New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

Astaroth disliked this type of behaviour, and it didn't sit well with him to be treated like some posh noble. His world had long since gotten rid of such division, except in countries that insisted on keeping nobility up.

He stopped walking at the top of the stairs, waiting for him to stop behind him. Once he couldn't hear her steps anymore, he pivoted around again.

The maid bowed immediately.

"Alright, enough."

His abruptness made the young maid skip a heartbeat, as she thought she was in trouble.

"Have you seen enough of the palace, sire?" she asked, trying to figure out her mistake.

"No. I still want to see it. But I'm tired of your acting like this."

"My apologies, your highness. Is there anything I did to displease you?"

Her eyes were already filling with tears, thinking she was going to be punished. She had no idea what she did to offend the king, and she feared it might have been an unconscious thing.

"You did."

Stepping forward, he saw her hands twitch at the side, and Astaroth understood she expected punishment. But that wasn't his intention.

He grabbed her shoulders, forcing her straight up, and looked into her eyes. Tears were streaming down her fearful face, as she tried averting her gaze.

"No no no. Look me in the eye."

Begrudgingly, the maid turned her eyes toward the king's gaze.

"Good. Now I need you to understand something about me, and all my kind. We don't come from a world where customs like these are held, and it irks me.

"Please, by the gods, treat me like a normal person. I can understand the higher degree of respect since I am your superior. But you need to stop treating me like some kind of half-divinity or something.

"When you walk with me, you walk at my side. When you face me, you stand straight. And most of all, when you talk to me, you look me in the eye. Understood?"

The maid looked at Astaroth, unsure how to react, and her brain took a moment to process the event. She had been expecting punishment and admonishment, yes, but not this kind.

She was thrown off completely.

And it only worsened when Astaroth suddenly smiled warmly, letting go of her shoulders and brushing out the wrinkles on her uniform he had made.

"Now. Can we resume the tour without all this nonsensical charade?"

The maid took a moment to wipe her tears, trying to recenter herself, as she started bowing to the king again.

"Yes, S—"

"Tut tut. Up. Stand straight, dear lord."

The maid interrupted her bow, slowly standing back up straight. She tried smiling at the man, but it only came by as a half grimace.

"This way please, Sire."

As they resumed their tour, she had to focus on walking beside him, breaking every training she had undergone to become a maid, if only to please him and keep him happy. Her duty was first and foremost to serve him to the best of her ability.

If that meant being unconventional with him, to follow his orders, then so be it.

Guiding him around the fourth floor, she slowly explained every room they came by, this floor being mainly a military planning floor. They crossed many rooms where mages were showing illusory maps of the area, pointing out patrol routes, or hotspots for monster activity.

King Astaroth seemed a lot more interested in this floor than he had been with the previous one, where it was mainly a residential floor, with rooms for officers, councilmen, and such top representatives or respected guests.

His interested nods and rapt attention to her explanation of what little she knew about the operations finally got her to calm down and regain full composure. She also rapidly understood why the queen was in meetings instead of him, and why his attitude was so casual.

She had heard from other servants, who served the councilmen, that the king was apparently a great warrior, who was often out fighting, rather than leading his nation. Even though he and his kind had only been back for a little over a week, they hadn't seen a shadow of him till this morning.

She had already noticed from her brief interactions with the other Abnormals who occasionally wandered the palace's halls, that they were less rapt of respecting proper noble etiquette. But she hadn't assumed they were all like this.

After all, the queen seemed so elegant and breathed nobility with her every move. She wondered why the difference between her and the king was so big.

After showing him around every room on the fourth floor, the maid offered to visit the fifth floor to the monarch, telling him it was mostly a floor where the sentinels had their living quarters. He still showed interest, so they ascended the staircase.

"Do the sentinels have passages from the fifth floor up to the branches? We are still quite a ways away from the first of the lower branches."

Astaroth was curious how they made their way quickly up to their posts in case of attack. It wasn't common for vigils to be so far away from their posts, even when resting.

The maid next to him nodded.

"They indeed have a path. A Druid is on duty at all times in the center of the floor, ready to send them up at a moment's notice."

This struck Astaroth's curiosity even more. How would a druid send them up outside from the middle of the tree?

As they finished ascending the staircase to the fifth floor, he rapidly understood his misconception of the area.

'Wow. This floor differs so much from the others!'