Late Afternoon - Late Spring : Kingdom of Kaelallan

"Now, what should I do with you.." I walked up to her and tapped her nose to wake her up. "So how are you feeling?"

Slowly opening her eyes, she gave me a look of disdain. "Who are you? Are you that bastard's older brother or something?"

I paused for a second before hopping up on her head. "Nope! I'm the one and only!"

"So what are you here for.." Her aggression was obvious and apparent.

"Well, I'm going to be heading home here soon, so I need to decide what to do with you."

"You should just kill me." She turned her head away like a pouting child.

"I can't say I haven't considered it." -She hasn't really done a whole lot wrong when I think about it though..-

She was gullible and stupid, sure.. but she was sold into the tower by her father. Even though I greatly disliked her personality, I at least pitied her some.

"I'm too lazy to decide on my own so I'll give you a choice." Immediately grabbing her attention, I hopped down in front of her and looked her in the eyes.

"What are my choices.." Her aggressive demeanor quickly calmed down.

"You can die now, Ill make it quick and painless, or you can become a slave. Who you become the slave of, I will let you pick though."

"Will I be able to work my way out of slavery or is it permanent?"

"It's up to whoever you pick as your master."

"So.." She reluctantly looked at me. "Who are my options.."

"Your first option is becoming a slave of the royal family and Kaelallan. Your second is for me to sell you onto the market as a slave and you go to the highest bidding noble."

She gave a disgusted look as she thought about the second option. "Are those my only choices?"

"Your final option is my sister and I. She's very young and I don't want to show her anything as distgusting as an unkempt slave so you would be a maid."

She stared at me with wide eyes hearing the last option.

Seeing her reluctance, I figured I'd add a condition. "If you pick the market, Ill give you an oath so you can kill yourself if you wish, and if you choose my sister and I, I will oblige to your request if you wish to die. Just keep in mind you still have the option to die now."

She looked at me with hopeful yet distressed eyes. "I'll..." As if being too uncertain what to pick she just remained silent for a moment.

"I'll give you some time to think about it if you want."

"No.. I think I already know what I'm going to do.."

"And that is?"

"I'll go with.. you and your sister.." Although reluctant, she didn't seem too against it.

"Good choice." -Its definitely the best conditions..- I walked up and put my hand on the metal rings pinning her to the ground.

*Tink*

With a small amount of earth magic I turned the rings to dust. -Now.. is she gonna try and run?-

Pulling back my hand, I watched her slowly stand up and stretch before sitting down and looking at me.

"So where to?" She looked at me like a lost puppy.

I stood there and stared in astonishment as she somehow managed to ignore the fact I let her sit here, unable to move for nearly a month. -Is she just incapable of holding a grudge?-

"Is there something wrong?"

"N..no.. change to your humanoid form first."

With a bright light filling the plaza, she appeared in her humanoid form for the first time in a while.

"Well follow me.." As we were leaving the plaza, I called over the highest ranking knight I could see. "You guys will get new jobs once I let the king know of the situation. Until then, feel free to relax."

The knight stared at me blankly.

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"N..No sir!" He quickly straightened up and bowed slightly.

"Well, have a good day then."

"You too sir!" The knight gave a deeper bow and put on an excited smile.

-Must be happy he’s off work early.. That knight by the gate looked like he was going to fall over and pass out from lack of sleep.-

We managed to go all the way to the palace without any stops so we arrived quickly.

"The palace is quite beautiful.."

"I'm glad you think so since you'll be here for a while."

"Hm? Didn't you say you were leaving for home soon?"

"Yep, but I don't plan to bring an untrained maid along with me."

"What does that mean.. are you not going to stick to your word and give me to Kaelallan?"

"No.. you're just going to be here for training. I'll pick you up from here once we arrive in Bahamut in a few months." -There's that naivety I was looking for..- I facepalmed at the fact that I genuinely thought she might have changed.

Although she looked a little disappointed, she seemed somewhat happy.

Coming through the main door, I walked up to a random maid. "Miss, do you know where Martha is?"

"Ah yes, she is in the dining room I believe." She gave a very polite bow and wore a friendly smile.

-If Maria can capture even half of this girl's vibe it'd be great..- "Sweet, thanks."

Luckily the dining room was nearby so we didn't have to walk too far.

*Click*

I quickly scanned the room and found Martha ordering around some other maids. "Martha, can you come here for a minute."

"What is it, young lord?"

"Would you happen to be able to train a maid for a few months?"

"If it is your request. Who will the maid be?"

I tilted my head and pointed to Maria who was behind me.

"Oh, she's quite a looker. I will do my best to polish her up for you, Young Lord." Martha wore a warm smile.

"She might need a bit more than polish but I think you can make it work." I looked back at Maria who wore a confused expression. "This will be your teacher for a while. You need to listen to everything she says and work to become an actual maid unless you want to just pass to the afterlife as soon as I come to pick you up." I gave a threatening smile as I pressured her with my aura.

She quickly straightened up and broke into a cold sweat. "Y..yes, M..ma..master.." She looked away with a little blush on her face.

"One more thing before I leave you with her." -If you have thoughts of running away while I'm gone.. I'm going to crush that hope..- I moved my hand up in front of her neck, swiftly creating a steel ring around it and putting a strengthening rune on it as well as a lightning rune. "If you transform and try to run, you will die."

Although similar to a collar, I made it around her neck so if she tried to transform into her dragon form, it would kill her.

Maria looked at me, slightly scared as she quickly nodded.

"Now, I'll leave her with you Martha. My only rule is that she doesn't leave the palace without a knight escort and no one can take the collar off." -I can't have her running away in her human form either..-

Martha looked at me, slightly concerned. "We will take good care of her, Young Lord."

"Ah, one more thing, if you tap the back of the collar it will shock her, so if she does something where she needs some kind of punishment, just tap it." Seeing that she understood, I turned to the door. "Ah, how long till dinner?"

"It will be a few hours.."

"Alright, I'll be back then." With a light wave of my hand I walked out and closed the door behind me.

-I wonder how she'll turn out..-