Chapter 276: What They Carry
Lyria's POV
The maids exchanged a look between themselves before turning back to me.
There was a beat of silence.
Then Pippa spoke.
"This is happening faster than we expected."
I frowned.
"W-what do you mean?"
Elara sighed.
"Sit first, Your Highness," she said.
I frowned at her but did as I was told, settling into the chair at the desk and folding my hands in my lap.
Elara studied me for a moment before she began.
"You suspected correctly," she said. "We are more than ordinary maids, Your Highness. We are yours to use, as you see fit."
She paused, as though gathering the words she needed.
"All of us," she continued, "carry histories that shaped us long before any of us became maids."
She offered a soft smile, though it did not entirely reach her eyes.
"I, for instance, was once the Queen's maid. A lady-in-waiting, in truth. Not a servant in the way you have known me."
I frowned.
"You were a n-noble?"
