Chapter 4

Time passed too quickly for Taylor's taste. In that time, her senior changed a little, on one hand, she no longer threatens Taylor with non-lethal violence when she failed to do any given maid work. But on the other hand, the strained expression on her face made clear that she struggled to do so, clearly not used to it, yet the unwillingness to defy their mistress kept her behavior in check.

Taylor could at least sympathize with her dedication to duty, even if it got out of line some times like the incident where she chided Taylor for not accepting common knowledge of this realm or the swords thing. After all, that dedication to her mistress could be used to her advantage as well…

"No, no, you're doing it wrong Yumeko! You're supposed to solve this problem like this."

…like right now, when they're in their pajamas, studying materials Shinki brought from the human-Earth for her to continue education she left off when she died and improve knowledge for Yumeko while she was at it, which wasn't very fruitful in Taylor's honest opinion.

"I still not understand why human has to make mathematic this complicate..."

"Well, because it allows faster calculation than slowly adding or subtracting number one at a time, that should save you some crucial time? Don't you think that'll help with you doing magic better?"

Grumble slipped off Yumeko's lips voicing her irritation to the subject clear to Taylor. But she couldn't bring herself to get angry at her senior anymore after Shinki explained to her once the first week they started this study session ended, which was yesterday;

"While I still regularly keep a tab on what's happening on human-Earth since I created this realm, the knowledge is not something that my denizen or my daughter who determined to never leave this world deemed necessary for their everyday lives," Shinki explained to Taylor with apologetic smile after the latter showed up at her office late at night to complain to her about Yumeko's lack of modern education and her frustration of needing to teach Yumeko from the ground up.

Taylor blinked at that before slowly asked to make sure she gets it right "So you're saying that Yumeko is against this idea?" when her mistress didn't reply she shook her head "Then why did you put her up with this if it's not necessary for her?"

Shinki's smile widened a little which promptly hidden behind her raised sleeve "I think it's a good way to get you two to know each other better, not as coworkers, but as friends as well."

Seeing Taylor's look of confusion, the Makai ruler elaborated "Since she started working here, Yumeko never interacted with anyone more than her position allowed…" then her smile fell as she continued her explanation "…even with me, the one who gave birth to her, she now sees me as her master more than her mother."

That explanation again flew over Taylor's head as her suspicious reared its ugly head, while she didn't glare at her savior with angry look nor did she slam her fist on the desk, her voice could barely contain what get into her head "You're… using me?"

Shinki closed her eyes and let out a sigh "It's to help both you and Yumeko, giving someone to rely on, friends who you can talk to about anything, without bottle up all the hardships, problems and issues, that's not healthy for anyone, especially people who have long life ahead."

Seeing that Taylor still has a suspicious look, Shinki added "While most employers won't care about this kind of emotional baggage as long as they perform their jobs, I do care, because you and Yumeko are like daughters to me, literally… and I never have much opportunity to give Yumeko friends, nor does she try to make one. Something that I regret to this day."

Sincerity in her words was enough to break Taylor's suspicion and helped her rational thought took over her irrational paranoid. How could she forget? That despite the infinite multiverse and possibility, there're still consistencies, with the pure love of parents to their young being one of them.

While Taylor may not see her that way, at least not yet due to still retaining memories of her old life, she begins to understand Shinki a little more why she'd see that way; after all, when one knows that cycle of death and rebirth was a real thing, it makes little difference in one's eyes as the reborn soul still their child when given flesh and blood by one's hands.

"Besides, I need Yumeko to realize that no one is omniscient." Shinki's voice cut through Taylor's musing "She had been living in the bubble called 'maid duty' for so long that she no longer expected anyone to be as capable as her, refuse to acknowledge that others may have talents in the field she's lacking, with or without magic school she learned."

"Even if that field of talents did not contribute to her everyday life?"

Shinki didn't seem to mind Taylor's open defiance, she smiled and answered cryptically "Who knows? Even seemingly unimportant things can turn out to be instrumental in something greater, no?"

Taylor snapped back to the task at hands, looking at her senior-in-maid-hood and decided that there's enough mathematics for today's late-night study "I guess…" she looked at the pocket watch laying on their desk "…we could table the lesson for now and rest for the day. I don't think we can continue like this Yumeko."

The latter huffed in response, muttering something under her breath which Taylor suspected was unpleasantness directed at whoever invented mathematics theories they're currently studying. Two of them put their study materials into a shelf, arranged perfectly neat befitting their current profession before each climbed onto their beds and fast asleep, the lamp dimmed automatically leaving the room in darkness, thanks to its magical property.

Taylor couldn't sleep as Shinki's request weighted on her mind; how she supposed to get Yumeko to open up to and befriend her by this study session?

Rolling around her bed, Taylor looked up on the ceiling and pondered about what Shinki said weeks ago. Saying that modern knowledge may have application in mystic art she said; she hadn't taught her mystic arts yet and expected her to find how to combine the two?

"Maybe that's not she meant…" Taylor murmured while closing her eyes "… am I missing something?"

One darker thought said that the goddess wanted to mess with Taylor, but she shot that down immediately. That's another thing that she feels like fixing after all the sincerity and affection Shinki shown. She couldn't help but began to agree with her how she was too paranoid for her good.

Plus, there also what Shinki said before they parted way that day;

"I won't hold it against you if you failed to befriend Yumeko right now, one that lived such life for so long will not be swayed that easily in such a short time."

Even then, Taylor herself still felt an obligation to complete this task, not only for her savior but also for herself as a mark of a fresh start, of her second chance to live her life again away from the hellhole that was Winslow Highschool and Earth Bet.

Stifled a yawn, Taylor decided to shut her brain and went to sleep, maybe after she starved off her tiredness there may be some ideas later.

The next morning was quite normal in Taylor's opinion. After a month of living and working here, things have fallen into a relatively peaceful routine; wake up, make breakfast for herself and Yumeko depending on their shift, then depend on whether Shinki wanted some too or not, make one for her, then start her cleaning assignment of the day.

With a castle this large, one would expect it to be brimming with servants and caretakers, but manpower issue was thrown out of the windows when magic was involved. Although Taylor still doing housework conventionally, Yumeko didn't and take care of the rest of the castle with her ability, which involved manipulating space of some sort, from what she told her.

"Don't content to just doing thing by hands, Taylor." Yumeko reminded her after they meet for lunch at their quarter "Milady will soon teach you how to wield mystic art to aid in your tasks."

"I'm looking forward to it." Taylor replied when done eating, as per proper manner instilled upon her by Yumeko "…As soon as I pass the GED test first, she specified that requirement for me after all."

That earned a frown from Yumeko "That… could complicate things… I'm not the best at learning them you see…" she admitted honestly "She told me that both of us must pass that test too."

She then left to attend her duty in the different areas of the castle, leaving Taylor alone again.

For her part, Taylor didn't delve on it much at the time, after all, the study was for after all the works in the castle were done for that day at night. And of course, those goddamned fairies will never help maintain this place, let alone cease their attempt to mess things up for everyone, especially for caretakers of the castle who have to clean up afterward, like her.

Once the clock strikes six in the evening, Taylor walked back toward her and Yumeko's quarter utterly exhausted and wished for a warm meal before doing anything like another grueling lesson with Yumeko in modern-day knowledge of the world beyond the demonic realm.

Meals were usually a quiet affair for the two maids of the Pandemonium castle, with an increase in competency on her part lessen the chewing from the senior maid. Yumeko seems not to be the kind to shower others with flattery and compliment, thus when Taylor did well, "Good" or "Very well" was the most she'll say. But on the other hand, there was still a long way to go for her since she couldn't use power to trivialize her workload and increase her capability beyond that of regular non-powered servants yet – something that's practically a requirement for this castle – so she still has a long way to go yet.

"Taylor…"

Yumeko's voice snapped Taylor out of her musing and looked at her senior with a questioning glance, idly noting that she hasn't touched her meal yet.

Seeing her junior looking at her, the red-clad maid asked hesitantly "Can you help me with mathematic again tonight?"

Taylor's mind wondered for a moment what transpired to make Yumeko asked her like that, but then her determination returned, demanded her to rise to challenge.

"Of course, I'll do my best."

After all, her senior had given her all despite misgiving about what she was asked to do by her mistress, why Taylor should do any less?

The lesson resumed after their dinner, and it didn't take long for Taylor to noticed the absence of complaints and grumble from her senior even when faced with difficult subjects she struggled against last night, but soldiered on and tried as hard to understand it if her frowning face and her hand taking notes after notes without pause were any indications.

But Taylor wasn't idle either; she tried her hardest to suppress her suspicion and paranoid, replacing it with acknowledgment of Yumeko's seniority and experiences. Condescending thought was much easier to put aside when one realized that the other is not a child, but one raised and grew up in a much different environment from modern Earth.

The fact that this was 60 years before her time also helps, but not by much.

It wasn't perfect though; as many times throughout today's tutoring lesson Taylor had to take a deep breath to calm herself down before she said something she'd regret. Some of it slipped by, but thanks to both sides were trying to reach understanding and accomplish the task set by their mistress, things started to move forward even if it was at a slower pace.

Thinking back to when Yumeko was teaching Taylor how to do her work properly around this castle, Taylor dimly remembered that while she did it with some condescending feeling and a face that told her she wasn't expecting much, she still genuinely accepted her as coworker despite shortcomings. Thus, it wouldn't be fair for Taylor to not do the same to her senior regarding education.

By the end of that night, while they, or rather specifically Yumeko, still a long way to go before the two maids could approach their mistress for a G.E.D. exam set for them, it wasn't fruitless endeavor anymore. As the two of them bid each other good night and climbed onto their respective resting place in a better mood than nights before.

This pattern continued after that night without breaking, work during the day, study at night with slow progress over time. But that was an improvement in Taylor's opinion. And before she knows it, a month passed by with Yumeko at least capable of finishing any mathematics quiz Taylor threw her way.

As much as Taylor wanted to throw a party, Yumeko being Yumeko popped her idea immediately after suggesting it by pointing out that there were still more subjects to go through. While that sapped Taylor's joy for a night, on the next day, she was refilled with vigor and redoubled her efforts on teaching Yumeko with the latter silently complied with her enthusiasm since.

"You learned fast…" Taylor commented one night after they finished a science quiz together hour before their allotted time which surprised her.

Yumeko still has her perfectly neutral expression on when she replied with equally plain voice like nothing was out of ordinary "It's a task set by our mistress, how could I not give it my all to perform?" pausing a bit, she frowned "Though this subject intrigued me a little, who knows that fog can extinguish fire more efficiently than dumping a bucket of water down on it…"

"Surface and heat transfer? Well, theoretically it should…" Taylor replied after glancing over what Yumeko was reading "Useful isn't it?"

"Making a water mist is going to be harder than a large ball of water." Yumeko commented as she put down her pen and crossed her arms in thought "You still expense as much energy and effort as you spent on the latter, but that's my opinion, you have to ask milady for a better idea as I'm no expert in finer mystic arts."

The mention of Shinki effectively brought the two back to the study for their reasons again and stymied the conversation.

The awkwardness of Taylor commenting something useful from modern science from their study sessions will continue for another couple of weeks straight, but it was the most fruitful weeks compared to high school mathematic preceding it. Because it got Yumeko contemplating explanation humans gave to some natural phenomena which may or may not be useful in the future in other applications.

And then, one day after they finished high school physics, the unexpected happened when Yumeko turned to Taylor who was busy writing notes down on her book and asks "Did the fairies give you any trouble today? I heard from 6th-floor guards that you were chasing them around for a while?"

Taylor looked up at her senior, her hand rose up to nudged the nose out of habit despite she no longer wears glasses out of surprise before she replied with small annoyance at the reminder of that incident "It's nothing, Yumeko, just another stupid prank that has me sweeping that floor a second time. I want to throttle those little sh-" she caught herself before sprouting profanity just in time "…those brats I mean."

Yumeko looked at Taylor for a good minute before nodding "At least it's a good practice for you to not drop your guard. I guess you're holding grudge against them no?"

Taylor shook her head and sighed "I can't do that for long, they reminded me too much of my childhood." her eyes drifted upward, seemingly caught in memory as she murmured "Now I kind of understand what my mom must've felt when I was a kid."

However, this time it was Yumeko's turn to be silent and watched her junior reminiscing with confusion and in turn broke Taylor out of her thought "Is there something?"

"Nothing, but we should sleep soon and prepare for the burden tomorrow."

"Killjoy…"

Taylor whispered to herself, closed her notebook and started her routine of preparing for sleep. But when she climbed into her blanket Yumeko suddenly spoke up again "I think we should be taking that… GED or whatever test next week."

Rolling around on her bed, Taylor stared at the ceiling and replied hesitantly "Are you sure Yumeko? I mean I doubt Shinki will let us retry soon should we failed."

"Then we do not fail." Yumeko cut her off firmly, fully believed in her words "I'm confident that I can do it. Thanks to you."

Taylor couldn't help but smiled a little at such confidence, knowing that she wouldn't say that had it not for their efforts together "You're welcome…"

Unfortunately, next night, the newly minted maid found herself facing another problem with their study; namely, history class.

Normally studious one like Taylor wouldn't find that problematic at all, had not for the fact that historians of this era were not like those at the turn of 21st century on a world populated with parahuman; they interpreted historical events differently from their culture at a time and many archaeological discoveries were yet to happen. These facts affected the way they should answer to get a good score from the mock exam Shinki provided them with, which Taylor found out the hard way that night.

Unfortunately for her, Yumeko already asked for the test from Shinki before they returned to their quarters after daily routine that evening, and no matter how much she asked her senior to postpone their exam out, she won't budge an inch, insisting that going back on their word is the worst offense one could conceive of in front of Shinki.

'Should've seen this coming sooner when she said that Shinki value honesty' Taylor grimaced wordlessly.

A week time of crash course won't let them memorize everything, there was just not enough time to cover all the topics, even American history, young as it was and 60 or so years shorter than what Taylor's used to learn in class in previous life, could take a whole week to finish with how tight their timetable they have on hands.

Not to mention that Yumeko herself couldn't remember half of the thing they went through, tried as she might she just couldn't remember them all and admits as much.

"I'm afraid that we may fail this 'history' test, sorry."

There were some reprieves of course, as her mother once said "historical were study so we can learn from those who came before, and not repeat their mistakes." so instead of trying to remember them all, she decided that debates and opinion should give them a better chance.

"The point of these questions…" Taylor pointed at the offending paragraph laying on the desk between her and Yumeko during one of their nighttime tutorings "…is to see your opinions of events in the past, not to find a correct answer for there's none. As long as it's reasonable, we shouldn't have problems passing this test…" she paused a bit, hesitant showed on her face for the next part "…at least, that's how it goes from where I once lived."

Yumeko crossed her arms, her brows furrowed in thought before she shrugged and wrote down her answers which both will never know whether they will satisfy their mistress or not.

The night of the test came faster than both of them would like to; but alas, there's no avoiding or delaying it any longer and so with dreads and determination, the two of them showed up at Shinki's office after post-dinner works, with Taylor getting the honor to knock the door.

After a short, nervous moment, Shinki's voice rang out telling them to get inside. They both slipped in and were greeted with changes made to her office; two student desks, each with ink bottle and feather pen set, stood side by side next to their mistress's working desk, with said mistress sitting at her usual post alongside two stacks of paper sheet about an inch thick on her desk as well.

Taylor gulped at the sight of the stack before a cough from Yumeko made her schooled her feature back normal on reflex, which earned a giggle from Shinki.

"Now, now, don't stress too much, my children; take your seats and so we may begin."

Joyful voice ushered the two maids to their seat; Taylor to the left and Yumeko to the right of their mistress respectively. Then Shinki clapped her hands, both paper stacks floated up toward student desks and dumped them there.

"You two have until the hourglass is empty…" another wave of her hand and an hourglass appeared on Shinki's desk with sand trickling down the bottleneck "…do your best, my children. I have a matter to attend to."

And then, she walked past Taylor and out of the office, leaving both her and Yumeko alone. Two of them looked at each other before Shinki slammed the door open again in a hurry, causing both of them to nearly jump as she spoke "And that reminds me: All for one and one for all. So both of you please do your best okay?"

She didn't even wait for an answer as she left once again, this time for real.

Taylor was the first to dibbed her given pen into the bottle and started writing down answers on the paper, and soon sound of pen scratching and paper flipping that filled the air as two maids as quickly as possible as the sand slowly trickled down the hourglass.

For Taylor, the exam was a breeze for the most part despite not having much time to prepare over the month of self-tutoring, her basic knowledge pre-bully gives her significant advantage, needing only a little nudge for her to put them all back together.

Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said for her senior, whenever she stole glances at Yumeko, she always greeted with sight of frowning face and golden eyes glaring hole into her test paper, the annoying tapping sound of her finger drumming her desk on occasions and sparsely writing did little to convince Taylor that Yumeko could handle this test either.

Taylor hesitated; on one hand, Shinki made it clear to them that this's combined efforts, not a competition to see who's smarter, thus she should help Yumeko achieve their given task. But on the other hand; custom and modern upbringing ingrained into her since first life told her that to help Yumeko now means cheating the test and disqualification when caught.

And she was certain that they'd get caught; with connection link between minds of servants and master, it wasn't that hard for Shinki to find out.

But then, as she turned another page and saw her English exam. One simple question stood out from the rest, not because of difficulty, not because it questioned her moral, but because it was the exact question which reminded her of the better time in her previous life, when she was young and knew little, before she could attend primary school, when the only teacher in her life was her mother…

One more glance at Yumeko who furiously scribing her answers into papers and her mind made up.

When the last grain of sand dropped to the bottom of Hourglass, the door flung opened and Shinki strode back in right on time, declaring that the exam was now over and shooing them out of the office.

"You all still have works tomorrow, go get some rest. It'll be a while before I can check and grade this for you." And in a fluid motion, their test papers flew back to her desk, leaving no time for the two maids to do any final check on their answers.

Yumeko was the first to bowed "As you wish, Milady, please rest well." and then she slipped out of the office, prompting Taylor to follow. And once their heads hit their pillows, they slept like a log, too tired mentally and physically to worry about the test result.

That didn't mean they won't be worrying about it once the next day rolled around, they were more subdued about it, knowing that the result was out of their hands and nothing they do right now will change it.

Surprisingly, unlike school Taylor attended in her short 15 years of a previous life; Shinki summoned her to her office that night via a message delivered by Yumeko who was always attending to her needs whenever she was present in the castle. Taylor, naturally, inquired her senior about result but Yumeko remained tight-lipped.

"Milady asked me to not say anything to you, my grade included." was her reply, but then she added, "However, that's all she told me, so I do not know whether you passed or not."

As Taylor left their quarter after dinner, Yumeko sends her a small encouraging smile which did lifting her stress a little as she made her way toward Shinki's office with a tray carrying tea set and plate of biscuits for Shinki's late-night snack while she was at it.

Again, Shinki let her in after a polite knock. The student desks disappeared and all the furniture came back to where it has been. Taylor set down the tray on her desk and stood to the side, as per custom groomed by Yumeko.

After she enjoyed her snack and tea, Shinki turned to addressed Taylor with mirth in her voice "First of all, the good news; you passed the GED exam with flying color, my child. Although your history class in a bit lacking, it's still acceptable nonetheless." her lips curved up into a grin as she brought her hand up to her chin in a thoughtful manner "It's always interesting to see how people of the different era thought of the same event from distant past. Perhaps I should venture out and collect history books more often, hmm?"

Taylor tried not to fidget or show any nervousness as taught by Yumeko, but apparently, it wasn't good enough when Shinki crossed her arms in the next moment "Now, that's not the only reason I summoned you here."

Taylor shook her head, curiosity in her mind didn't need to wait long to be sated when Shinki continued without waiting for her vocal replies "I placed scrying spell over my office – a magical equivalent real-time camera – to watched you and Yumeko doing the exam…"

Taylor's heart sank 'So she knows what I was trying to do back then!' while keeping panic from showing on her face, her mind felt the hope of learning mystic art slipping away that she almost didn't hear what Shinki was saying...

"…Taylor, are you still with me?"

"Huh? Yes! Ma'am, what can I do for you?"

Her response managed to elicit a giggle from Shinki who waved her hand telling her to sit down. "Relax, I only want to ask you some questions about what you did. You have nothing to fear."

Taking a deep breath, Taylor resigned herself to her mistress's mercy, preparing to accept any punishment deemed fit despite assuring words from Shinki.

"I saw you glanced at Yumeko several times throughout the exam, it's like you wanted to help her, but you didn't. I want to know why?"

And surprised once again when Shinki kept true to her words that she sputtered out before she could stop herself "Wha… just… just that?"

Shinki nodded while placing her hands on her desk and confirmed it.

"Yes, can you tell me why?"

"You're not going to use our connection, servant-master to dig it out?"

Her paranoid and distrust surfaced yet again which made Shinki showed a sad smile "I trust you to not lie to yourself, child."

That snapped Taylor out of her irrationality, and she replied in a small voice "I was reminded of my mother, Ma'am…"

She met the white-haired woman's gaze, as if afraid that mentioning her first mother would offend her, but it was unfounded as Shinki nodded and told her to continue.

"…My mother once said that some 'help' will do more harm in the long run." As Shinki didn't say anything, Taylor was emboldened and her voice rose up and not trying to avoid looking at Shinki anymore "If I helped Yumeko back then, it'll be admitting that despite the efforts and improvements she did under my observation, I still not trust her enough, and all of that tutoring is meaningless that we might as well simply cheated instead."

She paused to catch her breath. And then continued "…And what that'd mean to Yumeko? It'll be convincing her that she shouldn't bother with this knowledge and then screw up in the future when it's needed? Telling her that I gave up on her despite she never gave up on me when teaching me all those months before. I'd be no better than them…"

Some parts of her mind told her that it was unfair to compared cheating on the exam to those bullies, but Taylor vaguely remembered saying about 'slippery slope' that her mother once said, if she made an exception to this today, then what exception she'd make next? And before she knows it, she'd become just like those bullies and repeat what she suffered on others.

For a long time after Taylor spoke her pieces, both mistress and servant didn't say anything, one sipped her tea and another found her heels more interesting than looking at her charge. But the silence didn't last, it was broken by the ruler of Demonic realm "Look at me, Taylor Hebert."

Taylor complied to her command, depressing thought yet again surfaced only to be crushed down in disappointment when her mistress's gaze was like that of proud mother looking at her spawn "Have I told you that you're not the first soul to travel across space and time and ended up in my realm by some miracle of fate, but the first soul that I resurrected as my maid?"

Taylor's eyes widen; she hadn't thought at that angle before.

Shinki nodded, never avert her eyes from her servant/daughter "Had you be vicious and psychopath, had you been those who lack the determination to live, had you be those who care nothing but their ambition at the expense of others; I'd just called the Grim Reaper to pick you up without talking to you, let alone offering any deal." she stood up and walked over to Taylor, and then suddenly pulled her into a hug before she could react "I didn't disappoint at all. And I'm certain that even your parents, wherever they are now, would be proud of you too."

The embrace lasted only a few seconds before Shinki released her grips. She took a step back to looked her servant's slightly red and surprised expression in amusement "Feeling better now?"

Taylor worked her mouth for a moment before she settled for a nod, still slightly red, but didn't mind "I… I guess so…"

"Now, my child, there're several things I'd like to inform you first, so stay, and listen well…"

Shinki's smile hadn't faded, but the gleam in her silver eyes turned serious "I promised to teach you the art of arcane long lost to the human realm and I never back away from my word. But you, in turn, must promise me that you will never go back on your earlier words about sinking low to those who killed you as well. For this art was lost from humanity for many reasons – and one was because people with the likeness your tormentors."

Taylor's look set in a grim determination and nodded.

Shinki shot out her hands in a gesture "Take my hand and swear your oath." then her lips morphed into a playful smile "Content of your words doesn't matter, your intent to uphold what we discussed prior will suffice. You can even say something nonsensical or tell a joke too. And that's the first lesson in the art of arcane: Intent of the user matters the most!"

Hand of her maid met hers and the oath swore, all the seriousness conveyed through both mind and voice as Taylor felt it would be insulting to try to lighten it up as Shinki suggested.

"I, Taylor Ann Hebert, daughter of Daniel Hebert and Annette Hebert hereby swears; In return of learning the sacred art of magic, I pledge to uphold the code of conducts to not use what I learned for a nefarious purpose, for selfish gains, and trivial petty reasons. No matter what dark and forbidden path lies ahead, I will not shirk this responsibility, so mote shall it be."

After those words left her mouth, Taylor briefly wondered if her mother's occupation influenced her somehow. But that didn't diminish her resolve to do exactly what Shinki asked of her in the slightest; either the first oath which gives her this new life, or this one.

After that, Shinki simply told her of the new schedule for learning magic and then dismissed her. Taylor bid her mistress good night after concluding her ritual and retreated to her quarter. There she found that Yumeko still stays awake sitting at the table reading Physics textbook with mild interest, likely waiting for her as she placed it down and stood up when she opened the door and get in.

"Congratulations on your success, Taylor."

Yumeko greeted Taylor with a smile, something that wasn't so rare now after both of them gets to know each other better over the months.

"But be warn, that lessons ahead will be hard and unforgiving, you must give you all if you wish to succeed."

Taylor didn't comment on the sudden seriousness from Yumeko, it seems to run in the family. Thus, she gave her a curt nod before went to the stove and brew some tea for herself. A light conversation regarding Yumeko's study was made until their cups were empty which Taylor took it upon herself to washed it. After brushing their teeth, the two maids climbed into their bunks and sleep, ready themselves for another day in the castle.