yemalu

"So she\'s been coming here everyday?" Lisa asked as we watched Odeta train the princess in the gardens below the balcony we were on.

I sipped my tea, "Mmhmm, I\'m more surprised that the king and queen let her come here so often."

"It just shows how much your family\'s influence has, Aster~"

I already knew that, but I was thinking that it was more because the king and queen trusted us with their daughter\'s safety so they let her come here.

I guess within a school of maids trained in all sorts of combat situations would arguably be a safer place than anywhere else, especially when you have a maid and butler that could go toe to toe with a young dragon and win…

If I think of it that way, then it really just means that the Royal Family is using us, isn\'t it?

That would actually explain quite a bit on why the princess is allowed here…

Well, I still benefit from this arrangement since eating sweets with her is always fun~ And having sweets after a long workout also feels great!

But right now, I\'m enjoying a little bit of tea with the others as it\'s been a while since the last time I had one with them instead of the princess. Of course Katsuki was here to serve me as diligently as always.

Delmare took a sip from her own tea before setting the cut down, "It seems like Odeta is having a lot of fun teaching her though?"

I nodded, "She has been trained by her sister since she was young so having someone else to train must be a refreshing change for her. I guess she also sees the princess as a little sister now, either consciously or unconsciously."

Lisa sighed, "Do I need to remind you that she\'s supposedly a cursed child? I have a feeling that we would end up getting involved with her troubles sooner or later."

"Mmm… But I do want to help her though? So I guess this is fine right?"

"If that is what Aster says so, then I guess there\'s no need for me to worry about that~"

I leaned against the table while propping my head up with my palm, "Speaking of which… What happened to Aaron? Last I remembered he was utterly broken after knowing the truth?"

Lisa giggled, "Oh you know, I did some things to his memories so he wouldn\'t remember most of what happened~ He wouldn\'t even remember that he and I were \'dating\' before~"

"Oh… Is he going to still attend your class?"

She waved her hand dismissively, "Oh definitely not. After he \'knew\' that we weren\'t dating, his interest in the magic completely dissipated and he dropped out of my class soon after that. That means it\'ll be just you and me for our classes now, Aster~ Ehehehe!"

That\'s to be expected I suppose… And I already know what Lisa would be planning to do when I go back to class with her…

My Infrid has been practically holding herself back during our classes after all.

"Faster!! Move those legs!! You\'re getting slower!!"

I looked down from the balcony again, watching the Amrap berate the princess as they ran around the garden.

I\'ve said this the first time but I still feel that it\'s kind of surreal seeing the princess in a tracksuit. Her maid was even running alongside them in her maid outfit while carrying a towel and a canteen of water.

"The princess is really working hard," Delmare commented.

Lisa turned to me, "Is there some kind of entry requirement to enter your school, Aster?"

At first I thought Lisa was asking about Aerialla Academy and got really confused why she would ask such a question seeing that she\'s a teacher there herself. It took me a moment before I realised she was asking  about Mother\'s maid school instead.

"Erm… I\'m not too sure since I\'m not really involved in the administration side of Mother\'s school," I admitted.

In fact, I\'m not even involved in anything related to the school so I have less than no idea on what even is the entry requirement, if any, for being enrolled here.

As far as I can tell, not just anyone can be a maid here but I\'m not sure if the maids here were all handpicked or the prospective students need to undergo some kind of test before they can be admitted.

I tilted my head, "Why do you ask though?"

Lisa gestured to the princess that was already lying on the ground in exhaustion after running for a hundred metres, "Why not just have the princess enrol in your school and have her train here alongside the maids instead? Wouldn\'t that be a better idea?"I think you should take a look at

I gasped, "Oh! That\'s actually a great idea Lisa! I didn\'t think of that!"

Delmare tapped her chin with a finger, "But would that be fine though? Isn\'t moving from a princess to a maid a really big of a step down? Would they even accept that?"

"Hmm… I guess it wouldn\'t hurt to ask Mother about it. I\'ll go look for--"

"Ara, ara~ Did my little one call for me?"

I jumped a little when I heard Mother\'s voice come from behind me, a portal closing behind her with Mary standing to the side.

I\'m guessing Mary heard our conversation and went to call for Mother immediately to bring her here. Isn\'t that a little too much? I could have just gone to where Mother was instead…

Oh well.

"What does Mommy think about letting the princess enrol as a maid in Mommy\'s school?"

"Ara, ara? As expected of my little one! You\'re already thinking of trying to influence the Royal Family by making them beholden to us and having one of them serve us? Ufufufu~ You would definitely be a great conqueror, my dearest child~"

"That… That wasn\'t what I was thinking at all!"

"Ufufufu~ I jest, of course. Ahhh~ My little one truly is the cutest, don\'t you agree, girls?"

Lisa hugged my arm, "Ehehehe~ Of course Aster is the cutest~"

"Ah! Me too! I think Aster is also very cute!" Delmare added, hugging my other arm.

Mother giggled, "Ufufufu~ My little one is so loved~ Well if my little one wants to know, Mama doesn\'t mind her joining the school though it would be another question of whether she wants to or whether her parents accept it or not. My little one knows that our maids are loyal to us first and everything else second right?"

"Unn… Yes, I have heard of that Mommy. Does this mean the princess would also need to do the same?"

"Ufufufu~ That is correct my little one~ In exchange for room and board, tutorship, safety and all the privileges that come from being trained as a maid of the Nilm family, they would offer their full loyalty to our family~ That is the only condition for joining us~ It does not matter who they are and where they come from, but once they have stepped into the class, they are a maid of the Nilm family first."

So that means the princess would most likely lose her position as a princess should she choose to be trained here? Especially since the Royal Family might want to avoid having a Royal who would place our family first instead of the country?

Yeah, I don\'t think it\'s possible for them to accept this proposal after all.

"Mmm… Then I don\'t think it\'s a good idea anymore… TThere\'s no way a Royal would accept such conditions imposed on them, right?"

Mother giggled, "Oh my little one~ There have been instances Royals being admitted into this school to be trained, you know?"

"Eh?! Wait, really?! But why? They\'ll be giving up their rights to the throne, won\'t they?"

Lisa also gasped, "I never heard about this as well!"

Mother came behind me to hug me from behind, "Well, you see~ Almost all the time, there will be more than one child who is eligible for the throne and things can be pretty heated in the battle for succession. But since there is only one throne, there can only be one winner and the losers will have to be content with what they are given. But some of them might have rubbed some shoulders the wrong way during their battle for the throne and would be seen as an eyesore by others so… Ufufufu~"

"Ah… I get it… So to protect themselves, they choose to come here and serve the Nilm family instead to guarantee their own safety?" I guessed.

"Ara, ara? My little one is so smart! That\'s precisely correct~ So the Royals who have no interest in the throne or are looking to run away from something might just choose to end up here instead~ We have had several Royals turned servants throughout the years here~"

Which means Mother most likely has seen multiple generations of the Royal Family throughout her life… I knew it.

I wonder if any of our current servants were also past members of the Royal Family or even descendents from them?

Heck… I could have been screwing one of them without even knowing all this while…

Let\'s just not think about that…

Well… I suppose all I can say is keep up the good work, Tiara!