Epilogue

I returned to the kitchen as if nothing had happened and finished cleaning up after breakfast. I’ve grown accustomed to the work by now, able to complete my tasks with quiet efficiency. Mama—my adoptive mother—had drilled me relentlessly in the duties of a maid, but putting that training into practice was another matter entirely. I’d made my share of mistakes, like accidentally dropping one of my master’s precious books. I had only ever learned from her; I had never actually taken care of anyone before. It seems theory and reality are two different things.

Still in my maid uniform, I returned to my room and sank onto the bed.

“Ah, how embarrassing…!” I groaned, burying my face in my hands.

“A maid just for you”…! Isn’t that laying it on a bit thick? Especially in a situation like that! He must think I’ve lost my mind.

When I’d embraced him, I had to summon every last ounce of courage I possessed. But I felt that if I didn’t go that far, Keiji-kun might not have recognized me as a maid—as someone he should be making use of. He’s a peculiar person, but he’s still a boy, so I hoped it would be effective.

“For now… I’ll just try to forget about it.”

To be honest, Keiji-kun’s questions earlier had taken me by surprise. To think he could infer that much just from discovering I’d rummaged through his room. He’s a sharp one, just as I thought. It’s not because he was educated by the Kiyomiya family; he must have been born with exceptional abilities.

Because, he is—

“Hey, Sa-chan. You got a second?”

“You’re already in here, I see,” I remarked, not entirely surprised.

Maki-san, already dressed in her school uniform, had slipped into my room at some point. Perhaps it’s because she’s an informant, but she has a knack for being stealthy.

“I was hoping we could have a little chat, just the two of us,” she said with a cheerful smile. “I’m so glad I came to Keiji’s house.”

“With me? I can’t imagine we have anything to talk about other than Keiji-kun.”

“That’s surprising. I thought you’d hate me for coming to this mansion, Sa-chan. After all, you finally got to become a maid and live alone with Keiji, only for an intruder to show up.”

“I don’t think of you as an intruder,” I replied calmly. “You are a friend of my Master.”

Truthfully, I harbor no romantic feelings for Kiyomiya Keiji. I just think he is a pitiful person. He should have been born free, yet he was thrust into the constricting role of a son to a distinguished family with a thousand-year history—a position that should have been mine.

“So, what did you want to discuss?”

“I’m an informant, you know,” she said, her tone shifting slightly.

“I pretty much know everything you guys do.” Maki-san took out her smartphone and turned the screen toward me, displaying a photograph of Wakura Honoka—the same one Keiji-kun had.

“Where did you get that?” I asked, my voice level. “That’s not something you can get your hands on easily. A photo of the mistress of a distinguished family’s head.”

“Mistress, huh. Couldn’t you just call her his lover? The old Kiyomiya guy’s been single forever, after all.”

“And your source for the photo?”

“That’s a secret,” she chirped. “But it wasn’t that hard. Everyone knows Keiji is an illegitimate child, which means everyone knows about his commoner mother, too. It’s not that difficult to get a photo of someone that famous.”

“It is difficult,” I corrected her. “It’s not something just anyone can do.” At the very least, I had never been able to obtain a photo of my own biological mother.

“The moment I saw this photo, it just clicked,” Maki-san continued, undeterred. “Once I have a clue, gathering confirmation is my specialty.”

“…And what did your investigation conclude?” I asked, a sense of resignation washing over me. I couldn’t believe I was being pressed about my personal history twice in a single day. Everything Keiji-kun said was just speculation, but it seems Maki-san has some basis for her claims.

“A switch, huh? The Kiyomiya family does some pretty bold things.”

“Maki-san… just how much do you know?”

“Like I said, pretty much everything. About your mother, too, Sa-chan.”

With a flick of her thumb, Maki-san swiped to a different photo. It was a woman with semi-long black hair, dressed in what looked like a high-end suit. A woman I knew all too well.

“Hisaka Tsukasa. Your adoptive mother, Sa-chan. Quite a beauty. Though not as much as Wakura Honoka, you know.”

“Are you here to pass judgment on my mother and Keiji-kun’s?”

“Of course not,” she chuckled, turning the screen back to herself. “This is where the real story begins. Hisaka Tsukasa—she was scum.”

“…”

“From the time she was a teenager, she’d cozy up to rich men and pull off one scam after another. At some point, she even managed to get into a certain distinguished family as a servant. Not bad, right?”

“Not bad at all,” I agreed quietly.

“Right, Hisaka Tsukasa was scum. A genius scumbag, though, wasn’t she?”

“Yes, that’s right,” I said. “Mama—Hisaka Tsukasa—was smart and had sticky fingers. But surprisingly, she wasn’t attached to money. I think she just enjoyed playing rich men for fools.”

“That makes her even worse,” Maki-san said with a bitter smile.

“But for all her shrewdness, she was still too young. While working for the Kiyomiya family, she made two big mistakes.”

“What were they?”

“First, while she rose to the point of being entrusted with this old mansion, she was also messing around on the side and got pregnant with a child whose father she didn’t even know.”

“…”

“The other mistake was that she got too drunk on the pleasure of outwitting the rich and failed to notice there was someone far more cunning right beside her. The existence of a commoner who was talented enough to become a scholarship student at Sōshūkan Academy.”

“I’m in a complicated position myself,” I murmured. “To think my biological mother exposed the misdeeds of my adoptive mother.”

“Tough stuff,” Maki-san commented. “But your real mom’s a real operator too, Sa-chan. Wakura Honoka knew about Hisaka Tsukasa’s misdeeds but let her be, then used her when she herself was cornered.”

“I suppose a woman like Wakura Honoka wouldn’t have been able to survive in high society without being that shrewd.” Wakura Honoka, my biological mother, whom I’ve only seen in photographs. She must have been smart, enough to become a scholarship student at Sōshūkan, just like me. But, also like me, she must have had a bad personality. After all, she intended to use a mere servant for all she was worth.

“Wakura Honoka needed a ‘son.’ So she took in Hisaka Tsukasa’s newborn son and swapped him with the daughter she had just given birth to… That’s insane.”

“It really is,” I agreed. “What do they think children are?”

However, the deal probably wasn’t a bad one for Mama either. She foisted her newborn son on the head of the Kiyomiya family, who needed a male heir, and in return received the baby girl born at the same time. Naturally, she was also paid a large sum of hush money, disguised as child support.

“So, that Tsukasa-chan seems to have disappeared somewhere recently. Where’d she go?”

“I honestly don’t know,” I said. “I wish I did.” It’s true that I don’t know, but it’s a lie that I want to know. If she disappeared, I want her to stay gone. I never want to see that woman again.

Mama wasn’t a spendthrift, so she should have had plenty of money left, but of course, she vanished with all of it. If she had left even a little, I could have paid my tuition fees, but I couldn’t expect that kind of compassion from that woman.

“Hisaka Tsukasa, she’s seriously scum,” Maki-san said, shaking her head. “But it’s a different kind of scum from Keiji.”

“Of course. Being scum isn’t genetic. If it could be passed down, it would be to me, since I was the one raised by that woman.”

I knew everything, yet I kept the secret from Keiji-kun. In fact, I was planning to continue serving him while hiding it forever. Even now that that’s no longer possible, I still have a reason to serve him. That is why—

 

“I will never let anyone call Keiji-kun scum again.”

 

I will free Kiyomiya Keiji—he who inherited Hisaka Tsukasa’s genes—from the curse of Hisaka Tsukasa. I will do it by shaping him into a respectable person. By making him the head of the Kiyomiya family.

“So, what exactly is the goal of Sayaka-chan, who was raised by that Tsukasa-chan?” Maki-san asked, her eyes sharp.

“My goal—this is the second time I’ve been asked that today. Yes, I’ll tell you.” Just as he said, I am a liar, but I will not hide my purpose any longer. “Of course, it is to serve him as his maid. I will dedicate my entire life to him.”

Yes—I am not wearing this maid uniform for show or on a whim. He will become the head of the Kiyomiya family, and I will support him from the shadows.

My everything exists solely for Kiyomiya Keiji.