21 — His Whim Continues

Mr. Fisalis’ return to the manor—or rather, his decision to eat dinner there—caused quite a stir among everyone, including myself! It was the hot topic in the servants’ dining room the next morning.

“That sure was something yesterday. Some people didn’t even get a single break all day, right?” I overheard, looking around at the maids eating breakfast. I was back to eating with everyone, and I was determined to eat only servants’ meals from then on.

“I didn’t mind missing my break, but I was really feeling all that work in my bones by the end.”

That was one of the maids who was at the cottage yesterday, the one assigned to Mr. Fisalis. She shrugged her shoulders with an exasperated look on her face.

“And Miss Calendula didn’t know about any of it?”

“It seemed that way, yes. The guard who always escorts Mr. Fisalis came to the cottage and told her around the same time Mr. Fisalis arrived at the main house.”

“Oh, I see, I see.”

So it wasn’t a servant from here that went and told her. Not that we were obligated to, or even had the spare hands on deck to do so.

Mr. Fisalis really had made a spur-of-the-moment decision, then.

“We clean up after her, but she won’t even talk to us—she hasn’t done any harm to us or anything, though—but, she seemed unhappy about eating dinner alone.”

“She purposefully squeaked and clanked her cutlery, and flat out pushed away dishes she didn’t like without saying anything. It was a bad look, for sure.”

“I agree!”

The personal maid from the cottage went on and on with her complaints.

I felt overwhelmed by the air of restlessness moving through the room, but knew I should stifle any grumbling. “Taking your anger out on someone is never okay, but I think I can understand how she feels. Food just doesn’t taste as good when you’re eating alone... right?” I interjected with determination.

I mean, I’m only eating here because I hate being alone, too... ha ha.

“We pretend not to see her, too, so I don’t see what the problem is,” one of the personal maids calmly asserted.

“That’s—that’s right.” Her response was so straightforward it was almost unladylike. I cringed reflexively.

“It’s like someone took away her favorite toy, isn’t it? Even though she usually doesn’t seem all that attached to him. Maybe Master’s the one who’s head over heels for her.”

As the maid vented her thoughts on Mr. Fisalis and his girlfriend, I realized the two of them were locked in a tricky balancing act. I had wondered if the two of them were kind of co-dependent, but now it seemed to be otherwise. Anyone could see that Mr. Fisalis was in too deep, but even though it appeared Calendula was less attached to him... I got the vague feeling she was in over her head, too.

That extraordinary event, however, was not limited to just that day.

“Eh? You’re going to eat here today, too?”

The words slipped out before I could stop them.

Uh, what?

He must have been slightly hurt by my response, because then Mr. Fisalis asked, “Can’t I?” with raised eyebrows.

“Of course you can; it’s no trouble at all,” I assured him, nodding my head.

Watch it, you almost showed your true feelings.

It had been a week since that surprise dinner. This was his idea, coming home here after work for the evening meal.

Given this was the second occurrence, no one was quite as panicked as before, and yet...

“Tell Cartham to start dinner!”

When I winked at Rohtas, he gave a little nod that Mr. Fisalis did not notice.

“Arrange for some personal maids to serve the meal!”

I winked at Dahlia.

She nodded back, too.

“Prepare some tea and sweets!”

Mimosa was last.

She stealthily, but sure enough, signaled back a ‘yes.’

There wasn’t going to be an emergency meeting like last time.

We quickly confirmed with each other what we needed to do and then dispersed to our stations.

When we finished our high-speed, undiscussed, full-power-mode dinner, and after I gave him my highly-edited version of What I Did Today, Mr. Fisalis went back to the cottage.

We all saw him off, smiling whole-heartedly.

But just like before, he had that unreadable look on his face. For some reason, it didn’t bother me all that much. But...

What did bother me, more than his expression, was what the personal maids from the cottage said that day.

Miss Calendula was in a bad mood again. And if she’s in a foul mood again, maybe tomorrow, once we hear their complaints we can cheer up the maids from the cottage!

At first it was once a week.

Then, it gradually increased to two or three times a week.

As you might expect, we grew used to him coming home to eat dinner like this and were able to prepare ahead of time. So, the moment he would mention that he was coming to the manor for dinner, we were able to respond quickly without having to resort to winks and secret signals.

The nights when the servants needed to prepare dinner for Mr. Fisalis and myself, and gather some maids to serve it, secretly earned the name “The Cercis Shift.” You could almost hear the servants silently calling, “the Cercis Shift is starting!”

Of course, his frequent dinners at the house angered her: Miss Calendula, Mr. Fisalis’ ‘companion’ back at the cottage.

This time, she showed up when I happened to be cleaning the entryway.

“Oh, you again? Oh, well. I’ve come to see Madam Fisalis, so let her know I’m here, will you?”

Sigh.

What high horse did you ride in here on? Who does she think she is!? ‘Queen Calendula,’ clearly.

Yup.

It didn’t seem like she realized who I was this time around, either, and she treated me like just another servant. She had no idea that the plain girl with the braids, uniform, and bare face (okay, I was actually doing the no-makeup look), right in front of her, was actually the lady of the house.

Today, Miss Calendula was wearing a deep crimson dress the same shade as her eyes. The neckline of the dress showed off her bouncing bosom and, ahem, brick house of a body; and that, combined with her black hair that reached her lower back, made for an utterly bewitching bombshell of a woman. Beauty and allure seemed to waft from her, like fragrance from a flower; I couldn’t help but stare.

She had an impressive look of determination in her ruby eyes, however, and despite the perfect upward curve to her smile, she was terrifying! You mustn’t glare at a mere servant such as myself!

“The-the madam. Right away. One moment, please.”

Even though I was the madam, I faltered and stuttered under her intense gaze.

For now, I’ll just go ask Rohtas for advice. Yeah, that’s a good idea.

They can keep the fighting between themselves. I, on the other hand, want to avoid a showdown!

So I went to Rohtas’ office to speak with him.

“Rohtas! Mr. Fisalis’ girlfriend is back at the entrance again.”

“Is she here?”

Rohtas was cool and collected as ever when he looked up from the document he was currently fighting with. He pushed his silver-rimmed glasses up on the bridge of his nose with a gentle movement. “What do you mean, ‘is she here?’ Did you call for her, Rohtas?” I asked, not understanding how he could be so calm.

The edges of his eyes softened, and a small laugh slipped out. “Of course not! It’s simply that Master has been eating dinner here more and more frequently. I was more or less able to surmise the state of affairs over at the cottage based on what the personal maids told me,” Rohtas answered, as if there wasn’t a diva glaring like a demon just outside his doorway.

Those maids are practically pulling off a whole recon mission! The housemaids see everything, don’t they!?

“Ohh, I see.” I was shocked; I had no clue they did that.

“Yes, she has been in a terrible mood as of late, so I expected her to eventually come here.”

“That makes sense!”

A level-headed analysis based on a report.

On top of things as al— Never mind.

“It would probably be best if you do not make an appearance, yet, Madam. I will take care of her again today.”

“Fine by me! I’ll find somewhere to hide and watch!”

“...”

Hey, come on, now. It’s for research material afterwards!

I have no idea what I’d do if she busted in and Rohtas wasn’t around, though. I wonder if Dahlia would deal with her for me.

Rohtas hurried briskly toward the entrance, with me quietly at his heels.

I secured a position where I was just out of range of Miss Calendula (I’d be toast if she saw me), and set my sights on her and Rohtas.

“My humble apologies for making you wait,” Rohtas said. His face, which had been gentle mere moments before, was now expressionless as he announced himself to her.

“What’s this? I said I wanted to see Madam Fisalis. What’s the butler doing here?” Miss Calendula was smiling, but yet again, the smile did not reach her eyes.

“That little maid is absolutely useless!” I heard her whisper over her shoulder. She even tutted exaggeratedly!

“Madam is in poor health today, so she is in bed until further notice.”

Woah, Rohtas lied without batting an eye! I’m freaking out over here.

“Oh my, how terrible. I should go check on her.” Miss Calendula didn’t back down.

She shot a defiant look Rohtas’ way, a smile spreading across her face.

“She has a slight fever, so unfortunately, only her attendants are allowed in her room at the moment.”

“I see. That is unfortunate. I’ll be back when she’s feeling better, then.” Calendula backed down, unexpectedly disappointed.

Perhaps annoyed at Rohtas’ blank expression in the face of her insistence, Calendula clucked her tongue.

She didn’t say anything out loud, but her face conveyed a loud and clear damn it.

Rohtas, however, was stubbornly cool-headed.

“We would be ever so grateful if you did.”

Calendula glared at Rohtas’ blank expression until she left, her crimson dress fluttering as she made her exit.

Today’s little cold war ended with another victory for Rohtas.

“I wonder if she’ll really come back again.”

Since I had a clear line of sight to the door, I came out from my hiding spot once Calendula left and I was sure the door was shut.

When he looked up, Rohtas’ expression had returned to its normal, kind state. “Probably, yes.”

“So, what’re we gonna do for the next battle!?”

She won’t confront me if I’m dressed like a servant, so maybe I could have Mimosa apply some prosthetics and... no, what am I thinking, going around in disguise in my own house!?

I must have looked like I was planning something, because Rohtas turned to me with a dry look and muttered, “...please refrain from doing anything... strange.”

Who? Me?