1 month ago…

Ailith once again found herself seated in the sitting room of the queen’s bedroom as she waited for the queen to arrive. She unintentionally let her eyes wander again, a habit that she had gotten from her training.

Ailith quickly averted her gaze from a portrait of the queen and king as she heard the door to the queen’s chamber open and shut.

“Deary, I apologize for calling you so often.”

She plastered on a polite smile and gave a quick dip of her head. “It’s my pleasure.”

“How do you like the palace so far?” the queen asked as she sat herself down opposite to Ailith and lifted a cup of tea to her lips.

“It's...magnificent,” Ailith answered. In all honesty, she hadn’t paid much attention to it and she hped the queen wouldn’t ask any more questions regarding the palace.

The queen chuckled. So it is... My, after the amount of money and work that went into building this-” she took a sip of her tea, “ - the workers have not failed to astonish me once again.”

“Yes, they did a wonderful job.”

The queen chuckled. “Besides the physical building though, I was referring to your STAY in the palace.”

“Ah. It has been lovely.”

The queen cocked her head. “How so?” - took another sip of tea.

Ailith hesitated for a slight second, unsure of how to answer. “The maids are very nice.”

The queen emitted a deep laugh. “You can’t be serious. Do you mean to tell me that you’ve interacted with them?”

“As a matter of fact, I have. Is there a matter with that?”

The queen’s laugh came to an abrupt end. “No, there is nothing wrong with having a different opinion but you’ll come to see deary, that lower tiers are nothing but trouble. I do not mean to offend you in any way and I apologize if I have.”

How ironic. The queen had just insinuated that people from lower classes were ‘trouble’ but she herself had spent nearly 2 months with Ailith, the lowest of them all. Ailith couldn’t hold down a laugh at this and the queen’s face masked with concern when she saw AIlith.

“Are you alright, deary? It’s not very polite to laugh so loudly.”

“I’m sorry, it’s just-” Ailith took several deep breaths and returned to her seated position. It’s nothing. Please continue.”

The queen continued her nonstop chatter afterwards as if nothing had happened and the awkward tension lef the atmosphere once again.

“So, would you like to give it a try?”

“Sorry?” Ailith said, snapping her head up.

“Would you like to assist in the making of our Quinquagenary trials this year?”