14 — A Rainy Day

It had been raining for a long time.

Here in the capital, Rozhe, there are two times a year when it rains for about a month on end. This was the first rainy season since I had come to the duke’s house.

Rainy days usually meant free time. We were limited to cleaning and doing the laundry, and when there was so little to do, the servants got it done quickly. That didn’t leave me any tasks to steal from them!

After I had a nice breakfast with the personal maids, I found myself squirming restlessly on the comfy sofa in my room.

This, too, was a first since arriving there.

“Argh, too much spare time! But I don’t wanna embroiderrr. And lacework is out of the question. My body feels so heavyyyy. And I can’t dye anything because I couldn’t hang it out to dryyy.”

“Madam...”

Dahlia and Mimosa were watching over me in mild disgust as I lay there fussing.

But there was just no work to be done.

For someone like me who was usually running around not just the manor but also the vast garden every single day, passing the time elegantly like a proper lady, holed up in my room, was akin to torture! I mean, I could always read... I like reading, right? But having to spend the whole day, or even several days, doing only that was just not for me. I’d go mad.

I like reading, but I like actual activity, too, I told myself. I’ve always kept a good balance between quiet time and work!

There was a faint knock on my door as I continued to squirm on the sofa; Rohtas entered.

“If you do not know what to do with your spare time, Madam, may I suggest a dance lesson?” he said with a smile.

“Dancing?”

I stared blankly back at him, surprised by his suggestion. I had never even considered dance lessons. How did he come up with that?

“Indeed. Dancing will get your body moving, and when push comes to shove, it would not hurt to know how.”

“...push is never going to come to shove with me.”

I mean, since coming here, I’m still exempt from social activities, right? And I’m not planning on attending any functions where I’d have to dance.

I looked up at Rohtas reprovingly.

“That may be true, but you still ought to learn how, shouldn’t you?” Rohtas continued to pressure me with a grin.

His smile was somehow both kind and coercive.

Am I the only one who gets the feeling I can’t say no?

“...alright.” I caved.

“Well then—allow me to recommend a location for your lesson.”

Rohtas smiled even wider at my reluctant agreement. I was defeated.

I had already debuted, more or less. And I knew how to dance, more or less.

But still, both were only ‘more or less.’

“Don’t look at your feet! Smile! Keep your back straight!”

My lesson was off to a vigorous start. Rohtas didn’t hold back.

“Yes...!”

I barely managed to respond, miserably. I was so stressed and unhappy that I wanted to cry!

To be perfectly blunt, Rohtas was a demon of an instructor. Evidently, Rohtas was a licensed dance instructor, so he was very good. By contrast, since I hadn’t ever been to functions where I had to formally dance, my dancing abilities were more at the ‘party’ level. From Rohtas’ point of view, my barely-cutting-it dancing had much room for improvement.

Seriously, though, he made me start over from the very basic positions.

“Starting now, let us have dance lessons on rainy days. You are quite a fast learner, Madam,” he said with a bright grin, not even breaking a sweat.

How is it that his smile is like a refreshing sea breeze!? Meanwhile I’m flopped on the sofa like Lady Lethargy! Despite having the lesson only this morning, my body was in bad shape.

I already regretted folding under the pressure of his smile.

After my merciless dance lesson, which had decisively crossed over into a category we will call “Exercises for Killing Time,” I had a light lunch and returned to my room feeling groggy.

“Oh, Madam, are you already worn out?” Mimosa asked, rushing over to me on the sofa where I was lying.

“It’s because he was so harsh! Rohtas is an absolute demon—a demon, I tell you!”

My body was stiff all over, for heaven’s sake! He gave me the ‘you’ll be feeling this tomorrow’ course!

I rubbed my aching lower back as Mimosa said with a laugh, “He worked you over quite well. At this rate, you look like you’ll probably still be sore tomorrow, so leave this to me, Madam!”

There was something in her smile that I couldn’t resist.

Wait, didn’t this just happen?

“O-okay,” I replied with a super awkward smile, like I’d forgotten what normal social interaction was, to which Mimosa responded, “In that case, hold on one moment, please!”

She flew out of my room like a gale force wind.

After a few minutes, she returned with several more personal maids and blurted out, “We shall massage you until you glow, Madam!” with a huge grin.

...what’s going to happen to me now!?

Several minutes later:

I was completely, positively glowing, and completely relaxed from head to toe!

That’s right. They gave me a full beauty treatment!

“I’ve always wanted to do this to someone! You still have some spots that need some work, so I’m looking forward to doing this again!”

Mimosa looked at me with shining eyes.

But this girlish glow, though! Now that I think of it, on the few times when I’d let Mimosa dress me up, she’d wiggle her fingers in excitement at the thought of giving me a rub down.

Mimosa looked absolutely content, as if this had been her one true desire.

As for me, even though all of my physical pain was gone, it seemed like something in my psyche had been worn down.

I was mobbed (er, massaged!) by a half dozen maids, rubbed in perfumed oil, and made up in a new hairstyle and makeup to top it all off, and then finally dressed in something other than a uniform.

We’re certain you’ll love our Madam more than the other brand, or your money back, guaranteed! (Call now!)

“...thank you, everyone... I look... great.”

I almost didn’t recognize the person staring back at me in the mirror.

Or rather, Mimosa was very good at doing makeup, and her choice of my dress and accessories were excellent. She really was something else.

It was such a thorough transformation that I couldn’t stop myself from wondering if they’d used prosthetics!

Celebrity housewives get this sort of thing done everyday, don’t they...? I can tell it really doesn’t suit me, though. Servant life for the win! No-makeup look for life!

Although I had only spent half the day dancing and the other half playing spa, I was definitely more exhausted than the days when I’d just sat around in my room.

Despite feeling like I was in a trance, I headed to the servants’ dining room to have dinner with Dahlia and Mimosa as I usually did. On the way, Dahlia spoke up.

“Wouldn’t it be lovely if we spent rainy days like this from now on? You seem quite revitalized, Madam,” she smiled.

There was something I couldn’t refuse in Dahlia’s smile, too...