Chapter Three: The Struggles of Lady Erisu

“Hehehe!”

When I heard the faintly villainous laugh from the girl next to me, I felt more than a little awkward. It wasn’t actually some kind of evil executive plotting misdeeds, of course; it was just my friend, Kirara Hoshino. Her face showed her satisfaction more clearly than words ever could, and now her efforts to hold herself back had failed as a laugh slipped from her pink lips, apparently without her even realizing it.

I reflexively moved half a step away from her, making sure I was out of her reach, then heaved a soft sigh. “You don’t have to wait here ready to ambush her. Couldn’t you have just told her in the classroom?”

“That wouldn’t have been enough to make me feel better!” she cried, punching the air for emphasis. “If I confront Sara in front of everyone, it’ll draw the wrong kind of attention. It’ll be like I’m boasting about being a Seraph. The rest of our class won’t like that one bit.”

“I see your point, I guess.”

In our homeroom class just before Golden Week, a British exchange student called Sara had been chosen as the class’ head maid. The teacher had then asked the two of us to help her learn about two unique features of the school that we were involved with: the salons and the exclusive contracts to be a Seraph or Exousia.

That had been fine in theory, but when we’d shown her how we did our work at the Sky Salon, Sara had come down on us like a ton of bricks. According to her, we’d done everything wrong, and there was no way Kirara deserved to be a Seraph.

Kirara had not responded well to that. She’d been determined to prove Sara wrong by becoming a Seraph right away. After some trials and tribulations, she had actually managed it; her mistress, Kagura Mikage, had just promoted her.

Thus, her plan for today was less about telling Sara and more about rubbing her face in it. After class was over, she sped out of the room and took up a position just outside the entrance to the building, waiting for Sara to come past.

Incidentally, Kirara had only been a Seraph for one day, so the news hadn’t spread around the student body just yet. Kirara had even temporarily replaced her golden Seraph badge with a silver one just to make extra sure that Sara didn’t notice anything. She was really invested in this. Maybe a little too invested.

Since we hadn’t even asked Sara what we’d done to make her judge us so harshly, personally I didn’t have such strong feelings about her. She did seem to be the brutally honest type, but I didn’t get the impression she was making things up just for the sake of being mean.

Either way, all I could do for now was go along with Kirara’s plan. If I tried to slip away and leave her behind, there was no telling how angry she’d get with me later.

“She’s taking her time,” said Kirara, gently kicking the floor and glancing at the doorway.

“Well, she is head maid now. She must have all kinds of things to do.”

“Not today. I checked.”

“Oh, fair enough.”

I didn’t know whether to be impressed or terrified. The sheer force in her glare was enough for the latter.

By the time Sara appeared at last, the area was crowded with other students on their way back from class.

“I’ve been waiting for you, Sara.” Kirara showed no hesitation in flagging her down despite all the attention it drew.

“I beg your pardon?”

In a panic, I tugged on Kirara’s sleeve and whispered into her ear, “Hold on a moment! If you make a scene here, isn’t that even worse than in the classroom?”

“Hmm.” She furrowed her brow, finally noticing how many people were around. “Guess there’s only one option.” She turned to Sara and kept her voice as measured as she could. “Would you mind coming with us for a moment? We’d like to talk to you about something.” She gestured with a jerk of the chin.

“I say, whatever could it be?”

“Just come with us. All will be revealed.”

Now she was acting like an evil executive—or at least a school bully. I couldn’t get that idea out of my mind. Does that make me a henchman?

“What are you standing around for? We’re going.”

Kirara’s words pulled me back to reality, and I rushed to catch up to them. “Coming!”

Amanotsuka Academy’s grounds were pretty expansive. You didn’t have to go far off the beaten track to find somewhere empty enough. We soon arrived at what looked like a rose garden in the shade of some trees.

“This’ll do, I guess,” said Kirara. She stood facing Sara, her head held high. “Heh. There’s a reason I called you here, and it’s to show you this.”

She reached inside her pocket and pulled out the golden badge that proved she was now a Seraph. Before Sara’s eyes, she swapped it with the one she was wearing. The badge shone proudly on Kirara’s uniform, and she even lifted it up with her fingertips to show it off even more.

“Well?” she demanded. “Got anything to say about it?”

In other circumstances, I might have looked at this and found myself saying, “Wow!” This was not that kind of situation, however. Forget making our class jealous; if she’d acted like this in front of everyone, she’d have scared them half to death. For a second I wondered if I really wanted to be her friend. I guess it’s no surprise given how outraged she was about this before...

Sara stared at Kirara with a puzzled expression, then asked bluntly, “Did you nick that from somewhere?”

“Are you suggesting I stole it?!” In an instant, she drew so close to Sara that their faces were inches apart. She held the badge with such intensity that I almost thought she was going to rip it off and throw it on the ground.

This did nothing to intimidate Sara, however. She didn’t even raise an eyebrow. I admire her bravery, that’s for sure!

“It was merely a jest.”

It didn’t sound like a joke. I could well believe that Sara thought Kirara had stolen it, or at least found it lying around.

Sara’s expression changed slightly as she tilted her head. “Though if it really is yours, I can’t imagine how you wangled that.”

“What explanation do you need?! I earned it, so Lady Kagura gave it to me! Duh!”

Kirara spoke with disdain in her voice, but also pride when she mentioned the name of her mistress.

“Curiouser and curiouser. Have you really been made a Seraph so quickly? From what I could see, you made a dog’s dinner of everything. Does this mean you’ve swotted up and become a good maid?”

“I don’t know what you thought was so wrong with my maid skills, but whatever it was, I’ve earned myself enough points to make up for it with ease.”

“Aha, so that was your approach.” Sara nodded, apparently able to accept this explanation. “Your mistress is awfully kind, I must say. You’d have been better off not taking advantage of that kindness and dedicating yourself to your work instead. Nonetheless, I say to you, hurrah! Jolly good show.”

It was a long and winding reply before getting to the congratulations, but at the end, she started to applaud. Her eyes were filled with fondness; I didn’t sense any antipathy toward the two of us at all.

“Hey! Stop that!” said Kirara, bewildered by this overly sincere show of good wishes. This was meant to be a deadly blow to her mortal enemy, but she probably felt like her attack had been parried in spectacular fashion.

As a bystander, I was just glad that it hadn’t broken out into an argument. I patted my chest in relief, honestly thrilled about this.

“Was that all? If so, I’ll be off. Toodle-pip.”

She began to walk off in a stately manner, but I hurriedly called after her. “Hey, wait!”

“Yes?” She turned around, raising an eyebrow.

“You remember how you told us that our skills were hopelessly lacking?”

“Indeed, I did say such a thing.”

“I think we figured out on our own what we were doing wrong. Can I check with you if we’re right?”

“I’ve no objection to that. Go ahead.” The corners of her lips turned up into a hint of an amused smile.

“We noticed that we’re always turning up to the salon late. A lot of the time, I don’t arrive until after Himeko—Lady Himeko, I mean. Even though our role should involve arriving beforehand and getting things ready for our mistresses to arrive, we haven’t been doing that at all.”

“Yes, quite. Having a good old chinwag with your school chums is important as well, but your mistress should always be your top priority. You mustn’t neglect your duties.”

“Exactly. So from now on, we’re going to aim to always be the first to arrive!” I punctuated this by pumping both my fists in the air.

“That’s an excellent mindset. What else?”

“What do you mean, what else?”

“Didn’t anything else pop into your head?”

“Uhm, not really. Not yet.”

In response, Sara let out a big, ostentatious sigh. “You’ve rather a long way to go, I fear. You must understand, arriving before your mistress to prepare everything is as basic as it gets. Being proud of yourself for working it out on your own is all well and good, but if you don’t buck up your ideas a bit when it comes to the work itself, it doesn’t matter one jot. Ladies in high society need maids who comport themselves with a degree of decorum. The way you greet them, the way you pour their tea, your posture, your elocution, et cetera, et cetera... All of it requires perfect poise and a stiff upper lip. To put it lightly, you two don’t pass muster.”

I murmured faintly, unable to form any words. She really thinks our work is that much of a mess?

Cutting in with a determined objection, Kirara said, “Hold on just one second! We’re still first-year students. We haven’t learned all that stuff yet. That can come later.”

However, Sara had a reply for that, too. “I’ve no doubt you’re right about that, but I don’t recall seeing any such humility the other day. The pair of you were convinced you were the most marvelous maids there ever were—and, after all, you’re complete beginners who were given contracts far earlier than the norm. You can hardly blame me for having expectations, and those expectations were, I’m sad to say, thoroughly dashed.”

“I’m sorry!” I exclaimed, unable to keep myself from apologizing.

“Pish posh, there’s no need to apologize. Now I understand that you’re still novices, just like the rest of our classmates. As your head maid, I can start showing you what’s what.”

Sara smiled cheerfully, but her eyes said she saw us as cute little animals in need of training. With a sudden, jerky motion, Kirara thrust a finger at her.

“Pah! For a moment there, you didn’t seem too bad, but so much for that. I don’t need you to teach me a thing! I’m going to become the perfect maid for Lady Kagura without your help! You’ll see!”

“A tad ambitious. We shall see.”

“Don’t even think about doubting me!”

Her confidence may be kind of baseless, but she’s made it this far. I’d better redouble my own efforts and really improve my knowledge and skills. I have to do everything I can to be the kind of maid Himeko wants and deserves.

“Hehe. A bold declaration indeed.” Sara looked up slightly. When I followed her gaze, I saw that she was looking toward the Sky Salon. “Incidentally, after all that business about arriving before your mistresses, should you really be faffing about down here?”

“We told them in advance that we’d be slightly late,” I replied.

“Yeah, we did. Anyway, we’ve done what we came here for, so now we’re going to get up there as quick as we can. Let’s go, Misaki.”

Sticking out her tongue at Sara, Kirara grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

“Uh, right, but you don’t have to drag me along. I can just follow you normally. See you in class tomorrow, Sara!” I gave her a quick wave goodbye as I hurried after Kirara.

As we departed, Sara said, “Having a lady to serve is a great privilege. You mustn’t forget that.”

“Huh? Sure, we won’t.”

She’d spoken half to herself, so I didn’t fully make out what she’d said. It was almost like she was reminding herself. When I turned to look, that was underlined by the fact that she wasn’t looking at me, but off into the distance, like she was lost in thought.

✤

“You two! Stop right there!”

It wasn’t quite déjà vu, but after we’d flagged down Sara, we were the ones being stopped in our tracks. The voice was a familiar one. It still sounded quite young, but also accustomed to giving orders. There was something saccharine about it, and something languid as well. Without a doubt, it belonged to Erisu Kumashiro.

I’d seen her before at the Salon Struggle and during our debut the other day. By this point, she knew my name, too, but I wouldn’t have said we were especially close. At the end of the day, she was a young lady from the Societal Arts program, and despite her youthful appearance, she was a second year just like Himeko.

She lived in a different world than I did. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t have expected someone of her caliber to strike up a conversation with me.

Despite that, Lady Erisu had asked us to stop. Flustered, Kirara and I froze in our tracks and turned to face her.

“What is it?” I said, before correcting myself with, “I mean, good day, Lady Erisu.”

Remembering that it was rude to ask a lady for information without greeting her properly first, I hitched up my skirt as elegantly as I could and offered a light curtsy.

“Good day,” said Kirara, greeting her in the same way.

Once we’d both done that, Lady Erisu beckoned us over with her hand. It looked like she was in the middle of an after-school tea party; she was sitting at a table on the garden terrace between the old and new school buildings. She was all on her own, with no sign of her maid or any other Paradise Palace members. From what I remembered, she didn’t have any Seraphs, but she did have three Exousias who worked at Erisu’s École Kitchen.

When we came nearer, she said in a very slightly apologetic tone, “Sorry to bother you both. Actually, my business is just with you, Misaki Hotaru.”

Hearing that she had something to talk to me about—and only me—set me on edge. I couldn’t recall doing anything that might have offended her, so I hoped she wasn’t about to scold me.

“You don’t have to look so tense. I just want to ask you about something, that’s all.” She smiled gently.

Was it that obvious?

Her smile was renowned for being particularly charming. Some students even called it “the smile of an angel.” However, I was still lost as to why she’d need to ask me anything.

“Uhm, what can I help you with?”

Timidly, Kirara leaned in and whispered into my ear, “I’ll go on ahead and tell Lady Himeko you’ll be late.” Then she sped off, as if she wanted to put as much distance between her and this situation as possible.

Way to ditch me, Kirara!

“Well, I can understand why this might feel awkward for you. Why don’t you sit down for now? Hmm, actually, maybe it’s better if we go somewhere else.”

Lady Erisu stood and beckoned me closer. When I looked at the table she’d been sitting at, there was nothing on it, suggesting she had been there specifically to wait for me.

If so, that means there’s no use trying to run. If I make some excuse just to get away, she’ll only try again tomorrow, or the next day.

“Certainly. Please, lead the way.”

I steeled my courage and obediently followed her. After walking for a few minutes, we arrived at Erisu’s École Kitchen. For her, this probably felt even more like “home turf” than the Paradise Palace. What did she plan to do with me—an innocent young thing she’d lured into her lair?

“Please, go in.”

“Okay!”

I stepped inside the door, just as she insisted. Inside, the air felt cold. Maybe they haven’t turned on the heating yet, or this is how it is when they’ve just opened?

Erisu’s École Kitchen was a restaurant on the school grounds owned by Lady Erisu. The staff working there were all students as well—specifically, Domestic Arts students who had exclusive contracts with Lady Erisu to be her Exousias. Those three managed every aspect of the restaurant’s affairs.

From deeper inside, we suddenly heard a powerful cry. An instant later, the one who’d made it suddenly grew panicked. The crashing and clattering that followed made it clear that she was very alarmed.

Rushing out to greet her mistress was Yukina, who ran the kitchen. It looked like she was in the middle of her prep work, since she was still holding on to a big chunk of meat, but she’d felt compelled to come and welcome Lady Erisu right away regardless.

“Oh, uhm, gosh, Lady Erisu, we didn’t know you’d be coming today!”

Yukina was a third year, making her one year above Lady Erisu, but for a Domestic Arts student, that would never have been enough to overcome the difference in status. Since Lady Erisu was her mistress on top of that, Yukina’s attitude was no big surprise.

“Calm down, and take that meat back right away. We can’t serve it to the customers anymore, of course.”

“Yes, milady!” she squealed before speeding off.

Watching her leave, Lady Erisu sighed and remarked, “Dear me. What am I going to do with her?”

Moments later, Yukina returned, sans meat. “Sorry about that, milady!”

“Apologies for making you run back and forth, but I actually don’t need anything from you right now, so you should get straight back to your work in the kitchen. I just came here so I had somewhere quiet to talk to Misaki.”

“Oh, I see. Understood, then.” Having been coldly dismissed, she left us there.

“Sorry for all the fuss,” Lady Erisu said to me. “To make up for it, feel free to order anything you want.”

“Uhm, I really appreciate it, but it’s almost dinner time. I wouldn’t want to eat too much.”

I still had no idea what Lady Erisu wanted to talk to me about, but I didn’t want to be lulled into a false sense of security with delicious food.

“You always have snacks at the Sky Salon after school, don’t you? Surely having a little something wouldn’t fill you up.”

She wore her angelic smile while making it abundantly clear that refusal was not an option.

I whimpered. “I’ll have a slice of cake and a cup of tea, then.”

“Hehe, excellent. Mizuki?” She raised one arm and another of her Exousias immediately came over.

“Yes, milady?” said Mizuki.

She was a second year, like Lady Erisu, and was in charge of making desserts and running the dining area. Although she did come across as a little scatterbrained sometimes, she had a calmer air about her than Yukina, and she was a dependable older sister type all in all.

“Uhm, could I have a slice of cheesecake and some Darjeeling, please?”

Lady Erisu added, “And I think I’ll go for the strawberry and chestnut Swiss roll that you concocted, Mizuki. To drink... Yes, some sweet matcha tea, please.”

“Coming right up!” After gracefully bowing her head, Mizuki disappeared into the kitchen.

Once she was gone, I finally braved asking Lady Erisu what I was doing there.

“Hmm, where to begin?”

She closed her eyes, looking for a moment like she was gathering her thoughts. Then, at last, she met my gaze and the words began to flow from her small lips.

“Misaki, what do you think of this place?”

“I’m not sure how to answer that, to be honest.”

“It doesn’t need to be too complicated. I just want to know what impression you have. Your gut feeling, essentially.”

“Right, I see. Well, it’s quiet and has a nice, calm atmosphere.” Casting a glance across the room, I gave her an honest account of how I always felt when I came here.

In response, Lady Erisu let out a small sigh. “Quiet, yes. Very quiet. It would be, since there aren’t any customers.”

“I guess,” I said hesitantly. Looking around again, I saw that our table was the only one occupied.

“That’s the heart of my problem.” She rested both elbows on the table and clasped her fingers together, then rested her chin on top of her hands. “Sad as it is to admit, my restaurant is not prospering by any stretch of the imagination. Maybe it’s unavoidable with those three in charge, though. I don’t know.”

I responded with just a vague murmur.

“I wonder if anyone’s turned up today. Hanaka, can you come here for a minute?”

Her third Exousia rushed over. “Yes! I’m here! Here it is!”

In her hands was a tray containing the tea and cakes we had ordered. It seemed like she was scared Lady Erisu would be angry with her for taking too long. The way the plates rattled as she ran looked perilous.

Hanaka was a second year as well, and she mainly took care of the dining area and helped with the food preparation. She always worked flat out, but it often stood out just how nervous she was, like it did now.

“Hanaka, how many customers have there been so far today?”

“Oh, uhm, well...” Her hands, which had been busy putting the plates and cups onto the table, froze in place. “I’m not exactly sure. Three, maybe?”

“Really?” said Lady Erisu, looking at her with dubious eyes.

“No, now that I think, it might have been only two.” A bead of sweat rolled down Hanaka’s forehead. It didn’t take a genius to see that she was lying.

“What time did they come? What did they order?”

“Oh, uhm,” she began, but this was the end of the road. “I’m sorry. We actually haven’t had a single customer so far.”

Lady Erisu sighed with a troubled expression. At last she said, “Understood. You may leave now.”

“I’m so sorry!”

As she retreated, she bowed so deeply that her head practically touched the floor.

Turning to me again, Lady Erisu said, “Now you’ve heard the embarrassing truth.”

I once again managed no more than a murmur in reply.

“We used to have more. We even had some customers who came here often enough to be called regulars. Like Himeko, for example.”

When I heard my mistress’ name, I shot straight up in my seat. I have a really, really bad feeling about this! I had just picked up my fork, but I froze before it reached my cheesecake.

“What’s wrong? That cake’s for you. Let’s have a nice, pleasant chat while we eat.”

Despite the kind tone in her voice, I couldn’t bring myself to look her in the eye. However, she ignored this and carried on talking.

“Himeko’s supported this restaurant ever since it opened, you know. She used to come here almost every day. People saw her doing that and started to come here as well. Of course, given that we’re hidden away in the woods, it’s not like we had huge crowds barging in here. Still, it meant we had enough footfall that we were on the borderline of breaking even.”

I gently put my fork down.

“What’s wrong? You don’t need to be polite. Please, eat.”

“But I, erm...”

“Well, never mind. Anyway, here’s the important part. My girls are telling me that Himeko’s coming by a lot less than she used to. Oh, I told you about this the other day, didn’t I? She’s been one of our key supporters, so I have to wonder what happened. Did the staff do something to offend her? If there’s any reason at all, I have to know. If you know anything, please tell me. You always eat dinner with her, don’t you?”

Warily, I said, “I don’t know if I’d say ‘always.’ She still eats with her friends in the dorms sometimes, too.”

“Really? Still, I wouldn’t expect anyone to know her better than her own Seraph. Asking her directly seemed a bit rude, so I thought it might be worth asking you instead.”

“Oh, I see,” I uttered, struggling to talk.

My stomach and my gullet had closed up so tightly that I didn’t think even a drink would be able to pass through. This was no less than a cross-examination. Even though I didn’t feel the kind of pressure I did from Lady Saeko and Lady Shion, as if I were about to be eaten, she still had the formidable aura of someone many, many ranks above me in the social hierarchy. Perhaps she didn’t intend it, but Lady Erisu’s effect on a commoner like me was too intimidating for words.

“Tell me, where does Himeko eat dinner these days?”

“Well, she’s taken me to various different restaurants in François House and the other dorms. There, I guess.”

“Aha. She must have gotten bored of us, then.” She looked down, a hint of melancholy on her face.

I hurriedly replied, “I don’t know if that’s it! She might just be trying to show me around as much as she can, now that I’m her Seraph. I still don’t know all that much about this school. Lady Himeko really likes this restaurant. What makes you think she’s bored of it? She’s brought me here a bunch of times. We came the other day!”

“When was that, roughly?”

“Uh, let me think. About ten days ago?”

“Ten days ago. Looks like the era where she came every day is firmly over.”

“Oh.” I had the feeling I’d dug my own grave.

“At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before we go out of business.”

“Oh no!”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s not Himeko’s fault. It’s because my staff doesn’t put in enough effort.” She heaved a heavy sigh.

“I could try asking her indirectly, if you like. I’m so sure she hasn’t got bored of coming here. I think it’s like I said—she’s just trying to show me around as much as possible, and after that, she’ll start coming here more often again.” I had absolutely no basis for believing this, but I had to say it anyway.

“You think so? Well, if you don’t mind asking her, then please.”

“You can count on me. Anyway, I’d better get back to Lady Himeko now, so—”

“Leaving already? But you haven’t touched your cake.”

“Erk.”

I’d already stood up, ready to dash straight out the door, but Lady Erisu had interrupted a moment too soon. As a lowly Domestic Arts student, I couldn’t say no to the smile of an angel.

If I eat this slice of cake, I’ll be indebted to her, so I won’t be able to break my promise. One way or another, I’ll have to report to Lady Erisu about whatever Himeko says.

After taking a moment to pull myself together, I picked up the fork. I was so shaken that I ended up with no memory whatsoever of how the cheesecake tasted. Lady Erisu watched with an entertained look as I forced it down along with the tea.