(Kiyomi POV)
I watched Marie clean up our room with the practiced grace of someone having done it a million times. Every single bedsheet was folded and changed within seconds, all of them done quickly and perfectly.
"I assume you are married?" I asked her, having been watching her from the doorway without her knowledge.
She jumped a little at my voice, most likely surprised by my presence since I did not announce myself.
"Oh! Mistress Kiyomi! Apologies, I did not notice you! Umm… I'm afraid I am still single, Mistress. Is there a problem?"
I frowned internally at her answer.
I was hoping she might have been taken since that would mean one less possible interference for us. It seems like all these Sects were hoping to use these girls to gain Master's favour by seducing Him, not that we would allow that to happen of course.
"No, not at all," I answered, shaking my head at her. "I just thought you might be attached with how experienced you are at housework."
"Oh… Hehe, I just like cleaning in general. I can't stand dirty things you see, so I try to keep everything as clean as possible."
Ah, she's a clean freak. I had thought the gloves she seemed to constantly wear on her was only for ornamental purposes, but now I know it's to keep her own hands clean.
That also explains why she has such a hard time with her training sessions. She spends more time keeping herself clean than concentrating on her lessons.
I nodded at her, "I take it you are like this back at your own Sect as well?"
"Oh, yes indeed. I'll always be the one to clean up my room mate's rooms. Sometimes they would berate me for touching their things but… They never asked me to stop cleaning… We don't really talk much in the first place though."
Seems like she was being used back at her Sect. Having that sort of compulsion wouldn't make her a lot of friends either, the Sect might have sent her here to get rid of her more than just simply trying to seduce Master..
I raised a finger, "One thing though, don't touch our wardrobes. All of us wouldn't like anyone else to go through our things so we've each put our own security inscriptions on them. If you try to rummage through them, you might lose your hands."
She glanced at my wardrobe with slight concern before turning back to me, "I will keep that in mind."
I nodded, "I'll let you finish up here then, we'll start our lessons after you are done. It should be our turn to use the courtyard soon."
Marie bowed her head, "Thank you, Mistress Kiyomi."
She went back to changing the rest of the bed sheets, fitting the new ones over it in record time before placing the old linen in the laundry basket to be washed.
I followed her to the laundry room, watching her drop off the basket there to be washed later before she turned back to me.
"I am ready, Mistress Kiyomi."
"Good, Eris should be done with her own training by now, so we'll have the courtyard to ourselves."
Making our way back to Master's courtyard, we found it empty just as I had expected.
I turned to her, "Now, you and I both know your skills as a Practitioner leave much to be desired and my performance is dependent on you. Previously, I thought it might just be your lack of talent, but now I know there's something else impeding you."
Marie bowed her head, "I deeply apologize, Mistress Kiyomi."
"You were picked on back at your Sect, weren't you?"
She looked up, "Eh? How did… How did you know?"
"This is a world where the strong preys on the weak. You are weak. And not only that, you are exploitable too," I explained to her bluntly.
Knowing that to be true, she merely nodded her head, averting her eyes from me.
I reached out my hand, creating a snowflake made out of ice above my hand.
"This world has no need for the weak," I told her, drawing her attention to my creation. "Anyone who appears to be weak will be trampled on without mercy."
I clenched my fist, shattering the construct into diamond dust.
She remained silent, watching the dust float away from me.
"Just like how the Dongs had thought us weak and tried to trample on us. They took hold of our weakness, our disunited and self-centered Sects, and used it against us. The country was not united in the face of adversary, with Sects only caring about themselves."
Marie fidgeted, her fingers twirling against each other since she knew her own Sect was one such Sect.
Ignoring her, I continued, "But the strong… The strong stands at the apex and looks down on everything else below them. Like my beloved Master who stands at the immovable peak, guiding us all patiently to stand there beside Him where others would have simply looked down on us. If it weren't for Him, this country would have bitten the dust."
She peeked at me, "All of you… Really love Master Lin that much?"
"Master has done more for us than anyone in this wretched world ever has. If you submit to Master as well, you might be able to join us."
Not as Master's disciple of course, but as a follower, though there wasn't any need to tell her that. The assassin's identity is still unknown and Marie is a suspect as well. Perhaps she might have been pressed to that role by her Sect and if she knows Master was her way to salvation, she might change her mind and defect to our side instead.
"I… I see… Master Lin is really great."
I scoffed, "Of course. Master did take all of you in when He didn't need to, didn't He?"
She chuckled, "Ahaha, you're right. Master Lin truly is benevolent. He had even taken in someone like me. I'll definitely do my best to serve Master Lin!"
I can't let her get too close to Master either, since Master might be attracted to her housewife skills which, regrettably, is a skill that still eludes us.
With how benevolent Master is, it would not be surprising if she ends up getting Master's attention and if she were the malevolent kind, use Him for her own ends. An unlikely occurrence, but still a possibility nevertheless.
If that were to happen, I might have to kill her myself.
Working to prevent such a possibility, I have been observing her from the side to learn her housekeeping skills quietly, working my way to become the perfect housewife for my dearest mate and Master.
Of course, I did not slack off in her training either, though I have not been as successful on that front since I was still unaware of her disorder at that time.
Things would change now that I am made aware of course, since Master would only take our servant's growth into account for His test and not our own. I'll need to come up with a way to deal with her disorder.
I crossed my arms, "Now that I know that your issue does not lie with your lack of talent, I will be going at you harder this time. I hope you are prepared. I won't accept any more slacking off."
"Ye… Yes! I… I want to be useful to Master Lin too! Please take care of me!" She bowed her head, adoration clear in her voice.
Tch… It seems I was already too late for the first step… No matter, I'll just have to keep Master and her apart until we know that she is completely fine.
In the meantime, I still need to whip her into shape.