The Iron Maiden

Part 8

Most of them would revere her as some sort of glorious hero that successfully defeated a dreadful demon while others saw her as an even more frightening demon for defeating the previous one. Either way, Lia disliked this kind of treatment

She cursed her master for making her stand out like this. Granted, she knew already that she was bound to stand out due to being a graduate from Victoria, but she planed to hide her skills and convince others that she was just a young hardworking servant just like them

But clearly, that can't happen now, and this fact alone damaged her psyche a bit

She continued to grumble in her mind for a while but stopped due to something, She saw the sight of a worried looking maid who was standing in front of a door while holding a service cart with a few covered dishes in it

Upon seeing this Lia had a sudden realization, the hallway that she was walking in leads to Raiden's room which she hadn't noticed due to being lost in thought

'And the rose symbol on the door definitely means that it's his room...I want to help her but...'

Ever since their duel, Lia had determined to steer clear from him for a while. Though she wanted him to fulfill the agreements that were made, she figured that he may be a bit emotionally unstable so she decided to wait and give him some time

She planned to leave this to her and be on her way, but the sight of the troubled maid triggered something within her so she decided to assist her for a bit

Lia approached the maid from behind and gave her brown hair a tap

She looked behind and showed Lia a confused expression as she adjusted her glasses while squinting her eyes towards her. Lia could see the freckles in the woman's face which oddly enough made her look charming

"A child?..."

The maid muttered to herself, but upon realizing who Lia really was, her expression turned to one of pure shock and she hastily bowed

"I-I'm very sorry for my impudence ma'am! I didn't really realize who you were since I have terrible eyesight, I hope you'll find it in your noble heart to forgive me! "

"I-It's fine..."

Her extremely formal apology caught Lia off guard for a moment, but she quickly regained her senses

'I really can't get over them addressing a child as ma'am...But more importantly...'

"I noticed from afar that you seem to be worried about something Miss...Ummm..."

"Katharine, My name is Katharine Ebach Ma'am!"

Lia nodded along as she tells herself that she should memorize the names of all the staff in the manor

"I see, your parents gave you a beautiful name Ms. Katharine"

"T-Thank you...But I don't really think it's anything special"

"Oh? your name was derived from the famous fairytale, right? About the pure princess?"

It was a famous tale that almost all children from the Cyprus empire have supposedly heard of, it's a story about a kind and beautiful princess that once used her magic to cure a deadly plague that once ravaged the lands

Though Lia hailed from a place that was quite far from the empire, she had heard a few stories such as those that were being uttered by the traveling merchants

Katharine seemed a bit flustered upon receiving the compliment and covered her face which was blushing a little

"I-It does but it doesn't suit me, right? I mean, since the name came from a dazzling princess...and I'm nothing like that..."