"Oh my, how did things come to this?" The woman sat in the armchair next to the fancy, spacious bed and sighed lightly. Her most noticeable differences from humans were a pair of elegant white rabbit ears on the top of her head and a fluffy white tail just above her waist. She glanced at the bed again, then put a hand to her cheek and let out a tired sigh.
The room was simple and elegant, just like the bed. It wasn't luxurious, but the elegant beauty of simplicity gave the room a peaceful and noble feel.
She was deep in thought when the door opened quietly and another woman came in. She had black horns on her head and a long black tail behind her, indicating that she was a cow kin. The two women looked pretty similar overall, but there were clear physical differences between them because they were from different species.
The rabbit woman dazzled with a slender waist and tight, shapely muscles, her elegant physique the result of years of training. The cow woman, on the other hand, exuded a soft, maternal aura with her species-typical H-cup breasts and a soothing, soft, motherly aura.
After the cow woman came in, she looked at the bed for a few seconds and sighed. Then she looked at the rabbit woman and spoke in a pleasant, motherly voice. "Head maid Thalia, I've gathered everyone as you asked."
The rabbit woman, Thalia, nodded slightly. She took one last look at the bed before getting up from her chair. She straightened her maid's dress slightly and headed for the door. Thank you, Maria. Let's go."
After Thalia left the room with quiet, light steps, Maria leaned slightly towards the bed before slowly closing the door. As the two made their way to another room, the elegant and simple room they had left behind gradually faded into darkness, completely deserted, with a small child lying peacefully in his eternal sleep on the bed.
.....
After Thalia and Maria left the elegant room, they passed through relatively austere corridors in the same style but with fewer objects.No one was around, the same feeling of desolation pervaded the whole corridor. There weren't any flowers or anything alive, just some hanging mirrors and the faint reflections of luxury items.
It wasn't long before they reached their target room. After Maria opened the door for Thalia, Thalia gently entered and Maria followed behind her. There were three women already waiting inside the room, all sitting differently on the already sparse sofas.
The room wasn't huge, but it was still bigger than the bedroom they'd left. There was a fancy chandelier hanging overhead and a long table took up half the room, with the rest made up of furnitures where the women sat.
"Head maid Thalia." When Thalia walked in, the three women stood up and gave her a little bow to greet her. Thalia accepted their greetings and nodded slightly. "Just have a seat, there's no need to get all formal." She then took the head seat, while Maria joined the others and they took their own seats.
At first there was a peaceful silence in the room. It was gently broken as Maria stood up. "Then I will serve tea to everyone." she said in a warm, motherly tone. Thalia nodded slightly in agreement and there was silence again. The only sound in the room was Maria's silent preparation of tea, until she prepared it and served it to everyone.
Then came the elegant sound of sipping tea. The peace and quiet carried on until a thin but nice voice broke it. "How's the young master, Thalia?" the woman asked, concern evident in her eyes and voice.
She was taller than Thalia and the other woman in the room, but shorter than Maria and almost the same height as the other woman. She was a half-elf woman with thin, shiny skin, dark blonde hair, small breasts and a very pleasant appearance, with slightly longer than normal pointed ears.
Thalia took another sip of her tea and slowly put it down on the table. Then she looked at the woman who had spoken, Elara, and sighed. "Sadly, there's been no change in the young master's condition. " Although these words were expected, they could not prevent a shadow of sadness from falling over the women's faces.
The room fell silent once again. But this time, instead of peaceful silence, it was a silence of despair and sadness.
The silence was broken by Thalia's determined voice. "Five years have passed. Five years since the day the young master was born and fell into eternal sleep. Almost as long as we arrived here, or were thrown out."
After Thalia spoke, everyone looked pretty down in the dumps. "We don't remember much about our past, and we're not even sure why we were abandoned or left here. But one thing we are sure of is that we've been here for five years, stuck in the lowest level of the dungeon with the young master for five years."
As everyone's expressions became even sadder, Thalia continued. "One of the things we remember is looking after the young master here. But there's not much we can do while the young master's condition remains unchanged."
"That's why we don't need so many people." It was unclear whether five people truly counted as 'many', but Thalia's point was obvious to the other women. And that is why they were surprised.
"What do you mean, Thalia?" This time the voice was rougher. She was the shortest and most muscular of the women, a dwarf with light tan skin, full breasts, fluffy hair and short, pointed ears.
Thalia took a few seconds to glance at the others' expressions before she answered Hazel's, dwarfs, question. "Like I said, we don't really remember why we were brought here, but we can still remember a few things. One of them is the curse on us. Maria can even confirm that this curse, or maybe even curses, are still on us."
Everyone looked at Maria, who nodded her head to show she agreed. Then Thalia carried on. "One of the curses we had was that if we left the dungeon without permission, we would forget all about this place. Actually, we don't have any high restrictions for leaving this dungeon. It's not clear who we should ask for this 'permission' mentioned in the curse, but I guess it's probably the young master, but with the young master's condition it's impossible."
When everyone heard the last sentence, they all sighed sadly again. A moment of thoughtful and sad silence followed. The contemplation lasted for a few seconds until Hazel broke the silence by speaking in a stern tone. "So, what do you suggest, Thalia? Should we leave the young master here and go? Even if we can leave the Dungeon as you say, something will surely happen to us if we leave the young master."
Thalia looked at Hazel with a stern expression. "Hazel, do you really think I would suggest abandoning the young master? Do you really think I would suggest abandoning a little boy, let alone the fact that the young master is our young master?"
Hazel scratched of her head awkwardly. "I didn't mean what you said, Thalia. Hmmm... I mean, what do we do now? What do you suggest we do?" The others were looking at Thalia with a curious expression.
"I mean, you're no under any obligation here. Maria, Elara, Hazel, Skylar... You're free to leave if you want. Even if we're left here, we're free – no more master to order us. We're not tied to a nobleman or anyone like that anymore. But I'll stay here as head maid." Thalia said, smiling sweetly.
The other women looked at Thalia in shock. "Thalia, aren't you contradicting yourself? You say we don't have a responsibility any more, but then you say it's your responsibility as head maid, nya." The last person in the room who hadn't said anything yet spoke up, her tone slightly mischievous.
Skylar was a member of the cat kin, and she was almost the same height as Elara. She had a pair of cat ears on top of her head and a long, thin, furry cat tail behind her, and her breasts were slightly bigger than Elara's.
The others nodded in agreement with Skylar. To leave Thalia here alone, to put such a huge responsibility on her delicate shoulders alone... it was something none of them could do.
Thalia shot a glance at the others, and smiled gently. "I appreciate your thoughts, but you're wrong about one thing, Skylar." Skylar tilted her head slightly and made an amused 'nya~' sound. As the others looked at her and smiled sweetly, Thalia continued. "It's my job as head maid. I'm the one responsible for you. I'm responsible for looking after you as well as the young master."
After Thalia had listened, everyone went back to being serious. "But..." Just as Elara was about to protest in her sweet voice, Thalia raised her hand and interrupted her. "Don't worry about me. I'm sure the young master will wake up one day. So I won't stay here forever."
The others shook their heads as a pained expression appeared on their faces. Their young master had been in a deep sleep for five years, or rather since the day he was born. Every day, they had to feed him, check his health and bathe him. Obviously, this was already their job as servants, but the fact that their dependent had been in a vegetative state for so long was starting to get to them.
With everything that was going on, the psychological pressure on them was immense.
"You all have a sufficient level of power. If you go out, I'm sure you can get your lives in order." Thalia kept talking. "Thalia. Thanks for thinking of us, but I won't leave you here on your own. I'm not going to blame my other friends if they want to leave, but I won't abandon you." Elara answered Thalia in her sweet but determined voice.
Thalia smiled, but there was a sad edge to it. She'd expected this answer from the nice and responsible Elara. Then she looked at the others and carefully studied their expressions. Realising that none of them had any intention of leaving, she decided to try to persuade them anyway. "Hazel, your skills as a blacksmith are quite good. Once you show them, I'm sure there'll be places that'll hire you."
"Maria, you're also really skilled when it comes to healing and holy abilities. I'm sure churches or adventurer parties would be happy to have you."
"Skylar, you've got good observation skills and a good sense of direction, and there'll be adventurer parties who'll be happy to see you."
"Thalia, you think about us a lot, don't you?" Maria let out a sweet sigh and spoke in a motherly voice. "I appreciate your feelings, but I don't plan to leave you or this place."
"I totally agree, Thalia. I appreciate you thinking of us, but I feel freer in this cage, not knowing how our forgotten past might affect our future." Hazel joined Maria, her voice firm and determined.
"That's right, nya. And who knows what will happen to pretty girls like us out there. What if they catch us and do bad things nya~" Then she went to Thalia and started rubbing against her from the side. "I'll be safe here with you, nya~"
She then pouted, puffing out her cheeks. "And why didn't you mention Elara? Do you only think she's a good girl? Are we bad girls?" Skylar let Thalia know her concerns in a mischievous way.
Thalia smiled and patted Skylar's head affectionately as her spirits lifted a little. "I'm sorry, Skylar is a good girl too, don't worry." She then turned to look at the others as she continued to gently stroke his head. "I understand, so just take a moment to think about what I said. You never know what might happen in the future. What I'm saying is just a possibility for another future." The others nodded in agreement.
"Then I'll go check on the young master." After Skylar got the attention she wanted, she started to leave the room, her tail wagging happily. Thalia nodded to her, and Maria got up and spoke. "Then I'll get everyone's tea refilled."
After Skylar left the room, she started to walk merrily down the same, not very long, elegant corridor. Her tail wagged carelessly as she whistled a sweet melody. Without thinking too much about the conversation she'd just had, she began to walk with cheerful steps.
They were like her family. She couldn't leave any of them. If they stayed here, she would stay too, and if they left, she would follow them. Basically, she'd follow them wherever they went.
When Skylar arrived at her young master's door, she stopped and took a deep breath. "Young master, I'm coming in" She called out in a soft voice and knocked gently on the door. Even though their young masters were in a vegetative state, they behaved respectfully out of habit due to their education.
She opened the door slowly and entered the dark room. Even when the lights were off, she could see pretty well because she was a cat kin. And it was this good vision that made her stop in surprise as she stepped into the room.
She expected to find his young master lying still in his fancy bed, just like he always did. But now... that bed... was empty.
Skylar's ears pricked up nervously. In fear and confusion, she shouted as her eyes stared at the empty bed in the dark room. "Young master, nyaaaa!!!"