ALL NOVEL Chapter 9 – Halfling
“Work...?”
A flash of fear sparkled in Faye’s eyes. Faye’s first impression of Ann groping herself and saying odd things still lingered. Faye thought she was going to be exploited or that she had to do some kind of weird jobs, causing her to hesitate.
Ann managed to catch Faye’s thoughts from her ‘open-book’ reactions.
Uh, perhaps I should make it clearer.
“Yeah. I mean, work as a maid. Your work is mostly accompanying me, helping me for things like tidying up, changing, and so on. In exchange, you will get a place to sleep, food, and daily necessities. There should be some pocket money as well,” Ann lowered her voice as she wasn’t sure about how employing a maid actually worked.
And how much I should pay, how much I earn—how do I earn, again?
The face of a cold and aloof handsome man flashed in her mind.
I need to talk with Allen later about this.
Though she gave up the idea of chasing after his subordinates by the time she encountered Faye, Ann was sure they were tailing her all along. They should have known about Faye already, so Ann didn’t have any hesitation to discuss about Faye with Allen.
“But I...,” Faye hesitated, unsure if she could do everything tasked to her or not. She was never familiar with any of a maid’s job.
“Don’t worry, I’m here. I will teach you bit by bit. What I need is actually a company...”
Company as in friend. But not like I would reject if someone were to give me a company, hehe.
Ann’s corporate slave mind was still alive, it was hard to shut it down.
Anyway, Ann said all this to ensure Faye would say ‘yes’ and her livelihood would be guaranteed. Even if I wasn’t there, I heard and remembered that Allen was a good man. Surely he won’t chase Faye away, right?
Ann remembered what kind of a man Allen was based on the game. Though she was treated coldly ever since transmigrating here, Ann knew that it was all due to Arlea’s fault. Allen was cold on the outside, but he was actually very kind. That was why, Ann kinda liked him when she played the game...
“If you are fine with me, then... Arlea... sama...,” Faye bashfully said.
HOW CUTE!
She would look cute wearing a maid’s uniform... Nnn, where do I get one for her, again?
A maid’s uniform should have the family’s emblem or something like that. Which brought Ann’s mind to Allen again.
*sigh* It’s quite hard living by myself with my current predicament, seriously.
But hey!
Another light bulb was turned on inside Ann’s head.
That would give me an opportunity to get close with the handsome Allen! I’ve promised myself to throw away all of my morale and shame, I’d go pounce at him first!! It doesn’t matter because I’m going to die eventually, ahahhahahaha!!
Ann felt proud of herself.
It was akin to killing two birds with one stone.
Good, me!
“Good, then let’s go get you a few clothes and eat,” Ann said as she led Faye to the store.
Inside the boutique, Ann transformed from a young lady to a doting older sister to Faye. She spent more time looking at the children’s department rather than women’s department. Faye was a clever girl, she was conscious of her status as Ann’s maid. Hence, she rejected some of the clothes that were too expensive or too complicated for her. She picked a few simple clothes instead.
Meanwhile, Ann only brought a few simple clothes for herself, ones that she could use upon going out. She didn’t dare to buy a lot of things today as she was by herself, with no carriage that could help her carry things. In the end, Faye carried a bag and Ann carried two bags in total.
Ann was planning on visiting other shops such as bookstore to window shop at the very least, but her stomach was suddenly rumbling. Ann decided it was time for them to have lunch. Luckily for her, the restaurants were lined up in easy-to-follow rows, so she could walk leisurely while scanning for the menu.
“Faye, what do you want to eat?” Ann asked as she couldn’t make up her mind on any restaurant. Everything seemed interesting to her. She didn’t realize that for an orphan like Faye who had been living in the slum, everything also looked tempting.
“Ah, fried pigeon! It seems tasty,” Ann said when she passed by a restaurant whose signature menu was pigeon. The restaurant had some roasted and fried pigeons on display in front of the store, causing Ann to salivate. She turned to Faye and asked, “Faye, do you want to eat—eh?”
Ann thought that Faye would be drooling as well by this time, but when she turned to look at the loli maid she managed to get, her complexion wasn’t right. Little Faye even trembled a bit. It looked like she was terrified...?
“Faye, what’s the matter?” Ann asked, but Faye couldn’t bring herself to answer due to the excessive fright she suffered. She could only shake her head vehemently.
Ann was very confused at first, but a few ideas passed by her mind.
“Excuse me, Faye, I need to confirm something,” Ann said as she bent her body and combed Faye’s hair that was around her ears and—
Ah, so that’s why!
Ann saw that Faye’s ears weren’t that of a human’s or monkey’s. Faye’s ears were basically feathers—a bird’s.
Faye was a bird halfling.
And just now, Ann suggested Faye to eat a pigeon and even drooled for one... No wonder Faye was frightened. She might relate herself to birds, so eating a bird was equal to cannibalism...
Though it was unfortunate as the fried and roasted pigeons looked very delicious, Ann decided to look for other food for Faye and herself. She made a mental note to come here by herself next time to enjoy the fried or roasted pigeon.
In the end, Ann settled for a steak restaurant as she ordered tenderloin steaks for both herself and Faye. Her old mentality was still with her, so instead of choosing a fancy-looking steak restaurant, Ann chose a steak restaurant that had the atmosphere of a family restaurant. She also considered the difficulty she might get to enter a fancy restaurant with her appearance—she never wanted to meet Trixie part two, part three, and et cetera. She decided to just go lowkey this time.
Ann mentally noted that if she wanted to go to any of the fancy stores, she would... sacrifice herself and wear some luxurious dresses that made her cringe. And put some accessories that might attract the attention of some thieves. In the worse case scenario, she still had Allen’s subordinates to help her.
Ann and Faye really enjoyed their lunch as they didn’t rush in eating the steak. They even ordered desserts after that. The sky started to redden when they were done eating, so Ann decided it would be best to go home right away.
“Are you tired, Faye?” Ann asked when they were in the middle of their road back home.
Faye shook her head. She wasn’t tired at all. Going out with Ann was fun, so it fully charged her energy. She was used to walk for a long time and even run with almost empty stomach. This was nothing at all for her.
Ann smiled upon seeing Faye’s reaction.
At least this young halfling possessed a good stamina. It was really good, even if Ann never thought of delegating any excessive work for her cute little maid.
Author's Note:
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