Chapter: Chapter 43: Just Ask Directly Next Time
Loli looked at the stockings in her hand and was visibly stunned for a moment. Her pretty face flushed slightly, and a charming curve appeared at the corner of her mouth, then she tucked the stockings back exactly as they were.
“That… Loli, let me explain…”
Xi Wei stood awkwardly in place, guiltily looking at the girl kneeling on the ground, clutching the armor, wishing he could dig a hole and stuff himself into it.
“Master…”
“Hmm?”
Blushing, Loli stammered, “A-Actually, Master, if you like them, Loli has many more… all… all can be given to Master…”
“Ah, that’s not…” Xi Wei quickly waved his hands trying to explain, but Loli delivered the final blow.
“Everything about Loli belongs to Master… from now on, if Master wants something, just say it directly…” As she spoke, Loli glanced oddly at Xi Wei and added, “If… if Master likes the thrill of sneaking around, Loli can pretend not to see it.”
“Ah, okay… No, wait, I don’t like sneaking around, that day I, I…”
“Hmm?” Loli tilted her head, looking softly at Xi Wei.
Xi Wei stammered for a while without coming up with a coherent explanation. He couldn’t think of any reason whatsoever to explain why he would steal stockings! He couldn’t very well say it was a system requirement that stealing stockings would make him seem more perverted, more like a scoundrel villain?
“Master?”
“Alright, I stole them, I won’t do it again.”
Xi Wei gave in, despairing. The more he tried to explain, the worse it got, so he decided to just admit it openly. At this moment, he felt once again that he had transcended, from “not caring whether or not to be human” to “it’s okay even if I’m a pervert.”
“Master, it’s not about not doing it again, but about just taking it directly or asking Loli next time.”
Loli corrected Xi Wei’s words repeatedly, as if this point was extremely important.
“Alright, I understand.”
Xi Wei felt like a marionette controlled by Loli at this moment.
“Hehe~”
“Master, it’s late, let Loli attend to you for sleep.”
In the bed, Xi Wei lay on his side near Loli’s feet, thinking about the iron mine. His gaze inadvertently fell on the petite maid’s curled-up jade feet, creamy white and tender pink, making him unable to resist holding them in his hands and playing with them delicately.
He hadn’t touched them for a while and had missed them a bit. Actually, many people have this habit—thinking about things while fiddling with something. He was just a bit more refined, choosing not to fiddle with anything else but the soft, tender jade feet of the little maid.
“Ah~ Master… it tickles…”
Blushing, Loli could clearly feel the warmth of her master’s breath on her tiny feet. It was warm and tingling, making her heart feel like it might leap out of her chest. Now was the time for the master and maid to whisper softly at night. Loli obediently did not move her little feet away but chattered away, telling Xi Wei about her recent encounters without missing a word:
“Master, Mrs. Chris has had many elder sisters coming over these days. They say they are maids from some minor nobles in your territory. They come every day, lively, learning with Loli. And these sisters are really amazing. Before meeting them, Loli thought maids only needed to learn some etiquette. Now Loli realizes there are many areas where Loli lacks. These sisters are not only proficient in etiquette but also musical instruments, especially the flute. Loli hears them discussing it all the time.”
Her voice was full of longing and admiration, her star-like eyes sparkling.
“Loli also wants to learn the flute, and play it for Master when Master rests.”
Speaking of this, Loli’s expression turned somewhat troubled. She pouted her little mouth and said somewhat puzzledly:
“It’s just, for some reason, every time Loli asks those sisters, they say Loli is too young, her mouth is too small, not suitable for learning the flute, that if Loli insists on learning it, it would be very strenuous.”
“But what does age and the size of my mouth have to do with it? Their mouths aren’t big either.”
“When Loli went to ask why, Mrs. Chris and those sisters were mysterious, holding back laughter, just saying it’s still not suitable, telling me to come back and ask Master first.”
Indeed, it’s not suitable.
Xi Wei touched his nose, thinking that this instrument probably wasn’t quite proper. Seeing the little maid’s troubled face, he couldn’t help but comfort her:
“It’s okay, if not the flute, then learn something else, like the harp or the violin…”
“No.”
Loli shook her head, her large watery eyes blinking stubbornly:
“Those sisters all say that noble lords like the flute the most. They can learn it, so Loli will surely learn it too. So Loli must learn the flute well, to play for Master when Master is idle and tired.”
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Listening to it will probably make you even more tired…
Xi Wei remained silent, tactically quiet.
“Master…”
“Hmm?”
“Are you going to sleep now?”
Xi Wei was just about to say he was going to sleep when he heard a soft, sweet voice from the other end of the bed:
“Master… do you know how to make babies?”
Xi Wei thought he certainly knew, but he wasn’t planning to show it. The little maid was too young to know such things. So he smiled and said:
“Having babies is simple, just marry first, then live together, and then this and that, and before you know it, you have one.”
“Master, it’s not that simple, you really don’t know!”
Loli teased with a laugh, then after a moment of silence, continued with a blush:
“Master, Mrs. Chris taught me that to have a baby, just complete the last step of warming the bed.”
Xi Wei suddenly felt a weight on his chest, looked down, and saw the little maid, who was supposed to be at the other end of the bed, had crawled into his arms and was lying on his chest.
Loli’s flushed face, burning with shyness, gently nuzzled against his chest, gazing at him lovingly:
“Master, Mrs. Chris said that if we have a baby, Loli can be with Master forever. Master, should Loli and you finish the last step of warming the bed tonight? (/ω\)”
Xi Wei was silent for a moment, his heart conflicted. He couldn’t blame Mrs. Chris for teaching wrongly, as she meant well, considering Loli’s and his situation. Feeling the warm, tender touch on his chest, Xi Wei surely knew the little maid’s dependence and affection for him.
He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, recalling what he had seen in the Golden Lion territory.
This era is like this.
Noble maids are usually recruited from commoners, and at the level of an Earl, the threshold is higher, starting from daughters of minor nobles. But even so, their lives weren’t much better. They had to serve their masters diligently, enduring all kinds of menial labor. Sometimes, if they didn’t do well, made mistakes, or even did nothing wrong but the master was in a bad mood, they could suffer abuse and humiliation.
Even if a maid was favored by the master and shared his bed, their status wouldn’t change. In such a world, the principle of matching statuses is even stricter, especially among nobles. Giving a maid a title would be laughed at by other nobles, something that status-conscious nobles couldn’t accept.
Thus, the ultimate fate of a maid is to be driven away in old age or to die in the master’s castle. If they could bear a child for the master, the situation might be slightly better, but they would still be lowly mistresses, and their offspring would be illegitimate children who are not valued.
Nobles change mistresses as often as clothes; so-called mistresses are actually just personal belongings that can be discarded at will. Moreover, it’s common for nobles to exchange well-trained maids.
Xi Wei deeply pitied Loli’s fate and liked this girl who only had eyes for him. But as a demi-human, Loli was already discriminated against and despised by humans. For now, Xi Wei couldn’t give her a higher status, which was a kind of protective measure. Being a personal maid was the most suitable; such a status wouldn’t make her underestimated, nor would it draw attention due to her close relationship with him.
He had just taken over Winter City, and everything needed a transition process. He didn’t want to make the little maid a sacrificial lamb in terms of ideological concepts by giving her enough status, nor did he want her to suffer any harm. Moreover, Loli was still so young, even if he were to take her, it would be after his own safety issues were resolved and Loli had grown up a bit.
“Loli, you’re still too young, think about this matter later.”
Xi Wei gently declined, tightly hugging Loli’s slender waist, soothing her tender back with a gentle hand.
His actions were full of tenderness, afraid of hurting the little maid’s fragile self-esteem or making her misunderstand that he despised her origins.
“But…”
Loli wanted to say she was already an adult, but seeing her master’s gentle yet firm gaze, she disappointedly and reluctantly complied:
“Loli… will listen to Master…”
However, Master hadn’t completely rejected her, saying she should grow up a bit more. Where should she grow? Could it be here?
Loli looked down at her awkward figure, thinking of the elder sisters learning etiquette at Mrs. Chris’s place, all quite ample.
“Does Master need to help? I heard that could make it bigger.”
Blushing deeply, she buried her head, her face hotter and hotter, her thoughts increasingly muddled as sleepiness gradually overcame her. Nestled in the broad chest that made her feel utterly safe and comfortable, she drifted off to sleep.
