“How many minutes?” the pigtails maid asks cryptically after locking the door to the room.

“10 minutes, give or take a few.” replies the boy as he lies on the warm, comfortable bed.

“Then I guess we better hop to it. Master, please remove your pants."

“Synnove, I think you’re severely overestimating my ability to perform under such short amount of time."

“I need to stitch the wound on your left hip now.”

“I’m pretty sure you can do that without the need to take off my pants completely.”

“Master…” the pigtails maid uses her iron-hand-under-a-silk-glove voice. “Pants. Off. Now.”

“Can I at least put my shirt back on?” begs the boy.

“Nope. We don’t want to disturb the stitches on your chest so soon. They might get ripped.”

“Not even a child would believe such flimsy excuse.” the boy grumbles as he struggles to remove his pants while still lying on the bed, a difficult task since he has only one good hand.

“Good. Now I need Master to take off his underwear as well.”

“…Okay, I’ll bite. What the hell for?”

“How else am I going to check what Master is packing?”

“That’s just plain sexual harassment!”

“Fine. Keep the underwear. I don’t even have to guess Master’s girth. It’s practically peeking at me from under there.”

“…”

The pigtails maid takes out some more threads from her pocket and together with the needle that was previously used to stitch the wound on the boy’s chest, begins to attend to her master’s injuries in the lower region.

“I don’t know which would kill me first: the poison from Master Haithur’s blade which is currently in the process of shutting down the organs in my body one by one, or the throbbing headaches caused from dealing with you.”

“I think Master is confusing his headaches with shyness. And incidentally Master’s head isn’t the only thing throbbing in this room right now.”

“Being a little shy is fine, you know. In fact some may say that shyness enhances a girl’s appeal and adorability factor by tenfold. Most men might find boldness in a girl to be intimidating, a turn-off even.”

“Ah, but we both know that Master isn’t most men. And the other throbbing thing I mentioned earlier actually refers to my heart by the way.”

“…”

“Now who’s the one with the dirty mind?”

“I would have raised my left hand and say ‘Guilty as charged’, but I’ve run out of strength to do so.”

“Anyway, don’t be fooled by the cool and impassive front that I’m putting on right now, Master. Even though my hands are coolly and steadily stitching the wounds on your left hip, inside me brews a storm of passion and feelings, currently trying to rage its way up to the surface.”

“I think you’re confusing your lust and murderous intent with passion and feelings. And did you use the word ‘cool’ to describe yourself twice just now?”

“Yes. Is there something wrong with that?”

“Coolness is awarded, not claimed.”

“Then in the coolness category, I will award ten marks for Master’s performance when he took the blade to the chest this morning.”

“I will accept those marks graciously. And nice acting as well, Synnove. Those tears almost looked genuine for a second there… almost. I didn’t even need to use my powers to see through them.”

“Thank you, Master. And before I forget to mention, the ten marks is out of a hundred by the way.”

*shouts “What? It wasn’t a ten out of ten score?”

“Actually, the 10 marks I gave Master is more than generous.”

“It’s because I did that 360° spin, isn’t it?”

“It was a bit too much, yeah.”

“I knew I overdid something.”

“Anyway, why did Master think my tears aren’t real if you didn’t use your powers to find out?

“It’s because I’ve already seen your real crying face before.”

“Well that’s not playing fair, Master. I have yet to see yours.”

“Give it a few second. Based on the amount of pain that’s gradually increasing throughout my body, I might be crying tears of blood anytime now.”

“Is there any way to relieve the pain, Master?”

“Do you see any blueberry muffins in the vicinity of this room, Synnove?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t have one on me right now.”

“Then the answer is no.”

“If Master is up to it, then maybe we could-“

“I thought you wanted to relieve my pain, not increase it.”

“Pain can be overwritten, taken over by a greater pleasure.”

“…”

“Hot steamy pleasure, where you’re body tingles as it encounters wave after wave of never ending bliss washing over you, until you’re reduce to a mass of quivering--

“Hey, remember what I’ve earlier said about the virtues of being shy?”

“I have no mood for such games. Unless of course, Master wants me to play the role of a shy librarian. In which case, I have several costume in my secret stash that we can-“

“Synnove, you’re drooling. Control yourself.”

“Sorry Master. I lost myself for a bit there.”

“Clearly.”

“Anyway, like I’ve mentioned before, I’m in no mood for such games. Not based on the dwindling time that we’re facing. How long did Master say we have before the Razors attack?”

“30 years, give or take a few years.”

“See? Even though it seems so far away, time is running out. And I rather no waste a second of it being apart from Master.”

“Then I guess we should stop dancing around the issue and address the elephant in the room.”

“When is Master going to sleep with me?”

“There’s no beating around the bush with you, is there?”

“Well?”

You know, I think I’m the first guy ever in the history of the Grandiel Continent to be pressured into an indecent proposal by a princess.”

*in an agitated voice “Master…”

“Gods, I thought the stuff we did last night should have been enough to satisfy you and keep you from bringing up the issue at least for another month.”

“That should have been the case, but due to the events in Rolfe Primero’s manor this morning, it kinda left me running on empty.”

“Yeah, Rolfe has that effect on people.”

“I guess she has withdrawn her offer that Master can go out with the both of us at the same time.”

“No, the offer is still on the table.”

“Then what crawled up her ass and died?”

“You did.”

“Excuse me?”

“You somehow managed to get under her skin.”

*smiles “Really?”

“Don’t be too happy about it, Synnove. If I was you, I would be crapping my pants right about now. In fact, let me check… Nope, still haven’t lost control over my bowels.”

“Shame, I was looking forward to giving Master a nappy change.”

“Anyway, Rolfe seems to think you might be someone she encountered before in her past. And now, she’s probing you for weakness. Trying to see if you will crack under pressure.”

“Well if I’m going to break, I’ll never do it in front of her. I won’t give her the satisfaction. If there’s one lesson my mother taught me that has stuck with me throughout the years, is that you should never let them see you bleed.”

“Wise words indeed, but I’m afraid it’s kinda too late for me.”

“Is Master referring to the events today or…”

“Nope. I’m talking about the first time I appeared in the north hall. Running my mouth the way I did. Practically painted a bullseye on my back and everyone around me… Well, everyone that I care for anyway. But you have to understand I was overly excited that everyone is alive again.”

*raises eyebrow “Overly excited? Was that the only excuse to explain Master’s behaviour that night?”

“Okay, maybe the several millenniums I spent in the Time Abyss didn’t exactly make me the most stable of person.”

“And…”

“I lost control over some of the powers the little girl gave me…”

“…”

“Fine! I was a bit eager to try out my powers and you guys look like you would make good test subjects for me to experiment with. But I’m genuinely sorry about that, okay?”

“Is Master sorry about toying with other people’s secrets, or sorry that you’ve brought unwanted attention to yourself.”

“…the second one.”

“Well, as long as Master is honest about it. Anyway, if you wish, I can place Master’s friends under my Kingdom’s protection.”

“Thanks for the offer, but I’ll find a way. An opportunity will present itself tomorrow that may help me resolve that issue, or at least help alleviate it for a while.”

“Tomorrow? Is Master going on another trip?”

“Maybe. Why? Are you interested on accompanying me?”

“Where Master goes, it is the duty of the maid to follow.”

“I was afraid you might say that. You do know you’ve been missing a lot of lessons lately?”

“I am at the top of my class and have gotten the highest marks in all my tests. Believe me when I say this, even if I skipped all my classes until the end of the year, it won’t even make a dent to my academic performance.”

“You sure seem confident about your abilities.”

“I am Synnove Ciro, loyal maid to Master and a proud princess of the Jazwin Kingdom. Class assignments and test papers mean nothing to me. I fear no one.”

“Your mother knows you’ve been skipping classes.”

“Oh crap.”

“For your information, I timed that perfectly after you’ve just finished putting the last of the stitchesARGGGGH WHY ARE YOU RIPPING THEM BACK OPEN?”

“I’m sorry Master, I messed up some of the stitches and I needed to redo them all.”

“Almost every word in that statement is a lie!”

********************

“The wounds on Master’s hip will be completely treated in just a bit.”

“You’ve already done a perfect job the first time around. Now you’re just using my body as a pincushion and hatestitching me to release your frustration.”

“By the way, Master’s attempt has failed. Don’t think for a second that I didn’t see what you’re trying to do.”

“What exactly do you think I am trying to accomplish here?”

“Master is intentionally making me worry about other things in the hope I will forget about my previous request.”

“What previous request?”

“When is Master going to sleep with me?”

“Godsdamnit! I really thought you would have forgotten about that.”

“Master really has a way with words. Taking the courageous act of a pure hearted maiden offering the person she loves her most precious treasure and merely reducing it down to something which can simply be described as ‘that’”

“I like it how you can say the term ‘a pure hearted maiden’ with a straight face.”

“Master…”

“Well, if it’s your most precious treasure, then maybe you should stop trying to give it away.”

“Well, if Master would only stop looking a gift horse in the mouth, then maybe I won’t have to.”

“Okay, I don’t know how many women out there will get mad if they heard what you’ve said just now, but the numbers could easily be in the hundreds.”

“Fuck them. And if they know and understand Master like I do, they’d be forming a line right behind me.”

“Gods Synnove, is there a foot race for my affection that I am unaware of? Did someone promise you a silver medal if you managed to become my second?”

“You don’t have to be a genius or a mind-reader or a time-traveller to see that Master is going to be very popular in the future. I just want to stand in line in front of the bakery and get my hands on as many blueberry muffins as I can before they are all sold out.”

“…”

“Was that a bad example to use?”

“No, I’m deeply impressed. That was a pretty good analogy.”

“Tee hee. Master said anal.”

“And now my admiration is gone. You just had to go and make it weird again.”

“It’s what makes me… me.”

“Indeed. Are you finished down there Synnove?”

“Yes. Behold my work, and praise me immensely.”

The boy looks down to examine the stitching done by his pigtails maid. Synnove has done a great job closing the several gashes that mars the skin on the boy’s outer left hip.

The pigtails maid would have been commended by her master for a job well done, if not for the fact that Synnove has also stitched her own name in capital letters as well.

“…”

“Master, what’s wrong?” asks the pigtails maid as she begins wrapping some bandages across the boy’s left hip.

“Synnove, remind me to never have any dick injuries around you.”’

“Don’t you like my handiwork, Master?”

“What is with girls and their obsessive needs to put their names on things they think belong to them?”

“It is to deter thieves and also as a way for lost items to be returned to their original owners.”

“At least you didn’t carve your name on my chest using your fingernails.”

“I was thinking of doing something that’s a bit more permanent later. Maybe a hot branding iron. The area around Master’s behind seems to be an ideal place to put my name.”

“Synnove, there are some things men consider very sacred to them and you must never make the mistake of threatening that which we hold dear. For me, it’s just three simple things really. The people that I love and care about. Blueberry muffins. And the inviolability of my rear end. In that order. Ascending order.”

“Master is always so overdramatic. And surprisingly squeamish about his butt. Don’t worry, we can fix that.”

“Synnove, what did I say about- Ah, screw it. Help me put on my shirt and my trousers. I really don’t want to greet our guest only in my undies.”

“It would work for me. More so if Master greets me in the buff.”

“Everything works on you.”

The pigtails maid proceeds to help her master put on his clothes. She finishes dressing up the boy by adjusting the sling that he uses to put his broken right hand in.

“It’s a good thing Master is wearing black today. They do a great job hiding the color of any spilled blood. How much time do we have left?”

“A little over one minute.”

“Not enough time for Master to take my virginity then, at least not in a way that will satisfy me.”

*sighs “I really thought using your mother would keep you distracted enough for at least a week. I got stitches ripped off for nothing.”

“Your sacrifice is in vain. I’m already wise to the ways Master chooses to operate.”

“Then maybe you can tell me what you think I’ve been doing up until now.”

“If it was the previous vain me, I would have thought Master manipulated Headmaster Joss to leave so he can spend some time alone with me in a room that has a big comfy bed.”

“And…”

“If it was the old foolish me, I would have thought Master got himself injured so I will dote on him, thus releasing the stress that’s been building inside me since this morning.”

“But…”

“Nothing what Master does can be taken at face value, and that I’d be a fool to think that his world revolves solely around me.”

“If it’s any consolation Synnove, you’ve managed to endear yourself a great deal to me today.” the boy gives the pigtails maid his warmest smile ever.

The pigtails maid would have jump on him right there and then, except the situation didn’t allow it.

“Master… I think we’re surrounded.”

“Yes. They’re in the rooms on either side of us… at both ends of the corridor… on the ground floor outside our window… and one on the roof.”

“A hard fight to get out of here?”

“Possibly.”

“Is there an alternative?”

“We could always talk to them.”

“I don’t think they’re big on having a discussion, based on the sounds of the weapons they’re carrying.”

There is a knock on a door. The pigtails maid looks to her master for further instruction.

“Synnove, go ahead and let our guest in.”

The pigtails maid unlocks the door without question or hesitation. The person who has been standing outside their room steps through the door after being invited in.

The eyes of the elderly man scan the entire room before finally stopping on the boy who is resting comfortably on the big bed.

“Good afternoon Ser Rayze.” grins the boy as he beckons the Elder from Ouroboros to take a seat. “Have you come here to bring us our last meal?”

********************************************************************************************

Sorry for the late chapter. I know I promised to release this chapter yesterday but some unexpected work came up.

This chapter is dedicated to reader Hexwolfx as well as the countless others who are kind enough to leave a review. I thank you again for taking the time to write what you like and hope to see in my ff.

So has Ser Rayze come to kill the boy? Will Synnove ever get her wish? Will this story stop moving at a snail's pace? Find out next week on Demon Hero Reaper Saviour Demonogatari...

Leave a review if you wanna help me me reach the 40th place in the Best Rated category or a comment if you see any plot-holes, glaring grammar mistakes or just wanted to show your appreciation.