MM: The「Royal Maid」is Dispatched To The Magician’s House – Part 4

Late post from me as well. Ugh! Been swamped with work and I hope I’ll be done soon so I can post more for everyone.

Here’s the next part! Sorry it took so long!

 

1-4: The「Royal Maid」is Dispatched To The Magician’s House

TL: Krrizis

Editor: Momielxai

 

「I see. Jill, do you know why you were brought here?」

 

   When I asked, Jill once more shook their head. After that, the child caught a glimpse of Leonard-sama and shrunk back.

 

Seriously. It appears he didn’t even give an explanation and just tossed them in here. My unpleasant foreboding was exceptionally spot-on. Like seriously …

 

「Leonard-sama, I’ll lecture you after this」

 

When I looked over my shoulder at Leonard-sama whilst proclaiming that, startled, his shoulders jerked.

 

「…Mm」

 

He looked a bit repentant but I have to scold him thoroughly.

 

… All things considered, but is it truly okay for a maid to simply speak her mind to her employer? Er, that doesn’t mean I’ve changed my stance on this though.

 

「First of all, let’s take this child out of the basement. There’s isn’t a need to be here anymore… Jill, are you hungry?」

 

Jill answered my inquiry with a small nod. At the same time, a loud growl sound rumbled. That figure that held onto their stomach with a face that had turned bright red looked lovable. I want to give that child a lot of delicious things to eat.  

 

「When we get out of here, let’s get something to eat. Leonard-sama, are there any ingredients in the kitchen?」

「Some. There’s also fruits and vegetables in the field」

「Fruits… Do we have apples?」

「Yes. You want?」

「Yes」

 

   I’ll serve the child with some apples first and see how things goes. If I were to feed them all at once when their stomach is empty, the stomach will take the burden and suffer.     

 

And so, leaving the dungeon, we made our way to the kitchen.

 

Entering the kitchen, I began checking on the seasonings when Leonard-sama raised his voice.

 

「I’ll go pick the apples」

「Please do」

 

    Truthfully, I wanted to go and pick them myself but I don’t know the area. Besides, it’s better to stay beside Jill right now.

 

After seeing Leonard-sama off, I heated up hot water in the kettle when *tug*, I felt my clothes being pulled. Looking down, I saw Jill looking at me with anxiety in their eyes.

 

「What’s wrong?」

「You’re not afraid?」

 

I wonder what they meant by afraid? I ended up staring at the child blankly. Jill looked around restlessly, checking the surrounding before continuing their words in a whisper.

 

「My power. And that man」

 

The hands tightened their grip on my clothes. They felt lost, that much I understood. Putting tea leaves in the pot as I poured hot water into it, I smiled cheerfully.

 

「I don’t know much about your power. I only know that you’re a child carrying an abundant amount of mana」

「Really?」

「Yes. Moreover, Leonard-sama isn’t scary either. He’s trouble articulating himself so it’s hard to understand what he wants to say but he’s rather soft-hearted」

「Soft-hearted?」

「After all, he went to pick apples for you just now」

When I said that, Jill opened their eyes wide.

 

After that, Jill’s next question was why they had been tied up and imprisoned in the basement.

 

「That’s true. You won’t understand it if you don’t hear about it directly from Leonard-sama」

 

I poured the herbal tea that a child could even drink into a cup, put sugar in and handed it over to Jill. When I told them to be careful because the tea was hot, they began to blow on their tea to cool it down.

 

As I gazed at Jill carefully taking their tea, I opened my mouth slowly. 

 

「There is just one thing I’ll tell you, Leonard-sama doesn’t hate you, Jill」

「… How?」

「After all, he told me that he wanted me to become your mother」

 

Jill’s round eyes opened wide and tried to say something roughly at the same time as Leonard-sama return.

 

「Welcome back, Leonard-sama」

「…Mm」

 

When I called out to him, Leonard-sama looked at me a bit surprised and immediately after, held out the apples.  

 

「Thank you very much. I’ve made some tea, would you like to drink some?」

「Mm」

 

Leonard-sama nodded so I poured a cup of tea and handed it to him. After that, I immediately sliced the apples.

 

I cut a small slice and tested it. It was a bit sour. Fortunately, there was honey and seasonings in the kitchen.

Yup, let’s make honeyed apples*. If I make that, it’ll be fine even if the apples are somewhat sour.

 

「Wait for a bit, okay?」

 

Now that I have settled on that, should I make it crunchy? Even if I said so, it’s just honey poured over small sliced apples. It can be done in a blink of an eye.   

 

「Here, Jill. How about you try these? It’ll take some time before I’m able to cook a proper meal so in exchange, I made you a snack instead」

 

When I presented the honeyed apples I had placed on a dish and explained it, Jill kept comparing my hands and face several times before digging in with a spoon.

 

「So? Is it edible?」

「It’s sweet~… It’s delicious」

 

Ha~ I felt relieved looking at the cheerful expression Jill made. If it’s like this, it looks like it’ll be alright to feed them normally.

 

「Would you like some too, Leonard-sama? It’s sweet though」

「Mm」

 

Once he heard it, he nodded quite enthusiastically. As soon as I made it and handed it over, he ate it without hesitation. Moreover, he seemed slightly happy. Does he perhaps like sweet things?  

 

While the both of them were eating the apples, I quickly surveyed the kitchen. Although there was tea and seasoning, I didn’t see any main ingredients.

 

「Hmm, there’s more than I expected… Do you cook as well, Leonard-sama?」

 

Surprisingly, there was a stock of vegetables. Leonard-sama nodded at my question.

 

「Sometimes, I do」

「I see. Then, is there anything that you can’t eat?」

「None. I’m fine」

 

   Well then, I’ll have to go out and buy some bread, eggs and meat.

 

I guess Leonard-sama is always out of the house frequently. There’s smoked and pickled meat but he hasn’t bought any perishable items.

 

Ah, but what am I going to do? Jill is still weak and I can’t bring it along with me to do the groceries. Still, sending Leonard-sama out to do it would be … I’m also worried about leaving the two of them alone by themselves, and so whilst I was pondering over it, Leonard-sama looked at my face puzzled.  

 

「Mm?」

「Ah, no, I was thinking of how to get the groceries. Leaving Jill’s side wouldn’t be good but on the other hand, I can’t bring them along」

「… In that case」

 

Leonard-sama slowly stretched his hand out in the air. Thereupon, a whirlpool of light emerged.

 

「You called for me, master?」

 

In the centre of the light, a small white cat nimbly appeared.

That wasn’t particularly surprising but it wasn’t just me, even Jill who was chewing on the apples stared wide-eyed.

 

「Jill, come here」

 

  When I held out both hands and called out, Jill hesitated slightly before clinging on to me.

 

   Were they frightened? They were clinging strongly to me while on the verge of tears. However, they had properly placed the plate on the table, so that was recommendable of them.

 

「… What’s wrong?」

 

   Leonard-sama was confused by Jill’s state.

 

「They must have been scared when the cat suddenly appeared in midair. I too was surprised by it」

「Is that so?」

「Generally, that’s frightening」

「…Sorry」

 

Oh, how honest! Jill noticed how dejected Leonard-sama was with his slouched shoulders and became flustered.

 

「See? Leonard-sama doesn’t have any ill intentions」

「… Even the things he did previously?」

「Uh huh. I’m sure he has a good explanation for this but it doesn’t look like he was trying to hurt you. We’ll ask Leonard-sama to explain about it later, okay? You have the right to know」

「Yes, I want to know」

 

    I stroked Jill’s head while they nodded, as I thought, this child was incredibly strong.

 

    It wouldn’t be strange even if they had cried yet I wonder why they were able to keep calm?

 

    I cannot help but pity that unusual quietness. Or was this how all children who can use magic feel?

 

From under my arms, Jill bend forward and gazed at the cat from before.

 

「Cat~」

「Oh, that’s right. Leonard-sama, what on earth is this white cat?」

「Mm. Sid」