The conversation from yesterday was still fresh in my mind. That and the artefact that Lady June had dropped. So, when I woke up and put on my maid outfit this morning, I decided to do my best to earn her trust; properly this time, so as to eliminate the need for these artefacts.

“What are your plans for today?” I asked as I brushed her hair.

I had my goal in mind, but it was hard not to get distracted by her soft purple locks, and her shoulders, barely visible under a fold of her house robe.

“Much the usual.” She replied, before readjusting the collar of the robe after no doubt following my line of sight. “Breakfast, talking Lude out of sulking in that horrible attic room he calls his office, lunch – Oh! I might finally take the time to reply to some of my letters.”

“Great idea!” I cheered on.

Those letters had been accumulating for days, weeks even. I wasn’t given permission to sort through them; not that I asked. Lady June only ever opened her weekly magazines, of which she had three, two on swords and one on high-society gossip, right as they arrived. The rest, no matter the colour of the seal or the scent of the envelope, stayed put in a dedicated basket by a rarely used work desk.

“Speaking of,” June continued, “I have been meaning to ask, would you like for me to order in a subscription to some magazine for you? I,” she paused, pressing her lips together as she looked for the correct words.

I smiled. This sounded like an apology for her lack of trust yesterday.

“Okay.” I agreed. “I have always been a fan of economics and romance novels.”

“Huh.”

“Which one of those is surprising?” I asked, as I had just about finished styling her hair.

Styling was a bit of an overstatement, as all I did was take way longer than I should have to brush her carre; I liked touching it and was going to continue to do so unless directly told otherwise.

“Both and neither.” She said, with a soft smirk. “But I won’t pry. You must have your reasons for coming to …” she suddenly paused again.

“What is it, my Lady?” I asked, as coming up with an explanation for this pause was a tad harder.

“Do you promise to try not to cry?”

“Pardon?”

“No, it’s just that when I mention certain topics you seem to … never mind.”

She suddenly got up from her chair and stormed off to her dresser.

Unsure of what to do, I stood there for a few moments, hairbrush in hand, before deciding that hearing what she had to say was more important.

“I promise not to cry, please go ahead, my Lady.”

It still took her a while to finish that though. She vanished in her dressing room, and only spoke when she remerged, dressed in loose trousers and a form-fitting shirt:

“Well, it’s just that I haven’t seen you write, nor receive any letters. Considering your pay, I doubt you poses a long-distance communication device, so I was curious about how you stayed in touch with the world – and its events. I presumed you didn’t. I apologise for that.”

“Huh.” I didn’t think she was the kind to apologise out loud. Then did this mean that her asking about the magazines was unrelated to her testing my honesty?

“Nevermind,” She gestured, before heading back to her mirror and applying some makeup. “It was rude of me to assume.”

“Not at all.” I automatically replied, trained by years of working in a corporate setting, and taking the blame for everything and nothing. “Actually,” I continued, “If I could borrow your magazines on the latest society news – I mean – May I borrow them, my Lady?”

“Oh course!” Lady June rushed towards the nightstand where she kept those. I just about had the time to notice a faint blush. “Is there anyone, in particular, you’re keeping up with? Personally, I love the drama Lady Coquelicot gets into. I am sure the woman does it on purpose, it’s impossible to – actually, no, read it, and then we’ll discuss it together.”

She handed me the magazines.

We both headed to the balcony, where I’d set out breakfast earlier.

Lady June pulled out her flask, then quickly pocketed it, after glancing at me. I pretended I didn’t see it, but I was glad my comment the other day had had its effect on her.

I opened the latest issue of ‘Unity Empire Weekly’. After flipping through a few pages, I found her. She was staring at me with her bright (as in shiny, not intelligent, she knew how to mask that) eyes, framed by a neat fringe and two pink ponytails. Rose Pinkstar, named so after a character in a kids' cartoon about ponies with whom she shared the ‘happy go lucky’ expression and fluffy hairstyle; she was following the path of ‘Summer Flowers’ well.

I carefully read the article on her; the miracle magic user who appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and seduced both many scholars and noblemen alike with her innate understanding of mana applications.

I clicked my tongue.

That was all such a load of shit. The woman had spent half her life reading every book under the sun that even vaguely covered mana and the devices used to refine it. She knew more than some scholars and more than most officials. But she also understood that no one liked an orphan genius. She was well aware of her looks and knew that people would use them against her, saying that her achievements and discoveries were due to the men around her.

On my first read-though, I respected her for using both of her greatest assets to her advantage. That was until about halfway through the book when it was revealed that she’d been involving herself with way too much court drama. She liked Prince Harvard because of his looks, she liked Duke Barclays because of his soft and considerate personality, and she liked the attention that being in their company brought her. Soon she forgot her dreams of becoming a great mage or a renowned inventor and reduced her life to that of most socialites.

And sure, even that would have been acceptable, had she not picked up the habit of looking down and humiliating other women along the way. It wasn’t even because of jealousy or fear that they’d steal her men. It was only because she could …

“Who’s got you looking so gloomy?” Lady June interrupted my train of thought.

“Oh, no, I was just reading about the great achievements of Rose Pinkstar,” I replied. Then, feeling the need to justify my expression further, I added without much thinking, “She must be enjoying her new life on the Prince’s estate from the looks of it. With her magic affinity, the world is practically hers.”