-Y/N's POV-
"Are you sure you're not leading me into some dodgy hideout?" I muttered, following Guren down the steps,
"And what will you do if I am?" I could sense him rolling his eyes,
"What can I do?" I replied,
"Exactly."
"How reassuring," I sulked as we were finally met with a door, which seemed to open by itself; I assumed it was some hidden iris scanner, it had to be- as the door couldn't be opened with a key or a pass or anything like that.
My jaw dropped as I entered,
"Welcome to my drug ring." Guren gave me a look,
"No way," my eyes skimmed over the grand staircase and the overall spacious building which was extremely well kept, cosy and rather lavish, it was definitely well hidden for what looked like a mansion, "This is your safe house?"
"Who said safe houses need to be the stereotypical, abandoned shit hole you find in the middle of a forest?"
"The stereotype!"
"Well we break stereotypes here, don't we?" He pat my head, "Anyway, there's nobody staying here at the moment, except from the maids. Be nice, I have to go now."
My heart dropped, "Leaving me so soon?"
"I'd rather not create suspicion, I'll be back when the search for you reduces." I noticed someone enter the hallway from my peripheral vision but ignored it,
"How long will that be?" I couldn't help feeling sad, it felt like we were being torn apart again and it hadn't even been 2 hours,
He knew this too and walked towards me placing his hand on my cheek, "I don't know, myself but I'll try and get back soon, ok?"
I nodded reluctantly, "Ok."
"I promise, I'll see you soon." He kissed my forehead,
I smiled and nodded, he nodded to the person behind me, before leaving,
I turned to face the person, "Oh, sorry. Who are you?"
"Don't worry, and I'm one of the maids my name's Lilith. I'm assuming you're master Guren's girlfriend?"
I felt my face getting hot, "Yeah, I'm Y/N. Nice to meet you." I put out my hand to shake hers and she took it, "It seems really chill over here." I referred to her casual attire which consisted of a cute pair of pastel coloured pyjamas,
"Yeah? Master Guren says he doesn't care what we do as long as we don't cause trouble!" Lilith was very bright and lively, she was also really cute- I couldn't help but smile when she talked. I assumed she was around the same age as me,
"Oh, how rude of me; let me help you get out of your kimono, it must be really heavy."
"Ah, thank you." I beamed following her.
~•~
Lilith and I sat in the large dining room, around a table, I was explaining my situation to her,
"You mean you almost married Kureto Hiragi?" Her eyes were wide,
"Yeah, luckily Guren saved me and here I am." I smiled,
"I guess all of us here are in hiding." She rubbed my hand reassuring,
"Really?" I tilted my head to the side,
"Yeah, I got myself into trouble when I was 17, luckily I met Master Guren and he's let me stay here ever since. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't worried about becoming a maid, but we don't even serve him- even when he is here and he still pays us. Probably for maintaining the house I guess."
"So are you still in hiding? How long has it been since?"
"Yeah, I am, I'd say it's approaching six years since I came here."
So she was older than me by a year at least. I nodded silently.
Time seemed to fly as we conversed. She told me about the other maids, how things usually worked here and funny stories which had happened here; some even including Guren. Everything seemed so casual and I couldn't wait to meet the other girls. Although, it got really late and we both decided to call it a night.
"I'll see you tomorrow and introduce you to the others, ok?"
"Ok, that'll be great! Thanks so much Lilith!" I beamed at her,
"No problem, Hun. Sleep well, alright?" She gave me a hug which I returned,
"You too!" We went to our respective rooms to get some sleep.
~•~
As promised Lilith had introduced me to the other maids the following day: Ira, Miya, Takana and Naomi.
Ira was the youngest, she was 19 and also the cheekiest, she seemed to annoy the others quite a lot, but you could still tell they all adored her. She was also really charming, I had immediately grown to like her despite her mischievous behaviour.
Takana was the same age as me; she was sensible yet she had her childish streaks. She reminded me a lot of Mito, so I couldn't help but smile when she got excited over something as that brought back fond memories.
Miya and Naomi were the eldest- Naomi was 26 and Miya 27. They seemed to take on the parenting roles in the house. Despite being the eldest, Miya got along well with the younger maids and was really extroverted. Naomi on the other hand was calm and kept to herself but still friendly nonetheless.
As the girls were excitedly chatting in the hallway, I heard an unfamiliar voice from the kitchen, "No one told me Guren was back."
"That's because he isn't." Naomi replied as a young male walked through the door,
"Ah, and who's this?" He smiled at me,
"I'm Y/N." I returned the smile,
"Nice to meet you, Y/N. My name's Kai, I'm in the moon demon company." He shook my hand,
"I see. Well it's nice to meet you too." I assumed Guren trusted him a lot,
"Absolutely, that's one more girl added to my real life Harem."
My eyes widened at his words,
"Well, aren't you the flirt." I rolled my eyes,
Ira guffawed, "Out of bounds." She made a cross shape with her arms,
I heard a large sigh from besides me and turned to find Takana rolling her eyes, "Here we go again."
"Kai, Y/N is Master Guren's girlfriend." Lilith shook her head,
"Oh really? Shame. At least I still have 5 others..." he raised his eyebrows,
"Count me out." Lilith muttered leaving us,
"Yep, it's just 3 now." Miya also left,
"Maybe I should tell Master Guren that you keep harassing us and get rid of you once and for all." Ira muttered, walking past him seeming to seriously contemplate the idea, "He's not even supposed to be here..." I heard her talking to herself as her voice faded with distance,
"Snitch." he rolled his eyes,
"Snitch my ass, it's a good idea." Takana retorted, "Or if you prefer we can beat this 'harem' idea out of you?" I heard her crack her knuckles and raised my eyebrows,
"I'd love to see you try." He scoffed,
"They're fighting again..." Naomi muttered to herself,
"Is this a reoccurring thing then?" I turned my attention to her,
"Yes, always."
"I guess we should leave them to it." I suggested,
She nodded in agreement and we both backed away into the kitchen, leaving the bickering pair in the hallway to continue their back and forth.
Naomi grabbed a cupcake before sitting down at the oak, oval table in the middle of the dining room,
I sat down opposite her, "Those two are going to end up together, bet."
She looked at me with an accomplished smirk, "You think so too!?"
"Heck, I'm yet to see the worst of it but I can already tell."
"Finally another intellectual, you see everyone here doesn't believe it; but it's only a matter of time unti-"
"Until what?"
"You know damn well." Naomi said with a full mouth,
"He knows?" I echoed referring to Naomi's suspicions,
"I even have to avoid bullying Takana around Naomi because of this." He crossed his arms,
"Bullying, huh?" I gave him a look,
"You see what I mean," Naomi said in a low voice which was loud enough for him to hear,
"Clear as day." I nodded,
"You too?" He rolled his eyes,
"She isn't lying..."
"Wow, I didn't know you were like this Naomi."
"Like what?" She shot him a nonchalant look,
"I thought all you did was eat all day, but I see you're plotting against me." He said sounding rather betrayed,
"It's not my fault you let yourself get deceived." Naomi shrugged,
"She admitted it." He left, shoulders slumped and head hung,
I laughed. I was truly excited to see what would unfold here.
____________________________
A/N: Sorry for the long break, I officially finish school and exams this Friday so I promise chapters will be more frequent. Although this book does come to an end in the next chapter, book 2 will also be starting this month.
I hope you guys are looking forward to it, and thank you for your lovely support! <3
Alicia~