The Maid and Her Princess - Chapter 17: Chapter 17

"C-commoner's food?" Madoka looked at the dishes. It was bad enough that the princess was in the kitchen preparing the meals with her, but she was eating commoner's food too? "Y-your highness, surel-"
"Nope, nope nope! Nae waahh!" Princess Fiara said as she flipped the meat up. Their sword training went as well as Madoka expected. However, after some feelings of stress overwhelmed the maid, she found herself letting loose into her training. Princess Fiara effortlessly chopped away without looking, the sizzling slabs meat hissing away into perfect sections on the board. Madoka glanced at her more than a few times at her newfound strength. Something about her princess's beauty stirred in her heart. "These foods are so much better than the crap they serve in the Palace. Full of nutrients and protein - I can roughly keep tabs of what I need to eat, like an athlete."
Madoka suspected that Princess Fiara still believed that the King or Prince was going to betray them. She sighed. Sunlight filtered through the Spring trees, it seemed beautiful enough to bring the food upstairs to the balcony. Madoka shifted her hair behind her shoulder and sneezed. Oh, kind gods, she must have missed more spots to dust.
"Come, come, eat with me!" The princess set the dishes on the manor table by herself. Her fellow maids looked at her as if they were used to her antics. Madoka was mortified.
"I couldn't possibly—"
"Madoka-san," Princess Fiara said, plopping herself down on the head chair. "Remember what I said to you back in the Palace? During our secret, emergency meeting? You and I, we are no longer in a work relationship, okay? Besides, Father might as well say he disowned me since... you know."
"Forgive me, Your Highness... I," Madoka started. With a bated breath, she folded her maid uniform out and sat next to the princess, trying to resist how foolish this situation was. "Shouldn't have brought it up. It must be terrible for you, Your Highness."
"It's fine," the princess told her this a lot of times but none of them assured Madoka any better. "I hated it all, you know. This... condition of mine as you people call it. Like being right but unable to express it."
She pointed out the window towards those same idyllic hills and countryside. The Spring trees were bordering the small towns and the bluffs ahead, with the palace watching over them all.
"It will all burn, Madoka," was all she said more on the subject. Madoka didn't press any further. Princess Fiara carried on like she didn't say a harrowing prophecy.
A ray of sunlight pooled in the princess's blue eyes as she ate, like tiny gold coins. She closed them as she tasted the foods in delicate satisfaction. It was times like these that reminded her of how messy she used to be while eating. She licked her two fingers clean, properly as a true Royal should. One of her eyelids opened and the treasure beneath looked at her with suspicion.
"Eh, have I got somethin' on my face?" She asked. Madoka simply kept her gaze on the princess.
"You've come a long way since what, a couple years ago?"
"We were 12, weren't we? Birthdays seem so rare when you're a kid..." the princess scoffed but could not hide her blushed cheeks. "Tch. Of course a sweet girl like me would get thrown into this body... And I noticed you haven't eaten. Try it! I cooked it myself!"
Those words yet again did not inspire confidence in the quality of the food. Madoka gulped and then took a bite.
The food was savory and melted upon the moment it touched her tongue. A myriad of flavors, full and filling, rested on her tongue and chewing caused more of the flavor to draw out. Madoka was afraid and embarrassed, she only ate as a commoner. She was not allowed to eat with anyone before, especially with the princess of all people. Still, the desire to taste more of the wondrous food outweighed her troubled thoughts.
"Ooo!" The princess was leaning right above her. "You look so adorable! I'm glad you love the taste! This world has a lot of plants and herbs that are equivalent to mine.... Anyways! Seasoning makes the magic happen!"
"Speaking of magic," Fiara grinned mischievously. "I've come across some... tomes and books in the upper quarters."
"Please, not those," Madoka stopped eating. The thought of her princess using the arcane horrified the maid. Magic was a powerful entity from the kind gods and a those who wielded it were terrifyijg to Madoka. She scoffed.
"Don't be dramatic," she said, shrugging before returning to her seat. "Do you really think so low of me that I'd catch myself on fire or something? Of course, not now. We have lots of sword fighting and, um, other things to train!"
Madoka grimaced. She did not trust the princess with anything that could make a mess. Fire was not even in her nightmares of picking up after her.
Lord Zeron was not the only one at the court this time. This time another was standing proudly next to him. The princess was guiding her to the training yard, yet as soon as they arrived she disappeared. The man was built powerfully, more beast in his makeup than man. A strong tail protruded from his backside. She has heard talks of wild beast-men in the eastern jungles from the haughty maids of the Palace. They were Cherish-men. His tail twitched in annoyance as he leaned down and inspected Madoka. Then he sneered.
"This weakling is in charge of the princess's safety?" He complained to Lord Zeron. The mountain shrugged. Madoka was sensing an arrogant attitude from this man but unfortunately he was right. She was not fit for the princess's maid if she could not protect and serve her. "What is there to teach this creature? The art of combat isn't for her!"
"Teach her the basics, Leopride," Lord Zeron instructed. Leopride, who never actually introduced himself to her, gave an exasperated sigh.
"You are lucky I owe you one," he said, adjusting the ring on his left beast ear, before drawing his sword. "You, on the other hand, will learn that you're never going to be anything useful to an esteemed woman like the princess."
In that moment, something underneath Madoka's nervous exterior stirred. A fire began to light up, starting as a quiet anger to a raging infernal desire to knock that arrogant grin off his stupid face.
That said, he was correct. Every form of strike, he countered and smacked her on the head of some other vital hard. Lord Zeron would not show some days and on those days Leopride would take advantage of his absence by increasing his beatings with a sickening glee. Still, with every bruise and every insult, the flames grew hotter.
On one particular day, Lord Zeron was not there to control Leopride's temper. Yet, Madoka still arrived to take more blows. She could not refuse the princess's orders. She was improving with every bruise, yet deep down inside she knew she was not enough. Was she destined for only half-hearted efforts? Was she not taking her training as seriously as her maid duties? Madoka's body was breaking down, but still she persisted, forgetting that even the princess herself was not even aware that she was getting tormented every day.
"This style of swordplay is Cherish," he said, keeping a perfect distance away from her swing and baiting another. The sword flourish made it difficult to see but it was all a ruse, with Leopride uppercutting her sword from her hand and delivering a kick to Madoka's chest sent her skidding along the ground. She heard several bones crack inside her. He spat on the ground while she struggled to get up. "A commoner like you has no place here. What in the world are both of those fools thinking..? Take a break. Let those wounds fester inside of you until you give up and die, commoner."
Still, Madoka got up, reaching for the broken wooden sword. He crossed his arms and sighed. With a flourish on her own, Madoka began her assault on the Cherish-man. She knew in her heart that she was not enough, she didn't need an infuriating man to tell her that!
"I pity you," he laughs as she finally landed a blow on his wrist. "I didn't feel a thing!"
Then he punished her by punching her - sending her careening into the dirt again.
"You're so lucky she loves you. You're so worthless, she probably pities you," He let out a roar and climbed on top of her, grabbing her by the neck. "How could something as weak as you be in her heart? It should be me! I was the one who brought her here! The one who gave the Prince the idea. The one who spent years with her in court!"
Madoka looked at him in defiance as he shook her.
"Do you think you're better than me?" He raised his fist and was about to punch her but the look in her face stopped him. "It's just not fair. Oh, and if you tell anyone about this I will kill you. You understand me, worm?"
Madoka was too bruised and battered to respond.
"Disgusting," he dusted himself off and left her there.