You had closed the door as quickly as you opened it, knowing that the Gresham's liked their privacy and you didn't want anyone to be peering in on your conversation.
"Ah, (Y/n). Good afternoon."
You bowed politely. "Good afternoon, Sir Gresham. I hope I didn't take too long."
"You're right on time. Listen, we have a special request for you."
You rose from your bow with furrowed eyebrows. Every request that they gave to you was special in your eyes so what would be so different about this one?
"You see, my son and I were overseeing patrol this morning with the guardsmen and ran into a bit of an... issue. Tell me, (Y/n), how much do you know about nether creatures?"
"Nether?" You mumbled, shaking your head lightly. What could they find that would be associated with the nether? The nether portal was located in the capital, which was about 3 days worth of travel.
You cleared your throat before you spoke up. "I'm afraid I don't know much, sir, only a little from the books in the library."
Sir Gresham nodded in acknowledgment, taking a seat and leaning back in his office chair. "You see, we came across a nether creature on our patrol. It seems like they are a hybrid of some kind."
Interesting. Not only was there someone from the nether found within your borders but they are also a hybrid. There hasn't been much research on hybrids, mainly because they were fairly rare and those that did live were either hunted down or used in experimentation.
"I decided to take the hybrid back here in hopes of saving it from hunters but I can't trust anyone here to take care of it. Well, except for you."
"You want me to take care of them?"
"Yes, only until we see fit."
You nodded, taking into consideration the implications that can come with taking care of someone from the nether. First of all, their home environment is drastically different from the overworld. Then you have to add on the question of whether you can even communicate with them. Most of the people in the nether have their own language and it's not commonly studied in the overworld. Lastly, you have no clue about their dietary restrictions or natural way of life. Sure, you have read some books about the nether but it was always written in the traveler's point of view, and most of the time they wouldn't even interact with the people of the nether unless their goal was to kill them.
"I'll do it," You asserted, swallowing back your doubts. It wasn't like you had a choice anyway, you were the only housekeeper that they trusted.
"Great. My son is with the hybrid in his office, you can go pick it up there."
"Yes, sir." You bowed again before you left, swiftly making way to his son's office. It was a bit weird that they weren't in Sir Gresham's office considering that he called you there, but you didn't feel like losing your tongue by questioning them. That wasn't part of your job.
The further that you traveled down the long hallway, the busier it got and more whispers began to form. People were trying to stay quiet but it failed with so many people trying to spread rumors at once.
You tried your best to shake off their stares as you lightly knocked on young Gresham's door before letting yourself in. Once again, you made sure to close the door behind you swiftly. It wouldn't be too surprising if you found people scrambling away from the door once you opened it to leave.
Sighing briefly, you once again bowed in young Gresham's presence before opening your eyes. Instantly, your eyes traveled to the young piglin hybrid that huddled in the corner of the room. The piglin adorned long pink hair that was messily braided, a simple red dress that fell to her knees with a black collar, and a pair of tights beneath it. Her eyes were wide as she stared at you, her poor body shaking.
"Great to see you, (Y/n)," Young Gresham's voice boomed. He was lounged back in his chair, his feet up on his desk. "I assumed you agreed to take care of this thing?"
You felt a bit uncomfortable by the way that young Gresham pointed out the girl but tried not to show your distaste. "Yes, I did."
Young Gresham nodded lazily. "The room next to yours was cleared out so that's where it will be staying for now." He sent a sharp look to the girl before continuing. "The thing won't respond to anything that we ask it so I assume it doesn't speak our language."
Or, maybe she just doesn't want to talk to you.
You forcefully smiled, shaking your head. "That's okay, I'm sure that I can find a way to communicate with her."
You bit back the urge to slap yourself and settled with a pinch. Hopefully, Young Gresham wasn't smart enough to pick up on your retort. You didn't want him crying to daddy saying you hurt his feelings.
Lucky apparently wasn't on your side today as his eyes narrowed at you. Unlike what you thought, he just brushed it off, rolling his eyes before waving his hand carelessly. "Whatever, just take it already."
You silently made your way over to the poor girl, trying to put on your most gentle appearance. To give her some room, you stopped quite a bit short of the corner, holding out your hand for the girl to grasp. She didn't seem too interested in contact because she just stared at your hand with her wide eyes. You changed your strategy to only hold out your pinky. Maybe she just doesn't like contact.
The girl was still hesitant but ended up locking her pinkie with yours, allowing you to carefully lead her out of the corner and to the door. You didn't forget to bow lightly before you left, trying your best to ignore the almost disgusted look that Young Gresham had on his face. He clearly was not a big fan of the girl.
Once you made stepped into the hallway with the young girl, everyone was frozen, staring at the two of you. The young girl trembled next to you, taking a small step behind you to hide. You cleared your throat in an attempt to snap people out of their trance. It worked, but then it only caused them to start whispering again.
With a small shake of your head, you lead the small girl down the hallway again, taking a sharp left to get away from the busy hallway. You hoped that what they said didn't reach her ears although it's not like she would understand it in the first place if she didn't know your language.
With a sigh of relief, you walked down another short hallway that led to your room. For the most part, It was secluded, being in a section of the mansion that wasn't accessible to everyone.
You led the girl into the room next to yours, happy to see it had already been cleaned and set up for another guest. It was almost identical to your bedroom, a full bed located in the center of the right wall with a dresser on the wall across from it. The door to the closet was located next to the dresser, farthest from the entrance. The door to the bathroom was on the other side of the dresser, almost directly next to the entrance.
Gently, you maneuvered the girl to the bed, gesturing for her to climb onto it. She did as you said, placing herself on the bed without a word. The young girl looked a bit messy, splotches of dirt and ash covering her face.
You would just set her up a bath but you weren't sure how her skin would react with water. Even if she was a hybrid, one of the things you knew for sure about the nether was that they didn't have water, and the water they did have was taken from the overworld and carried in special containers.
You filled a small container full of water and grabbed a washcloth from the drawer in her bathroom. When you came back into the room, she was in the same position you left her in. She didn't even make a move to look around the room, her gaze staring directly ahead.
"U-Um," You stuttered, not sure how exactly to communicate with the girl. "Does water hurt you?" You tried your best to emphasize your words with movement, dipping the washcloth into the water and rubbing it lightly on your arm before gesturing to hers.
She took the washcloth out of your hand. rubbing it on her own arm. Smiling, you took a mental note that water, in fact, does not hurt her. You took the washcloth back from her hand before dipping it back in the water and gesturing to her face. She nodded, taking the washcloth from your hand again, and began rubbing her face with the washcloth. In no time she was able to get most of the dirt off her face, but you noticed that she missed a few spots. When she handed you the dirty washcloth, you rinsed it with the bowl of water before bringing it back up to her face, hesitating in front of her.
"May I?" You asked gently without thinking. Right when you were about to scold yourself, she nodded.
"Can you understand me?" You blurted out.
No response. Not even a twitch.
Maybe it was just a coincidence.
Shoving that in the back of your mind, you gently rubbed the washcloth on your own face again before gesturing to hers. She didn't make a move to grab the washcloth as you leaned in, wiping the remnants of dirt she failed to wash from her face.
Once the girl's face was cleaned, you washed out the bowl of water and returned to the room, taking notice of the way the poor girl shivered.
"Are you cold?" You asked, rubbing your hands on your arms.
The young girl nodded as she shivered again.
"Okay, give me one minute," You said, putting up a finger in hopes she understood what you meant. After grabbing a jacket from your room, you returned, handing it to the small girl. She quickly put it on, snuggling her face into the material.
"Are you hungry?" You questioned, rubbing your stomach in a circular motion.
The girl once again nodded, placing her hand on her stomach.
Just as you were about to ask what she'd like, you bit your tongue. There was no good way to ask what her favorite food was or what she felt like eating. It also wasn't even time for dinner yet so if you fed her now, she'd most likely be hungry at night.
You stopped to think for a moment before remembering about the batter you placed in the fridge earlier. You're sure the other housekeepers could go one day without your sweet treats.
•••
Thank you for the votes on the last chapter, I really appreciate it!
Do you trust the Greshams?
What do you think will happen next?