Chapter 3 Be His Personal Maid

Avira's POV

On my first day at the castle, I understood one thing.

The people here simply did not know how to smile.

Or rather, they did not dare show a trace of personal feeling in front of Kylan.

The stewardess in the outer hall of the main keep led me through three corridors with a stiff face, brought me to the outer side of the keep, and shoved a gray maid's dress into my arms.

“Remember this: the carpet in the Alpha King's bedchamber is swept twice a day, there cannot be dust on the window frames, and the silverware he drinks from must shine enough to reflect a face. When the Alpha King asks you something, answer within three sentences. If ‘yes’ will do, don't launch into a speech. If you don't understand, don't try to be clever.”

I hugged the dress tighter and nodded obediently, but I had already judged her in my head.

A heap of rotten rules, minus twenty points. Terrible expression, minus thirty. Final conclusion: not someone worth getting close to.

When she saw I said nothing, the stewardess shot me a suspicious glance.

I immediately pressed down the smile that was about to curl up. “Yes, I remember.”

It looked like I would have to learn to control my expression too. If I docked someone points in my head and a smile showed on my face, I might be taken for a lunatic and lose my life. That would be my loss.

Still, the castle really did pay well, exactly like the rumors said.

A maid in the main keep earned four times the daily wage of the Gray Valley tavern. Three meals included, and a little room that did not leak wind. That very night, I spread the breakup money my ex-boyfriend had given me across the bed and counted it coin by coin.

This money was enough to pay back the debt my parents had left behind. After I worked for a while and saved more, I could buy a pass for the southern trade route. Then if I kept one last sum for emergencies, I could set off toward a new life in peace.

Yes, as long as I kept my head down, in at most a year I could leave this hellhole with my own money.

Far from Alpha King Kylan, far from this castle, far from all trouble.

But the next morning, my plan ran into its first obstacle.

“Avira.”

Kylan's voice came from the study. I was holding a soft cloth for polishing silver and looked over at the sound.

He stood there with his back straight, dressed in a black shirt with the sleeves rolled to his elbows, showing the firm lines of his arms, and beckoned me over.

That face could score ninety-eight points, but that cold expression first thing in the morning cost him five.

“Alpha King.” That was what I thought, but when I went over and spoke, I still lowered my head and sounded as respectful as I possibly could. “What are your orders?”

“You will organize the study today. Sort all the books and documents by category and renumber all of them so they will be easier for me to use next time.”

I looked up in shock.

That was an entire study!

The bookshelves were tall and many, enough to hide several bears. Documents were piled into mountains on the desk, and there were even a few open ledgers on the carpet beside it.

“...Yes.”

I kept the stewardess's instructions firmly in mind, so all I could do was answer with “yes.”

My life mattered.

But it was hard not to dock him a hundred points in my head.

Did he misunderstand what a maid was? I was a maid, not a carriage horse from outside. If I cleaned this place by myself, I would need at least three days and three nights.

Kylan raised a brow and did not leave.

He stood behind the desk reading through papers, lifting his eyes to me from time to time. I did not dare slack off. Hugging a feather duster, I climbed the ladder and began wiping the first bookshelf.

Just as I was cursing his complete lack of humanity in my head, a thick ledger slipped from the top of the shelf and dropped straight at me.

I cried out, both hands clamping tightly to the ladder. For a moment I could not react at all. I could only shut my eyes in panic and pray to the Moon Goddess to protect me.

A few seconds later, the pain I expected did not come.

A hand reached out from beside me and caught the ledger steadily.

Kylan stood below the ladder, his head almost level with me where I was on it. “Be careful.”

He was too close.

I could even smell him, a faintly bitter scent of fir and cedar mixed with a trace of medicine.

“Thank you, Alpha King.”

His reaction had been so fast. He saved my life. Plus one hundred points.

His fingers paused.

My heart gave a thud. I could not think what was wrong with thanking him at once.

He looked at me. That gaze made my back crawl.

“Keep working.”

“Yes.”

Kylan turned and left. I lowered my head and kept wiping the shelf, deciding that from now on I had to be careful in everything. Living in the castle, I could not afford to lose focus again.

That was how I got through the day in fear. At last I finished cleaning all the bookshelves. I was just about to go out and wash the soft cloth when I saw a young noble girl being escorted to the door by a council elder.

She carried a basket of moonlight flowers and had waited in the outer hall for more than an hour just to deliver Kylan a jug of sweet wine she had brewed herself. The elder said he could not bear to watch her keep waiting.

She smiled at me very gently. “Please announce me. I want to see the Alpha King.”

Oh... noble lady, what qualification did I have for that?

Appearance, ninety-two points. Smile, ninety points.

Too bad I had seen this sort of scene many times at the tavern. She was probably already planning how to spill the wine on the Alpha King's clothes and create a chance to help him change.

Deeply scheming. Minus ninety points.

I stroked my chin, hesitating over whether to pass along her message, when the study door opened.

Kylan came out, and she immediately stepped forward and offered him the wine jug with both hands.

“Alpha King, I specially made this for you—”

“Take it away.”

The girl's face turned white. “This is sweet wine I made myself. It can nourish the body and calm the mind. You have worked so hard all these years...”

“I don't drink sweet wine.”

Her hands froze for a long moment. Then she left with red-rimmed eyes.

I stood there with my arms folded and silently updated Kylan's score in my heart.

Speed of rejecting someone he did not like: ninety-five points.

At least he was not like my ex-boyfriend Lysander, stringing someone along when he knew there was no future.

As for the way he spoke, still zero points.

But he had at least protected the carpet I had just cleaned, so I grudgingly added two points.

Kylan suddenly glanced at me.

“Are you very idle?”

“I'll go back to numbering the books right away.”

He gave a low sound and turned back into the study. I had just let out a breath and was about to follow when the butler of the main keep leaned over.

“Avira, were you in the study all day today? The Alpha King actually didn't punish you?”

I stared at him blankly. “Did I do something wrong?”

Wasn't he the one who told me to work there? What would he punish me for?

The butler looked toward the study door and lowered his voice even further.

“He never lets a maid stay in the study for more than ten minutes. The last maid asked one extra question about what temperature he wanted his coffee, and the next day she was transferred to the stables to shovel manure.”

A chill ran down my back.

So Kylan had already been especially lenient with me. He had deliberately let me clean the study. I had nearly dropped a ledger, and instead of punishing me, he had even saved me.

That made it even scarier.

A person like him, if he treated someone well for no reason, either wanted to use you for something or wanted to fatten you up before eating you.

In short, nothing good.

I calculated the wages and decided to shorten my escape plan from one year to six months.

Before I could think of how to answer the butler, Kylan's voice came from the study.

“Avira, what are you doing? Get over here!”

My whole body tensed.

“Yes, Alpha King.”

“Come in.”

I pushed the door open and went in.

Kylan sat before the fireplace. A stack of thick ledgers lay tossed on the table, and he looked a little tired.

“Sort these ledgers I need recently first. If you can't finish, stay here on duty tonight.”

I looked at that huge stack of papers, and my scalp went numb.

Cleaning in the day, standing night watch at night. If I kept working like this, before I saved enough for travel money, I would have to buy myself a coffin first.

“You brought me back to be a maid.”

Kylan lifted his eyes.

I nearly dug my nails into my palm. “The butler said serving the Alpha King in the daytime and standing watch at night are two different jobs.”

“So?”

“The wages should be calculated separately.”

The firelight darkened slightly in Kylan's dark gold eyes, and my heart shot straight into my throat.

Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door, and the butler's voice came from the entrance.

“Alpha King, the old Luna Queen sent someone to ask what the maid's name is, the one who stayed in the study all day today.”

Kylan looked at me and did not answer.

After waiting a moment, the butler lowered his head even more.

“Get out!”

The door closed softly.

Sweat had already broken out across my back.

Was Kylan angry? And... why was the old Luna Queen asking about me?

“How much?” Kylan asked.

I froze for a moment before remembering the wages.

Good. While he was still willing to bargain, I had to make him feel that switching to someone else for tonight would be the better deal.

“Ten gold coins.”

The moment the words left my mouth, I felt guilty myself. That was enough money for him to buy another Omega from outside.

But I already had a plan. The moment he got angry, I would apologize at once and smoothly suggest that someone familiar with the rules should serve him up close instead.

But in the next second, Kylan pulled open the desk drawer.

He tossed a money pouch onto the table. The mouth came loose, and gold coins rolled out.

I stared at the glittering pile.

He was actually giving me money?

“There are fifteen gold coins here. This is your pay for tonight.”

God! The Alpha King really was lavish. But God was ridiculous too. A man this rich and this handsome just had to be a violent madman. One step more and he would have been perfect. What a waste of that face.

But when I truly reached for the money pouch, he pressed two fingers over its opening.

“Wait.”

I drew my hand back.

He looked me over, his gaze moving from the corner of my mouth, which had almost started to lift, to my eyes.

“Are you very dissatisfied with me?”

“To stand watch for you is my honor.”

Damn it. Rich people really were all the same. He had already taken out the gold coins, and he still had to hear me say some flattering nonsense.

Kylan suddenly smiled.

It was the first time I had seen him smile since entering the castle. But I could not smile at all. It was terrifying.

Just as I was wondering how to get out of the study, he took back the money pouch and pointed to the chair beside him.

“I've changed my mind. You only need to sit down and curse me. If your curses satisfy me, this money is yours.”