14 Mildred the Maid

After Lia and the maid left, there was only Lily and Lin Ke left in the room. The first thing Lin Ke did was walk to the mirror to look at himself. For the entire day, he hadn't gotten the chance to see whether his image changed or not. A slim handsome face stared back through the mirror. Lin Ke looked exactly as he had on Earth, and not one bit different. He looked about the same age too. He had large, light brown eyes, long-ish black hair that would flow in the wind, a sharp chin and many other features that add a subtle touch to his masculinity. There was only a slight difference from his previous world. His body didn't look as delicate as he had on Earth. It wasn't anything about muscles or the likes, but the aura that he gave off. Although he still had a thin body, with hardly any muscles discernible by the eye, the unseen aura that radiated from his body was just different.

After he was finally done admiring his beauty, Lin Ke turned around to look for Lily. She was still on the bed, curled up. However, she had a book floating in front of her that she was reading while laughing to herself. "What are you reading?" Lin Ke asks, "Another instruction manual?"

Lily shakes her head. "No." She turns the cover of the book towards him. On the cover was a bunch of pirates holding katanas. "It's the latest volume of 'Two Holes'! It's quite interesting!"

Lin Ke pulls at his chin in thought. "Hmmm. Two Holes, huh? Before I died, I'm pretty sure the ninety-somethingth volume has come out already. Lemme read it." He reaches out for the book.

"No! I'm reading right now! Wait till I'm done!" Lily pulls the book away from the hands of Lin Ke. Lin Ke, of course, wasn't going to let her do it, so he lunges towards Lily, in hopes of grabbing the book away from her quickly.

"Come on! Just a bit! I'll read quickly I promise! I still need to see what happens next! It was an interesting part too!" Lin Ke cries while trying to catch Lily.

Lily, of course, begins to float up in the air, out of reach of Lin Ke. Even when he got a chair to stand on, he still couldn't reach her. Without any other options, he could only give up with a sigh. He threw himself onto the bed and just lay there, thinking through all the things that have happened today. 'What a day… So much crazy stuff has happened today it feels just like a dream… and an outlandish one at that…"

Slowly, slowly, he drifts off into deep sleep…

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* *KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK* "Hello? Sir Lin Ke? Are you there? It's time for dinner! Master Quinn and Miss Lia are waiting for you!" A beautiful voice interrupts Lin Ke's deep sleep. He jolts, and sits up on the bed. Suddenly, a white bundle of fur rolls down and lands on the bed. It's Lily, who was apparently also sleeping.

"Oh! Thank you! I'll be right there!" Lin Ke shouts back. He quickly looks in the mirror and straightens, as much as he can, his rumpled clothes. "Lily? Let's go." He calls out.

��Mmm? Hmmm?" A sleepy voice answers. "One more minute… One more minute…"

"There is no 'One more minute'!" Lin Ke answers. He picks up the still sleeping Lily and puts her in his arms. He can't help but sigh to himself. 'Why does a system need to sleep? What kind of flawed system is that?'

"I can still hear you…" A voice calls out in his head. "Even if my physical body is sleeping, it doesn't mean that I can't hear what you're thinking still… Plus, sleeping is comfortable! It's better than being confined to your head. It's stale, empty and full of cobwebs…"

Lin Ke furrows his brow, but chooses not to continue arguing with Lily. He walks to the door and opens it to be greeted with the busty maid from earlier. "I'm sorry for wasting your time, I had fallen asleep earlier because I was pretty tired…" Lin Ke apologizes sincerely.

The maid smiles and says, "No worries! I understand that this is your first day in Origin City, so it's alright to be tired."

Lin Ke also smiles… and remembers that he still doesn't even know what she's called… 'How rude of you, Lin Ke.' He thought to himself. "Erm… So what's your name?" Lin Ke asks awkwardly. "I, err, meant to ask earlier but forgot."

The maid smiles and answers, "Don't worry about it, my name is Mildred, the head maid of the Quinn Household. Now, let's not keep the Master waiting…" With that she begins to lead Lin Ke through the corridors of the house.

They walk in utter silence, as Lin Ke doesn't know what to say to break the awkward atmosphere in place. In a way, Lin Ke was slightly socially awkward, as in his previous life, he was never very good at interacting with people. While he is able to quickly react to something someone else says, he was never very good at initiating conversations.

Thankfully, however, Mildred didn't let the silence linger on. "Do you like our Young Miss?"

Lin Ke blinks. 'Huh?'

It takes him a moment to fully comprehend what Mildred had just asked. He was slightly embarrassed by the question, and also completely caught off guard by the direct question. "How… how… what? What makes you think that?" He finally gets the words out of his mouth.

"Well, it seemed a little too obvious, given how intensely you were staring at her earlier…" Mildred answers. "If what I'm saying is true, then let me give you a piece of advice, you're not strong enough. Or talented enough. If you want to stand a chance, you need to be a million times better than you are now… Or... " She pauses there. "We're here." She stops in front of a large double door and pushes it open. "Master Quinn and the Young MIss is waiting." She bows.