"Welco back, Master."
Mark involuntarily took a step back. He never expected Lara to be the one to greet him, with everything considered. The stoic expression she usually wears was back and she no longer had the icy cold look in her eyes. Her anger seed to have subsided compared to the morning, or so he would’ve liked to believe.
"Th-thanks... Glad to be back..."
Being welcod ho by a cute maid was a dream co true. Nevertheless, the awkwardness between them prevented Mark from enjoying it.
He stepped inside feeling even more depressed than before. An instant later Alex peeked his head from behind the sofa.
"Oh! Newbie is back!" He said in his usual cheerful tone. "Are you done with your side quest?"
Mark raised an eyebrow.
"You call that a quest?"
Twenty seven. That was the number of prisoners Mark had to kill before it was all over. He could only wish it was a proper quest. If there was a reward at the end then maybe all of it would have been worth the hassle.
’At least I got so AP out of it...’
The door to the bathroom opened just then and Elya ca out. She was drying her hair with a blue towel, but the mont her eyes fell on Mark she stopped and a frown replaced her relaxed expression.
"You’re late."
"Of course we’re late." Ramsay replied. "Didn’t I say we were going to be?"
"Didn’t think you would tale this long." The petite Peace Keeper shot back.
"Anyway, why were you in my bathroom?" Mark asked. "I thought you were using the one next door."
"It’s a pain. Anyway, we already ate so prepare your food yourself."
With complete disregard, she walked past them and went to the living room. Mark was about to turn to their superior to ask who that cheeky brat was. In the end, he decided to hold it in, seeing that he wasn’t in the mood for any argunts.
"I’m gonna take a shower." He said.
"Would you like to heat your al?"
The offer caused Mark to stop in his tracks and turn to his maid. He almost didn’t know how to respond, but seeing her indifferent expression told him he was looking too much into it.
"No, I don’t think I can eat."
"I see."
"Force it down if you have to," Ramsay said. "Always make sure to eat and sleep whenever you have the chance."
Mark glanced at him then sighed.
"Yeah yeah, I get it" Pausing, he turned to Lara and smiled apologetically. "I think I will take you on that offer."
"While you’re at it, would you mind preparing mine as well?"
Ramsay making that request snapped sothing inside Mark and he turned to glare at him. He opened his mouth to shut him down but turns out he didn’t have to.
"Yes, I would mind," Lara replied in her usual even tone, not even bothering to glance at the sergeant.
Ramsay was left stunned, his mouth agape. Apparently he didn’t expect the rejection so the blowback was much more sever than expected. He left soon after saying he would go shower in the neighboring apartnt. Mark watched him go then turned to look at his maid.
"I... I will go shower first..."
"Understood."
There was sothing he had been aning to ask her about so he was glad her mood had improved. Still, Mark felt the need to delay the matter.
The door to the bathroom closed behind him with a faint click. Mark quickly took off his clothes and jumped into the shower, and once the hot water washed over him, he was finally able to relax a little.
Everything that happened since he woke up last night flashed through his mind, and though most of it had been stressful, nothing mattered at that mont.
"Master."
Lara’s voice shattered his relaxed state of mind and almost startled the life out of him. As he turned to the glass door which had grown foggy from all the steam, Mark realized that he hadn’t noticed when the maid entered the bathroom.
"A-ah, Lara! Is sothing the matter?"
"I brought you a change of clothes." She said. "I will place the ones you removed in the washing machine."
With his heart still beating violently, Mark was a little slow with his reply, forcing the maid to call out to him once more.
"Master?"
"Ah! Sorry, I spaced out for a second." He quickly rummaged through his tired mind for sothing to say. "Thanks, Lara. I totally forgot to take one with ."
He had the clothes in the camping bag he stashed in his inventory, but there was no need to ntion that.
"I am simply doing my job." She replied in her usual disinterested tone.
In the following seconds, the only things Mark heard were the shuffling of clothes and the sound of flowing water. He didn’t move the entire ti, not knowing how he should react in this situation.
’Ah...’
A thought flashed in his mind and he felt like the right ti to bring up that topic.
When he checked his stats a while ago he noticed sothing that wasn’t there before, sothing other than the debuff brought forth by his declining ntal state.
The only other ti he saw it was on the maid’s status screen, making him believe she would know what it was.
Mark ford the question in his mind and revised it multiple tis. The sound of the washing machine reached his ears so he knew there was no ti to waste.
He opened is mouth and the words ca out, but by the ti he said the last one, it suddenly beca clear that what he said differed entirely from what he intended to ask.
"Say, Lara. Do you hate ?"
The sound of water droplets splashing against the smooth floor grew unbearably loud in his ears. Mark hoped that the noise had masked his voice or that the maid had already left. Unfortunately for him, a reply ca soon after informing him that she heard everything.
"Rather than hate..." The soft voice paused and a wistful sigh filled the void. "I would say it is disappointnt."
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