1397 Fairy Maid

The turbulence of the discoveries did not rock Varian's actions.

He unlocked the information about the <Prime World> and assimilated it in a few hours.

Unlike the <Perfect Hybrid> where he could ignore all the technical aspects and only focus on the essential conclusions, he didn't have that luxury this time.

A Prime World had to be made with utmost care.

The land of all planets would be integrated into one large world. The space would grow incredibly tough. Lower rank celestials and even rank 5s could no longer break space through their battles.

The aura concentration of the world would skyrocket as the World would establish itself to one of the many 'concentration' flux points connecting the outer and inner space.

The gravity of different regions, previously different, would have to be made either uniform or stratified with clear intentions. Unstable gravity would not just cause trouble for the populace, it might even lead to the breakdown of the world itself.

And so, Varian got into studying mode.

It's something others couldn't do for him. He couldn't leverage it to the scientists. This was uncharted territory even for the collective human thought. Forget advancements, not even theories were proposed in this area.

The difficulty didn't end there.

He wasn't building a pure prime world. Due to the peculiarity of Hortus as well as solar system, he had to make changes to the process for the desired end result.

Supreme authority over Hortus and shaping of Prime World—these were things only he could do at once.

As a result, Varian had to face a very uphill battle.

Perhaps the only battle he did not enjoy very much.

"…Fuck. I didn't even study this hard for my school." Varian waved away the holograms and slumped back in his large, comfortable chair.

"If the people saw this scene, I wonder what they would think." A cheeky voice sounded, followed by a mischievous chuckle.

Varian rolled his eyes at the visitor.

Hazel had her maid outfit modified to suit her white wings. Unlike the predominantly black uniform with white bits, it was a white uniform with black bits. Due to her ridiculously pure wings, she gave off a very different feel from a typical maid.

"A hundred push-ups if you annoy me." Varian rubbed his eyebrows and warned.

All of Hazel's strength and power would be deprived for the duration. So, a hundred push-ups for an unathletic Hazel might as well be a prison sentence.

"Master~ Master~ I am a good maid! I won't annoy you!" Hazel raised the tray in her hand and held out a cake that was shining like it was given some VFX. "This is the crystallization of my hard work! I spent ten full days perfecting this recipe! It contains my love and respect for you, please taste it well!"

Raising an eyebrow at her choice of words, Varian tasted the cake.

He paused after the first bite, causing Hazel's heart to nearly freeze, and then took another bite.

His eyes brightened and he began to devour the rest at a speed and manner that went against what would one call 'etiquette'.

When he put the empty tray down, a smile was drawn on his lips.

There were no 'herbs' Hazel could add to improve his mental state. He's too strong for his own good. But the taste brought back his childhood.

His mother would take him and Sia out to eat after she got her work bonus. And the two little devils would enjoy the day to no end. They both liked the same flavor from a very average-looking shop.

"…Is the place still around?" Varian finished the cake and leaned back into his chair. He didn't even specify which store he was talking about.

"No. It was closed three months ago," Hazel shook her head, her bright wings swaying with her.

"The owner, the only one who knew the recipe died. So, I could only work backward. I met a bunch of regular customers who knew your favorite flavor and adjusted the dish according to their feedback."

Varian looked at her in surprise before shaking his head and looking her in the eye. "Thank you."

Hearing his heartfelt gratitude, Hazel lowered her head and stuttered. "T-Thank you too…I love this life."

Unlike her so-called home, there were really no strict rules, or etiquette that she had to follow here. She didn't have any pressure to pursue a higher rank either.

As one of the two Emperor's exclusive maids, she was tasked with taking daily care of a guy who was outside most of the time.

Unlike at her province back home where the maids were overworked to the bone and wished for their masters to vanish for a few days, it was the opposite here.

Hazel hadn't seen Varian for weeks and wished he'd return so she could show off what she had been doing.

For better or worse, Varian made the greatest impression on her. So, receiving validation and praise from him would count as a great success and a source of pride for the genius lady.

To speak of her achievements, she got into designing baby clothes, tended to delicate flowers, and developed an interest in cooking, taking some lessons from the Queen of Shadows herself.

If she had been born into a fairly normal family of humans or even her own race of fairies without much talent, Hazel would have been an excellent housewife and perhaps even a decent mother.

Even though her starting point was anything but ordinary, she was finally able to enjoy that life.

"If only figuring this out was as easy as making the cake." Varian sighed.

"Easy?" Hazel raised her head, her expression hardening before she could even control herself. "I made over 10,000 samples in a week! Ten-thou-sand different samples! It's way easier than reading some obscure documents!"

'Oop!'

The fairy wanted to slap herself.

Why? Why was her tongue loose again?

Why did she just blurt out what she was thinking?

"Huek!"

Noticing Varian's indifferent stare at her, a shiver shot down Hazel's spine and she began to sweat. Her breath grew hurried and her legs, visible down her knees began to shiver.

"M-Master…"

As she's still a newbie, she learned a bit about her master's past. It was scary. This man killed billions of abyssals without the slightest mercy.

This was back when he wasn't so powerful against them. So, what would he do to her now?

Fired from the job? Sounds too easy!

Instant death? Too painless!

Hanged in public? Oh noooo!

"Phewww~" Varian let out a complicated sigh.

"I'm sorry for slighting your word. It's not easy to recreate something." He apologized and got back to studying.

'W-What?' Hazel was dumbfounded.

She wanted to apologize for her words but seeing his focused gaze on the documents, the maid shut her mouth.

Unlike earlier, Varian was exuding a much stronger presence. It was the same person reading the same documents, but there was a change in his eyes.

'With that serious face, he looks so…handsome!'