The Trancy maid, finally finished with her morning chores, often took to strolling in the garden before His Highness awoke and bombarded her and the rest of the servants with orders, most of them unnecessary. As Audrea felt the cool morning breeze unsettle her skirts and cause the hem of her dress to brush along the grass, she felt a pair of eyes on her. Pretending not to notice, she let her soft, golden braid conceal her eyes. This manor was quite unusual and very dangerous for a 19 year old human girl to work at, due to the entirety of the help being demons. Yet, Audrea was not kept in the dark about the Trancy estate's secret. She knew that her five fellow servants were demons. Not only was she fully aware, but it thrilled her immensely.
Audrea began working at the Trancy manor several months ago after approaching the young Highness on the street. Her last master was, unfortunately, found dead in his mansion and Audrea was left out of the job. His Highness would never consider taking in a charity case, but then again…a human girl surrounded by demons? This should be fun to watch. Little did Alois know that Audrea recognized a demon when she saw one. As soon as Claude Faustus's golden eyes pierced their way through the crowd and met hers, the job was as good as Audrea's.
However, Audrea did a fine job at keeping a poker face throughout her first few weeks working as a maid at the manor. Alois instructed Claude to mentor her and show her the ropes, so while they were side-by-side, Audrea knew the reason her cheeks flushed when Claude brushed up against her. She knew how alluring demons could be and how they could subconsciously trick their prey into walking openly into death's arms. Audrea knew every trick in the book and loved to let herself fall for them anyway.
"Excuse me," Claude murmured as his slender fingers brushed Audrea's bodice as he reached out to dusk the corner of a wall. There, between either sides of the dusty corner, a spider web resided. Claude was careful in avoiding tearing the silver threads, Audrea made note of.
"Fond of spiders?" she asked with a grin. The man, she thought, resembled a spider himself in many ways.
"They are sacred to the Trancy estate, Miss. I personally find them to be beneficial and charming." Claude smirked as he made eye contact with Audrea. It was amusing for such a tall butler to peer down at his subordinate when she happened to be so short. She looked so vulnerable and naïve. It didn't help that she was so inviting in her idle small talk.
"You know," Audrea said as she continued dusting, "I've never been afraid of spiders. 'They're more scared of us than we are of them.' Isn't that what they always say?"
Claude chuckled. "And how wrong they are."