Page 18 of The Dark Elf's Surprise Baby

When he carried it into his kitchen and plopped the bag down, I immediately got a kitchen cloth damp and dusted off his jacket for him.

“You’re such a hard worker,” Demethys said.

“I do my best, sir,” I say with a nod of my head.

“And your master makes you carry these bags by yourself?”

“Yes, sir. All day, every day.”

Demethys was upset at the idea of a dark elf forcing a young, human female slave to do his fetching and carrying.

“You should work here. I’d never make you do the heavy, laborious tasks that your master does. Would you like that? I could purchase you and you would live a much more comfortable life.”

I was taken aback by that and my suspicion must have shone through because he was quick to reassure me that he had no ill intentions—merely that he thought someone as kind and hard-working as me ought to be treated with more respect.

Within a few days he was purchasing my freedom from my former master for a tidy sum and bringing me back to his manor home to begin my new life.

And while he was respectful of my space, he seemed to seek me out intentionally whenever I was cleaning. I loved talking to him, telling him about my day and idle servant gossip. In turn, he told me stories about his childhood and what it was like to grow up as the second son of a prominent family.

He asked me to clean his office since Ivrir often fell asleep in front of the fire while he was supposed to be cleaning. While I would clean, he would sit and do paperwork and chat with me. Whenever he wasn’t off on assignment, which was often in the first few months, he was always talking to me and sharing things with me.

There was a clear attraction between us but Master Demethys never once tried anything untoward. He gave me ample space and always regarded me with the utmost respect.

After a while, he started having me take over more of Ivrir’s duties. Ivrir was the head of the household in name only. I was to be the one to exclusively clean his bedroom. The other servants took linens in and out to wash but I was the one who tidied up, cleaned his private bathroom, swept his fireplace...everything.

I don’t know if the other servants minded but I never heard any protests. In fact, they treated me even more kindly when they realized that things ran much smoother without Ivrir trying to be in charge.

Life was good but it felt like there was a growing tension between Master Demethys and I. At the time I thought it wasdue to the stress from the wars but I now know it was because he was trying so hard to hold back from expressing himself to me.

One night, things came to a head after I woke up from a nightmare. Master Demethys had just gotten back from a mission and was tending to his wounds all alone because he didn’t want to wake the servants.

I saw him sitting in his office, struggling to bandage a cut on his ribcage and immediately entered without knocking, startling him. He protested that the injuries were just minor but I shushed him and started helping him clean and bandage the rest.

As I was doing so, I made my way up to his last injury, on his cheek. We were so close together, the silence stretching between us. One look into his eyes and I saw that he was mesmerized by my movements. I couldn’t tear my gaze away either, when I realized he was watching me.

Our mouths moved at the same time, meeting in the middle as we shared a gentle kiss.

After that, it was never the same again. He approached me that afternoon, with a single morning glory in hand and asked to court me. He wanted to prove that he wasn’t going to simply seduce me and then have me dismissed. He wanted to show me how much he had grown to care.

I took the flower and accepted his courting request. We shared everything. He was my first in every way.

And now he’s gone again, for who knows how long? How can I possibly go on for months without him? How can I pretend everything is normal?

How can I just act like everything is fine when my heart is breaking inside? I love Demethys with all my heart. He’s the only person who has ever truly taken the time to get to know me and who I am. No one has ever cared about me like this before.

Demethys is my entire world and I just have to keep pretending like I’m not worrying myself sick about him and his fate? What if he is permanently injured? What if he is killed while he’s away?

It hurts inside to have to say goodbye. We’ve had such a short time together and it’s been interspersed with him being sent on missions in between.

My stomach rolls and I have to rush to the bathroom next to the kitchens to heave up the contents of my meager breakfast. I hadn’t been able to eat much because of how despondent I’ve been. Being without Demethys is making me physically ill as well as turning me upside down emotionally at this point.

Oh Demethys. Please come back to me soon.

9

DEMETHYS

Every day I wake up, internally cursing to be stuck in this shithole, away from the woman I love and away from my home.

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