To be fair, Percher had been very happy this past week.
Aside from the occasional silence brought on by the fact that her father had sold her, most of what happened around her was good.
Since that day, she had gone from being the lord's daughter to a great personage's handmaiden.
On the surface, this might seem like a demotion. After all, a great personage's handmaiden was on the level of a slave. She had gone from a free person to a serf—a fall from grace.
However, in terms of both her actual treatment and the rules of the era, her status had, in fact, been elevated.
In the Middle Ages, even among the nobility, children other than the heir rarely held any status.
The illegitimate children of high-ranking nobles might receive a minor title or inheritance due to a father's favor or their mother's inheritance, but the vast majority of collateral descendants received nothing.
Not only that, most of them had to bear the responsibility of marriage alliances with other families, unable to defy their fathers or the next heir.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them slaves who shared a bloodline.
For this reason, Percher didn't have much of a reaction to being sold. She had long anticipated this day; only the timing and the buyer were different from what she had imagined.
And for an illegitimate child like her, becoming a handmaiden to a noble of Su Mo's caliber was actually quite fortunate.
Even the young King Arthur had to serve as a squire to another knight to enter the scene of the royal selection. Becoming a servant recognized by a high noble had always been the most coveted path for collateral descendants.
If the high noble one served was exceptionally distinguished, even the heir of the main branch would have to treat them with respect.
Percher experienced this treatment on the very first day.
Back then, they had just finished their feast.
The head maid, Leticia, had given her a freshly made pudding.
As Percher was nervously accepting it, she accidentally dropped it on the floor, coating the wonderfully jiggly dessert in dust.
Before she could even react to her own clumsiness, her father, who was standing nearby, exploded, accusing her of being unworthy of Lord Su Mo's gift and punishing her with two days without food.
Percher clearly remembered her father's twitching face and the anger and greed in his eyes.
That was a delicacy that even he, the lord, was not worthy of enjoying, a treat whose aroma alone was far superior to honey. And this clumsy daughter of his had dropped it on the ground.
If the head maid hadn't been present, forcing him to maintain his decorum, Percher had no doubt her father would have rushed over, snatched the pudding off the floor, and angrily taken it back for himself.
Greed was a common trait among nobles, especially when faced with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Faced with the situation, Percher lowered her head as usual, preparing to admit her mistake. What's there to be afraid of? It's only two days without food. I've already hidden some spare black bread behind the bookshelf. It's a bit hard, but it'll fill my stomach.
"I'm so—"
However, just as Percher was about to apologize—
"Sir, when I am speaking with my subordinate, could you please keep your mouth shut?" The blonde loli maid, who looked no more than a year or two older than her, intimidated her father with an incredibly sharp gaze.
"Given your intelligence, you may not be clear on the current situation. It was my failure as a maid not to explain beforehand."
"So, I must seriously remind you now: Miss Percher is the property of my master. Everything concerning her, whether it be rewards or punishments, is for my master to decide. No one else has the right to interfere."
After making such a declaration with the dignity of a head maid, Leticia grabbed Percher's wrist and led her away.
"Given your ignorance, this is only a verbal warning. If you try to lay a hand on the master's property again, please be careful with your own life!"
The domineering declaration left the lord frozen in place, his expression twisted. In his attempt to curry favor, he had only just realized the risks of associating with great personages.
A mere crumb from their table could surpass the wealth his family had accumulated over hundreds of years. But with a single move, they could just as easily destroy a family that had been established for a thousand.
Although the blonde maid before him looked very young and her verbal threat didn't seem very intimidating, seeing the killing intent solidified in her pupils and the icy atmosphere, the lord had no doubt about her seriousness.
"Yes, yes! I understand!" he immediately bowed in fear, his head lowered in submission.
"I hope you truly do," Leticia said, then turned and pulled Percher away.
"M-Miss Leticia, the pudding!" Percher, having come to her senses, struggled to look back at the dust-covered pudding on the floor. "You can still eat it if you cut off the dirty parts!"
Though disgusted by her father's greed, as a farmer's daughter, she was still quite frugal. She had actually wanted to say it could be eaten after a wash, but was too embarrassed, so she had boldly suggested cutting off the dirty parts.
However, in response, Leticia said without turning back, "No need. I have more in the kitchen. You can have a clean one."
Leticia herself was also quite frugal, but as Su Mo's maid, she was not yet so destitute as to need to save food to this extent.
Though she didn't know why Su Mo had taken Percher in, she was one of their own now and naturally deserved to be treated as such.
As for the father who had abandoned her...
Leticia glanced back at the lord, who was staring intently at the dirty pudding on the floor, and shook her head. "As for the one that fell, let him feed it to the dogs!"
She didn't want to be too harsh in front of Percher, but she truly had no goodwill towards this greedy lord.
Just as Leticia was about to take Percher back to the carriage and into the kitchen in their small world, to her surprise, Percher continued to shake her head desperately, trying to break free from her grasp.
"No, Lady Leticia, that's not right! You can't feed it to the dogs like that!"
"Hmm?" The blonde vampire immediately let go, so as not to hurt the new maid, and looked at Percher in surprise. Could it be that this little girl still has feelings for her father? Even after being sold, she's unwilling to see him suffer such humiliation and wants to leave the clean pudding for him?
If that were the case, she would have to restrict this fool's interactions with the lord.
Just as she was thinking this, something completely unexpected happened.
The moment Leticia let go, Percher immediately ran back, stood before her father, and scooped up the wobbly, soft pudding with both hands.
Just as the lord himself reached out, slightly surprised, thinking his daughter had come back to help him clean the delicacy to save him from embarrassment—
SPLAT!
With a powerful swing, Percher threw the dirty pudding like a grenadier straight into the dog kennel nearby.
Watching the rare delicacy being quickly devoured by several large dogs, she wiped her hands as her father stared, dumbfounded and unable to accept reality.
Just in time, Leticia, who had walked over, offered her handkerchief for Percher to wipe her hands, and then asked, puzzled, "What was that all about?"
"Lady Leticia, what I meant was..." Under her father's furious but silent gaze, ten-year-old Percher wiped her hands with a refreshed expression and replied, "This is how you really feed the dogs!"
It was only after hearing Leticia's words that she had fully realized the change in her status—her father could no longer control her.
If her father hadn't tried to punish her, it would have been fine.
Even if he had sold her for money, Percher wasn't one to get angry over such things. But to lecture and punish her with the tone of a father after selling her...
Since he had done that, he couldn't blame her for not letting him have even the dirty pudding from the floor. Giving it to him is like giving it to a dog? No! The dogs can have it, but he can't!
"..."
Seeing Percher's performance, Leticia's eyes showed a hint of surprise.
For the first time, she realized that this girl's personality was not as honest and timid as it first appeared. But that was fine. A personality like this wouldn't be easily taken advantage of.
"You!" Percher's father's face turned shades of green and white with rage, clearly unable to accept the fact that a delicacy that should have been his had been eaten by dogs.
But he didn't dare to reprimand Percher in front of Leticia, so he could only swallow his anger.
From that day on, their roles were reversed.
As a daughter, Percher hadn't dared to speak loudly, couldn't even eat her fill in the manor, and could only bow her head and endure her father's scolding.
As a handmaiden, Percher's status was above everyone else's. Neither her former father nor the heir dared to treat her with their old attitude anymore; they even had to bow their heads in greeting when they saw her.
Call it borrowing the tiger's might if you will, but with the confidence Su Mo gave her, Percher's status had indeed risen significantly.
Besides the rise in status, she had also gained many playmates.
With the encouragement of Senju Kayo, Aihara Enju, and Tina Sprout, three girls her own age, Percher quickly became good friends with them, gaining friends for the first time in her life.
Compared to these three, while Kurma also liked to cause mischief, she spent most of her time with Su Mo and had an overwhelmingly powerful aura.
Even a strict head maid like Leticia treated her with great respect, which meant Percher's feelings towards her were more of admiration and awe than familiarity.
As for her master, Su Mo, her feelings were purely a young girl's fantasy about her white knight and pure reverence for a high-ranking person.
In this environment, Percher was living a happy life she had never even dreamed of.
The delicacies Leticia brought out were different every time, and the enjoyment from these various magnificent foods was more like paradise than the heaven described in the Bible.
The completely guileless friendship of the three little girls made her believe in pure emotions again.
The combination of these two things should have made for a dreamlike, beautiful time.
However, in less than a week, a sudden change occurred.