Finally waking without a blocked nose and itchy eyes left me with a smile on my face. Even the realization I would now be expected to return to work for Hanna didn't faze me though as I climbed from the bed I heard a light knock.
"Just a minute." I called out, grabbing a blanket to wrap around my shoulders. As I headed towards the door I stopped briefly to run my fingers through my hair, hoping that would make me a little more presentable. "Yes, can I help you?" I asked, opening the door to find Leovold standing in the doorway.
After a few seconds he cleared his throat and I hurriedly stepped backwards to allow him inside the room, closing the door quietly behind us. "I came by to get your signature on this paper. I have to say you're looking a lot better since I last saw you, Serla." Leovold commented, looking around the room.
"Thank you. I am feeling better. Your friend is an amazing healer, Leovold." I replied, offering him the only chair and he nodded. Looking at my unmade bed for a moment he carefully moved the chair close to it and I felt my cheeks burn. "Sorry if the room's a mess." I muttered, not knowing why I cared what Leovold thought.
Leovold just handed me the paper and as I unrolled it I noticed his signature. Sitting on the edge of the bed I began to read it and he coughed, handing me a quill to sign it. I had just pressed the quill against the paper when my head jerked up and Leovold raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong, Serla?"
"This paper says I work for you now. There's no way I'm signing it." I protested and he sighed, shaking his head at me with an amused smile. "Is this funny to you?"
"Serla, if you work for me you won't need to worry about rent or living expenses." Leovold explained, blinking when I handed the paper and the quill back. I climbed to my feet and when I started for the door Leovold rose from his chair, following me. "Now where are you going?" He asked and I stopped, spinning around to glare at him. Arms crossed against my chest I kept staring until he smiled at me.
"I want you to leave...now. I refuse to work for someone who only uses people for his own ends." I told him, still glaring at him as he stood there. "It might not be much to you but this is my room and you have no right to barge in here and demand I work for you."
"If you remember you let me in." Leovold answered, taking a step forward despite the way I was staring at him. "Besides I don't see why you don't want to work for me."
"I believe being lied to qualifies are a good enough reason, Leovold. Now leave before I lose my temper." I growled and Leovold sighed, stepping past me to open the door. Before he left he gave me a quick smile which I refused to acknowledge. I nearly slammed the door in his face only stopping when I remembered just how well connected he was.
Returning to his office, Leovold toyed with his quill as he considered what to do about Serla.
I don't understand why she refuses to work for me. Serla could move into a much nicer apartment but she continues to be so stubborn. I wonder what I can do to change her mind..
All at once an idea came to mind and with a tiny smile, Leovold took a single sheet of paper from the drawer of his desk. As he wrote the smile never faded from his lips and once he was done his eyes travelled the note, making sure everything was in order. Leaning back in his chair, Leovold crossed his arms behind his head. "There. Now Serla will have to work for me unless she likes being run off her feet." He muttered, leaning over to open the window.
Sitting on the edge of my bed I stared at the floor, glaring at it as I went over the contract Leovold nearly had me sign.
"The nerve of that elf, thinking I'd come and work for him. I have a perfectly good job working for Hanna so why did he think I would quit? Well it might not be perfect but still I'd rather work for Hanna than that two-faced jerk." I complained, rising when I heard a light knock at my door. Narrowing my eyes I climbed from the bed, hoping it was Leovold so I could shout at him some more.
It wasn't until I opened the door that I found Refia standing there and before I had time to open my mouth she thrust a pile of books and papers into my open arms. They slipped from my arms and with a groan I knelt to retrieve them, giving Refia the chance to back away from the door. Once I managed to put them in a somewhat neat pile I noticed Refia was watching me with a grin on her face, her entourage milling about.
"This is from Hanna. She said 'Thanks for taking on an extra workload'." Refia told me and I blinked, mouth opening and closing. "You know that's really unattractive." She offered and I swallowed, cheeks reddening as I stared back at her.
"Extra workload? Wait a second I never agreed to this!" I protested but Refia just waved her hand in front of my face, obviously not caring. "Refia, that's not helping."
"If you're upset take it up with Hanna, not me. Now I have somewhere to be so I'll see you later...or not." Refia giggled and her boyfriends echoed her laughter as she walked away, not even sparing me a backward glance. Muttering some very unladylike words under my breath I started for Hanna's office though as I approached it, still trying to keep a firm grip on my new workload, I saw the door open. Seeing Hanna step through the open doorway I quickly hurried over and she raised an eyebrow as soon as she saw me struggling.
"Serla? I thought you would be delivering messages and returning those books to the library, not wandering the halls." Hanna told me and I sighed, gripping the books close to my chest.
"Refia told me that I'm supposed to be working even harder. I never mentioned that I wanted more work." I explained and she shook her head, holding her hands out for the books. I nearly handed them over until I saw her narrowing her eyes and I paused. "If I refuse to do the extra work will I be fired?" I asked in a small voice and she gave me a brief nod. "Okay then I guess I'm working overtime." I agreed and Hanna smiled, taking a scroll from her pocket.
"That's what I like to hear. Now this is a list of jobs I need finished as soon as possible. I'm sure you're up to the task." Hanna said and I nodded, chewing my lip when she turned back to lock the door to her office. "Now I have an audience with Queen Marchesa and I can't be late. Report back to me in my office once you're finished." With that Hanna left me standing there and once I knew she was out of earshot I groaned, biting back a growl before I returned to my room to go over what additional work I had agreed to.
Now back in my room I went over the list again, scrowling at the amount of jobs I needed completed by the very next morning. The easiest job was returning several books to the library and the most difficult was getting a signature from all of the highest ranking members of the High City govemnent. That I knew would take ages since I had to find each and every member, which would mean travelling the whole city just to find them all. Groaning aloud I kept reading, going through each task and adding a number to it.
The highest number being the most important (and the most difficult and time-consuming) task and the lowest being the easiest and fastest to complete. Even with a plan most of the jobs I was assigned by Hanna cost me the day and the very next morning to complete. Which meant I ended up skipping breakfast, making me a little irritiable to say the least.
Crossing the jobs off as I completed them I soon realized that the last one I had to complete was getting signatures from several officials. But as I walked the streets and hallways of Paliano I found out that finding them in their offices wasn't easy as they didn't always stay in one place for too long.
I managed to get four of the six signatures I needed and when I went looking for the fifth I discovered he wasn't in his office and wouldn't be available until the next day. Leaving me with finding the sixth person I need who I caught just leaving his office and he was more than happy to sign his name after reading through the scroll I brought him. I had to admit I was a little curious as to what they were signing but when I tried to sneak a peek the official narrowed his eyes and I quickly apoligized, which he accepted.
Leaving him to his own affairs I headed out to find the fifth person again but as I reached his office I found someone in full armor standing guard and when I tried to appoach the door he shooed me away, informing me in a low growl to come back tomorrow.
Resisting the urge to stick my tongue out when he wasn't looking at me I returned to my room to find someone waiting for me.
"Miss, this came for you." A black-haired man with a tiny smile and bright sky blue eyes waved at me, holding a scroll in his left hand. Not knowing what he wanted I moved closer, noting how pointed his ears were which made me think he was an elf. "It's from Hanna." He added, handing the paper to me and I unrolled it to find (to my horror) that it contained a much longer list of jobs for me to finish. Apparently noticing the frown on my face the elf blinked. "Is everything all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you for bringing this to me." I quickly told him and he nodded, giving me a smile before he excused himself. I watched him walk away and when my attention returned to the list he had vanished, leaving me to wonder why I was being forced to work so much harder.
The day wore in as I hurried to finish my work before Hanna discovered I hadn't even finished the first list, through no fault of my own. I did manage to find the last person on the list, a rather stuffy man in his late forties who seemed to find it tiresome to apply his signature to an important document. Keeping a straight face I handed the scroll over and once he affixed his signature to it I quickly left, the smile on my face replaced with a scrowl.
My stomach growled and I growled back as I headed towards Hanna's office to drop off the first list. With that completed I decided to quickly finish everything on the second list and then grab something to eat to appease my aching stomach. It never happened and I found myself getting more and more focused on finishing my workload instead of looking after myself, something I had never done at any point since I started working for myself.
Half a day later I had just about finished the list and with the end of my work in sight I started for Leovold's office. Since I wanted to get this over with and ignoring the growing headache that had taken up root behind my eyes I headed for his office hoping that the elf was inside and not wandering Paliano.
I lightly tapped on his door with my knuckles and when he didn't immediately answer I shook my head, knocking a little louder this time. Again, he didn't acknowledge me and I growled turning the doorknob.
As the door swung open Leovold looked up from the chest sitting in front of him, fiddling with a gold coin as I stared at him from the open doorway. "Serla? I would have invited you in but since you're already in my doorway..." He trailed off when I nearly slammed the door behind me, grumbling only loud enough for me to hear as I walked the distance between his desk and the door.
"I need you to read this, sign it and then I can leave. Maybe then I can get a meal without having to work my rear off." I complained, the scroll slipping from my fingers before I reached the desk. "Oh really?" I snapped, kneeling to retrieve it. Grabbing it before it could roll under the desk I straightened and Leovold raised an eyebrow as I suddenly weaved on the spot.
"Serla, are you feeling alright? Maybe you should sit." Leovold said and I snorted, moving towards the chair. I just about crashed into it, the room tilting before my eyes. Groaning I rested my head on the back of the chair not even noticing Leovold rising from his chair. Moving to my side he stared as I raised my head to stare back at him, both of us aware of a very loud gurgle coming from the pit of my stomach. "You haven't been skipping meals have you?" He asked getting an eye narrow and crossed arms for his trouble.
"You try working how hard I've been and getting a decent meal at the same time." I replied, closing my eyes to his stare. "I'm so hungry!" I whined, moving my head to get comfortable not noticing the elf watching me with a frown.
I had barely dozed off when I felt a light tap on my right shoulder and I sighed, opening one eye to find Leovold standing beside me. Before my eyes he was holding a small plate filled with fruit and cheese slices out to me. Opening both eyes I took it from him, staring at it then Leovold who gave me a smile. "Eat this before you faint on me again." Leovold told me, returning to his chair in the time it took me to understand what he had just done for me.
Taking my time I started on the grapes first, enjoying them and after they were gone I started on the apple slices. Leovold watched with an amused smile as I eat, leaning against his chair as I chewed. In a few minutes the plate was empty and I sighed with relief, leaning over to set the plate down before I leant back. "Thanks." I whspered, perfectly content to rest and Leovold chuckled as my eyes drifted closed.
"Serla, are you awake?" Leovold's voice asked and I mumbled something, opening my eyes to find him sitting at his desk. "You've been sleeping for several hours now."
"I have? Wow." I whispered, giving my arms a stretch and he nodded. "Thanks for being nice to me for a change." I said as I stood pausing once I saw the scroll he had unrolled on his desk. "Not this again."
"Why do you keep insisting you don't want my help? After all the trouble I went through getting you more work so you could...oops." Leovold muttered as I fixed him with my best death stare, stomping towards the desk. When I slammed my open palms onto it he actually flinched and I winced at the sudden pain, fightig the urge to cradle my now sore hands. Instead I kept glaring until he rose from his chair, stepping to block me from leaving the room.
"How could you do this to me? Do you know how sore my feet are? How exhausted I am at running all around Paliano while you sit there with a smug look on your face?" I complained and he blinked, the tips of his ears red as I crossed my arms. Instead of being apologetic he tilted his head to one side and before my eyes he smiled at me, his teeth clearly visible.
"You know I've never noticed this before but you are very pretty when you're trying to be angry." Leovold told me and I snorted, feeling my cheeks burn as I avoided his gaze. "I must say you're very beautiful...for a human of course." He added and I stepped forward crossing the gap between us before he felt a sharp pain in his chest as I poked him.
"Hey stop changing the subject!" I snapped though Leovold just ignored my outburst and when I noticed his eyes slowly travelling the length of my body I reacted, moving to shove him backwards into his desk. That was the plan until he caught my hands without any effort, spinning me around. Dizzy I didn't react right away and he grinned from behind me. Without warning I found myself not so gently pushed forward and I raised my hands, preventing my nose from striking the wall.