The Way of a Demon Lord
chapter-3

Isabella Hunt was an average commoner girl, the type which could be found everywhere in the Kingdom of Nemphis.

Black hair and brown eyes are traits which were shared by almost everyone in the continent- except some noble households who have their own trademark traits. Rosalyn and Isabella were not any exception to this. Despite this, the difference in their looks were akin to difference between the sky and the earth.

She had been living an extraordinarily ordinary life. As far as she remembers, there were only two memorable events in her life- that weird fruit she accidentally ingested when she was 5 years old and the day the royal inspector came and declared that she had potential to use magic and gave her an invitation letter of the academy.

That day, the whole village celebrated. For a family like hers, whose surname was based on literally what they do to live, it could be considered a miracle.

So, she immediately set off for the capital with her father. As they could not hire those expensive coaches, they had to travel by foot for a month to reach their destination, barely two days before the entrance tests.

Her horizons were broadened in a massive scale. She was a country bumpkin who had set foot outside the village only once in her whole life before this trip- that was when she accidentally discovered and devoured that weird black fruit.

In the city, even the most run down of houses was a lot better than the best building of her village. She had seen more people than the entire population of her village in the market area buying and selling wares that she had never even dreamt of.

But alas, she did not have enough money to buy the simplest of souvenirs, let alone those 'luxurious' wares. But it did not stop her from sightseeing everything the city had to offer.

They spent their nights in a cheap inn. The innkeeper was a kind lady who let them stay there asking for some simple chores in return. Finally, the day of entrance tests arrived.

She went to the field early in the morning but she was not even close to being the first one to arrive. There were already some tents set up testifying that many had been staying the night there.

After them, more and more people began to arrive- examinees and their entourages. Their arrival did nothing but adding to the nervousness of the father-daughter duo. Most of the examinees were aristocrats. Even many of the commoners fared better than her when when it came to looks or demeanour.

She never felt such inferiority complex before, she almost gave up hope of getting into the academy. But her father fared better because he had little hope to begin with. He heard rumours that representative from other academies would be there and would accept the rejected examinees into their academies. Even though, those academies were far from being comparable to the Royal Academy of Nemphis, they would at least ensure a stable life for the students. He pinned all his hopes on those academies.

They waited for hours. Only a few minutes remained until the beginning of the tests. The arrival of a carriage caused a din.

The father-daughter duo were quite close to the commotion, so they were also attracted by the carriage. Two persons came out of the carriage, one after the another- an alluring beauty and a devilishly handsome young man.

Their eyes were locked on the duo. The father was staring at the woman for obvious reasons. But the girl was looking at the young man for a reason different from all other ladies.

'I am sure I have never seen him before. But why does he seem so familiar?' She asked herself.

There was a reason she remembers that black fruit from years ago. It was not because of some otherworldly taste or special powers, it was because she felt different after eating that fruit- she felt lonely, as if she was not meant to be a part of the society. Event amongst her family and closest friends, she felt like she did not belong there. And the cause was that damned fruit!

But for the first time in more than a decade, she felt that she was not the only one in the world. There was another like her. Even though she never met him before, he felt familiar- as if there was an invisible force connecting them.

The young man who was looking around finally noticed her gaze and frowned. He exchanged some words with his guardian and began to walk toward her.

The girl was still in a stupor. When there was only a few meters distance between them, she finally awoke from her stupor and panicked. But she calmed herself down and tried to think what could be the reason of his approach. She looked at her father but her father was still in a daze. Isabella did not know whether to laugh or to cry. She pricked him hard.

"Ouch!" The poor man woke up. He finally noticed that the young man was approaching them- 'her' to be precise. He was even more nervous than her daughter. He began to think hard whether they had ever offended anyone.

Before the duo's brainstorming session could produce any results, Adrian was already in front of her.

Isabella was a little shorter than Adrian. He looked down down into her eyes.

She also stared at his eyes. His pitch black eyes were akin to a deep abyss; the more she looked into his eyes, the more she felt her soul sucked into it. It felt like every one of her secrets were made bare in front of him.

After a few seconds, he finally smiled. His smile struck all the ladies' hearts. Isabella felt as if her soul were out of her body, completely sucked into the abyss.

"Isabella Hunt" he said.

His voice brought her back. She felt her soul returning. Still, she was surprised by the fact he knew her name. As far as she knew, she never mentioned her name once after coming to the city. Even the inn was booked using her father's name. So, how did he know.

"From now on, you are my personal maid." His soft voice again entered her ears.

'Maid?!' she was shocked.

"Call me young master." Before she could muster up an answer, she again heard his voice.

"Yes, young master." She subconsciously replied as if this was meant to be. She couldn't believe she agreed before she could even think.

Her father, along with all the spectators, was observing the scene.

He was pleasantly surprised and was really happy for his daughter. Because only the most beautiful and skilled of commoner girls were qualified to serve nobles as maids. And from what he heard from everyone, this young man was from a duke house.

But this was not the case for everyone. Many commoner girls who were prettier than Isabella and even some young ladies from low ranked noble families were envious.

"This is not fair. How is she even qualified to be his maid?"

"Maybe he is into average girls."

"I want to be his maid too."

While the girls were complaining, Adrian turned around and began to return to his guardian's side. After a few steps, he turned back.

"Why are you not following?" He said.

"Sorry, young master. My daughter is incompetent. She was not taught the way of a maid." Before Isabella could say anything, his father bowed and apologised loudly.

He then turned towards his daughter and pushed her towards Adrian "You are still hesitating? This is a huge blessing towards you and our family. Serve young master well."

Seeing her father's actions, she could only follow her 'young master'.

"You still couldn't let go of your maid fetish, could you?" Rosalyn teased.

"Think whatever you want but you are the tastiest." He whispered and licked his lips.

Rosalyn blushed and glared at him.

While the duo were bickering, the poor girl was lost in her own thoughts.

'Why did he pick me as his maid? Is this because of the connection I felt? Is this fate? And maid fetish?' Her face was completely red. She felt lost.

'Do I have to do… do… 'that' with him?' Her mother taught her a few things about 'that'.

'But isn't 'that' done only between husband and wife.' Alas, even though her horizon was broadened by this trip to the capital, she still had a lot to learn.

She peeked at his young master. Now that she looked at him with a somewhat stable mind, she believed that all of those chatter were not a bit exaggerated. He was extremely handsome. He was tall and looked reliable. She blushed even more.

"Oh my, she looks cute when she blushes. Even though she is not the most beautiful, she is pleasant to the eyes. I have to say- Nice catch!" Rosalyn teased both Adrian and his maid noticing her actions.

"Can't you see she is flustered? Give her a break." He was already accustomed to his guardian's playful personality.

Adrian could only shake his head. Isabella had her head lowered all the time, her face still red.

"It's about time." Rosalyn said softly.

"Ding! Ding!"Surely enough, a bell began to ring- loud enough for the entire capital to hear.

It was time for the entrance tests to begin.