BELLRAM V01 - Ambivalence of Light and Shadow I

BP001-P15 - Cappuccino 2

Shortly after Mr Monet left, the maid returned with a tray and approached the table with Meia.

"I am sorry to disturb you, Miss Arvis." The maid curtsied and then lifted the tray closer to Meia so that she could have a good view of it. "I bring you berry almond cakes and a house recipe cappuccino. Would that be acceptable to you?"

~Mr Monet didn't even address the fire.~ When told about it, Meia had been able to see his face in the corner of her eye. He did not seem to have been surprised. At first, his expression had not changed at all. Wasn't that unusual? The man in the waistcoat was certainly a high-ranking employee of his. The fine clothes did not allow any other conclusion. Meia, at least, could not imagine that a simple servant of Mr Monet, would already be wearing better clothes than she herself normally wore. Furthermore, he also had a cross pin. What had Mr Monet said about it? Not everyone had one? So the man had to be in a high position. Nevertheless, he had not introduced himself to her by name. With a housemaid, that would be normal. People could not be expected to remember the names of every unimportant servant. But someone important not introducing himself by name? Mr Monet had said he was going to a business meeting? Certainly with that man. The fire was probably nowhere near. After all, there was nothing here. Then where could the fire be? It was a business meeting... How did Mr Monet earn his money? As administrator of Jena Northeast and city holder of Blenas, the Monet family made money from tax revenues, but her father had listed quite a lot.

"Miss Arvis, would berry almond cakes and a cappuccino be to your liking? All the ingredients are grown by the Monet family themselves. But if you wish, I can bring you something else."

~True, he also said he grows wine.~ Meia now remembered that her father had also mentioned something along the lines of agriculture. That would also fit in with his knowledge of plants. Meia had the feeling that she was close to the solution. Maybe the fire was on a factory site or in a field? It was warm, after all. It was summer. Especially in the north it was certainly very dry. The fire was probably in a field and he was not surprised because a fire in a field during summer was not too uncommon. Still, it was his field and so he had to leave to discuss something about it?

"I'm going to serve you now." the maid declared, and immediately began to put her plan into action. She seemed slightly annoyed.

~What's her problem?~ So the fire was in a field in the north and that meant .... nothing really. Meia realised that this supposed knowledge did not help her at all. It was basically useless to her. If Mr Monet had not thought it necessary to inform her about the fire, it was probably not relevant to her.

Meia noticed the house maid coming to her right, warm steam in her field of vision and the smell of pastries and fresh coffee.

Mr Monet had said that she would not have to be alone for long, but she was not really alone. The two maids were still here, after all. He hadn't considered them in the least. It was somehow mean to completely ignore them like that.

The maid came to her right. During her last step, she moved the hand with the tray behind her head. Meia had not even caught on to what was going to be served to her, so she turned around to find out. But before she could inspect the tray, the maid unexpectedly raised her hand, causing the tray to rise higher as well, which forced Meia to stretch her neck, but the tray continued to rise higher. Within this sequence of events, Meia noticed at one point that the maid raised her hand on purpose and her expression made Meia immediately sit back down properly and not move again.

The maid looked incredibly intimidating. Her expression was extremely serious. She looked like someone who would quickly condemn you if you made a mistake, and her curiosity had seemingly not pleased her at all. It also seemed as if she was somehow disgusted with her. It seemed as if Meia was just a worm to her that she would like to crush. Meia could not put her finger on what gave her this impression. It was her gaze or the aura that surrounded her. It was one of these two things. In any case, just being near her triggered a feeling of social pressure in her. Meia hoped she would leave the table soon.