Coinquinatus (Tale of South Demosthan)

Chapter 3

A week flew by in the blink of an eye, and the four maids found themselves exhausted from their relentless efforts to persuade Lady Ciara to eat. Their carefully prepared dishes were met with either indifference or outright rejection. Despite their endeavors, Ciara remained stubbornly resistant, declaring that she would never partake of their offerings. If they dared to place the food before her, she would promptly smash the dish without a second thought.

"Lady Ciara," Maritha began, as she presented the tray of prepared food, "this humble servant has prepared—"

Ciara's attention was solely in the book she was engrossed in, and she barely spared the tray a fleeting glance before returning her attention to the pages. Thankfully, she refrained from her usual act of sending the trencher flying.

"Milady," Alvina, standing beside Maritha, interjected with an obvious desperation, "if you continue to refuse nourishment, your health will undoubtedly suffer. And how will Your Ladyship then be able to fulfill her duties to His Majesty? If His Majesty becomes displeased, one of us, your loyal servants, will bear the brunt of his displeasure."

"Are you threatening me using Veozar?"

A unified gasp echoed through the room as the maids exchanged glances in horror. How could she just utter His Majesty's name so casually? If anyone heard her say such a thing, she, along with them, would face severe consequences.

"My Lady, it—it isn't like that," Alvina stammered, attempting to appease the young noblewoman.

"No one will mention Veozar to me," Ciara declared, her tone serious and heavy.

"Milady! One cannot simply address His Majesty by his imperial name in such a manner," Ganna cautioned nervously, her eyes glancing towards the door cautiously.

"Oh?" Ciara responded nonchalantly, her shoulders shrugging in a gesture of indifference. "Or what?"

"One could face punishment as severe as death," Hege warned gravely.

"Then refrain from mentioning Veozar, so that I will not have to mention him too," Ciara retorted. Seeing her remain unfazed and repeating His Majesty's name again, the maids let out a sigh of exasperation, shaking their heads in disbelief. Serving her was proving to be an impossible task to do.

Alvina left the bedchambers first, followed by Hege. "Oh, celestial skies! Lady Ciara is just so..." Alvina shook her head. "If this continues, I'll request that Madam Esther be pulled out of her service."

Alvina's aunt was also a palace maid once, who unfortunately died after being beaten to death by one of His Majesty's concubines two years ago. She needed to get into the palace to work for her family. Her parents were forcing her to sell her body to earn immediate money but, she refused to obey. After some thought, she considered this way.

"What?" Hege frowned. "Why? Lady Ciara may be reserved but she isn't ill-treating us. There's no reason to just leave Her Ladyship like that." Hege firmly believed in the word loyalty. Her father was a farmer, and she had seen him being faithful and honest despite Poverty's ways of tempting him. Her mother was a woman of noble character too and always taught her the proper things.

Hege was just nineteen now, two years ago she entered the palace to serve as a maid along with Alvina, Maritha, and Ganna. Her mother was terribly sick and his father already died. She needed to work and provide for her mother's needs. After being trained for two years, she was finally able to serve for real. Ciara was her first mistress. In her mind, the moment she volunteered to be Ciara's servant, she already had no choice but to retreat and should serve her faithfully.