Alice wasn’t quite too sure what she was thinking of right now. The idea was coalescing but not there just yet. Women had the right to ‘own’ a maiden to keep themselves safe, regardless of whether they were enlisted to fight the ferals or in the army itself or neither. And one could avoid participating in either if they paid a hefty sum of money to the kingdom.

Her fingers were almost twitching as she considered the possibility. Participating in a cruel system of slavery was morally dark grey at best of times. Taking Helga under her service was already toeing a line she could not let herself to commit to.

But looking at the big picture and the bigger issues was always going to make any effort an impossible task. She had to set up goals, smaller goals, possible goals. A stepping stone to move ahead.

“You look like you are giving some serious thought to something.”

Baroness Aeris’ words snapped her out of her inner monolog. Only now did she notice the other women had been staring at her as well. “I was considering the possibility of not joining either the army or the militia.” She said, glancing at the dozen or so young women currently seated. “And wondering who else might be interested in such a prospect.”

“To legally participate in neither, you would require no small amount of gold.” Aeris said, her eyes narrowed ever so slightly, the warning within cold and sharp. “And you would be putting yourself at a great disadvantage. It would be far more logical to utilize the military as a way to form contacts and amass enough personal power to be able to engage in an economic endeavor without as many risks.”

But was it the right thing to do? “The army works to incarcerate and detain those that break the law, correct?”

“… yes.”

“And is setting maidens free breaking the law?”

The woman’s lips pursed. “Miss Alice, I feel that you are not expressing the entirety of what you are thinking of.”

“I don’t think the Kingdom should have slaves.”

The sign of surprise was expertly hidden in the Baroness’ features. It was barely a twitch of the brow and a curl of the lips, a tension in the shoulders. “You should be very careful with what you say, and to whom.” Her words were carefully crafted to be neutral, but there was a hint there, a warning. “Many a noble would feel obligated to… act, when hearing such a statement.”

Alice reacted quickly. “I didn’t intend to mean any insult.”

“I did not take it as such, miss Alice, but there are others who would not be as willing to let the issue go.” There was a coldness in her gaze as she said this, focus turning towards the others. “To you, Mao’s rebellion may be no more than ink on paper, a long-forgotten event. But the truth is that it is a wound that has not quite closed, the proclamation of freedom for maidens is one that comes with memories of blood and loss.”

With a grimace, Alice had to concede the point. As far as the books had gone, Mao’s rebellion had always been an event with much kept between the lines. The focus had always been on the victories of the kingdom against rebel forces, never detailing the losses or the costs of a civil war.

“I think lessons have come to a conclusion for the day.”

There were no more words. She turned towards the entrance to the dining room and left with barely little more than a bow of her head and a quick step. The first reaction Alice had was to follow, but she stopped herself. The question of whether she understood the complexities of the Baroness’ words took a backseat as she felt a hand tugging at her wrist slightly.

“May.”

The young woman nodded shyly, a slight friendly shake of her head. “I wanted to know more about your idea.”

“It’s… it’s not so much more than that.” Alice commented, noticing the others shifting their focus her way. “It’s objectionable to join the army out of convenience. If this is a world, we’re…” A knot formed in her throat, and she swallowed it. “If we are going to live in this world, then we should try to make it a better one, right?” A slight warmth within her urged her to straighten her shoulders. “I know how it feels to be aimless. Go through the motions, and this is exactly what’s happening right now. The baroness means well, but who here really is looking forward to join the army of a kingdom we barely know, for the sake of finding someone to marry?”

Grimaces were shared all around.

“Well, the Baroness said the army would let us get what we want.”

“I was propositioned by the Baron to bear his child. He said he’d give me anything in exchange for that, and I believed it. But I still turned him down.” That caused more than one face to go pale. “The Baroness is right in that the army would value us greatly. But the focus always goes back to us being human women. Of being baby factories for pure blooded heirs.”

May nodded slightly, closing her eyes as she sighed. “And what’s your idea?”

“Just… work.” That came out more easily than she expected it to. “It’s that simple. We just need to recruit some maidens to help us, officially put them as our guardians, and get to work. If we gather enough funds, we can safely move forward to being independent while keeping ourselves away from having to sell our bodies for the sake of a promise of political weight that would belong to whomever you end up marrying.”

“So what, get rich and use that?” One of the women stood up from her chair, dusting herself as she did. Alice recognized her as Natalie. She’d been the mother of one of the people who didn’t make it. “As if getting rich were that easy.”

“I don’t intend to become a political beacon.” Alice frowned. “But at the worst, it would be an option for at least an honest life.”

“It… it has a time limit.”

Every head turned to May. She shrank a little at that. “The law, um, it says that citizens can only postpone service to the kingdom for a handful of years.”

“It would be an objective measure to how viable this would be.” A quick and fast agreement from Alice as she turned to the others. “If we have no way to pull this off, we would have to either run from the kingdom or enlist. And if we make enough to survive as well as pay the amount of gold the law requires…”

“And you expect us to help with your idea? Do you even have a plan on how to make money in the first place?”

“No clue at all.” A sharp, determined nod. “I only know that it’s the right direction to take, and that the more of us work on it, the better.”

Natalie looked as if she’d been slapped. A slight frown and a sigh. “Do you even know how one could go about recruiting maidens without buying them? What happened with you and… what was her name again?”

“Helga.”

“Right, and who paid for her to be able to become yours? Or did you sell something to be able to afford the cost?”

“I am keenly aware it was only possible, thanks to the Baroness’ kindness. I intend to pay her back when I can.” Alice looked around the room. “And I don’t expect you all to just jump at this prospect. Some or all of you have your own goals and objectives. This is… it’s an alternative.”

Nervous and uncertain looks were shared amongst those present.

May was the one to step forwards. “I want to try it.”

“I guess we can consider it until the Earl’s knights show up to let us travel safely. The plan was to join the academy in Balet.” Natalie nodded, rubbing the bridge of her nose. “It sounds like a pretty idea, but…” She glanced at Alice and then at the others. “Without at least a good starting plan, I’d rather put my eggs in another basket.”

“That is… a fair assessment. And it's your choice to make.”

There was a sound of a starter pistol in the back of Alice’s mind. Now it was time to figure out what their business plan would be… and start doing research.