Chapter 14

Shaula: "Ah! My finger!"

Shaula put her bloody finger in her mouth.

Shaula didn't want to feel like being a burden to the Emilia Camp. Which is why she felt joy when Subaru asked if it was possible for Roswaal to offer her a job if she wanted to help.

Shaula had accepted to become a new maid at the Roswaal manor and was currently on her 9th day of duties. And so far, things weren't exactly going well.

She had slipped over multiple times cleaning the bathroom floors on the 1st day.

Massacred every single bush and shrub she'd trimmed on the 3rd day.

Broken 3 vases on the 6th day.

And to top it off, she'd accidentally burned a sauce when Frederica tried to give her cooking lessons. As well as half the kitchen on the 8th day.

She got a pretty serious scolding from Ram that day. She could be really scary when she was angry.

She felt guilty about causing so much trouble for everyone with her terrible skills. But Subaru reassured her that he did the same thing when I first started. Saying she'll get better over time.

Shaula took her finger out of her mouth and looked at the cut on her finger.

Shaula: "I don't think I'll ever get better at this rate."

Flashback: Shaula's 1st day

Shaula: "Ow! Damnit!"

Ram: "Your cleaning skills are adequate at best. But your cooking skills are almost as bad as Barusu's."

Shaula pouted, a small vein popped up on her head in annoyance.

Shaula: "Come on Ram-san! It's my first day! Can't you at least try to be a little nice?"

Rem and Spica turned around from the stove she was cooking on.

Rem: "Just take your time Shaula-san. It's always hard the first time you start something."

Shaula smiled at Rem's support and then went back to try again. Once again, she cut her finger.

Ram: "You're just as bad as Barusu. It's not difficult Shaula. Hold the knife still and turn the vegetable. My best dish is steamed tatoes if a do say so myself."

Ram held up the perfectly peeled tato with a proud smile on her face.

Shaula growled. How can someone be so full of themselves?! Subaru told her Ram was smug at times, but this was next levels of smugness!

Shaula: "Oh shut up with your cocky attitude! I can do that in my sleep-!"

Shaula tried again to peel the tato...but she once again cut her finger.

Back to the present:

Shaula remembered all the times she cut her on her first day, and here she was on the 9th day. Absolutely no progress.

Shaula sighed.

The door to the kitchen opened and Frederica walked in.

Frederica: "Ah, good morning Shaula-san. How are you coming along with breakfast?"

Shaula: "Uuhh...I, uh..."

Frederica looked at the poorly peeled appa on Shaula's bloody hand, then saw a bowl full of unpeeled appas which gave the blonde maid her answer.

Shaula: "I'm so sorry Frederica-san. I'll get to work right away."

Frederica held her hand up in reassurance

Frederica: "Don't worry. I'll have Petra finish peeling the appas. In the mean time, I have a job for you."

Shaula: "What is it?"

Frederica: "We've run out of certain ingredients and foods. Rem-san and Spica-chan were going to go into Costuul to pick up those supplies and I think it might take some stress off if you went with them."

Shaula looked at Frederica and then back at the bowl of unpeeled appas. She had a lot of work to do. But...

Shaula: "If you insist. Are there any specific things you'd like me to get?"

Frederica: "Yes. Rem has the shopping list."

Shaula: "Thank you Frederica."

Shaula then went to join Rem and Spica on their trip to Costuul.

Scene change to Costuul market:

Shaula: "2 bags of grain please."

Man: "Of course. That'll be 10 silver coins miss."

Shaula took out a bag and poured out its contents. She counted out ten silver coins and put the rest back in the bag. The shop owner took the coins and picked up two large brown sacks.

Man: "Do you need any help with those miss?"

Shaula shook her head, effortlessly lifting both bags.

Shaula: "No thanks. I've got it."

The man was surprised by Shaula's display of strength.

Man: "Nice job. You're a lot stronger than you look miss."

Shaula smiled. She was surprised when she first did hard work on her first day and how much physical strength she had.

Shaula: "Thank you for your help. I'll see you later."

Man: "Come back soon miss!"

Shaula then turned to see Rem and Spica, each carrying different items.

Rem: "I've got my items. I see you got the bags of grain."

Spica: "Uwaahh! Haha!"

Spica held up a two bags containing fruit and vegetables.

Rem: "Be careful Spica! Don't drop them."

Shaula smiled.

Shaula: "Are you ready to go?"

Rem: "Yes. We should return to the manor with our items."

With that, the 3 maids made their way through the bustling markets and the busy streets of Costuul. After about 10 minutes of walking, the girls came into the town centre.

Shaula was about to set off, following behind Rem and Spica, but what sounded like a glass smashing an a woman's voice caught her attention for a brief moment.

Woman: "This tastes hideous! I cannot believe your restaurant has the audacity to serve someone like me such slop!"

Shaula was about to turn around but she shook her head, deciding not to bother seeing what that was. Until she heard a familiar voice.

?: "Please Anne. Don't be so-"

Woman: "Excuse me. Loudmouth! I don't remember giving you freedom to express your opinion!"

Shaula then turned around to see what was happening, and what she saw next was definitely a surprise.

At an outside table of a restaurant, a blonde woman wearing very fancy clothes was sitting, arguing with the waitress. She had an annoyed look on her face while the young waitress was bowing her head.

Waitress: "I'm sorry Anne-sama. I will ask the chef to bring you a dish to your standard."

She looked...nervous, talking to this woman.

But what caught her attention the most, was the man sitting opposite her.

It was Subaru. He looked sad.

Shaula looked confused. Why is Subaru hanging around with this woman?

Subaru was in a difficult position. He'd decided to take Wilhelm's advice about socialising with other girls besides Emilia. So he'd agreed to meet Lord Brandt's daughter, Anne for a meal.

He thought that it would be nice to meet someone else, that it would be a nice change of pace.

He couldn't be more wrong.

Anne was arrogant. So full of herself.

She put herself on a pedestal, acting like she was the centre of the world, looking down on everyone she deemed "commoner scum."

And she never opened her mind to anyone.

She talked.

A LOT.

Every time he tried to say something, she snapped at him, calling him "loudmouth" and "pig"

Those words hurt, every single time she said them.

Subaru had thought about just leaving her since her even though she was beautiful on the outside, she was repulsive on the inside.

But he couldn't do it. This woman was the daughter of a lord who was crucial for Emilia's candidacy. And if he made a bad impression on her, she might tell her father, making him think Emilia had bad people in her camp, and harming her campaign.

So he was in an extremely uncomfortable position where he wanted to get up and walk away, but he couldn't.

Subaru sighed

?: "Subaru?"

Subaru heard a familiar voice. He looked up and saw a brown-haired girl with green eyes, wearing a maid uniform.

Subaru: "Shaula? What are you doing here?"

Shaula smiled.

Shaula: "I'm here with Rem and Spica to get some-"

Anne: "Excuse me wench."

Shaula's attention was drawn by the voice of a rude spoilt girl.

Anne: "Can you not see I'm having a meal with my future husband?"

Shaula: "Future husband?"

Subaru seeing Shaula getting the wrong idea, immediately tried to clear things up.

Subaru: "Woah, woah. Anne, I never agreed to marry you. I told your father I-"

Subaru was interrupted by the rude woman.

Anne: "I don't care what you said to my father. My father isn't here."

Subaru felt uncomfortable seeing Anne getting angry. So he just stayed quiet.

Shaula could see that Subaru was uncomfortable around this woman. So she spoke up.

Shaula: "Excuse me. Anne-san was it?"

Shaula looked at the spoiled girl.

Shaula: "Don't treat Suba-"

Anne: "Who do you think you're talking to?"

Anne snapped at Shaula, making Shaula flinch.

Anne: "That's Anne-sama to you. Low-borns such as yourself should know better than to coddle to someone of my status."

Shaula felt a sense of annoyance when Anne called her a "low-born"

The waitress who Anne had rudely yelled at returned with a plate of food which she placed on the table.

Anne: "Ugh, finally! Took long enough!"

Anne then picked up her fork and took a bite of her food. She immediately spat it out and threw her plate at the waitress's shirt.

The waitress flinched and bowed her head.

Shaula who had been staying silent saw Subaru's head and it shocked her. There was a bump, it was red and looked swollen. This woman...

Waitress: "I apologise Anne-sama."

Anne: "Don't bother. We're done eating anyway. Come on Subaru-kuuuun. We should get going."

With that, she took Subaru's plate and threw it at the waitress.

Subaru: "H-Hey I was eating that!"

Anne smacked him on the side of the head with her umbrella.

Subaru: "OW!"

Anne: "Loudmouth!"

Shaula immediately went to Subaru's side.

Shaula: "Subaru! Are you alright?"

Shaula then noticed that Subaru had a bump on his head. It looked really bad. No way was that from one hit on the head.

Shaula felt something welling up inside her. Her fist was clenching subconsciously.

Subaru: "I'm fine Shaula. Don't worry about it."

Anne: "Exactly. He's fine. He doesn't need anything from lowly servants such as yourself. Now if you're done wasting my time, leave."

Anne leaned back on her chair and put her feet up on the table. She wore a conceited smile.

Anne: "You're ruining our happy time together with your presence."

Anne saw Subaru was drinking his glass of water, so she thought it would be funny to knock it out of his hands. So she did. The glass smashed on the floor and Subaru was covered in water. She thought it was funny. Subaru didn't.

Shaula saw Subaru was gritting his teeth.

That was the last straw. She'd seen enough

Shaula: "Stop it. Don't treat Subaru like that."

Anne narrowed her eyes

Anne: "Excuse me? Watch what you say to me wench. If you're only here to talk to my future husband, then stop wasting my precious time and be on your way. But if you're staying here, then why don't you make yourself useful and clean up this idiot's mess?"

Shaula placed the bags of grain on the table.

Anne: "Thank you! For once a commoner scum has finally learned their-"

Anne didn't get a chance to finish her sentence.

Why?

Because the brown-haired, emerald-eyed maid had delivered a right cross directly into her face.

The force had knocked Anne from her position with her feet on the table, onto the floor.

Shaula had a face full of anger.

Shaula: "DON'T YOU TREAT SUBARU LIKE THAT!"

Subaru meanwhile stood up in shock. Shaula had...punched Anne in the face. She had punched a Lord's daughter in the face.

Shaula: "HE'S NOT YOUR PLAY THING! SO STOP TREATING HIM LIKE HE IS!"

Everyone was looking. Everyone around them saw what happened.

Anne was slowly recovering from that punch. Her vision was blurry and she couldn't tell what was happening.

Wd hen she finally got her bearings, Anne saw a pool of blood on the floor. She put a hand to her face. Her fingers wet with her blood.

Anne: "I'm bleeding."

Anne touched her nose. It was broken.

Her gaze fell upon two white...things on the floor in the small pool of blood. Teeth.

Anne put her finger to her teeth. Her back teeth were there, so were her canines, and centr-

Her central incisors. The top two teeth in the middle weren't there. This whore had just...struck her.

Breaking both her nose and her two front teeth.

To say Anne lost it is an understatement.

Anne: "HOW DARE YOU STRIKE ME! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO I AM?! I AM ANNE BRADNT! THIRD DAUGHTER OF LORD WILLIAM BRANDT!"

Shaula didn't back down in the face of Anne's anger.

Anne: "YOU SCUM HAVE NO RIGHT RAISING YOUR FILTHY HAND TO SOMEONE OF MY STATUS!"

Anne's face contorted from rage to a twisted smile.

Anne: "I'M TELLING MY FATHER ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED HERE!"

With that, Anne left the restaurant out of pure rage, tears and blood streaming down her rage. But she turned to look at Subaru and Shaula before she left. Her beauty was tarnished.

Anne: "AS FOR YOU, I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU OR THAT DISGUSTING WHORE EVER AGAIN!"

She then turned and walked away, leaving Subaru and Shaula alone.

Subaru: "Shaula..."

Shaula who had been so angry she hadn't noticed Subaru was in absolute shock.

Shaula then took notice of her surroundings. Everyone including Subaru were looking at Shaula. Shaula felt a sense of panic coming upon her.

Subaru took one of the grain bags off the table. Shaula took the other.

Shaula: "Subaru, I-"

Subaru took her right hand with his left. Shaula blushed slightly at Subaru's action.

Subaru: "We should leave. Quickly"

Subaru and Shaula started walking away from the restaurant. They were heading in the direction Rem and Spica had been heading since they had finished shopping, the opposite direction Anne had gone.

Subaru then caught sight of Rem and Spica ahead.

Subaru still said nothing since they had left. He was still in shock about what he had witnessed.

Shaula had been silent ever since as well. She had lost her temper, and done something stupid. Now there was an awkward silence between them.

Shaula squeezed his hand slightly. She didn't noticed how Subaru's face had heated up and that the tips of his ears were red.

Rem and Spica had noticed both of them and walked up to meet them.

Spica: "Uwaaaaaahhhh!"

Spica ran up and hugged Subaru tightly. Subaru didn't return the hug.

Rem: "Subaru. I didn't think I would you here."

Subaru nodded. Rem noticed something was off when he didn't answer her.

Rem then looked to Shaula who was being silent as well.

Rem: "Shaula-san? Did something happen? You seem...distant."