>>>~~~~<<<
“Lady Aphros,” Serena approached the noble, “I have a question concerning my position.”
“Always with the concerns,” the blonde giggled, “what haunts you today, Serena?”
“Well, I’ve been reading that ‘Brief History of Maids’ book you dumped on me,” the maid explained. “And it’s only raised more questions.”
“Ah, I’m sure you’ll figure it out,” Aphros assured, “but I’ve got time to kill. What’s on your mind.”
“Right,” Serena rolled her eyes. “Well, according to the book, women who attend a princess are called maids of honor (or a lady in waiting, but I’m not married.), and they’re supposed to be of noble birth. In fact, I’ve done a little more research, and many positions held by the Diane family are normally reserved for nobles.”
“Like who?” Aphros was genuinely surprised.
“Well, there’s Orpheo. As a valet and (supposedly) the direct attendant to the king, he should be a noble,” Serena pointed out. “Same with Dusa. You call her the royal nanny, but isn’t she basically a governess?”
“N-no?” Aphros said with uncertainty. “She just took care of the princesses when they were very young. Dusa tutored them on basic concepts, but that wasn’t part of her job. She just did that for fun.”
“What about Penth? She’s called the head maid, but she runs the show the same way a Steward would, another noble position,” Serena asked. “I mean, at least that’s what she told me.”
“I don’t see what the problem is,” Aphros shrugged.
“Then there’s Orion,” the maid continued. “This book says nothing about princesses having direct male attendants. I mean, outside of a personal guard or something. Seems to me that men had direct male servants and women had direct female servants.”
“I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation for that,” the noblewoman rested her hands on Serena’s shoulders. “Besides, you probably shouldn’t believe everything you read. I mean, where did you even find that book? A dark forgotten library or something?”
“You told me to read it,” Serena reminded.
“Oh, um,” Aphros was taken aback. “You know what, forget it. Don’t read it anymore. In fact, burn it and pretend you never saw anything.”
“I don’t know, Lady Aphros,” Serena could not hide her suspicion. “It sounds to me like the Diane family is like a noble lineage specifically bred to be servants. Same with all the worker families,” The maid pointed out. “And the more I hang around the palace, the more it seems like the noble families are small and scattered, while the worker families are massive and sprawling. I don’t even know if people like Lady Aré or Lady Ze are married. I know, for a fact, you aren’t. And if it wasn’t for the princesses, I’d think the Queen wasn’t either.”
“I promise you, Serena,” Aphros leaned in, deathly serious, “I’ve…been married before…”
“I bet you don’t want me to breath a word of this to anyone else, am I correct?” Serena glared.
“Please don’t,” Aphros clasped her hands together.
“Or else what?” Serena leaned back with an uneasy look.
“No or else, just don’t,” Aphros put on a winning smile. It lacked any maliciousness or threat. It was just her standard smile.
“O-okay?” Serena replied without thinking.
“Thanks, you’re a real pal,” the noble slapped the younger girl on the back and skipped down the hall.
“What just happened?” Serena was left more confused than when she started.
>>>~~~~<<<
Sometimes you must distinguish where the reality ends and the fantasy begins, for the benefit of others and yourself.
(ie. Catching up on research I should have done before)
Until next time, Read, Comment and Enjoy.
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