Reincarnated as the Villainess's attendant

*knock* *knock*

Even though it wasn't very appropriate, Burushi carrying the tray of Zoemi's meal used her foot to announce her presence.

"..."

No one responded so the black-haired boy must have either been still asleep or gone to the bathroom.

Considering that it was already time for breakfast and Zoemi literally never slept in - as far as Burushi knew at least - so the latter option was more probable.

The lack of a private bathroom in each room was a big difference from what the blond girl got used to in the Academy and later in the Banemor mansion, but it wasn't such a big deal for her. And the same could have been saying about the black-haired boy.

That said, the question now was whether he left his quarter unlocked or not...

"(Do you want me to help you?)"

"...!"

Suddenly, the lightest pressure brushed against her mind and a voice of the sentinel guarding her resounded in her mind making her flinch.

"You...! What's your deal now? You have been silent for, like, ten months and now you pop up on every occasion!"

Burushi wasn't comfortable with having conversations with an actual conscious being all within her mind so she muttered her response instead of just thinking it.

To that, the murky-black sphere, below the average size of the normal sentinel, emerged from within the blond girl's shadow and flew up to her eye level.

"(Before I was supposed to protect you from physical harm from others, now we are working together to get master food. Since I already am teleporting the dishes made by grandpa Benevirau, I can also help you out with delivering it)."

The small sentinel answered tilting itself to the side.

"I will have you know that I am not so clumsy as to fail to open the door while carrying something!"

Burushi scoffed and puffed out her already proud chest and turned to the side, aiming at the door handle with her elbow.

*click*

With admirable ease, she managed to push it down and it turned out that the door was indeed unlocked.

"Hmph~! See?"

"(Good job, miss. Call me when you need me.)"

She scoffed triumphantly but the sentinel responded in a patronizing manner as it descended and sunk back into her shadow.

"If! If, not when!"

Burushi hissed after it, but the murky-black sphere did not find it necessary to respond to her.

"I swear... when did they develop a personality like that?"

The blond-haired girl shook her head and grumbled to herself conveniently missing the fact that the little sentinel spent the most time with her.

Nonetheless, the door was unlocked so Burushi pushed it open and entered.

"..."

"...eh...?"

...and immediately made eye contact with a soldier in a standardized uniform who for whatever reason was wearing a rather strange full helmet covering their face and all...

"He..."

"I'm terribly sorry! I must have messed up the rooms!"

The soldier finished buttoning up their shirt and raised their hand in an awkward greeting but the blond-haired heroine blushed heavily and backed off the room with her head lowered apologetically before the soldier actually was able to say something.

"You little rascal! Why didn't you tell me this was the wrong room?! What if I walked in on that guy a minute earlier while he was still changing?!"

Embarrassed to all hell and back Burushi left the room and was hurriedly walking away while hissing furiously at her shadow where a single darker dot was floating innocently.

"(It wasn't the wrong room though.)"

"Eh...?!"

She was about to continue complaining, but the sentinel responded in a slightly grumpy voice, making her stop in her track.

"Oh? Good morning, Burushi, are you lost? My room is back there."

As that happened, the freshened-up Zoemi walked in on them from around the corner and greeted her before pointing back at the exact spot she exited a few moments ago.

"...?"

The blond girl looked up at him and then back at the door of the room she didn't close properly while escaping and her eyes widened.

"Zoe... my lord...! There is some strange person in your room! It might be a pervert!"

Burushi straightened her back and declared in urgency.

"Pffft...!"

But the black-haired boy's reaction was quite far from what she expected.

After all, Zoemi snorted and had to block his mouth and nose with one hand to hold back the laughter.

"Why...? Why are you laughing at that! This is serious! Guys can get molested too, you know?!"

Burushi blushed a bit in embarrassment, but she did not let go of the subject and stomped her foot to make her declaration even a little bit more serious.

"Burushi, you are right. The thing is, in this particular situation your reaction is very entertaining because that is most definitely not the case. I promise."

"Yah, they can! And what if...?! Eh...? What do you mean?!"

Zoemi explained calmly, and the blond heroine who was in the middle of making a powerful statement flinched and blinked a few times in confusion.

"Here, allow with me. I will introduce the two of you."

Seeing her like that made the black-haired boy smile...

...slightly evilly, but that could be how his face looked - except not.

It was most definitely an evil smile, but Burushi could not have realized that as Zoemi passed her and beckoned to follow him without turning back.

The two of them walked towards the room and the black-haired boy stopped a few steps away from it, making the blond girl confused.

"Umm...? My lord...?"

She asked, leaning to the side to glance at the boy's face.

"...oh...!"

But then she glanced at the door and saw a hand gripping the doorframe and the slightly strange soldier hiding behind it while also glaring at her.

"Now, now. Miss Etwistrall, my attendant, and I would like to enter my room."

"..."

Zoemi said with the most cheerful voice and the helmet moved a bit like the girl wearing it adjusted the position of the visor to glare at him.

"~!"

The black-haired boy waited so that he was sure that she can see him and winked, before meaningfully glancing back at the hesitant blond girl by his side.

"Hmph."

Miriette scoffed and shrugged her shoulders pulling the door ajar as she got deeper into the room.

"Do you secrete some sort of phenomenons that lure in girls like that?"

Burushi bumped into Zoemi with her hip and murmured while squinting her eyes at the girl wearing a full helmet indoors.

The two of them went inside too and Zoemi closed the door as Burushi put the tray with food on the nearest flat surface.

"Burushi, meet my partner for the foreseeable future, Miss Mirienne Etwistrall, a daughter of a fallen Etwistrall family, who chivalrously chose to help with the defense of our beloved kingdom from the barbarians threatening the border. Miss Etwistrall, this is my attendant, Burushi, a rare variant healing attribute user."

The black-haired boy, fully intending on pulling an innocent prank on the blond heroine, straightened his back and introduced the two girls with an unnecessary amount of theatrical flair.

"..."

Miriette stayed silent and merely raised her head a bit to send Zoemi an intrigued gaze, but then to her surprise, Burushi stepped in between the two of them.