We were inside a big carriage, going to an orphanage.
Guess all you needed was a dramatic fall off with your maid to convince her to get you a mini maid.
And yes, I am getting the heroine soon.
She will be my maid and secretly pluck grass to feed me. Ella would never know.
I'm a genius.
"Young master, stop creeping out the window," Ella said, reading a book on how to raise plants.
"Yes, young master, your smile could terrify the villagers!" Mia was eating some bread.
"Who cares about villagers? I'm too rich to have empathy," I mumbled.
"You are not rich, your family is…if anything, you might end up burning all the cash," Mia said the last part quietly, as though I won't hear that.
I took a sunflower, yellow like Mia's hair, and bit the petals off.
"Oho, what a threat, I'm so scared!" Mia's voice was monotone like a monochrome painting. Ella laughed.
"You should be, pesky maid." I scoffed and sat down, eating the rest of the sunflower.
"Do you even know what pesky means?" Mia snickered.
"I do! It's, um, it's someone, like you—I do know, literature is not my strong suit!" I said, and Mia laughed.
"Like anything is," she laughed.
She pinched my cheek.
I'll fire her soon, surely.
"Do you want apples, young master?" Mia asked, looking out of the window.
"Yes, I won't fire you if you buy me some!"
"Yes, yes," and she went out of the carriage (obviously after it stopped) and bought some apples, some fried lettuce, and bell peppers.
"You bought a lot, Mia!" She gave them to me and patted my head.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Ella offer Mia money.
And her refusing.
My aunt would never feed me without being given money.
I lost my appetite.
"Did you not like the apples, young master?" Mia asked, picking a fallen petal.
"Isn't money the most important thing? Then why did you not take it?" I asked, my lips forming a bridge that had never been crossed.
Neither of them spoke.
And we reached the first orphanage, books closed, smiles dead.
But before I could get out, Mia got out first. And she picked me up and twirled me around.
"Money is the most important thing, but young master, you are not a thing, you are a cute little goat, right?" Mia said, and I opened my mouth, but I did not know what to say.
She took a yellow rose out of her pocket after putting me down. (removed the petals from the stem)
And gave the flower petals to me. Scattering them on my hand.
"Eat up, young master, you need to be healthy, right?" She smiled.
And she crossed a bridge I had been building all my life.
I chewed on a piece of petal, and kept the rest in my pocket. (They were snacks.)
And I looked at Ella, who smiled at me and then bent down to my level and said, "Shall we find you a maid? Young master?"
I nodded, giggling.
Mia and Ella held my hand and we walked towards the building to find the heroine. I highly doubt the heroine was here.
She lived in a dirty place with dirtier people and was bullied and treated like crap.
So the chance of her being here was nil.
Anyways, I went in.
Looked at the kids.
Smiled at them.
And said, 'Thank you, next.'
To three orphanages.
"Young master, what even are you looking for?" I was sure Mia was trying hard not to swear at me.
Ella mumbled, something about plants needing patience.
And I gave her a thumbs up.
And we went to our final orphanage of the day. Which meant I would either find her here or she would appear in front of me on my nineteenth birthday.
Either way, I convinced Ella to step in. She said something about 'rooting' and 'plants.'
And we knocked on the door, and the door fell.
We tried to ring the bell.
The bell fell.
Ella screamed, 'Hello!'
And the dead leaves fell.
"What are you looking for?" A woman, dressed in a nun's outfit, spoke.
I screamed.
Plants were not known for stealth.
"We are looking for children who can be a maid for our young master," Ella answered, staring at the pale woman.
"Then what are you doing here? This place is the old orphanage!" She chuckled, her red eyes sharp.
"The new one, I'll take you there, I own the place." The nun said, smiling like food taken out of the freezer.
Mia and Ella nodded at each other, and we all followed her.
She led her to a place, a little dim and dull and dark. But clean. And children playing in the dirt, all covered in dust.
And I ran through the gate.
And before I knew, I was hanging from a tree, trapped in a net.
"Damn," a girl with blue hair and pink eyes, "I thought you were a goat!'
"Well, I am not, little kid, I am a human, mostly!" I yelled at the girl who I was sure was the heroine. The only bright thing in a sea of NPCs.
"I'll let you go if you feed me a goat!" She yelled back, teeth sharp enough to eat bones.
"Stay away from me, goat feeder!" I screamed, looking for Ella and Mia.
They were laughing!
What kind of maids were they!
"Let me go, you dumb blue-haired thing!" I screamed, tears in my eyes.
"No, I'm hungry, and you said mostly, are you half goat?" She asked, a finger on her lips.
"Yes, he sort of is!" Mia walked in.
She is getting fired.
"Great, then I can eat you, right?" The girl showed her sharp canines and laughed.
"Ella! Save me!" I cried.
And Ella walked over to the heroine and asked her to let me down.
"But I want a goat!" She pouted, and Ella, that traitor 2.0, said,
"Poor girl."
"You are going to be my maid! I'll buy you all the meat–Now let me go!" I screamed, and I fell, and almost hit the ground.
"All the meat, any meat?" She asked, her eyes gleaming.
"Any meat!" I sniffled.