The Opposite Of Indifference

Chapter 1.
Arc 1.
The Five

The royal palace with its pointed spires beyond the huge crossing bridge.
Passing through the palace decorated with fine stone, the servants’ quarters in the most secluded place, appeared. 

 

“Hey, Millicent!” 

 

Someone shook her shoulder as she wandered through the dreamscape. 

 

“Wake up!” 

 

Millicent eventually awoke with the annoying urging.
It seemed that her day was about to begin, which today marked exactly half a month since she had been employed as a maid in the royal court. 

 

“Isn’t it still night?” 

 

The sky through the window, however, was a deep purple with a piercing moon and shining stars.

 

“Because the sun rises late, but it’s dawn.”

 

“Then I’ll sleep some more until the sun comes up properly.”

 

She was being awakened by an old maid named Tracy, who was, frankly, a sweetheart.
So Millicent hugged the covers and curled herself up.

 

“Wake up! You have to go to the gate and get some meat from the hunters,” Tracy said, taking the covers away.

 

 “If I get it at noon, will the meat turn into grass?”

 

 Millicent grumbled, rubbing her eyes sluggishly.

 

“If you don’t get it at dawn, it’s not fresh!” Tracy snapped.
“It’s meat for the banquet.
It’ll be a hug party to celebrate the king’s victory.”

 

The king returned a few days ago with news of his victory after being away at war for some time.
It was good to hear that he came back victorious, but his victory celebration was a problem.
The celebration was so grand that the servants had to be divided to work day shift and night shift to prepare for it.

 

“Just go to the castle gate,” Tracy said suddenly, handing Millicent a small pocket of gold coins.
“Pay the price with this.
Make sure you get a signed receipt.
And don’t forget to take the cart with you!” 

 

Still barely awake, Millicent wandered about, digesting in her mind only the words she could immediately understand. 

 

First she took off her nightgown and nightcap and washed her face with cold water.
Then she put on a suitably clean-looking linen shirt and a grayish-brown skirt.
The white hat, which had been dirtied and hardened with potato peels, waited meekly for its owner. 

 

Millicent put it on as if it were a sacred ritual and tied the string under her chin.
She looked at her face in the mirror.
The white hat, like the bonnets worn by children, was long and the cloth on either side of her face came down to her shoulders. 

 

Her shaggy black hair, her big, bright blue eyes, and even her expressionless face were completely covered.

 

“Today is perfect, uncle Mulally,” Millicent murmured as she tightened the string under her chin once more. 

 

Millicent left the servants’ quarters with the dawn breeze blowing as the sun was finally rising.
However, she was not sure where exactly the castle gate was.
It was troublesome to go to the street and ask.
She did not want to be that eager to play the maid. 

 

She was confused whether she was an assassin or a servant.
In the end, Millicent decided to look for someone who looked like a hunter as she made her rounds.
It was a pathetic plan, but it worked surprisingly well. 

 

She found a man who looked like one.
He had a quiver of arrows on his shoulder and a hat and bow in his hands.
A large, handsome black horse stood calmly next to him.
And at his feet lied two deer that looked like they had just been slaughtered.

 

He was definitely the hunter. 

 

“Good morning, Mr.
Hunter.”

 

It was a day when she couldn’t get anywhere near a good morning at all, but Millicent greeted him as such. 

 

“….What?” 

 

But instead of greeting her, the man rudely frowned.
Millicent therefore stared at his face, completely uninterested in her.
He was a very handsome man.
It was astonishing.
She had never felt interested in looking the opposite genders.

 

But the man in front of her looked really cool.
His forehead was straight under his neatly slicked back black hair.
He had gray eyes with a slight blue tinge, a straight, high nose, and full lips that were exquisitely matched on his sunburned face.

 

His body was also impressive.
First, he was tall at the level of the palace door.
Then the broad shoulders with the cloak and the narrow waist, which could be guessed from under the doublet, formed a perfect inverted triangle.
From his thighs to his calves covered by his riding boots.
All was balanced by muscle.
And he looked strangely familiar. 

 

Millicent lost her excitement as soon as she said, “Good morning.” She’d rather drool over hard black bread for breakfast than men.

 

“It’s not like I spoke to you in a foreign language, is it?” (Millicent)

 

The man’s frown loosened.

 

“I see, I have committed disrespect.
Good morning, beautiful young lady,” he added politely.

 

He placed the hat he held in his hand to his chest and bowed respectfully.
A glance at the clothes she was wearing would have made it clear that Millicent was not of the lady class.

 

Such a nice hospitality was not something one like her could receive every day.

 

“You must have had a not so good morning, too, didn’t you?”

 

Simple Millicent felt relaxed.

 

“It was dark so far, but now that I’ve met the lady, the sun seems to have risen.” 

 

For a hunter, he surely spoke like a knight of the court.
He skillfully used the typical courtly manner of