A certain Butler POV
I take out the pocket watch from it's destined place of my jackets left pocket and give a short glance to it's hands. A unique piece out of black metal with golden accents that could rob a watchmaker of his mind with it's beauty alone.
A gift from the one who stands above all, just for me.
Only his most trusted servants are given one and they are individually crafted for each one.
It is my most priced possession and it's existence proves a loyalty, worth much more than my life.
Just thirty more seconds before the perfect time is upon us. Of course the golden clock hands would never lie to me.
I pocket the clock again and quickly straighten my jacket with the now free hand, so there is no visible bulge in my pocket.
It needs to be perfect.
Counting down the seconds in my mind I lift my free hand. The flawlessly white glove is mere centimetres in front of the door I will soon open.
Time is up.
I gently knock twice within half a second and a third time with a second delay and a bit more force. Training and years of experience made me acquire this perfect method to knock on a door as important as this one.
No one would get startled by the soft start of my knocking and the slightly more energetic ending will let them know, that it wasn't by mistake and I need their attention.
Of course there was no reaction.
For the person within that room, there is obviously no need to lower oneself to a level, where interacting with a simple servant like me would be necessary.
I wait four more seconds and then open the door myself. Not to forceful, but of course not to reserved either.
With two quick steps I've entered the study of Al Drem R'Lar and close the door again, of course without turning my back to the individual sitting on the big desk.
I deeply bow towards him, while balancing the silver plate in my left hand.
"Your afternoon Tea, my lord."
The white haired man didn't look up, as his attention is focused on the open books and stacks of documents in front of him.
Of course I am curious, about what would occupy the mind of one who stands above all to such an extend, but naturally I would never ask, nor even dare to peek a glance at his work.
There is a rustle slightly different than moving paper. My master had nodded.
I straighten my back again and swiftly move next to his desk.
A single fluent movement and the empty cup on my masters desk swapped places with the steaming one on my plate.
"Thank you very much." My master didn't look up, but these words alone brought me the greatest joy.
I bowed my head again. "If there is anything else you would need, please just give the word and your humble servant will come running."
He nods again.
A gently smile moved onto his lips, while his eyes are still focused on the books in front of him.
My heart skipped a beat.
To not delay his work any more and overstay my welcome, I swiftly move to the door again and leave the study without making a sound.
My steps quickly lead me away from his room and after getting to another floor, I let the joy overwhelm me and begin to smile.
What a bliss.
Serving him is just the greatest joy.
And he even thanked me.
It's been about eighty years now, since I began working in his care and his kindness still overwhelms me like on the first day.
Of course, eighty years is nothing compared to some of the servants in this castle and as one of the rabbitfolk, I still count as a young adult, but this makes me all the more grateful, that I am already able to experience situations like this one.
My steps quickly lead me to the big kitchen on the ground floor, where I hand the plate and empty cup to one of the Naga maids, who are in charge of our masters meals.
Sadly this honour will never fall upon me, as everyone has their own role.
That's why after sharing our masters thanks with the kitchen staff, who happily accept it, I should follow my role and finish with my last task for the day.
I leave the kitchen through one of the backdoors, walk through a short corridor and open the one door at it's end.
There is no need to knock, as there are only three individuals, who should be allowed in the small meeting room. This of course includes myself.
Sometimes though, there are exceptions.
I blink twice in confusion.
The room itself naturally didn't change.
A couple of shelves, filled with loads of different sized file folders cover the walls and in the middle is a small, round table with two chairs and a large pillow on the floor around it.
Two individuals are already in the room as I enter.
A young, human looking woman, with blueish, seethrough hair and skin, who is currently trying to reach the door that I just opened. She is a drowned ghost named Sner and with several millennia under her belt, she is my senior as one of the head servants.
The other one is an older goblin man in loose, dark blue clothing, who is clinging to Sner's leg with most of his body, while holding onto the table with one hand, to keep the much taller woman from reaching the door.
I don't know the goblins name, as he doesn't belong to my team, but I can already imagine why he is here and what the two of them are doing.
My heart grows heavy with a premonition growing in my mind.
To keep the castle of Al Drem R'Lar running without bothering it's master, the staff is split into three main groups, lead by the three head servants. Of course each group itself is an organisation made out of multiple smaller groups.
Sner manages the attending staff and is in charge of all the butlers and maids within the castle.
Caleb, who is currently missing, is in charge of the cleaning staff and keeps the castle pristine.
And I myself are in charge of the kitchen staff, to keep our master and honoured guests fed with the best cuisine this world has to offer.
And naturally it falls upon us head servants to care directly for the master of this castle.
After standing in the door for a few seconds, wondering about the situation, I clear my throat to get the two's attention.
"Oh my. Seems like the time is up…" Sner murmurs and ceases her struggles.
The Goblin waits for a moment to see if this is a trick and then deems the situation as acceptable. He let's go of Sner's leg and stands up to lightly bow to me. There is no reason for this, as he is not in my team and I quickly accept his politeness with a smile, before looking at the ghostly woman again.
"Mind to explain."
"Hehe~ ", she chuckles slightly embarrassed. "Caleb is still busy preparing the bathrooms, and you are attending to the master's needs today, so I tried to sneak away and care for our honoured guest a bit."
She smiles a mischievous smile, not even showing the slightest bit of shame.
I sigh.
There is one more task, that only us headservants are allowed to do. In the rare case of dangerous guests or guests, that see eye to eye with our master, only the three of us are allowed to directly serve them.
Naturally, the latter never happened before. Even Sner, who is the oldest among the staff never heard of a situation like this. And dangerous guests are not really possible. There are some individuals, who could prove dangerous to some of the staff, but no one would purposefully be a danger to anyone else within the castle of Al Drem R'Lar.
But currently, we have a guest who is both.
A honoured guest, that the master ordered us to serve, as we would serve him. And on top of that a guest, who is eerily charming towards spirits. About twenty percent of the individuals working within the castle are counted as spirits and all of them have to forcefully be removed from that guest's side, once they get too close. Even Sner had neglected her other duties, after it was her turn to care for said guest.
With this, the situation is obvious. Sner was not allowed in the rotation of caring for our special guest anymore, but with Caleb and me occupied, she tried to sneak away. Caleb, his hindsight be blessed, must have send one of his team to keep Sner from moving.
I again look at the old Goblin. "You have my thanks."
He gives me a salute with a big grin, that makes him look way younger. "No worries!"
I smile back at him. This is, how the staff usually interacts with each other, when there are no guests nearby. All the more confusing was his bow from before.
My attention shifts back to Sner. "I will go. But if Caleb shows up, please tell him that I'm taking his shift to serve the master tomorrow as compensation."
She follows the Goblins example and salutes, but with a completely straight face. It looks odd.
I sigh a second time and turn around, to go into the kitchen again.
Quickly asking the first cook in my reach, a small Orc with a stern, piglike face, about our guests meal and the kitchen staff quickly prepares a food trolley, that hovers in the air, so I can easily take it with me, even on stairs.
I thank them and quickly make my way trough another backdoor, that leads towards the wine cellars.
There are only two plates on the trolley. One containing a small menu with rice, fish, mixed vegetables and a creamy white sauce. It smells delicious.
The other plate just contains a single, small loaf of bread.
And oddly enough the menu is not for the guest.
When I heard of this for the first time, I hardly objected. Of course, the baking skills of my team are world class and their bread is the most delicious one out there. But it's still just bread. Only sometimes eaten as a side dish in the morning or as an extra for soup, but that's it. I've heard, that it was common food for poor humans in ancient times, but even that should have changed. Are we lower than poor humans? Never!
So I let the kitchen prepare the most extravagant meal they could manage for our guest… and then got scolded by the master. He wasn't angry at that time and seemed very amused, but it didn't lower my shame at all. It was the guests wish to only be served bread and I've gone against that wish. Feeling ashamed just thinking back, I reach my goal.
A simple door that leads to one part of the wine cellar, containing goods most suited for a light, summary taste.
The door is open, as usual and a big, muscular hobgoblin is sitting on a chair next to it.
I greet him with a polite smile and he nods back.
Naturally there is no reason for a guard in this place. The doors are all open and if someone needs to be here, they can just go. What else would be there? Stealing? Even the thought is ridiculous. No, the hobgoblin is here for another reason.
As I get closer, he quickly jumps up from his chair and closes the door. Then he produces a weirdly shaped key from his butler suit's pocket and unlocks the already unlocked door with it, just to open it again.
There is no cellar behind the door anymore.
Instead I look into a gigantic room filled with books.
"Thanks." I mutter to the hobgoblin and shove the food trolley through the door.
The moment I set foot into the book filled area myself. An overwhelming pressure hits me.
As if I was suddenly thrown into the deepest ocean, thousands of kilometres beneath the surface and my body would be smashed into a pulp within the next second, but of course, nothing like this happened.
I can't stay here. I shouldn't be here. I need to leave as quick as possible.
Mentally I shake my head, while my body is still unable to move. This is not the first time and almost like a ritual of entry, when coming here. And more important, those are not my thoughts.
I wouldn't dare abandoning the important task, my master has bestowed upon me. I need to deliver the food with utmost urgency, before it gets cold.
With my steeled resolve the pressure seems to vanish. Or did the pressure vanish, so I could steel my resolve?
There is a big difference between the two and something like this happens every time I come here. It makes me fear for my mental state.
I completely understand, that Caleb tries to procrastinate coming here, but never will I understand, how spirits find this addictive.
I shake my head physically and Begin walking again.
There are shelves taller than buildings, filled to the top with books and looking up, I see an endless amount of stairs and bridges, connecting several hundred of layers with each other. And there are more books everywhere.
In my first time here, I got the impression of a library, but soon I had to change my mind. This place is a labyrinth, if not even a prison. That's why I carefully follow a red line that was drawn on the white marble floor.
It took me about half an hour until I've reached the end of said line, but there was nothing there.
Until the day before yesterday, this was the place our guest would be in.
I look to the left. I look to the right.
… Of course I can't see anything. There are just shelves filled with an endless amount of books.
"Yahoo!"
A voice behind me startles me for a moment and I quickly turn around.
There is an Imp looking around a corner and waving to me. Her name is Fhe and she belongs to Sner's team, but currently she has another task.
"Ah, glad to see you. I assume you will guide me?"
"Yep. This way!"
She just starts walking in the direction I just came from.
I quickly follow her.
The first couple minutes we walk in silence. I don't know her too well, so we have not much to talk about and she probably needs to concentrate to not get lost.
Suddenly she turns around, to walk backwards, while looking at me and still she seemed very confident in her chosen path.
"We played hide and seek and found a way cooler place to stay."
"I see." That answers my unspoken question, but playing? In here? And then hide and seek? No one will ever be able to find someone else here.
No. Maybe imps can?
They can communicate without words, when they are close to each other, so maybe they can locate each other like this too?
But this place is enormous and the silent talking only works with a few steps of distance, as far as I'm aware. Just what did they do?
I am indeed curious, but would never pry into the matters of a guest. Even if it involves one of my colleagues.
"So, what's for dinner?"
"Huh?" I was lost in thought and gave the backwards walking imp a puzzled look, before I noticed. I clear my throat. "Ice fish with rice and a cream sauce mostly made of mushrooms."
"Neat." She gives me a big grin and turns around again, before going around one more corner.
I follow her and enter a semi open space. The shelves form a circle, with a few holes to create passages into the book labyrinth and in the middle of the open space stands, barely visible, a round desk. It is covered in a literal mountain of books. Even more books are all over the place, hiding most of the floor, too. Some are open, some are upside down and some are stacked into small towers of literature. The biggest tower, almost like a throne, is stacked on the table and on top of it sits our honoured guest.
The being is not unlike an imp, but at the same time entirely different.
She is smaller than any of the imps I've seen so far, has grey skin and looks incredibly malnourished, although she seems to eat quite a lot of bread. Her body is dressed in one of the black Kimono the master likes so much, but it looks, like she just threw it over just to be covered. There is no aesthetic in it.
Even if their priority for looks differ, her reaction is similar to my master's, as she didn't react at all, when we entered the open space. Her eyes with the deep, dark shadows underneath them are closed and yet it seems, as if she was staring at the open book in her hand. Her tail moves, gently turning the pages.
But at the same time, there is something else.
A small feeling. Just the hint of one, to be precise. The feeling, as if someone nearby is whispering to someone else. But there is no sound. I know this feeling. This is, how it feels like, when someone enters into the conversation range of two imps.
Even if it's not about me, it feels as if they are talking behind my back.
Fhe turns around and points at the bread. "May I?"
"Sure."
She energetically takes the plate with bread and begins moving towards the honoured guest.
Almost like a dance, the little imp is moving between the books without touching a single one of them. It is kind of beautiful in a way.
But she soon reaches the table and it becomes impossible to get to the honoured guest without touching them. I wonder for a moment, how she will manage, but Fhe simple steps onto some books, that are stacked like a staircase to reach the honoured guest with ease.
Ah, so that's how.
The honoured guest just opens her mouth and Fhe happily plucks a piece from the bread to feed her. I have seen this behaviour before and it still confuses me. The honoured guest is constantly reading and apparently will not interrupt this, just for a menial task like eating… I don't understand her at all.
Staring at the weird scenario in front of me would be impolite and it weirds me out anyways, so I look around in search of a good place to put Fhe's meal down on and then leave this library as soon as possible.
There is a smaller desk to my left, that someone but in front of a very comfortable looking armchair. A couple of blankets on that armchair tell me, that this is where Fhe sleeps, as long as she is in charge of our honoured guest. I was told that the guest herself isn't sleeping at all, but I am not sure, if I can believe that. There are two empty plates from yesterdays meal on the small desk, so I should just get those and bring them back to the kitchen, while I'm at it.
I carefully move towards the desk, but soon my path is completely blocked by the scattered books. It was not my intention to stay here longer than necessary, but it seems I have no choice and need to clean up a bit.
I bow down to pick up a few of the books.
I'm still reading that!
What? There was a thought in my head, as If someone was talking to me, but with my own inner voice? I am confused.
This place will make me mad, so better hurry up.
I reach for the book once again.
No!
The feeling of drowning is back. Not as intense as before, but with a stronger feeling behind it. I need to run away!
But my body barely managed to move. I could only turn my head, but not turn around entirely. And turning my head made me look towards the honoured guest.
Her eyes are open. Another part, that distinguishes our honoured guest from other imps; imps usually have purple eyes, while hers have a freezing blue colour. Although the cold colour is undermined by the look she gives me. It's almost a pathetic face that looks close to tears. If I wouldn't feel like drowning, I would laugh at this face, that reminds me of my sulking baby brother.
One moment!
I've seen her with open eyes before. Wasn't of of them pur-?
"Xyn, don't be mean, he just wanted to help me."
I hear Fhe's voice from the depths of this invisible ocean and as suddenly as it came, the pressure is gone.
What is going on here?!
Fhe nods, seemingly satisfied. "Good girl. And now apologise, or I eat the bread."
I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean it! I just wanted to read that a bit more!
Again my own mind is shouting at me. But why am I apologising? And what am I thinking about reading? Didn't I just want to clean up a bit?
Fhe deeply bows towards me. "I too apologise for her behaviour. She can be a little bit childish…" The Impmaid straightens her back again and looks towards the honoured guest. "I will guide him back, so you can read in peace and he also can calm down a bit, okay? And would you bring him the used plates, so he doesn't need to move the books to get them?"
For a moment I wonder, why she said it out lout, but then I realised, that this was done, so I could also understand the plan. I've rarely talked to Fhe before she was assigned to this guest and she seemed more like a free spirit to me, who only did, what she wanted, but it seems like she is extremely sensible and a good choice for complicated guests like this. I would like her to train some of my team, once she has the time.
The soft clatter of dishes and cutlery from the left irritates me for a moment. Fhe is currently walking down the book stairs towards me and the honoured guest is staring at her book again, the eyes wide open this time.
There shouldn't be anyone but those two in here, so I am a bit confused, when I look over to the source of that clattering.
My eyes meet with the ones of the honoured guest. A pair of purple eyes clash with mine for a moment, but then she shyly averts her gaze, while holding the used plates towards me.
I take them with wooden movements and look back towards the tower of books on the table.
Why are there two of them?!