Seraphina's eyelids trembled, slowly opening her eyes, her brows furrowed in confusion when saw an unfamiliar ceiling on top of her. Finding herself in such a situation, it didn't take long for her dizzy mind return to normal, she quickly sat up, feeling slight pain on her face as did and soon, memories of what happened before she passed out freshened up in her mind.
'Elara…'
She thought inwardly, clearly remembering how that girl overpowered her. Unwittingly, Seraphina's hand moved towards her nose.
She then started looking around, trying to figure out where she was. The room was quite exquisite, it was much grander than her room back in the Stormweaver Mansion, the bed was extremely comfortable, and expensive tapestries lined the walls, depicting scenes of grandeur and victory, gilded furniture, silken draperies, and ornate chandeliers adorned the space.
'Heh, I can't believe that even a random room here is much better than one of the best rooms in our Mansion.' A wry smile appeared on Seraphina's face.
It didn't take her long to realize that she was still in the Vesta Mansion, after she passed out in her spar against Elara, they must have brought her here and seeing as how she wasn't experiencing much pain, the medics must have healed her injuries as well.
'Heh, as expected of the Vesta Family… their grandeur is not something a normal person can comprehend.'
Seraphina shook her head as she chuckled.
While she thought all that, the doors of the room suddenly opened and a servant walked in.
It was a familiar face.
"Lily…" Seraphina called out with a strange expression on her face.
She didn't know how to react in front of his previous personnel maid of her. From what Seraphina suspected, her current condition was largely due to the information Lily had leaked, in her eyes, Lily had placed the entire Stormweaver Family in a situation where they were nothing but official slaves who worked under Young Master Vaan.
But even then, Seraphina couldn't blame this woman.
After all, he was the one who betrayed her first. If she hadn't abandoned her, Vaan wouldn't have gotten the chance to break through her defenses and get her on his side.
It was all Vaan's trap and she fell right into it.
"You are awake," Lily spoke as she looked into Seraphina's eyes. "I shall inform the Young Master, he will be here soon, meanwhile, please eat some fruits, it will hasten your recovery." As she said those words, she moved a table next to Seraphina's bed.
Seeing her acting like that, Seraphina understood how her previous maid wanted to play it out.
Complete ignorance.
Unlike Seraphina, who was still stuck with complicated emotions and didn't know how to deal with her maid, Lily had no such reservations. She treated Seraphina like a normal guest of the Master she served, completely ignoring her previous relationship with her.
This was Lily's way of severing all ties with Seraphina.
After all, who would want to stay close to a woman who can abandon you any minute for her own benefit?
Seraphina smiled wryly, no words came out of her mouth and she simply nodded.
"I will be taking my leave." Lily bowed her head as she walked away.
Seraphina's eyes then fell on the fruits that Lily had left and soon, she realized that they weren't even cut, they were just placed on a table along with a knife, it was as if Lily was saying, 'Don't expect me to work for you, I only serve Young Master. If you wish to eat fruits, cut them yourself.'
'Heh.' A smile appeared on Seraphina's face as she picked a fruit and the knife and started eating.
After all, she had nothing better to do.
10 minutes later, the doors of the room opened again and Vaan walked in.
"Hm?"
Vaan tilted his head in confusion when he saw how Seraphina was the one peeling the apple for herself but soon, he realized what happened and smiled wryly as well, "I should have asked someone else to do it, that woman was a bad choice."
Seraphina looked into Vaan's eyes, she didn't know if he genuinely meant his words of whether it was just one of his mind games and honestly, she didn't care,
"It is alright, Young Master Vaan. I am already grateful that the Medics of the Vesta Family have treated me, I am actually in quite a good condition right now, so this isn't very difficult for me."
Her answer was as polite as ever.
Vaan looked into her eyes for a while, then, he just smiled, "Well, I was the one who called you for help, so of course I would have the medics treat you. I know this is a bit difficult, but I want you to hold out for the next few days, you are the only one I can rely on right now."
"Next few days…?" Suddenly, Seraphina's expression changed.
"That is correct. I want you to come here and spar with Elara for the next few days, if you want, you can even stay here in the Vesta Mansion, I can have the servants arrange a better room for you. This one was prepared in a hurry."
Vaan replied and Seraphina frowned in confusion.
She could understand if it was just for one day, Elara must have been frustrated by everything she had done to her directly or indirectly and Vaan must have wanted her to take her anger out on her.
But they wanted to continue this for the next few days…?
What…?
She couldn't understand, was her performance not satisfactory enough? She was told to gather Spell Directories and she did, in fact, she gathered so many that in the end, Vaan had to give up and was forced to order her not to bring any more directories till asked.
She even tried to recruit Advance Mage Eliza Vesta to Vaan's side.
Did she perhaps miss something?
Something that Vaan wanted her to do and she failed to notice?
Seraphina's mind started moving. However, no matter how she thought about it, nothing came to her mind.
"I need to continue sparring with Lady Elara for the next few days…?" Seraphina asked again, wanting to confirm if she missed something.
"Yes."
"But Lady Elara is already stronger than me… Unlike the air she gives, she is actually quite an expert when it comes to physical fights, I don't see any reason for her to waste her time on me, especially when Elemental Clash is around the corner. Wouldn't it be better for her to prepare for Elemental Clash rather than doing this?"
Seraphina questioned.
She knew her method was tactless. One of the most important things one had to take note of while serving a Young Master was to never question their decisions since it might hurt their tiny egos, as long as one remained loyal and agreed to everything their Master said, they would have an easy life in the future.
Here, however, this tactic couldn't work, it was okay if it was just a one-time thing, but Seraphina wasn't willing to get beaten up every single day. She had to come up with something to get out of this situation.
"This is her preparing for the Elemental Clash."
Vaan, however, gave a ridiculous answer.
"What?"
Seraphina blinked, her mouth remained open due to surprise.
"Sparring with you is Elara's way of preparing for the Elemental Clash."
"Young Master Vaan, I do not understand, what would she ge-"
"Ability to hurt her opponents, that is what she would get out of this. Surprisingly, or non-surprisingly, you are the only person in the entire world that girl hates, I wanted to use that hate to get her to willingly attack you, yet even then, I was forced to get her intoxicated for that to work.
Of course, it isn't a long-term situation, I can't have her drink alcohol before every fight in order to win, therefore, I want her to get used to beating people up and to do that,
She will be fighting you every day, each day, I would reduce the alcohol she needs, till the point where she won't need it anymore and can beat you up without being under the influence of any drinks.
Till we achieve that,
You need to become her punching bag."
This was Vaan's grand plan, get Elara used to punching people, then once she is comfortable, she would shift to Magic Spars where Elara uses Magic to hurt her opponents. In Vaan's head, it was only the degree of injury that is increased, it shouldn't be much difficult for his Elara from that stage.
After all, he didn't start with directly breaking bones either. It was a slow process where he grew from pulling hair, poking eyes, to punching heavily and breaking bones.
His little gangster will take small steps to grow and he will accompany her throughout her journey.
"…"
Seraphina didn't know how to react to those words…
Punching bag…?
Was this the 'help' this bastard wanted from her…?
"Alright, don't look so dejected, if it makes you feel any better, you aren't the only punching bag I have in my mind, you have partners."
"What…?" Seraphina blinked. Was that supposed to make her feel better?
But even then, curiosity got the better of her and, "Who are they?" She questioned.
"Asher and the party."
Vaan spoke with a big smile on his face.
"It has been a while since Asher has been useful."
