84: Ass

Ass

After Oriana came out of the dining room, she found the hallway empty. There was not a single person outside. 

'How strange. Where are the other servants? Does that mean I need to bring the dirty dishes on my own?'

She quickly shrugged off her confusion and returned to the dining room, cleaning up the table and stacking one used plate over another. She then carried the stacked plates and trays back towards the kitchen. 

On her way, she came across one of the kitchen servants.

"Oh my, newbie! Why did you carry them all by yourself?" the kitchen servant gasped in surprise before taking half of the stacked plates.

"To save time," Oriana answered with a chuckle. "Do you happen to know where the Lord is?"

"Not sure but the Lord should be busy with some important work. Maybe you should ask the Head Maid."

After delivering the dirty dishes to the kitchen, Oriana went around searching for the Head Maid. She found the old woman near the foyer of the mansion, instructing some servants about workload delegation. Oriana obediently waited on the side and used this chance to observe the interior of the mansion.

Once Janella dismissed the other servants, she looked at Oriana. "Do you want to ask anything?"

"Umm, yes, I do not know where the Lord is. I am wondering what my next task should be."

The Head Maid studied the bright-eyed youth, her tone reproving, "As an attendant, you should stay by your master's side at all times."

'Is it my fault he left me behind?' she answered in her mind.

However, the Head Maid still helped her out. "In addition to his personal needs, the cleanliness of his bedchamber is among the main scope of your role. Once you are done, you can return to your quarters and wait to be summoned by the Lord. You do not need to report to me. You only need to listen to his instructions."

"I understand, Miss Janella," she said, though inside, she was criticizing Arlan for leaving her behind. Was she expected to be a fortune teller who could instantly guess his whereabouts? 

Before the old woman could leave, Oriana asked a question that had been bugging her since this morning. "May I ask who Lord it, Miss Janella?"

Janella looked at her with a stern face. "We are servants and we should not ask more than we are told. Just know that the Lord is an important person who we cannot afford to offend."

"Ah, yes, apologies, Miss Janella. I will keep that in mind," Oriana lowered her head. "I will go and clean the room."

"The cleaning supplies are in the work cabinet at the end of the hall," the Head Maid reminded. "Before that, bring tea for the Lord in the study on the second floor."

"Yes, Miss Janella." 

Oriana went to the kitchen and asked the cook to prepare tea and snacks for Arlan. While she waited, she happened to come across one kitchen servant who brought in a sack from outside. He then proceeded to arrange the vegetables in the baskets in the one corner of that vast kitchen. 

She went to him. "I'm Orian and today is my first day at work. Do you need a hand?"

The servant gladly accepted her help. "Thank you, Orian." He eyed Orian's attendant uniform. "But don't you have your own work to do?"

"I am waiting for tea to be prepared," she mildly answered while distributing the vegetables depending on size among different baskets. "Amazing, I've never seen carrots this large."

The servant simply laughed at her reaction. "Only nobles get to have the best ingredients. The quality is nowhere close to the ones sold in the market." 

"Your work seems more fun than what I am doing," Oriana said casually but her mind was going somewhere else. 

"What are you saying?" the servant looked at her with shock. "You are an attendant! You are only a level lower than a butler. Not to mention, you are fortunate to directly  serve the Lord." Then, realization dawned on the servant. "Wait, you say it's your first day on the job, right? No one ever gets promoted so fast in just a day of joining the work, unless you are specially chosen to serve Lord himself."

"Is it that good?"

"Of course."

"Ohh!" She exaggerated her reaction as if she was not aware of it and mumbled, "I wonder who is this Lord that I am so fortunate to serve."

"You don't know?" he asked.

She shook her head. "But I am sure he must be some high-ranking person."

"Of course. You forget the House of Ahrens are high nobles. Only people whose backgrounds are marquis-ranked or higher, or titled nobles themselves, are welcomed with this much hospitality. They even sent the Head Maid from the main mansion to oversee the servants here."

"Have you heard if the Lord is some  official under the royal family? Could he be some investigator from the palace?"

"No one knows who exactly he is. Probably among the servants of the house, only the Head Butler and Head Maid knows, but it must be someone along those lines."

"Someone close to the royal family?" she whispered in exhilaration, trying to probe more information from him.

The servant whispered, "You must have heard that the Third Young Master serves the royal family. Our young master is the vice-captain of a royal knight order, yet his position seems inferior to the Lord. The Lord must be a direct subordinate of the royal family."

"Ohh, does the Third Young Master often go to the palace?"

"Your question is wrong. As a royal knight, the Third Young Master lives and works in the palace, and he rarely visits the city residence. That is the reason why we don't have enough manpower to serve both him and the Lord."

"Is that common? That those who work in the palace stay in the palace?"

"For knights and direct subordinates, I guess."

"Oh." 

"Orian! Tea is ready."

"Ah, yes, coming!" 

Oriana stood up and took the tray prepared with freshly brewed tea and a variety of baked snacks in another container. 

She walked along the hallways with her mind working on the new information she learned. 

'So this bratty Lord is someone who works for the royal family. He must be a high-ranking official working directly under the royal family. That means he often goes to the palace or even stays there. 

'Rather than that annoying Third Young Master who hates how skinny I am, my chance to enter the palace is higher if I secure my job with the perverted brat. I will just suck up to him until I enter the palace. 

'I need to get into his good graces so he will bring me around him when he works. I cannot stay as a simple attendant, but a trusted aide who could run errands for him. Since he stays with the Ahrens, he seems to be not from this city. Even if he leaves the capital in the near future, with his recommendation, I can get a job as a servant in the palace.'

The more she thought of it, the more convinced she was of her plan.

'You can do it, Ori!' she cheered. 'Even if he is an annoying perverted brat, I only need to persevere for a few weeks at most…. By the way, what was his name again? He told me back in Jerusha. I remember it is something weird that starts with 'A'...'AA'...' 

'Ass?' she chuckled inwardly, 'Maybe an ass is exactly what he is.'

Oriana went to the hallway on the second floor where she saw knights guarding, allowing her to guess where the study was located. One of the knights let her inside after he got permission from the man inside. 

'I wonder what secret work he is doing that other than his knights and the servants he brought with him, not a single servant from the Ahrens is allowed here. I am his personal valet, but he did not tell me to follow him. Am I not supposed to be with him all the time? 

'This is no good. This means this brat doesn't trust me enough. I need to become worthy enough that he will let me follow behind him even if he leaves the Ahrens.'

As Oriana entered the study, she saw Arlan sitting on a high backrest chair while reading through a scroll. His gaze moved towards her and she immediately stopped looking at him. 

Under his intimidating gaze, she put the tray on the center table in front of him. 'Why do I feel like he is always trying to see through my mind? Does he doubt me that much?'

She heard him talking to another servant. "Any news about that physician summoned  to the palace?"

"There should be no delay since we coordinated with the territory lords from Abetha, my Lord," the servant replied. "The moment before he arrives at the royal palace, we will be the first to receive news since we are part of the welcoming party."

"Good."

'They are talking about Master Cenric! This brat is going to personally meet Master Cenric?' Her eyes brightened, her heart racing both with shock and disbelief. She could not believe her luck. 'Finally, this man is of some use! I wasn't wrong to think of following him.'

Arlan clearly noticed that change in her expression and hid a smirk.  0

'Seems like she is happy to get some useful information. I can almost see the gears in her head moving. It seems like I won't be bored in the coming days. 

'Staying well behaved  is not her forte, being a mere attendant doesn't suit her at all. I wonder what she plans now. Hmm, it's easy to guess. She will try to come to the palace with me. 

'Hah, look at that gleam in her eyes. Guess I am right. So predictable this idiot is. I wonder what antics she will come up with to make me take her with me.  I wonder what her reaction will be once she learns who I really am. 

'Will she dare run away from the Crown Prince of this kingdom?'

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