Petra followed Luna like a troubled child, her shoulders drooped.
Luna led her into the dining room, where a few of the girls were already eating.
Warm food, warm chatter… and very sharp eyes. As Petra sat down and started eating, she immediately felt several suspicious gazes land on her.
No one asked anything.
Not a word...
Petra blinked slowly.
It seemed Luna didn't rat her out, which was good... She didn't want to worry everyone… even though her entire room was probably still stained black from her 'breakthrough'.
The only one who reacted differently was Nebula.
Nebula kept glancing at Petra from across the table, her brows furrowed, as if trying to discern something. She could feel that Petra had 'changed', but she couldn't tell what it was.
Her gaze wasn't filled with suspicion, it was curiosity.
Petra puffed out her chest confidently, or at least, tried to… with a sudden jolt, she seemed to realize that something was horribly wrong…
Her little claws reached up and grabbed her washboard.
"…?"
"…?"
"…?"
Why did it feel like it had… shrunk?
Petra: "…"
Her face fell, turning pale in an instant!
Plop!
Petra fell forward with a face of despair. Following a devastated huff, she slumped over her plate, her tiny arms spilling out across the table. It would seem, alongside her 'growth', there was also a certain level of 'refinement'. That is to say, with the growth of her dragon clan bloodline, her physical age would slowly correct itself towards the dragon clans' standards. An elderly human, one hundred years old, was no different than a toddler in the dragon clan! Petra was worried about this! Her worst fears were finally realized! The 'Witch Bloodline' had nothing to do with the physical body! That meant that she was like a half-dragon, half-human! But as she grew, this 'placeholder human half' would slowly dissipate! And she would grow younger!
(A/n: Its not that bad…)
Nebula tilted her head, confused. Why did the little master suddenly look like she had lost her soul?
Luna only stared from behind, unimpressed.
-
Time passed…
After Petra finished eating, she wiped her mouth and attempted a stealthy escape. She waited for Luna to turn, then split from her seat and tiptoed towards the hallway.
Step.
Step…
Sliiiiide—!
Swoosh! She left the dining room and disappeared down the hall!
She slipped into an unused room and poked her head out.
No movement…? Good!
Swoosh! She slipped down another hall, already smiling smugly, then froze.
Petra: "!!"
The light from behind cast a long shadow across the floor. The problem was, there were two shadows!
Petra turned around slowly, and there—
Luna stood straight, expressionless, holding a kitchen towel, her eyebrow twitching violently.
Petra let out a dry laugh.
Zooooom—! She tried to escape again, but Luna followed her like a silent ghost, every step perfectly in sync, every hiding spot already discovered. She was worse than Nebula! And she knew the mansion far better then Petra! After realizing she couldn't shake her off, Petra sighed in defeat.
Lilly and Luna were her personal maids, but sometimes Petra felt like she was being raised, not served…
"Aya-ya-ya!"
They were too good at their jobs!
Especially Luna—
This girl was way too attentive!
As Petra walked onwards, Luna trailed behind like a watchdog disguised as a stoic little girl, and Petra felt a small tug of guilt. Not only did she need to be more careful herself, maybe she should try harder to keep the girls safe as well...
Yeah! Mm—
She would definitely think of a way…
Petra nodded to herself seriously, then immediately tripped over her own foot and launched her little face towards the floor.
Swoosh! In a quick sweep, Luna caught her by the back of the neck.
As Petra was dangled like a kitten, she could feel the silent judgment radiating from the mute maid.
Petra looked away, embarrassed.
'Yeah… I should definitely protect them a bit better…'
* * *
Over the last month—
Countless changes had swept through the territory surrounding the Emerald Ghost Tree…
-
The construction phase had finally ended!
The largest projects were complete, the underground foundation was stabilized, and the protective barrier had been reinforced to a degree even Petra hadn't planned for! This was all thanks to Elli…
With the major projects done, everything shifted to the details. Runework and engraving, artifact defenses, filling the farmland and replanting everything, setting up a storage system, personalizing everyone's rooms, and the daily maintenance schedule needed to be completed. All the 'small things' that, in truth, took just as much time as the core construction, had begun.
The mansion gradually shifted from a construction site to a real mansion, the kind that you would expect to find in the royal city of some big empire. In addition, the girls had all fully settled in, each falling naturally into the roles Petra had assigned to them.
-
Lilly and Luna Azurefell were naturally Petra's personal attendants.
They were always by her side, always prepared, always ready to drag her out of bed by the ankles whenever necessary. The two of them quietly became the lifeblood of Petra's daily life. Lilly was gentle and cheerful, while Luna was silent and strict, but both of them were dedicated and quick learners.
-
Nebula served as Petra's silent shadow and special guard.
No one ever heard her footsteps, and sometimes you wouldn't even see her for days, occasionally even forgetting she existed, but she was always there—
Always watching…
Nebula was the strangest of Petra's people, even surpassing Poya and E, and often receiving inexplicable 'comments' from Levy that Petra didn't understand at all. She was treated differently from the others, almost tutored in a sense, with Levy spending a fair bit of time with the silent sister…
-
Wind V Gallon became the head of resources, the 'Head Resource Maid'. She was in charge of making sure 'they had everything they needed'.
She managed the 'Avian Alchemist', the 'Dwarven Sisters', the three 'Poison Elves', and the hundreds of new gardeners pulled from the ant army and beehive. She handled ingredients from the farms, materials from outside, cloth production, ores, herbs, maintenance materials, emergency stockpiles, and general repairs.
If something was 'needed' to farm, cook, clean, or craft, Wind had it all under control!
In addition, she was Petras 'cartographer!' And her efficiency was terrifying!
-
Mell, or 'Melllillyan Tibon', oversaw logistics, she was the 'Head Logistics Maid.' She was in charge of making sure they 'could do everything they needed to do'.
She organized the 'Four Busty Bunnies', the 'Eight Beast Girls', and the massive ant-based logistics system that continued to grow with each passing day. Every collection cycle, harvesting route, cleaning rotation, maintenance check, storage cycle, and labor assignment passed through her hands first.
She synchronized the entire territory like a quiet machine.
If Wind was a cartographer, then Mell was the backbone of the entire 'Maid Harem'…
-
Rose took command of the mansion's 'mini military', and she was the 'Head Combat Maid'.
This included the 'Twelve Human Girls', at least, for now, the 'Ant Army', the 'Bee Army', and several outside beasts that randomly began following her commands. This was her unavoidable authority as the 'Future Red King'. She handled training drills, sparring rotations, patrol formations, emergency procedures, and even discipline when necessary.
Even Petra was impressed at how well she fit into the role.
-
Lira, uh… simply stuck to Rose all day, and everyone accepted that…
As a savage, she had a lot of work to do when it came to developing her 'common sense' and integrating with the normal world, but with Petra around, it was only a matter of time until this 'common sense' became a problem…
-
Soryn didn't hold an official title, but her role was just as important as the others! If Rose 'managed' the army, then she 'trained' the top talent!
Petra was terrified to ask about her origins, but Soryn seemed to have a special background in swordsmanship. She acted as the main combat Instructor, the one responsible for shaping any raw talents they discovered into something usable.
This naturally extended to the ants, bees, and beasts as well…
Where Rose commanded and organized, Soryn refined and perfected. They were a powerful duo!
-
Dorthy managed the library as the 'Head Librarian.'
She practically lived within the library and was one of the few maids who was exempt from wearing the maid uniform, er… at least, if she wanted to! Which she didn't!
Petra: Nod-nod-nod!
Dorthy organized every section of the room, floor by floor, repaired damaged books, copied unorthodox texts and scribbles, cataloged new additions, managed restricted knowledge, and oversaw the preservation runes embedded throughout the shelves.
Dorthy had a near-perfect memory, so anyone who needed information about runes, alchemy, beasts, history, plants, magic theory, anything, went directly to Dorthy! She could find any book within seconds, often reciting its page number and location before the requestor finished speaking.
It was very impressive!
-
Next, Bell served as Dorthy's assistant!
She was a bit clumsy, but this position was perfect for her shy personality. As an, er… exile? Of the Sky Tower, Bell naturally had access to a lot of the Sky Tower's knowledge, so she had a lot of things in that little head to write down and 'pass on!'
She handled reports, cleaning, bookkeeping, and occasionally dragged Dorthy away to eat. She was a very good assistant, one that acted more like a wife than a real assistant…
-
Jillian was the lead researcher / Petra's little lab slave!
She was basically 'tasked' with whatever Petra didn't want to do, which—
Ended up being absolutely everything that wasn't related to Poison, Insects, Evolution, and Explosions!
She was buried with overseeing the behavioral records for targeted species, calculations, environmental monitoring, rune decryption, rune synthesis, barrier data collection, medicine refinement, spirit stone processing, shaping, and cleansing—just to name a few… In addition, Petra would often throw her any of the ideas that she spontaneously had in the middle of the night. Since Petra wasn't sure if they would work or not, Jillian was the perfect person to check for her!
Jillian also made the coffee…
-
Levy worked as a 'general teacher', while Elli taught the 'Rune Language' to the girls! They alternated between training, lecturing, scolding, and beating up their little students!
Especially Petra!
Petra definitely got the worst of it! She was definitely targeted! Mm! Definitely!
Also, strangely enough, 'Poya' seemed to be exempt from the beatings… This blank-brained little baby was often skipped over by the terrifying teachers!
Very unfair!
-
Last but not least, there was poor little Noah.
Noah worked the hardest. Not only did she 'train daily' to strengthen herself with Rose, Soryn, and the Human Girls, but she also frequently visited Elli for guidance.
When she wasn't practicing, she was 'helping' Wind or Mell.
When she wasn't helping, she was 'learning' from Dorthy and Bell.
Noah continued the cycle of training, helping, and learning, over and over again, soaking in as much as she could, with the time that she had! Petra never asked, but there was definitely some kind of goal that she was aiming to achieve…
-
As for Poya, she remained elusive as always. Sometimes she was in the poison garden, sometimes in the farmland harvesting fruits and vegetables, and sometimes deep within the crown of the Emerald Ghost Tree, just sitting there, blankly…
Even Levy didn't fully know what she was doing half the time.
-
Everyone was well…
* * *
Later that day, Petra was wandering through the farmlands that surrounded the mansion. The scent of soil, sap, herbs, and fruits blended together, carried on the chilling breeze, and formed a freshness that seemed to wash away one's worries. The land was overflowing with vitality, further strengthened by the spirit stone mine buried deep beneath the ground.
Tall stalks of transparent amber grain swayed like golden streamers, glowing green berries rippled softly on their vines, and clusters of special peppers flickered like red embers, warming the air around them.
Scattered throughout the fields were dozens of unreal fruits, such as spiral pears, vine-shell gourds, shadow strike peaches, humming figs, screaming potatoes, and terror tripe pineapples, each releasing a unique sweet or strange scent. The mixture was dizzying, intoxicating, and completely unique.
The girls had put a lot of effort into making these fields compatible with any region, and there were far too many unique names to remember, so Petra simply referred to many of them by their appearance.
Between the patches of layered farmland stood the occasional pavilion.
These were built for the girls to rest, snack, read, or simply watch the crops grow. Wind chimes hung from their roofs, singing softly whenever the breeze blew.
It was a clean and neat sight, aesthetically pleasing.