The Young Miss Has Changed

It had been about a month since I protected Ophelia from the assassin and as expected, they didn't catch him. I had caught a terrible fever from my injury and been left bedridden for two weeks. It felt terrible, I was tempted to just die. Mother was so worried about me that she would cry herself to sleep and I felt absolutely more terrible than the fever made me. I had only recently gotten back to work with everyone else and Mother was even hesitant to start my training again since my body was still so weak, not to mention something else. Ever since the assassination attempt, Ophelia has been acting strange around me. Really different.

"Ava, why are you lifting such a heavy box?! Have another servant do that."

"Ava, come sit. I just received a cake for tea time. Chocolate, your favorite."

"You're so messy, Ava. Let me get that for you."

"Ava."

"Ava."

The worry was expected I suppose, but what truly worried me was the way she said it and the way she looked at me. Ophelia had begun to look at me with much more adoration than she did before the attack, dare I saw love. Then again, I saved her from an arrow that would've undoubtedly caused her great harm. Maybe it was Messiah Complex but towards me. I'd probably never know because Ophelia would become terrified when I brought up the assassination. I decided not to bring it up until she was more comfortable with what happened, or never. Whatever came first. As of current, there was only one thing weighing on my mind. How had the meeting with Floyd gone?

At the moment, I was standing by Ophelia's side waiting for any orders while she enjoyed her lunch out on the balcony connecting to her room. Her face was serene as she enjoyed a sip of tea from her favorite teacup. If I was to ask her, this was the very best time.

"Ophie, I've been meaning to ask you something." My voice held the perfect amount of curiosity and nervous temperament to get Ophelia's attention. In fact, the second I opened my mouth she was all eyes on me.

"Really? What do you want to know?"

"Well, I didn't get to accompany you with meeting your fiancè and I wanted to know how it went."

Ophelia's face went completely blank. "You mean Prince Floyd?" I nodded. "I suppose it went alright, but I spent the whole meeting worrying about you. Nothing he said was interesting anyway."

I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. I had changed the story! Ophelia wasn't obsessed with the prince, which left hin up to the picking of the protagonist for her harem. She could have him, never a good fit for my lovely Ophie in my opinion. Anyone who would throw away and kill such a devoted partner was no good in my opinion.

I must've been smiling up a storm without my knowledge because I felt Ophelia tug on my uniform sleeve. I finally snapped back into reality and looked at her. Ophelia had a breathtaking smile on her sweet face and I couldn't help but gush.

Mr.Truck or Car, I'm so glad you hit me! I would've never got to see such a pure and cherubic smile without you! Oh god, she's unbelievably cute! I'm getting cavities!

"Are you that happy that my fiancè was boring?"

"Oh no, I just thought about your eventual wedding. You'll look so beautiful in a white dress." The lie came out of my mouth easily, but I did mean everything about the dress. Ophelia would find someone wonderful to marry, someone who would love her just as much as she loved them. That thought made me incredibly happy, but Ophelia gave me a frown.

"What's the point of marriage? It doesn't seem very important to me." Ophelia mumbled, looking away from me.

"Marriage isn't for everyone, but society deems it necessary. My beliefs on marriage are very different from others but... I believe marriage is the binding of two people who are in love. Race, gender, even appearance don't matter as long as they're in love. One day I sincerely hope that" I paused "No. I know that Ophie will find someone she loves with all her heart and who loves her back, even if only for a short time. That's all I could ever wish for."

I had closed my eyes and gotten so immersed in my speech that I had almost let slip some things. When I opened my eyes once more, Ophelia was looking at me with wide starstruck eyes. Her golden eyes seemed to bore into my entire being with pure... something and I couldn't help but shiver despite it being midsummer. "I-I apologize if I overstepped my bounds, Ophie."

"Not at all." Ophelia's smile spread from ear to ear, appearing to be extremely happy with my opinion and she turned back to her forgotten tea and lunch, most of it has gone cold. "Which reminds me, I'll be having some magic classes in the afternoon now."

"How wonderful, Ophie! Your magic will surely get better." That reminded me of the day when Ophelia had awakened her powerful nature magic. We'd been strolling in the garden years ago and I'd mentioned something about it being upsetting that the roses hadn't bloomed yet. Without warning the rosebuds had popped open, revealing their beautiful ruby red color and petals. Next to me, Ophelia was all smiles and saying "Now Ava gets to see the roses" over and over again. I had immediately reported such a thing to Lady Ysabelle and she was overjoyed. Ophelia turned out to be a prodigy, as I already knew, and excelled in her magic without any help. Truly an amazing little girl.

Which reminded me of something. The only reason Ophelia became so obsessed with Floyd was he was the first to show her affection in years. But I'd been showering her in affection for years before this, leaving no room for the mental and emotional damage she'd receive from her nanny and personal maid. Who had become me? How much had I already changed the story? Oh well, I wouldn't figure that out for at least ten more years.

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My training with Mother had resumed again and right now my task was to get two full buckets of water from the well and carry them back to where she was waiting. I guess it was to build up my strength again after my sickness. The well was right near the stables which wasn't strange. Horses needed water, you easily got the water from here for said horses. I was filling my buckets, quietly minding my business when I heard something. The bickering of boys. My school years were returning full force. Ugh.

"Just because you're father's a knight, you think you're better than us!"

"But you're still just a stable boy, just like the rest of us!"

"That's right!"

"You tell him, Saul!"

I couldn't suppress a soft sigh. No matter where you went, young guys were annoyingly loud. I'd live through it though. Whatever was happening in the stables was none of my business, but the knight's son thing caught me a bit off guard. Perhaps Lerone's son? Highly possible, but I didn't have the time to meet him or meddle in his business. My priorities right now were training and properly raising Ophelia to a lovely lady of virtue. Seemed like the universe didn't have that in mind for me though, because without warning a boy who looked my age ran out of the stables in my direction with four other boys hot on his trail. Before I could properly react, they had already run past and knocked down both of my water buckets, hydrating the grass around the well and leaving me waterless. It took a bit for my mind to catch up with what had happened.

My whole face burned when I realized my training clothes had gotten wet as well. Now I'd have to do more laundry too. My eyebrow twitched in anger as the boy continued to be chased before being tackled to the ground by one of the boys. I cared less about his situation at the moment, but my anger would most likely kill two birds with one stone. Teach some rowdy kids some manners and get my task done.

I stood up from the ground and put my buckets upright while the boy got his face shoved into the ground repeatedly by the boy on top of him while the other ones cheered and egged him on. I was still paid no attention as I slowly approached the boys to get a better look at them.

In total, there were five boys in all. Two looked to be my age, the ones on the ground in a one-sided battle to be exact. The other three looked to be around seven or eight possibly and thin. Definitely not a problem if I tried to fight them, but I preferred not to beat up children. That's pathetic and not my style.

My voice cut through all of the loud boy's voices, immediately silencing their cheering. Surprising considering that they were at that disagreeable age. "Hey. You knocked down my buckets and I lost my water." I threw my finger over my shoulder to point out the wet ground around them. None of them spoke or moved for a while and I was starting to get uncomfortable with all their stares. Their faces were somewhat flushed pink.

I realized at that point what had stunned them silent. My appearance. Last time I checked in the mirror, I looked like a pretty young girl who would eventually turn into a great beauty. It sounded like I was boasting, but it was true. I was a pretty young lady dressed in male fashion for training. Ugh. Had these kids never seen a girl before? "Have you all gone deaf or something?" I crossed my arms across my chest, hinting to my annoyance.

That seemed to finally snap them out of their stupor. The youngest kid spoke first after coughing. "S-sorry but we're kinda busy here-"

"So was I, but you interrupted my work and stalled it as well. I'd like a sincere apology."

"Like I was saying we're-"

"And like I was saying, I want an apology."

I was firm on my stance here. If I could rehabilitate Ophelia, I could teach some stable boys proper manners no biggie. Plus, I could easily tell that despite being stable boys they were physically on the weaker side. If things got physical, I could probably win. Then again I might have just gotten cocky.

The once silent boy sitting on the other boy's back stood up to look at me and gestured towards the boy on the ground, the other three boys going to restrain him to the ground. He really had it bad. That sucked. Before long, the two of us were staring each other down. Well, he was slightly taller than me so I was staring up at him and he was staring down at me. I took in his appearance casually. If it weren't for the grime and dirt coating him and his hair, he probably would've been a cute kid. Blue eyes and blonde hair, the whole shebang. I wasn't into underage kids though, despite technically being underage myself. We were stuck in our staring match for a good bit with him being the first to turn away. First win, great.

"Look, sorry about your buckets but we're busy here."

"And who might you be?"

"Saul."

"Well, Saul. That apology of yours didn't sound sincere at all."

Saul gaped at me for a second before regaining his composure with a smile. "You sure we can't work anything out?" He held his palm up, a small flame appearing out of it, like a warning. Is that really how this is gonna be? I couldn't help but let out a sigh.

All I wanted was an apology out of you. Why'd you have to make it so difficult?!

"Is that a threat?" I asked, staring him down still. The fire wasn't very scary. Once you got burned once you learned how not to. Even if my wind magic would feed the flames, that just meant I wouldn't be using my magic.

"What if it is?"

"Then I'd like to see you try and hit me."

I could hear the other boys snickering at my words but that was fine. The bigger they are, the harder they fall as they say. I was fully prepared for the flames that erupted in front of me and headed towards me. Too flashy. Without any thought, I went under the flames and with a kick to the stomach and a grunt, Saul was on the ground.

"First of all, don't get flashy. It ruins your fighting credibility." Before he could say anything, I stood up and sent a stomp to his stomach. He wheezed and I blinked. "Secondly, don't underestimate your opponent no matter age or gender. There's always someone better than you." I summoned my wind magic around my leg and stomped on him once again. I'll admit I did underestimate him. I would work on that in the future. "And finally, use what you have already. You might've been able to physically overpower me, but you went for your magic which you're inexperienced and weak with. Those were your mistakes. Please learn from them in the future."

With a final kick to the side, the battle was decided and over. Saul was on the ground, wheezing and probably badly bruised. I felt a bit bad about that, but I was attacked first. Back to my original task. I turned to look at the three other boys who were simply in shock at the beating their- friend? Leader? Whatever had received. "Now then. What was it I asked for earlier?"

"W-we're sorry ma'am!"

"Really sorry!"

"So sorry! Please forgive us!"

I smiled. "That's what I like to hear. Now grab your friend and beat it. He needs medical attention." I watched as the kids scrambled to grab Saul and stumble away from me in terror, leaving the boy on the ground to stare at me in disbelief.

"You're Lerone's son, right?" I asked, staring at him with a bored look. Mother was definitely going to be upset when I came back since I was going to be much later than usual. How annoying.

The bruised boy stared at me in amazement before nodding slowly. Well, at least Lerone wasn't lying. This kid would definitely become a looker in the future. Dark blue hair like the ocean, tanned skin and I couldn't tell his eye color due to his bangs. I walked towards him and before he could crawl away I pulled up his bangs carefully to reveal gray, no black eyes like charcoal staring back at me.

"How pretty...." His face flushed and I realized I had said that out loud. Oh, whatever. The damage has already been done. I released his bangs to let them fall back over his eyes. "You really let them lay into you."

"..... It was five against one.."

"And in a one on one, I got all of them to leave."

He looked down in shame. I often forgot that this world was still very traditional in some senses, one being women were weak physically and fragile. That kinda thing. He probably felt terrible. Good to teach em young then. "You've received proper training, right? You're a knight's son." He shook his head.

Lerone the hell. I can't believe you've left your kid with no self-defense skills.

I let out another sigh before looking at him. "Next Sunday, at 4:00 pm. I'll teach you some things. Watching you just take it was pitiful.'

He stared at me in shock before slowly nodding. I nodded too and turned away before remembering something. "What's your name?"

".... Merlin."

"Nice to meet you, Merlin. I'm Ava." I looked back at him. "Now get back to work. I know I have to."

Merlin stood up quickly and ran off, the tips of his ears still a bit pink. Strange kid. Then again, a twenty-year-old in a ten-year-old kid body was strange too. I went back to my buckets and couldn't help but sigh. Mother would chew me out for days about this. With a groan, I began collecting water once again. I had failed to notice the singed tips of my hair and clothes which Mother worried about for the rest of the day when I returned.

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A young girl sat on the couch of a lavishly furnished room, sipping tea quietly before a frown appeared on her small face. The other maids never made her tea the way she liked. Not like her maid did. Lost in her thoughts, an aged butler entered the room quietly without the girl noticing before he let out a soft cough to announce himself.

"Ah, Fredric." She gazed at the old geezer with great interest. "Tell me what happened today."

Fredric bowed and began to speak. "Today, Miss Ava did all of her chores with assistance from the other servants without mishaps." She nodded, clearly happy before Fredric spoke again. "However, there was a problem during her training."

The teacup in the girl's hand was suddenly gripped tightly and her lips trembled. "What happened?! Is Ava alright?! Must I call a doctor?!"

Fredric let out another cough. "No. Miss Ava simply ran into some unruly stable boys and got into a scuffle. She was alright except for a couple of burns on her clothes and in her hair."

Directly after Fredric finished, the teacup in the girl's hand had the whole porcelain handle shatter into pieces, the cup falling to the carpeted floor with a thump. She began to shake violently, her nature magic slowly creeping out around her as thin vines. "Find them."

"P-Pardon?"

"Find those stable boys and punish them accordingly. I will not have fights among servants in my home."

"....... As you wish, Young Miss."

Fredric dismissed himself with a bow and left the room, calling a maid to come and clean up the mess of the teacup. As he walked down the halls of the Dubannes Mansion, the old man couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead with his handkerchief. Ever since the assassination attempt, he'd been tasked by the Young Miss with watching young Ava and reporting to her about any events. Originally, he had thought she was simply worried about the girl's injury but now he knows that it went a bit deeper than that. His Young Miss had truly gone strange. Perhaps the best way to stitch this back together was separation.

Thinking back to the cracking of the teacup, Fredric couldn't help but shake his head. That would just make things worse. It would be best to just see where the situation went from here. The old butler couldn't help but let out another sigh, the situation reminding him of something that happened long ago.

Truly, Young Miss Ophelia had gone strange, just like that woman Martha had once known.

[ This chapter ended up coming out a bit rushed to me, so sorry if the quality happens to be bad. I'll try to get better at pacing. Once again, thank you for reading and enjoying this story. Remember to leave a vote and comment if you enjoyed! ]