Side Story: Maid Lana – 1
“It’s been a while, Delta.”
I turned the corner of the hallway and ran into Lana. The moment she saw me, she bowed politely. Her movements were extremely dignified and exuded a much more classic atmosphere than before.
It’s not that the old Lana was a hot mess, but compared to now, she might seem that way. Every hand gesture and glance was flawlessly different.
In a good way, of course.
“It’s been a while, Lana. How have you been?”
“I’ve been doing well, except for one thing.”
But that look didn’t last long. Lana’s expression became tired, as if she had aged ten years, and she relaxed her shoulders. In an instant, she changed into a sagging figure.
“Why? Is something wrong?”
“I’m struggling to the point of dying.”
“Hmm?”
Lana looked up at me like a whiny child would to their parents.
“I did work in the imperial palace before, but that was taking care of Lady Aurora, not His Majesty the Emperor. Now, I’ve become a maid who directly assists His Majesty, so I’ve been grilled from morning to night to show an attitude appropriate to my position.”
“Well, that’s…”
Even being just a maid in the imperial palace means she went through all sorts of training and is among the elites. Of course, if she is serving right next to the Emperor, it’s a standard process she must go through.
No matter how perfect Lana was as a maid in Aurora’s mansion, the standards of perfection would be completely different compared to the imperial palace, where the average is already extremely high.
“I know that my skills are far below what the imperial palace requires, but the problem is that I have a much higher rank than the maids I’m supposed to teach. I’ve become the maid assisting the Emperor, so it’s natural for me to speak informally, but giving orders informally to maids who have worked in the palace longer than I have is still something I can’t get used to.”
How old was Lana again? I racked my brain trying to remember if I’d heard anything about her age.
One thing is for sure: she is definitely more than twice Aurora’s age, and if the maids below her have worked longer than her, they must be at least over 50.
In this world, the concept of aging doesn’t exist, so whether they are 50 or 60, they would only appear as young women on the outside.
“Some maids even remember that I worked in the palace before. Whenever I make a mistake with my movements, they mercilessly lecture me about why I can’t do things I should have learned while working in the palace. I may have been in the palace before, but it was to take care of Lady Aurora.”
It seemed that she had a lot bottled up, as Lana kept spilling her complaints. I quietly listened to her.
The more she talked, the more the dignified appearance she initially had faded, returning to the lanquishing demeanor of her mansion days.
“…Ahem. I’ve been talking too much by myself. I’m sorry. What brings you here?”
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but after venting out her pent-up feelings, Lana’s face was slightly flushed as she asked.
“I came to see Aurora. It’s been quite a while since I could see her, what with her being busy with Emperor training and all. I thought I’d come to check in and compliment her on how hard she’s been working.”
“Compliment… Ah, yes, that sounds like a great idea. I’m sure the Mistress will be delighted.”
Lana’s eyes momentarily fixated on my lower half and then lifted. I thought about saying that wasn’t that kind of compliment, but then I silently swallowed my words; Aurora might think differently.
“I’ll guide you. This way, sir Delta.”
Even on the way to the bedroom, Lana kept chatting with me. It seemed she mostly rambled on her own. It looked like she had been lacking someone to converse with.
According to Kaiquilia’s words, her training was over, so she should be able to stay by Aurora’s side always now.
“We have arrived.”
We paused in front of an old-fashioned door that had once been Kaiquilia’s bedroom but was now being used as Aurora’s. The appearance itself hadn’t changed since I briefly visited last time.
Thinking about the possibility of doing the same thing I did with Kaiquilia here with Aurora made the feeling rather peculiar.
“Ordinarily, I should announce that a guest has arrived according to etiquette, but between you and me…”
“You can skip that. It’s fine.”
As soon as I gave my permission, Lana knocked on the door as if she had been waiting for the cue.
“Lady! It’s Lana.”
“Uh? Lana?! Why are you back so soon after just leaving?!”
A voice from the inside sounded flustered. I could tell just by hearing it that she was very panicked.
“Sir Delta wishes to meet with you, so I guided him here. May we enter?”
“Delta?! Just a minute! Just wait for a moment! Five minutes will do!”
Crash crash, a sound echoed from beyond the door. Lana turned around casually.
“It seems the Mistress was quite engrossed, so you may have to wait a little while before entering.”
Both Aurora and Lana were avoiding direct mention, but I wasn’t clueless enough to not recognize what kind of situation was going on in there.
Just as I indicated that I understood and decided to wait quietly, Lana continued indifferently.
“The Mistress has been in a state of frustration lately. With the training she’s been receiving from the Pope, she’s been under a lot of stress, and to make matters worse, she hasn’t even had the chance to see you in a while. She probably started playing with herself the moment I went out.”
I looked at Lana with a dumbfounded expression as she casually spilled her mistress’s secrets.
“Is it really okay for you to tell me that?”
“As if I could omit the fact that the Mistress, even while I was staring at the garden, was so pent up with desire that she couldn’t stand it and resorted to self-soothing? Besides, with the kind of relationship you two share, you’re learning a more adorable side of her.”
“…”
When she rebutted like that, I had no words left. As I fell silent, the now buoyant Lana puffed out her chest slightly.
It felt like the level of her jokes had become considerably bolder than before. It was as if the barriers she once had melted away. The previous Lana who would joke and be embarrassed when I couldn’t play along was a world apart.
“You can come in now, Delta!”
As she said, after about five minutes, permission was granted to enter. The magic circle deactivated, and I stepped through the now open door.
“Ahem… Welcome.”
Aurora was awkwardly sitting on the bed with her legs crossed, fanning herself with a flushed face, and the faint sheen of sweat was visible on her skin.
During the short time I hadn’t seen her, she had begun to resemble Kaiquilia more.
While she wasn’t fully adopting Kaiquilia’s uniquely poisonous eyes or fierce aura, just looking at her appearance, one might believe that they were not an aunt and niece but rather twin sisters.
Due to the particularity of her being a pope, the differing hair and eye colors of Floretta and Luna, or the somewhat sister-like looks of Lize and Erica seemed less endearing than this pair.
“It’s a bit hot, isn’t it?”
“Considering what the Mistress was doing until just a moment ago, it’s only natural that it’s hot—”
Lana stopped speaking as a slipper flew towards her face. Aurora, shutting Lana’s mouth with her own, awkwardly began to make excuses.
“H-Hahaha! There was a bug on Lana’s face, you see!”
“Aren’t we in the presence of Minerva’s magic circle? A bug?”
“W-Well, it could happen, right?”
While Aurora was making such flimsy excuses, Lana neatly organized the slippers and interjected with her expressionless face.
“The fact that the Mistress was self-soothing has been shared during the wait at the door, so there’s no point in trying to hide it.”
“…Huh?”
Flop, Aurora froze upon hearing that.
“W-What did you say…?”
“I mentioned that up until just a moment ago, she was self-soothing while thinking about sir Delta. But don’t worry. I earnestly explained that releasing stress is a vital and necessary process, and sir Delta here understood.”
Aurora’s golden pupils trembled, and her lips, unable to close, twitched lightly. She looked as if she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.
“The Mistress has been accumulating a lot of stress and fatigue due to her training with the former Emperor, and it’s been quite a while since she met with sir Delta, so unable to withstand her loneliness, she started playing with herself the moment I left—”
Thwack. The opposite slipper flew toward Lana’s face. Lana casually caught it and organized it again. Aurora, with a face like she was about to burst from embarrassment, pointed angrily at Lana.
“Why would you tell Delta something like that?! Are you crazy, Lana?!”
“You’re the only one I can speak like this with, sir Delta. After all, you and the Mistress have seen and done everything together, haven’t you? You’d have to be a fool to act shy now when she’s already exposed herself to you right in front of me.”
“Gaaaaah! No! Stop! I got it, so just stop!”
Aurora jumped up at the mention of past events. Back then, she had been so filled with pleasure that she kept saying to do it again, but thinking about it now seemed far too embarrassing.
Having neatly toppled Aurora, Lana walked to a corner where the bed was in full view, leaned against the wall, and squatted down. Her bum touched the floor, and her knees were hugged tightly to her chest.
Her eyes, watching us, twinkled with excitement.
“…What are you doing?”
“I’m just watching.”
“What kind of watching?”
“Must I say it outright, mistress? The chance to use things other than fingers—”
“Are you really going to keep this up?!”
“Just kidding! By this point, I wouldn’t need to say it. Sir Delta will naturally comfort the Mistress and smoothly transition to the next stage, right? Isn’t that right, sir Delta?”
Both Aurora and I fell silent at Lana’s bold suggestion for the next action. I found it hard to believe this was the same Lana who had been whining in the hallway earlier.
“I’ll provide the view anytime. Now, go ahead and proceed.”
“…”
Aurora, who seemed to be deep in thought, soon looked at me with the same expectant gleam in her eyes as Lana. Her crossed legs gradually loosened, and one of her shoulder straps slipped down to her arm.
“Ultimately, if you’re going to do it, why were you being shy, Your Majesty?”
“I-I don’t know…”
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