Chapter 9: The Maid’s Reprieve

After enjoying her cake and tea, Maki wandered through the mansion, happily snapping photos. Seemingly satisfied, she departed with a cheerful smile.

“She left surprisingly easily…” I mused aloud. Knowing Maki, I had expected her to be plotting something.

“Yes,” Sayaka agreed with a nod. “She didn’t seem to be searching the house for anything in particular, either.”

We were in the living room, having just finished dinner. Earlier, I’d artfully scattered some clothes and bags around to give the space a “lived-in” feel for Maki’s benefit, but I had since returned everything to its proper place.

“Should we keep an eye on social media for a while?” Sayaka suggested.

“It should be fine.” Simply posting photos of the mansion wouldn’t give her any real ammunition. Maki wasn’t the type to waste time on things that offered no personal gain. “Besides, we managed to keep you hidden.”

“I have to say, I didn’t enjoy being treated like some mistress,” she replied, her tone flat.

…I can’t say I blame her. The thought crossed my mind, though I’d had a similar one myself. Maki wasn’t my girlfriend, and there was certainly nothing improper happening between Sayaka and me.

“If you’re worried about listening devices, I can perform a thorough sweep,” Sayaka offered.

“You’re quite the suspicious one, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know Maki-san well. It’s only natural to be cautious around strangers, wouldn’t you agree?”

“Well, I don’t know you all that well yet, either,” I retorted.

“This house may look classic, but its security is solid. It most likely has equipment to detect electronic eavesdropping.”

She completely ignored my comeback. She was right, of course. As a property of the Kiyomiya family, its security was bound to be impeccable.

“Still, if we’re checking for bugs, I’ll be incredibly thorough. You can leave it to me—I’m persistent when I set my mind to something.”

“That’s certainly true,” I conceded, recalling how she’d relentlessly pushed to be hired even after I’d told her I had no intention of employing a maid.

“No, really, there’s no need,” I insisted. “Maki wouldn’t go that far. More importantly, searching a mansion this huge would be an exhausting ordeal.”

“I see…” Sayaka murmured, a hint of disappointment in her voice for some reason.

The sheer size of the place made cleaning a daunting task on its own; hunting for minuscule listening devices would be mind-numbing.

“But Maki-san was observing the mansion quite carefully,” Sayaka pointed out. “Perhaps she was trying to ascertain what kind of person the servant is.”

“You think so…?” The Kiyomiya family’s old manor was a classic Western-style mansion, a rarity even among the upper class these days. I had just assumed she was curious about the architecture.

“I made my room look unoccupied and sprayed deodorizer everywhere,” she continued. “I believe I erased every trace of my presence.”

“The fact you went to such lengths is a little scary.”

“I don’t cut corners in my work. Maki-san seemed sharp, so I felt it was necessary to be thorough.”

“Th-Thank you for your hard work,” I said. “But honestly, it would have been fine even if Maki had found out.”

“She is your friend, after all. You must be confident in your judgment of people.”

“Well, my family situation is… complicated. I’ve had to learn how to distinguish allies from enemies since I was a child. Anyway, you can take the rest of the day off.”

Sayaka had been in her maid uniform, working diligently from the moment she woke up, determined to prove she could provide twenty-four-hour service. After a hectic day like today, she deserved a break.

“Though, since we’ve already had dinner, there isn’t much left to do anyway,” I added.

“No, I’m grateful just to be able to rest now. Phew…”

“Ah, right.”

With a swift, practiced motion, Sayaka untied the ribbon at her collar, removed her headband, and promptly left the living room. For a terrifying second, I thought she was going to undress right there.

As if that would ever happen.

Still, I was surprised she accepted the break so readily. Had running from Maki really tired her out that much? A pang of guilt hit me; perhaps I had put her through an unnecessary ordeal.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“You’re back already!?”

“Right now, I’m not Sayaka, the trial maid,” she announced. “I’m just a freeloader.”

“…You could have just relaxed in your room, you know.” I found myself averting my gaze.

The Sayaka who had returned was a completely different person. She wore black-rimmed glasses, her hair was tied back carelessly, and she was dressed in a simple navy hoodie and white shorts.

“So that’s your loungewear, Sayaka…” It occurred to me that I’d only ever seen her in her maid outfit or school uniform.

“The whole outfit cost two thousand yen,” she said. “It’s less loungewear and more my everyday clothes. I go out like this, too.”

“Couldn’t you be a little more fashionable?” It was hard to imagine that Hisaka Sayaka, the girl so admired by her peers at school, would walk around in something so casual. Even so, her stunning figure was impossible to hide. Her chest was full, her legs long and slender. Even with the glasses, her face was disarmingly cute. Having a girl like that just casually hanging around the house… the whole situation felt surreal.

“Hey. These are my normal clothes. Don’t stare.”

“So that’s what makes you embarrassed?” I teased, noticing the faint blush on her cheeks as she glared at me.

Her standards for shame were a mystery. Personally, I thought walking around in a maid outfit was far more embarrassing.

“If you’re going to keep looking, I’ll have to charge you.”

“That’s not a very cute thing to say.” But the way she says it to hide her embarrassment is…

“Seriously, why did you come back? You could have just stayed in your room.”

“I wanted to try relaxing in this living room for once,” she replied, plopping down onto the sofa right next to me.

The soft cushion sank under her weight, and for a fleeting moment, her shoulder brushed against mine. Isn’t that a little too defenseless for a girl your age? Her shoulder felt soft, and she smelled incredibly nice.

“Ahh… this sofa really is the most comfortable,” she sighed.

“You’ve sat on it before, haven’t you?”

“But I’ve never let my guard down. Ah, could you pass me that cushion?”

“Sure.” I grabbed the cushion from the corner of the sofa and handed it to her.

“This is fluffy, too. Ahh…” Instead of placing it behind her back, Sayaka hugged it tightly to her chest, the soft fabric pressing against her through her hoodie.

“…You know, you can relax whenever you want.”

“Welcoming a proper guest would be much more work. I still have a long way to go.”

“No, Maki was a special case,” I assured her. “With regular guests, you just need to greet them in the reception room and serve tea.” There would be no need to erase all traces of a maid or run around hiding.

“Are you okay, Kiyomiya-kun?”

“Huh? What about me?”

“You went to great lengths to make sure Maki-san didn’t discover my presence, right? Was it difficult for you?”

“Ah, that wasn’t a big deal,” I said dismissively. “Worst case, I was prepared to just let her find out.”

“My, how close you two are…” A pair of cold eyes fixed on me. Had I said something to upset her?

“Well, she’s one of your few friends. If I successfully become a maid, I will be sure to host her as a friend of my master.”

“That would just give Maki more ammunition… And it’s not ‘one of my few friends.’ She’s my only friend.”

“Only one? I did my research on you, Kiyomiya-kun. I didn’t just show up at this manor without any prior knowledge.”

“Hm? Well, I suppose that’s to be expected…” It hadn’t occurred to me, but of course she would have looked into me beforehand.

“You have another friend, don’t you? A rather famous one, at that.”

“Hmm? A famous friend…?” I wracked my brain for a good thirty seconds. “Ah! Are you talking about that ojou-sama!?” The “Yamato Nadeshiko” that Maki was always going on about, one of the school’s two great beauties alongside Sayaka herself.

“No, that girl isn’t a friend or anything like that—”

I turned to my side and fell silent.

“Zzz… zzz…”

In the thirty seconds it had taken me to think, Sayaka had closed her eyes, her breathing soft and even as she hugged the cushion. She fell asleep way too fast! And to show such a defenseless sleeping face with me right here…

“Mm… mm…”

She shifted, turning on her side.

“Whoa there.” I quickly reached out and removed the glasses still perched on her nose. You shouldn’t sleep with your glasses on. They’ll break.

“……”

Without her glasses, her face looked completely different from her usual “aloof honor student” persona. There was an innocence to her, a hint of childishness.

That’s right…

It reminded me of that spring—exactly one year ago.

The path leading from Sōshūkan Academy’s main gate to the school building is lined with cherry trees that erupt in a riot of blossoms every spring. On one such day, I saw her. A girl I didn’t recognize, wearing the sailor uniform of another school. Thinking back, she was probably there to complete her enrollment procedures. She was standing absently under the canopy of cherry blossoms when she suddenly removed her large, black-rimmed glasses.

A single petal had landed on one of the lenses.

She brought the glasses to her lips and—puff—blew it away with a gentle breath.

In that instant, I fell in love.

Ah, how careless. How utterly thoughtless. Falling for a girl under the cherry blossoms—was I living in a romance manga? And a rather old-fashioned one at that. I was used to seeing beautiful people at Sōshūkan, an academy full of attractive students, so why did she, a girl with glasses, seem so special?

I just couldn’t take my eyes off her.

I even had the strange feeling that I’d met her somewhere before, that I had been searching for her all this time. A year had passed, and I still couldn’t make sense of my own emotions. And now, here she was, the very same girl, breathing peacefully in front of me, completely defenseless…

“…Carry me.”

“Huh?”

“Carry me to my bedroom.” The beautiful girl from under the cherry blossoms spoke, her eyes still closed. It seemed she’d woken up while I was lost in my reverie.

“An order, is it? Remind me, which one of us is the servant here?”

I did as she asked, sliding my arms under her back and knees. “Whoa, heavy.”

“How rude.”

“My apologies.” Even though I’d braced myself, I still staggered a bit. She might be slender, but a high school girl is still not an easy weight to lift.

“Honestly, this makes you seem more like the ojou-sama.”

“…Just for once in a while.”

“So I’m the butler for today?”

“I’m always surrounded by young ladies. Sometimes, I want to be the ojou-sama myself.”

First, we were talking about the ultimate ojou-sama, and now I was treating Sayaka like one.

“Well, I’ll do my best. Please try to stay still.”

“Do as you see fit.”

“Yes, yes. I am at your service today, Ojou-sama.”

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