145 Out of the dorms and into....(2/2)
"You're doing great. Keep going. " Georgie whispers from behind, thumbs up.
"...Right. Account number ....Lily. You have a total of....100 points. Yes. Just because!" bullshits the poor man.
My sister gasps and screams in excitement. The babysitters play along, all 'yaaaaaaay, good job young miss Lilyanne!" and "whoopee, you got imaginary points. For nothing.".
Everyone is doing such a great job putting up with this.
"How come stinky has 100 points and I got nada?!" Lukas sniffles, getting held back with Amar's petting.
"There there. That's her stinky points. You don't have those because you're not stinky. It's ok. We can earn more real credits later. " Amar comforts him in a hug. A very wet and messy hug as Lukas bawls.
How adorable. Ridiculous. But adorable still.
"How many points do you have, Rosa?" Lukas distracts himself, looking over to me with those big teary polar bear gray eyes.
"Zero and infinity. " I state immediately.
"No way. That makes nada sense!"
"Yes way, I'm Rosalia. Now let's get out of here. Everyone go go go. My delicate sensibilities can't take this much longer. " I order us all out.
Soon, before I climb and jump out the window in desperation. I feel I need a bath after this and I didn't even touch anything! Baths! Baths for everyone, especially the boys! Deep clean everything!
"Mr. Malcolm. A word. " I ask for a moment when we're safe and out of that floor of those barnyard dorms.
"Yes, young miss? Uh...." he looks towards Georgie and Yuna once more, unsure and afraid, even more so than before with my twin.
"Just listen to the princess. " Yuna advises.
"It makes her happy. Ssssh, play along. " Georgie gives two thumbs up this time.
"That one isn't as feral and sometimes she drops good loot. " Yuna adds on unnecessarily.
Rude much? Loot? What am I, a little video game monster?!
"Just smile and nod. If it threatens you...do not show fear or hesitation. You will survive." even Cass has something to say.
Why is everyone's treatment and opinion of me this state of low?
"You are all very rude. Now come. '' I snap to a clean and private corner, motioning for Georgie to keep watch as I force Mr. Malcolm to follow.
Looking around, I make sure no one is a witness or spying. Unless they're a secret guard or some crap. But then they already know too much about me.
"Take this. Scrape into clean water or the regular stuff for a better scrub wash." I pull out cases of plain soap from my magic purse.
Yes, cases. It's obviously very necessary.
I admit I've gone a little crazy about mass soap production after the visit to the leprosarium. But what right do I have to judge others when the home territory is this deplorable?!
It's a sad but necessary cost. Imagine if illness spread in a place like this. I'm surprised it hasn't already. Loss of product again, even if it's the ugly unsellable stock. I'll simply have to deduct the payment from grampa or the administration rooms again.
"Uh..." Malcolm stands at a loss for words, watching the magic show that is cases and cases of barely packaged soap fill up the wall all from one little girl's purse.
I make quite the sight, yes I am aware.
"Be tougher with them. Especially those in debt. Use them as labor if need be. We'll be allocating a better work rotation system sometime in the near future. Thank you for your opinions and hard work." I pat at the employee, hardly reaching his knee caps.
"Oh right, I almost forgot, " I rummage through my purse again.
It's a little hard to navigate with all the stuff I have packed in here sometimes.
Pulling out my crest in a little metal stamp, a charcoal drawing pencil, and a sad little page of rough paper parchment ripped from somewhere, I stamp my mark and orders.
A list of items to do, as per my orders. A certain amount more funds allocated if taken to one of the offices or administration buildings. New chores and regulations to implement. A list of names and history on my own minions, whatever their id numbers were.
So many things to look into. Like what the hell the deal is about all those confiscated knives and arrows? I don't think they were some friendly presents?!
This would have been easier if I just left those kids to rot the day I met them all. But here we are and now I don't have the luxury of looking away.
I rub my personal crested stamp onto the final end with my name. There we go, it's official now.
Ah to think I would be using this thing already in troublesome things like this.
"Here you go. You may collect more allocations by following the specifications. I suggest making an appointment with the accounting department of the main house, oh wait let me get you his ID. Hmmm yes, Nikola will do. Yes, he will help you with figuring things out better regarding the dorm finances. I know uncle Geoff is already overworked so I'll go beat grampa to help take care of things better. " I stamp and pass my crude little documentation.
This is about as professional as I can get for now. Please excuse me due to my youth and inexperience.
".....uh...." Malcolm stares even more blankly. He even pinches himself, not only in the hand but the face, as he receives my stamp.
"A thank you will do ." I snap the dazed man back to the waking world.
"Th-thank you very much, young mistress Rosalia! May the heavens grace the eldest young miss Rosalia Ventrella. " he suddenly bows low, receiving me on his knees with praise and groveling.
Finally, the respect I deserve.
"That will do quite nicely." I nod in approval.
"All hail! Such might. Such wisdom! Our savior!"
" Oh ho ho! Yes that's more like it. "
For the goodness that is common sense and proper respect, I shall also gift ...more soap.
It's all I have ok?
Fine fine fine, have some cold cream and nicer personal soap. Keeping clean is a virtue and safety precaution. You know what? For putting up with Lilyanne so well, you may even have some soda bottles I keep in here.
I'm not entirely a cheapskate, despite what Yuna says.
Yes, praise me more! More!
"She's having too much fun with this. " a voice that sounds suspiciously like the grumpy cat says in the distance.
"Sssssshhhh, let her be. It makes her happy and isn't it nice when we don't have to do it." hits back Georgie.
"Rosa! Are you done making people bow to you yet!? Gable says I gotta be back with Cap by sundown or I get no bacon. Amar do you wanna come over again?! " Lukas shouts out.
"Lily too!" my sister shouts.
"Ew not you stinky. Amar you're coming right? We can have pie! Gable says we can have pie. Oh Rosa likes pie too." Lukas ignores her in favor of swinging hands with Amar.
"Big bruder homewrecker!" my sister sounds out again.
"I don't even know what that means but I didn't break anything today. Not any houses or homes. " Lukas says, defending himself.
"Pie? What kind? " Amar is already lured, possibly the easiest child to kidnap.
Alright then. Time to get back to the children. So much to do, so much to see too. These brats simply just can't get on without me.
"Thank you very much, and make those appointments. Good day. " I courtesy and take my leave.
Oh the dorms suck. Oh they suck so much. This is too much work but someone has to do it. Noting. Noting to go smack grampa to set someone on this. Anyone. Oh hell, that's useless I better go straight to father. Who cares if he's busy at least he gets things done.
Note that down Abbey!
...Wait.
Abbey?
Oh my god, we forgot Abbey.
"Does anyone remember where we placed Abbey?!" I yell out to the minions and babysitters. Much to everyone's surprise.
"I believed I laid her down in one of the empty bunks?" Cass states.
"Oh yeah Abbey. " even Georgie, her closest co-worker, slipped up.
"Meh, go brats go. Sniff her out, wherever the hell we left her. " Yuna motions to Lukas and Amar. As if they were trained dogs instead of little kids.
I hate to say it but it actually works.
"This one." leads Amar.
"Heeeeeey! Wake up now Abbey!" Lukas goes jumping, the cutest and most painful alarm clock.
"Ooompf?! W-where am I? What happened? Y-young miss?" the little maid wakes up in confusion and fright, also with a Lukas on her stomach.
Right. Moving on. Let's not get into how no one is technically paid enough to deal with all this.
Also, I want to see what house shopping is like before dinner time!
Didn't Lukas say something about pie? Pie with Gable? Gable feeding me pie from his own glorious hands?! Oh, the thought alone is swoon-worthy.
Yes, please.
"Told you Rosa really likes pie." Lukas says.
"Okay. I like pie too but don't think I can come over today. Cass needs help right?" Amar turns to the older woman. One who always seems to have a protective gaze or hand on the child.
"That would be helpful, yes. It would be easier. " she turns down to him.
It's really not hard to figure out just who this strange 'maid' has her loyalties placed on. How troublesome. Oh well. The minion of my minion is still my minion to most of the extent.
Let's just say I rule all? Yes that's better. Very suitable for a villainess such as I.
"You want your own place? Why not anything in the troop walls? It's safer in here isn't it?" I ask out of curiosity.
"Not always. Besides. It is not as convenient as elsewhere. " Cass responds to the question.
"It's also pricey if you don't have something allocated to you. Dorms are alright but a private place with more room? You gotta be senior with credits or rich as hell. You know Tamera lives off whatever Vincent got off the creep Hoody. " Yuna supports her with costs.
"You mean the ...thing...under that one bridge. " Georgie grimaces, obviously not approving of whatever he saw there.
"Yeah that, comfier and roomier than it looks I'll give him that. I crash all the time. Or as Tamera puts it, make sure Vincent isn't dead when she's not around. Pfft, okay yeah fair trade." Yuna scoffs.
"Awww look at you, you do care. " Georgie teases the younger teen.
"Homewrecker cares." Lilyanne copies and coos.
"...D-did I miss something?" Abbey still follows along confusedly.
Same Abbey, same. Oh well, we're just rolling with it. That's the best we can do.
"You're gonna live with Cass full time now, right Amar?" I make sure with my minion.
Since I don't know if this child fully understands a lot of things. He's a lot more unpredictable and brain-damaged than he looks. It's quite worrisome.
"I don't know?" he says, getting a pinch in the face from Cass.
"I guess so? Everyone made me give up the dorm spot and I don't really try to get another. I sleep more at Vincent's when I'm here. " Amar reasonably answers.
"Okay, that's better for you anyway. You can't keep getting kidnapped. That's actually very bad. Please don't be kidnapped, or go around saying it." I try teaching Amar.
I'm glad someone came for him. Even if it's just a very secretive maid. I'm glad this kid is getting something a little more stable, and maybe someone that actually cares about him. What a deceptively expensive thing.
If I got into such strange trouble I end up far away, would any of my servants come for me like that?
I think not!
Well, no worries about that. For now, I just get followed by guards and grounded by my parents. I don't need to worry about myself like that for a few more years.
Still got plenty of these childhood years to mooch of the Ventrellas for. I'll save and stock up well.
But practicing property shopping in this world can never start too early.
"Cass you already have a place in mind right? Where? What does the neighborhood like? What's the cost per space? What's the building material? Does it have a proper chimney for ventilation? Where did you meet your seller? " I could go on and on.
"Oh look, the ride is here." she swiftly avoids answering a thing.
Ah, what a tricky sub-minion. I don't like it.
"It's okay Rosa, you'll see soon. You can even make things happen if you wanna? " Amar comforts that I was left hanging and leaves it at that.
Outside the gates, we're met with the darkest and blackest taxi carriage I have ever seen. Steeds of eerily still black horses, radiating a faint black smoke. From the rider in me, I see that the movement and structure of the steeds are very unnatural. Cool looking, but as fake as a video game.
"I know I owe you a lot, and you're holding my second cloak hostage too, but do you really have to leave me to wait for so....ACK!?" Vincent, the fragile and dainty necromancer pulls open the carriage door only to slam in back close.
How utterly rude?!
"...He was not expecting so many of you." Cass turns and says plainly.
"Oh come on, we won't make that much trouble. Right girls?" Georgie pleads.
"N-no?" Abbey responds.
"Of course not. Vincent you better be getting those seats ready or I will consider it rudeness on my part. " I warn.
Somewhere, Yuna is snickering in the back. While Cass face palms and bends down to warn both Amar and Lukas to 'never grow up like that'. Whatever that means.
A few moments later, not only does Vincent stumble back out with the seats plush and furnished, but he even combed his hair and changed into a nicer outer shir.
Yes now, this is the service I expect.
"It's, uh, no- no problem. " the necromancer turned driver lets us in, the exposure turning his cheeks pink. While we all properly say, or shout out, our thanks, one, in particular, makes him turn even pinker.
Oh ho ho ho, teenagers. Oh ho ho, so funny!
"Oh wow, even the little princess figured it out. Oh that's just sad Vinnny boy, step up." Yuna teases, partly hanging off the older boy.
"Figured out what?" Georgie knocks and seats himself with Abbey.
Strangely my little maid looks a lot more alive, sneaking peeks around. The close proximity doesn't mean all that much to her given how much they work together but this much still makes her blush. Ah puberty.
"Nothing!" Vincent yelps, smacking a laughing Yuna as he climbs to the driver seat. The terrible teenager scooting along to torture him.
"So....house shopping?" I ask again, no room for any liars to escape in here.
"Yes, spill. " Georgie finally supports me, but only on the strangest things.
And so we ride off to inspect the very limited but growing buildings along the wide road. Wagon bus stations getting larger and more comfortable, with actual benches and roofs, after the roads were further repaved and improved. There are even one or two high hanging light lanterns on them now!
Somewhere in the time I haven't been looking, small market stalls have opened up nearby some stations. A breakfast stall closing for the day. A grilled meat and refreshment stall opening. A signboard for advertisements or bus route maps. They're all little things, nothing to really mention in any history books.
But they're signs of life and improvement. Something that people want and use. It's not a bad feeling seeing the results of all this hard work in the littlest ways.
In between all this growth, further down, people are building more things along the road. Shops. Inns. Small farms. Homes. It's a surprising turn of events.
Or is it really?
Deep in between, bordering the nothing, Cass wants to purchase a house. Make it into her home. Even if she hasn't been here long.
Also not a bad feeling. Not bad at all.
"Why is it a cave though? " I ask, getting off the carriage to finally see ...rocks.
Cass rolls up her sleeves as a filthy Tamera comes rolling out like a miner. There's an almost evil look on her calm face, when she turns to the rest of the baby sitters.
"You said there was 'so much work to do', yes Georgie boy?" she taunts.
Oh dear. Oh no.
"Whooo look at all these helping hands?! Fun! Come here Rosa, it's been a while since I got you any muscle training. We got a few more things to break and even more things to lift and stick in!" Tamera shouts out.
Ahhhhhh! Never mind! Too much work! Too much work! It was a trick?! A trap! Make my own?! We have to make everything?! I don't like this! Ahhhhhh!
Let's just say I was very sore for days after. Ow.