2. Mr. Fisalis Got Viola-tized?

The jig was finally up: I’d been putting on a maid uniform to go about cleaning, doing the laundry, and more while Mr. Fisalis was away. For my part, I’d been certain that getting busted was going to spell the end of my carefree servant life.

But wouldn’t you know it, Mr. Fisalis had been totally open-minded about the whole thing, and now I was doing it with my husband’s full permission! Though naturally, it was to remain a secret to the rest of the outside world☆

I’ve got a lot more flexibility now! This ought to be a huge improvement to my quality of life—a big thanks to my magnanimous husband!

That said, I wasn’t about to parade around in full uniform in front of Mr. Fisalis. Whenever he was home, I would wear a proper dress—my “good wife” style.

* * *

One morning, I was seeing my husband off as per usual.

“I won’t be getting home until late today, so go ahead and have dinner without me,” he said to me and Rohtas, the thought occurring to him just as he was heading out the door.

“Are things getting busy at work again?”

“Not exactly. There’s a royal council this evening, that’s all,” he replied, flashing me a pleasant smile. He then went on to add, “But why did His Majesty have to schedule his meeting then? Whatever—I’ll do my best to wrap it up and get home to you as quickly as possible.”

For that last comment, he spun around and glared in the general direction of the royal palace. What, is he trying to cast some kind of spell on them?

“Don’t rush through it! Make sure you discuss everything properly!” I chided Mr. Fisalis amid his grumblings. Knowing my husband, he was liable to say something like, “Let’s get this worthless meeting over with” right to the king’s face.

“I won’t, I won’t. That’s precisely why I can’t say how long the meeting might end up taking. I won’t ask you to wait around for me if I have no idea when I’m going to get home.”

“Copy that!” I answered, a contented smile overtaking my features despite myself. After all, if Mr. Fisalis was away, that meant I would get to eat dinner with the servants in their own dining room!

When he saw how pleased I was by the news, Mr. Fisalis started sulking. “Why is it that you get so very animated in moments like this...?”

Oh dear—is it just me, or are those beautiful, dark-brown eyes of his getting a little misty? No, it’s definitely just me. Definitely just my imagination running away with me.

“Come now, I wouldn’t say that! Anyway, good luck at work today!”

I saw him off with an even brighter smile than usual.

* * *

“Hee hee hee... I wonder what’s on the menu today!”

I was heading to the servants’ dining room, an extra bounce in my step.

I’d spent the whole day putting my all into the cleaning and laundry. Though I’d already had a staff meal for lunch, it had been so long since I’d had a servant dinner that I was practically on cloud nine. It was like I’d been transported right back to the very beginning of my marriage!

“For tonight’s dinner, it seems we’ll be having grilled chicken—the Cartham Special,” Stellaria explained as I skipped down the hall.

“The Cartham Special?! My mouth is watering already! Oh man, I can’t wait to see what it is!”

“When he heard how much you were looking forward to the meal, he decided to pull out all the stops.”

“Yay!”

Though it goes without saying that the formal dinners he made for the exacting Master Shift were amazing, the more laid-back meals he whipped up as the friendly neighborhood chef were always tantalizingly delicious in their own right! Now that I knew today was going to be a “special” on top of that, I was beyond hyped to see what he had in store for us.

By the time I arrived at the servants’ dining hall, there was already a delightful smell wafting through the room. With the spicy scent of the herbs stimulating my appetite, my hunger was reaching critical status. C’mon, let’s get ready to eat!

“Come get your spoons!”

“Here’s the forks.”

“I’m putting the cups down over here, so everyone help yourself.”

“Okay!” came the chorus of replies.

After the maids and I were done laying out the cutlery, I went to the kitchen to get my food. The servants’ dining room was self-service, more or less. Every now and then the maids would fetch me something or clear away my plate, but I did my best to follow the house rules!

I helped myself to my share of Cartham’s cooking and a piece of bread, then quietly took my seat.

Drowning in colorful vegetable sauce, the grilled chicken was cooked to exquisitely juicy perfection! Now that was “Cartham” and a “special” for you!

“Bon appétit!” I cheered.

“Bon appétit!” everyone else mimicked.

Once everyone was at the table, we dug into our meal. I cut up my chicken, happy as a clam.

I picked up a bite with my fork, and then it was ready, set...munch!

“Mmmm! This is sooo good!”

The juiciness of the chicken and the perfect balance of the sweet and tangy in the vegetable sauce are out of this world!

“Why, it’s tasty enough to make the exhaustion of a long day’s work slip away!”

“Oh, could you pass me the butter?”

“Here you go.”

I enjoyed the dinners I spent chatting with my husband about this and that (the fact that I could definitively say I “enjoyed” them was a sign of my growth!), but sharing a meal with the crew for the first time in ages was a real blast. I can’t get enough of this atmosphere!

“By the way, what’s on the menu for Cercis tonight?” I asked Cartham, who was off in the kitchen.

“His entrée is to be herb-roasted chicken with a light side of grilled vegetables.”

And there you have it. Hmm, so chicken’s still the main course, but Mr. Fisalis’s veggies come as a side. The staff meal had those drizzled on top as part of the sauce.

What the heck does “light” mean in this context, though?

Just as we were all in the midst of licking our lips over this delicious supper, one of Mr. Fisalis’s maids rushed into the servants’ dining room in a panic. “We have a problem, Madam Fisalis! The master is here!”

“Whaaat?! Wasn’t he supposed to be home late today?!”

Taken by surprise, I set my cutlery down on the table and jumped up from my seat. Wow, that meeting sure must have been over fast! Maybe too fast.

“It seems the meeting was canceled at the last minute due to a change in His Majesty’s schedule.”

“Oh dear... Well, it is what it is—I’d better get a move on! As much as it pains me to put this meal on hold, I’ll be sure to finish it later, so go ahead and set it aside for me!”

I left my half-eaten dinner where it was. I took the stole handed to me by the ever-conscientious maid, pulled it over my current outfit, and rushed to the entryway. The plan was to keep my uniform covered up for now—just to be on the safe side.

* * *

“I’m home, Vi!”

“Welcome back!”

When I made it to the entryway, Mr. Fisalis was in the middle of one of his usual talks with Rohtas. As soon as he spotted me there, the look on his face softened. I have to admit, I was always a bit tickled to see those little changes reserved especially for me—but that’s just between you and me, okay?

Once I’d come close enough, he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me into a loose hug.

“I managed to get off work a lot earlier than planned. What were you up to, Vi?”

“I was just in the middle of dinner.”

“Aha, I see. Is it that hour already?”

“Have you had anything to eat, Cercis?”

“Nope, not a bite. I’m fairly hungry myself, so why don’t I join you at the table?”

At that, I went totally stiff. “Huh?”

“What do you mean, ‘huh’?” Mr. Fisalis eyed me suspiciously, confused by my strange response. “What’s wrong? If you were in the middle of eating, shouldn’t that mean my dinner is ready too?”

So went his logic, but unfortunately, he was a little bit off the mark there. What I had been eating was the servants’ meal, not the formal dinner I was supposed to share with Mr. Fisalis.

“Vi?” my husband questioned as he peered into my face, which was frozen in an awkward half-smile.

I slid my gaze away from his dark-brown eyes, then shot the butler beside me a look that said, How fast can you whip up Mr. Fisalis’s dinner?

It’ll take some time yet, was the answer I gleaned from our brief moment of eye contact.

Yeah. That was the answer I should have expected.

“Whatever. I’m starving, so let’s go.” Tired of waiting for somebody to respond to him, Mr. Fisalis eventually just grabbed me by the hand and marched off to the dining room.

However... “Hey, Vi? As far as I can tell, nobody’s touched the dining room. You did say you were in the middle of dinner, didn’t you?”

“Uh... More or less.”

When he found zero signs that the dining room was in use, Mr. Fisalis narrowed his chocolate-colored eyes into a squint.

This was an extremely awkward situation for me, so I just glanced off to the side.

“Tell me: what exactly were you eating, and where?” he asked with the most gorgeous of smiles, trapping my face between his hands and forcing me to look at him. N-Nowhere to run!

“Err... Since I thought you were going to pass on dinner tonight, I went ahead and ate a simpler meal.”

Left with no other choice, I bit the bullet and fessed up. But hey, at least I managed to keep the “where” and “with whom” parts of it hidden!

“Hmm. A simpler meal—I see. But where?”

Nooo! Did you have to go splitting hairs?! I purposely omitted that part! You’re not supposed to press me on that! Learn how to take a hint, Mr. Fisalis! But of course, I couldn’t very well come out and say any of that.

“...The servants’ dining room,” I answered as quietly as possible.

“Vi... You mean to tell me your exploits don’t stop at the maid uniform, cleaning, and laundry?”

“Uh... More or less.”

“Well, it is what it is, I suppose. So, what were you eating?”

“Huh?! You’re just fine with this?! Erm, it was today’s staff meal.”

I never imagined I’d see my husband let me off the hook twice over! Is this really okay?!

Mr. Fisalis made a dubious face when he learned what my dinner had been. “Hmm... My first thought was that it sounds just like something you’d do—is that a sign that I’m too soft on you, I wonder? Did you enjoy dinner, at least?”

The way his expression had shifted into a strained smile by the end of that was a sign that he was definitely way soft on me!

“You bet it was! Today was the Cartham Special!”

“Huh, that does sound pretty tasty.”

I did a one-eighty from the meek attitude I’d had going into this conversation, cheering right up the second I remembered how good the food had been. The look on my face must have been enough to tell Mr. Fisalis just how delicious it was, seeing as that awkward smile soon gave way to his usual dazzling grin.

“It was absolutely scrumptious! And it wasn’t just the taste that was good. For a staff meal, it was a real feast for the eyes. Why, it felt like a waste to leave it unfinished. Oh, but still—Cartham’s food is so good, it even tastes great cold.”

I managed to hammer home the wonders of Cartham’s cooking!

And then...

“The ‘staff meal’ shouldn’t be too hard to whip up on short notice, should it? Perhaps I’ll give it a try myself. Would that work, Rohtas?”

For a second there, I couldn’t even process what he was saying! I never thought I’d hear a request to eat the same meal as the servants leave Mr. Fisalis’s mouth!

“...If you’re quite certain, Master.”

Rohtas likewise went wide-eyed for a moment, but it wasn’t long before his face eased into its usual expression and he gave the okay.

* * *

I’d never dreamed the day would come when my husband would be eating the staff dinner in the main dining room.

And yet now, the meal set out before him was not “herb-roasted chicken with a light side of grilled vegetables,” but “Cartham’s Grilled Chicken Special.” It was the exact same dinner the staff and I had been eating in the servants’ dining room not too long ago.

Mysteriously enough, even that managed to look like a lavish dinner when it was laid out before him. Incidentally, the exact same dish (or rather, my leftovers from earlier) was sitting in front of me, but mine somehow looked like an entirely different meal... Was this what they called “the halo effect”? (It’s not, I know.)

Regardless, I had to hand it to Mr. Fisalis’s good looks for making even a servants’ meal look truly gourmet.

While I was busy scrutinizing my husband (and his dinner), he had begun to dig into his food.

“It looks simple, but it tastes as great as ever.” After taking an elegant bite off his fork, Mr. Fisalis seemed surprisingly satisfied with what he was eating.

“I know, right?! That’s why I just can’t resist the siren call of the staff meals!” I said, once again stressing the point with all my heart and soul.

“But if it’s the servants’ food you’re after, couldn’t you just ask Cartham? There’s no need for you to go out of your way to eat in their dining room,” he commented, another dubious look on his face. He really doesn’t get it.

“I’d hate eating in this giant dining room all by myself. It feels so lonely.”

“Lonely? Should I take that to mean it wasn’t your first time dining in there?”

“Oh, definitely not.”

“And how long has that been going on?”

“Uh... Since I first arrived at the manor, pretty much.”

“...I’m getting déjà vu.”

“I mean, before I came here, I would always eat dinner with my whole family around the table! Dining all by my lonesome in a strange, new home was too much to take. That’s when I pressured the servants into letting me eat in their dining room.”

It feels like I threw some shade on Mr. Fisalis there, but eh, he’ll get over it.

“Right... Uh, my bad,” he replied, refusing to look me in the eye. Wow, he’s sharp! Looks like he perfectly understood what I was getting at there.

“Cercis?”

“Oh, sorry... Anyway, if you’re ever feeling lonely while I’m away, feel free to go eat with them.”

“Really?!”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you so much!”

I was two seconds away from jumping for joy and throwing my arms around my husband!

I did it! I got the okay not only to wear my maid uniform and do the cleaning, but to eat in the servants’ dining room too!

With that out of the way, nothing was ever going to stop me from living my best life!