10 — A Busy Morning

Come morning, the first thing my eyes opened up to was Mr. Fisalis’ beautiful, sleeping face.

Waaah! I wasn’t expecting that. I’m definitely wide awake now. Probably not being fully awake was the only thing that kept me from shrieking out loud at that sight. Oh yes, now I remember... All that stuff happened and then he ended up sleeping in here with me.

Well, at first he insisted on staying up all night, but the maids convinced him to go to sleep. Good job, ladies. Border guard Officer Fish wasn’t on duty, but Mr. Fisalis remembered his manners and stayed on his side of the bed because the maids were here.

Speaking of the fish figurine, I haven’t seen Mr. Fisalis asleep since that time he ended up cuddling it while he slept. Mr. Fish isn’t the only thing absent here, either: there’s no tear tracks on Mr. Fisalis’ face this time.

This is my first time getting a good long look at him while he’s asleep. I’d be too embarrassed to ever gaze this deeply upon his radiant visage while he’s awake, so this is my chance to ogle and I’m gonna take it! Jeez, attractive people are still attractive even when they’re asleep... I’m totally jealous.

He even looks kind of innocent. He’s like a completely different person—not stiff and formal at all... Is this what they mean when they say someone is “two-faced!?”

His eyelashes are long and fluffy, even though he’s a guy... We girls really can’t catch a break. And I know that when he opens his eyes, they’ll be a dignified dark brown. No wonder he’s so popular with everyone, young or old, man or woman (well, maybe not so much the men☆). I’m totally jealous. Wait, didn’t I just say that?

As I was appreciating Mr. Fisalis’ fine bone structure, Dahlia quietly called out, just above a whisper, “Madam, are you awake?” from the other side of the canopy. I turned my head towards her voice.

“Yes, I’m awake. Good morning, Dahlia,” I whispered back.

Never wake a sleeping baby, as they say.

“How are you feeling today?”

“I seem to be better. Is it already time to get up?”

“It’s still early. Would you like to stay in bed a while longer?”

“Yeah, I’ll get up soon. But Mr. Fisalis is still sound asleep, so I’ll have to get ready in the dressing room this morning.”

“That you will.” We conversed in hushed voices.

Since we’d cause a commotion and wake up Mr. Fisalis if I got ready in my bedroom like I usually did, I decided to get dressed in my spacious walk-in closet. I still couldn’t believe that my closet really was big enough to allow that!

I climbed out of bed as quietly as I could and tiptoed over to Dahlia before following her into the dressing room. Stellaria was close behind me.

Wow, we can fit three people in here easily! What a closet!

Stellaria briskly selected an outfit for the day and held it up for my approval. It was a simple dress, but had slightly more frills than my usual fare.

Yesterday’s gown had been like that too, so maybe Stellaria just liked styles that were a bit more feminine and glamorous. It wasn’t too flashy, though, so it was still within my comfort zone, and it was always refreshing to wear something different than Mimosa’s usual choices.

Once I’d changed into the dress, I tied my hair loosely to the side, and I was finished getting ready.

Will we do my makeup in the salon, too, since the noise might wake him up?

It took only a few minutes to get ready. When I crept out of the dressing room, Mr. Fisalis’ maid gave a look. It seemed like Mr. Fisalis was still sound asleep.

He probably wasn’t able to sleep very well, between getting all worked up over my fainting incident and then having to sleep cramped to one side of my bed. The least I can do is let him sleep for as long as he wants.

Still, I was done getting ready earlier than usual, so I left Mr. Fisalis under his maid’s care before the three of us tiptoed out of the room. We did, in fact, do my makeup in the salon. I wasn’t going anywhere special that day, so I didn’t need anything fancy in that department.

“I know I was excited yesterday because you were wearing formal attire, but you really do have lovely skin, Madam. Just some light makeup is more than enough,” Stellaria said as she brushed on a sheer layer of powder.

“I do? That must just be the result of Mimosa’s hard work. And even without her, I still have the Spa Squad taking care of me.”

“Heh heh heh. I’ll take your word for it. I’m going to give you a hand massage now, I think. Rough hands will be a dead give away to your daytime activities,” said Stellaria with an impish smile.

Well that’s alarming to learn! But how did Stellaria know!?

Shocked into obedience, I gave Stellaria my hand. Soon I was in heaven as she massaged a generous amount of scented oil into my hands. This, combined with the effects of the aroma left me relaxed and spellbound. Oh no... I might fall asleep again.

“I’m sorry about last night. You had to work late because of me.”

“I was nothing, Madam. I’m just relieved you are well.”

“I’m still so embarrassed,” I whined. “Dahlia didn’t catch a cold, did she? She got out of her wet clothes, right away?”

“Yes. Once Master thanked her, she had a warm bath in her room and was able to go to sleep right after.”

“Oh, that makes me feel better. She got wet pulling me out of the bathtub after all.”

“That we did. Oh, and once you were out of the bath, Stellaria and I were the ones who dressed you in your bathrobe, so there’s no need to worry about that.”

Oh, Dahlia. You always know exactly what it is I want to hear. That means I was able to avoid exposing myself to Mr. Fisalis!

“Master arrived as soon as we finished dressing you; he asked to move you to your room and then carried you to your bed. We asked him to step out for a moment after that so we could change you into your nightgown.”

Yep, that’s just what I wanted to hear from Dahlia. Thank you—I was feeling really uneasy about what happened while I was unconscious.

“Oh, what a relief to hear. I’m sorry that I caused you so much trouble.”

“Not at all. There really is no need to keep apologizing.”

“You too, Stellaria. Thank you for the drink. You said that Cartham made it for me, right? Wouldn’t he have already been asleep at that hour? As in, you had to make him get out of bed...”

“Make him! Ha, he practically leaped out of bed when I told him you had an emergency.”

“...I’d still better apologize to him later.”

Just as I was sighing in relief, finally learning from them what had transpired the night before while I was unconscious:

“Viola! Oh, there you are!” The door to the salon flew open with a loud bang and Mr. Fisalis burst— I mean, stepped in.

Is he trying to give me a heart attack!? Every time he does something like that, my heart skips a beat... Okay, calm down.

Anyway.

Both Dahlia and Stellaria were staring in stock at Mr. Fisalis, likely wondering why he thought it was a good idea to fling the door open so forcefully.

Mr. Fisalis paused for a moment in relief when he saw me there. He must have run straight down from bed because he was still in his dark gray silk pajamas. His usually perfectly coiffed brown hair was currently a textbook example of bedhead, sticking out all over the place. What could have made him panic so much that he came to find me like this?

“Good morning. Whatever is the matter?” Stellaria inquired of him, once he had calmed down, as she continued to massage my hands.

“Viola wasn’t there when I got up. I thought something had happened...” It looks like his worry from last night hasn’t worn off yet.

“Oh, I see. I just woke up earlier than normal and I felt fine, so I got ready down here. I wanted to let you sleep in, since it was my fault you were up so late last night. I’m very sorry for that... for causing you to worry about me. Since the maids were with me, though, I didn’t have any trouble at all. Or, more bluntly... I knew better than to wake a sleeping baby.

“...Oh, I didn’t hear you leave. How silly of me...” Mr. Fisalis mumbled, just barely audible.

“What did you say?” I asked back.

“Nothing.”

“Why don’t you get ready, too, Master, now that you’ve seen that Madam is alright? We cannot serve breakfast when you are still in your pajamas.”

“Oh? Oh, sure. I’ll go change. Viola, you go on ahead to the dining room.” It took a gentle nudge from Dahlia for Mr. Fisalis to finally realize that he had never gotten properly dressed. Before leaving the salon, he gave me a shy smile.

“...What was that all about?” I muttered, staring at the doorway through which Mr. Fisalis made his hasty exit. It had been a whirlwind of activity today and I hadn’t even made it to breakfast yet.

Turning to me once she had closed the door, Dahlia said, “He really was worried about you. Why don’t we make our way to the dining room? Master will return soon,” with a grin.

Based on what I had heard at the ceremony the day before, Mr. Fisalis and the whole special ops unit were awarded fourteen days of vacation. Hmmm, that’s a long time.

I did not, however, hear when that vacation was to begin. Could it perhaps start today? I wondered as I waited in the dining room for Mr. Fisalis to finish getting ready in his own room.

“Is Mr. Fisalis’ vacation starting today?” I asked Rohtas, figuring he was the most likely to know. After all, he kept the schedules for everyone and everything in the whole manor, including Mr. Fisalis, up there in his noggin!

“No, Master is scheduled to go to work today,” he replied without even having to think about it. “I’ve been informed that its start depends on when his remaining business is completed, but if you want a more detailed explanation, you ought to ask him.”

“Ah, thank you.”

When his remaining business is completed, huh? Well, I suppose he still has to submit the reports he wrote on the front lines, plus any accumulated work from when he was gone.

In the meantime, as I thought this through, Mr. Fisalis returned from getting dressed—calmly, this time—and cheerfully strode into the dining room.

I don’t think I’ll ever get used to seeing Mr. Fisalis in his nice clothes, or get tired of it no matter how many times I see him. He’s wearing his knight’s uniform now, so he must be off to work right after this, just like Rohtas said.

“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s have some breakfast, shall we?” he said pleasantly, taking a seat in the chair Rohtas pulled out for him.

At his prompting, the different dishes were brought out one by one. And of course, everything was perfectly portioned for Mr. Fisalis and I!

As I dug in to another one of Cartham’s signature breakfasts, clearly made with love, Mr. Fisalis said, “Although I wish I could start my vacation right now, I have the reports from the front and a few other things left to do, so it looks like my break won’t start for a few more days.”

Wow, that was exactly what Rohtas said, too!

“I see.”

“I’m going to work my very hardest, because I’d like my break to come sooner rather than later!” he announced in an overdramatic fashion.

He says it like he’s going to manifest some sort of new super power. Can’t you even be normal at breakfast? Then again, I can understand wanting a break after working your butt off for so long.

“Er, yes. You do that. You deserve a break after how long you were away.”

“You bet I do! I’ve got to make up for the time I wasn’t with you!”

“You want that!?” I reflexively responded, just a tad too aggressively.

So it’s not time off you want so much as time with me.

“Yes! And I’m going to give one-hundred-fifty percent at work to get it,” he announced again, paying no heed to my inappropriate response.

“O-Okay.” I can’t complain about him wanting to do well at his job, so I’d best just leave it at that.

When breakfast was over and I walked Mr. Fisalis out the door, I found Lord and Lady Fisalis there. Lord Fisalis appeared to be in a bad mood, either as a result of being called into another dull meeting or because Lady Fisalis wouldn’t be there with him this time.

“But why do I have to go too?” he complained.

“I’m off to work, Viola! Let’s go, Father. The sooner we go, the sooner we can come home!” Mr. Fisalis said as he dragged his father away.

“Have a nice daaay!” Lady Fisalis called to them with a wave of her hand, her smile as bright as ever.

“Have a good day at work!” I called after them, too, as Rohtas watched wordlessly from behind me.

Whew! I’ve already been so busy and the day has just begun!