Mama can rest easy as well~"

Thus, once I was dressed up, again by the maids, I set out into the city with Mary and Katsuki.

I was given the option of taking the carriage but I decided to just walk so that I could look around the place myself.

"So what\'s interesting around here, Mary?" I asked, quite excited for my first outing in the capital itself.

She bowed her head, "Since Mistress is interested in sweets, perhaps we could take a look at the cafes and the sweet shops around the noble district? I also heard that Mistress has an interest in joining The Guild as a Dungeoneer so we can take a gander at this city\'s Guild as well."

Oh yeah, I actually forgot about that. I guess I haven\'t got over the shock of finding out about my family yet.

"Oh! You know me so well! Lead the way!"

"Of course. Katsuki, remember what I taught you. Always watch your surroundings for any threats that might befall on your Mistress."

Katsuki bowed, "Understood, Head Maid."

Seriously, Mary, what did you do to teach her? Katsuki even adopted the classic lady pose of clasping her hands in front of her waist when she\'s walking around as well.

But apparently that wasn\'t enough as Mary chided her, "Katsuki, your back isn\'t straight again."

My Inugami maid quickly corrected her posture which earned a nod from the Trasif maid.

Mary then took position a step in front of me while Katsuki accompanied me a step behind, completing our formation as Mary led us out of the mansion grounds.

Right before we exited the gates however, Mary turned around and bowed her head, "Before we go out, Mistress, there is one question I need to ask. Does Mistress have a wish to keep your identity secret?"

I tilted my head at her, "What do you mean?"

"There have already been rumours that Madam had borne a child but most had dismissed those rumours. As I am Madam\'s personal maid, the only other people I would ever escort are people she has directed me to escort, which before today has never happened before. Thus, it wouldn\'t be too much for the people in the know to guess who Mistress is if they were to see me with Mistress as my face is more well known than Madam\'s."

"I see… Umm… Would this be a problem for us?" I asked.

"It depends on Mistress actually. Does Mistress wish to be recognised as Madam\'s child?"

"What are the cons for them knowing this?"

Mary considered my question for a split second, "Madam is very secretive. There\'s only a very few handful of people who even know what Madam looks like and there are always people who aim to try and find out about Madam\'s personal life and secrets. If others were to know Mistress\'s relation to Madam, you may be targeted as well."

I grimaced, "Well that sounds annoying, I suppose I would want to keep myself secret then. But doesn\'t that mean you cannot escort us?"

"Oh, Mistress does not have to worry about that as I am able to do this."

Her face started to shift before my very eyes and her tapered ears slowly changed to a normal Mahun\'s ears while her distinctive silver hair turned black before tying itself into a ponytail. Her face also became less angled and even her blue eyes shifted to a dark brown.

A shapeshifter mage…

"You are… A Somatomancer?" I asked.

She smiled and nodded, "That is correct, Mistress. I am Creation tier at Somatomancy and Megameter Tier in Astromancy. While I am in this form, please call me Lina"

I quickly used my [Screen] on her.

[Name: Mary

Title: Nilm Family Head Maid

Race: Trasif

Stats:

3210 Strength

3690 Dexterity

3500 Endurance

4100 Magic

Skills:

Hunting (Tier 3), Gardening (Tier 3), Tutor (Tier 4), Cooking (Tier 4), Cleaning (Tier 4), Marksman Skill (Tier 3), Assassination (Tier 3), Martial Skill-(Dagger Proficiency (Tier 3), Unarmed Proficiency (Tier 3), Sword Proficiency (Tier 3), Bow Proficiency (Tier 3))

Magic Skills:

Mana Management (Tier 3), Pyromancy (Tier 2), Cryomancy (Tier 2), Somatomancy (Tier 4), Astromancy (Tier 3)]

Holy… She\'s more than seven times stronger than an Infant Crimson Dragon! And this is my first time seeing anyone having a tier four in any skill and she has four!! Four!!

Most of her skills are also tier three too, like… How long has she even been training herself to get to this level?!

No wonder she\'s Mother\'s personal maid and with a tier four in her tutor skill, it also makes sense that Katsuki learned so well under her.

I turned to my Inugami maid, "Did Katsuki know about this?"

She bowed, "I was only just made aware of Head Maid\'s capabilities as a shapeshifter, Mistress."

Mary, in her new body, curtsied, "As I also take care of Madam\'s enemies, few even amongst the servants know of my capabilities to ensure I retain my element of surprise over my opponents, Mistress."

"And you\'re ok with telling us, Mar… I mean, Lina?"

"Mistress is Madam\'s child after all, there is no reason for me to hide my abilities from you. You are free to make use of me as you see fit."

"Did Mother also tell you to do that?"

"That is correct, Mistress."

I narrowed my eyes at her, "Just how old are you?"

"I unfortunately cannot answer that, Mistress. Not because I don\'t want to, but because even I do not know. But if it helps, I have served as Madam\'s maid for a little over five hundred years."

Oh wow… Ok, that explains quite a bit… But that means Mother is also more than five hundred years old? Just how long lived are Meslatars? Would I also eventually end up like that too?

Oh whatever, that\'s not the important thing now, I\'m not even eighteen yet anyway so no point thinking about that now. Instead…

"Umm… Also… Wouldn\'t people still realise you\'re a maid working for my Mother and make the connection that I\'m related?"

"That would not be a problem, Mistress. Many noble families employ our servants so at best, the people around us would only assume that you are a noble of another house who has employed servants trained at Madam\'s academy."

"I see… Umm… If anyone asks, what should I say? I know nobles care about family names, right?" I asked, remembering how that clown boy had asked which family I came from and his attitude changing the moment he thought I was not a noble.

"Mistress, you can simply state that you are a noble but refuse to state your family name," Mary explained. "It is seen as a little rude to the others but it is well within your right to do so."

Ok, I guess that also solves the problem somewhat though I guess it\'s better to just hope that no one questions me during my trip out into the city.

"Now that we are prepared, is Mistress ready to leave?" Mary asked while in her Lina form.

I nodded and she led the way out of the mansion and onto the main street.

Alright! Candies, cakes, pastries and everything sweet, here I come!!