ALL NOVEL Book 3: 48. Charade
When she calmed down from her cursing and pains, Aloe noticed how the Blossomflame looked.
"Hmm…" The naked woman caressed the flower petals. "Am I going crazy, or it really has lost its color? It looks dimmer than before…" She also saw how the stem was slightly dry as if the evolved plant hadn't been watered in a while. "Weird… I guess it's out of magical juice or whatever arcane source Blossomflame get their abilities from."
The image of the surprisingly withered flower remained in Aloe's mind, but she didn't inquire much further. She wore her dress and undergarments, and once clothed, refilled the watering contraption with her waterskin.
"Let's hope this performance hasn't killed you," Aloe whispered to the Blossomflame.
Having the healing plant die would definitely be a setback, but she truly didn't want to have a plant that she not only nurtured, but quite literally created, to perish.
The experience had taken a toll on her body, mostly in the shape of exhaustion, but overall, Aloe felt better. The embers of the Blossomflame hadn't been many, but they certainly had done their job, and most importantly, showed her that even old wounds could be healed.
After catching her breath, Aloe removed herself from the office and locked it behind her. She shouted for Nesrine to assist her with the stairs, and without much fanfare, the duo returned to the palace.
Aloe went to bed without dining, her stomach not feeling up to the task. Her exhaustion became evident as she dropped unconscious the moment her head hit the pillows. So swift was her sleep that the moment she closed her eyes, she remembered opening them with the first light filtering through the windows. She raised from her bed with a yawn, stretching her arms with a crack or two along the way.
Then she saw her.
Lulu waited in the bedchamber's door, her visage reddened and her eyes locked with the ground. The fair-skinned woman made a motion to open her mouth, only to close it immediately after.
"Lulu, come here." The scribe of commoners commanded.
Shyly, the maid obeyed and stood next to the bed.
"Closer," Aloe whispered and patted the mattress, "Sit down."
Her expression puzzled and her reaction not lacking behind, Lulu didn't comply immediately, but neither did she refuse and finally sat down on the mattress, her bottom supported on the very edge and her gaze facing away from Aloe.
"Why are you acting like this?" The scribe inquired, her voice sweet as honey.
"I-I showed you an indecorous sight ye-yesterday." The maid trembled, her shoulders shivering as if she was frostbitten. Even if Lulu was taller than her, now she appeared small to Aloe's eyes.
The scribe wiggled her way out of the sheets and slowly toward Lulu. The maid was curious about the sounds, but she failed to muster the courage to look behind her. Aloe placed her chest against Lulu's back and locked her with her arms as she placed her arms around the maid's neck.
"That is not the only reason, is it now?" With her enhanced senses, the cultivator felt the fair-skinned girl's heartbeat shaking.
"I… I am sorry." Lulu said between sobs, almost on the verge of tears.
Aloe tightened her embrace and whispered in her ear, "Do not."
"Huh?" The maid yelped as she had her chin grabbed and was forced to look at her mistress in the eyes.
"I know what your job entails, Lulu. Do not act as if this is a surprise." Aloe's tone was stern, almost as much as her Uncle Jafar used when he was serious.
"B-but…"
"No buts." The scribe led the maid's face closer to her, their breaths meeting. "Rani made me open that door precisely because she knew you were there, this is but a ploy at worst, or a poor-taste prank at best, both with the intent to sour our relationship. Do not let that happen, understood?"
The petite woman liberated the fair-skinned one from her grasp, "I… understood."
"And besides, I know perfectly how your contract works and why she was doing what she was doing," Aloe said once she separated from Lulu. "I am the one who approves the job applicants in the palace."
"Wait, really?"
"Yes. Surprising that you do not know that. I mean, I have not mentioned to you once, but you could have at least eyed one of the many papers on my desk."
"That would be poor manners, Aloe," Lulu responded with her usual comeliness.
"It would be expected." The scribe countered. "Anyhow, have you never asked yourself why are there this many servants and why they get dismissed all the time?"
"I cannot say I have, no."
"How long have you been working here?" Aloe frowned.
"Around half a year, barely before you became the scribe of commoners."
"And you have never inquired why so many of your fellow servants are made out in this period?"
"I have not interacted with them much, all being said."
"Figures." Aloe shrugged.
"Though if I were to guess, I would be inclined to say it is about their age," Lulu responded. "There are not many mature servants, especially maids."
Aloe knew the cause, of course. Sure, the sultanzade – like everyone else – preferred young and beautiful women over more mature ones. But Aloe alone outside of the imperial family knew the real reason. You are being used like cattle. And then disposed like garbage. It would have been easy to reveal the truth to Lulu, but also the wrong option. Knowledge was dangerous, and if the maid slipped just once, it could bring her doom.
"How many times have you been asked to accompany Rani?" The scribe inquired.
"This is the third time…" Lulu acknowledged, though not without a slight blush. "But… I guess this would be my fourth as the former Emir Hassan claimed me once when I was first contracted during his mandate."
As much as Aloe wanted to curse the man for such behavior, the truth was Lulu was more than informed on what she may be expected of upon accepting this job. No, what was on Aloe's mind now was how much the maid had been reaped. It's hard to estimate vitality with these small amounts. If she has been to bed with sultanzade four times… Wait.
"Scribe Naila has not asked for your services, has she?"
"Her Highness has not done so yet, no." Even Lulu was aware of the type of person all sultanzade were. Maybe not now, but she was sure sometime in the future she would also be forced to pleasure the imperial scribe.
Alright, four times. According to Fatima, a person can only be reaped ten times, and a cultivator can only reap once or twice per day. Best case scenario, Lulu has been reaped only two out of five times, meaning that she won't be made out soon. Worst case though… only two reapings remain, which could be the very next summon. The fact that her closest confidant in the palace could be dismissed any day now didn't strike right with her heart, for lack of better words. Let us hope for the former case. Aloe chose to believe Lulu wouldn't be taken away from her.
"Alright," The scribe voiced out once she tied up her thoughts. "Listen to me closely, Lulu." The maid nodded. "Tomorrow I will leave the palace for a short vacation to my greenhouse. Today I will be reading Fayruz and Idris in my absence, but at the same time, I will act with animosity toward you. Got it?"
"Yes?" Lulu tilted her head in confusion. "But why? Have you not said I should not allow the emir's tactics to affect us?"
"Yes," Aloe affirmed with a nod. "But I will be acting, you have to understand that. The only way to make this work, without needing Rani to summon you more times to her bedchamber out of spite, is to make her think she has won."
"Oh!" The maid's eyes illuminated in realization. Then her expression soured. "I value your help, I truly do, Aloe, but there is no need for such farce. It is my job to assist the sultanzade, whether is by cleaning their home, or by pleasuring them."
"Trust me, you do not want to pleasure the sultanzade."
The underlying confusion in Lulu's visage only magnified. "May I ask why?"
"I cannot give you straight answers but keep in mind that there are two main ways you can get relieved of your position. Either by losing your beauty or because you have shared a bed with a sultanzade too many times."
Lulu wanted to inquire on how Aloe knew that on why that happened – the scribe could read her face as an open book, no enhanced senses were needed for that – but Lulu was wiser than that and simply responded with a nod.
If Aloe managed to fool Rani into thinking she had sowed discord between the two, then it was likely Lulu wouldn't be reaped any time soon and therefore expelled from the palace as she would no longer be useful for the princesses' Nurture.
Since that exchange, Aloe and Lulu continued their day as normal, with the exception of more silence than usual between them. During the audience, the scribe also sulked, a gesture that wasn't complicated to maintain as it came rather naturally to her. She maintained the façade at all times, whether it was in front of people like her assistants, or even in their solitude. As part of the charade, Aloe sent Lulu on needless errands, though she hid some utility behind them.
Everyone would accuse Aloe of being crazy or having a hidden agenda if she sent her maid to buy random seeds, but when said mistress was unsatisfied with the maid's attitude… People would likely speak of how she had sent Lulu around the market buying only two seeds of every type she could find and mention how spiteful of a woman she was.
Aloe didn't care.
Ruthlessness was a good trait, and whilst inspiring some dread in people was well and all, the scribe's ultimate goal was to get her hands on more seeds to evolve them. Rani will be delighted to hear I am torturing Lulu whilst, in reality, I am just making her do the chores I wouldn't be able to commission anyone else but me. Ah, how ironic~
The scribe delighted in her brilliance, though the feeling was short-lived as today was a double audience day, and on top of that, she had to instruct Fayruz and Idris on their tasks for the week.
But this was work she could do with her eyes closed, the true test would come tomorrow morning. How she, a feeble teenager with a broken hip, had to traverse the Qiraji Desert on top of one of the cruelest mounts to ever be devised by nature. However, Aloe couldn't deny she was looking forward to the trip. After all, she was going to see a dearest friend for the first time in months.
I have just distracted myself with the grammar correction of today's chapter and ended up giving it like 400 more words because it lacked a je ne se quoi.
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