Chapter One: Mask of the Rose
Chapter One: Mask of the Rose
The day after Lady Sakura arrived, there was a moment of panic in our classroom. During homeroom, Sara raised her hand as soon as we’d finished exchanging good mornings with the teacher, then declared that she was now a Seraph and therefore vacating her position as head maid.
Unlike other prestigious roles at the school, being head maid didn’t come with any fixed term of office. She was generally chosen from students who weren’t Seraphs yet, so if a class’s current head maid did get a contract, that would usually be the cue to choose someone else. Doing both at once wasn’t really practical, but of course they wanted only the most exceptional students to have the “head” moniker. That was apparently how the system had ended up this way.
This meant that there was nothing wrong with Sara’s declaration in and of itself. However, she was so good in the role that it was alarming for her to quit out of nowhere. Small shrieks rose up from our classmates. Not to be outdone, Ms. Hiyori practically screamed.
I had never seen an expression like that on our homeroom teacher’s face before. Her eyes widened and her mouth flapped open and closed like that of a goldfish.
“Sara,” she said, her voice a bundle of nerves, “this seems awfully sudden. I know you’ve been turning down one proposal after another from ladies asking you to be their Seraph, so why the sudden change of heart? Not that I’m bothered by you becoming a Seraph, of course! It’s good news.”
Apparently unable to form any more words, Ms. Hiyori put her hands together. It looked like she was praying. Is it really that big of a shock that Sara’s quitting as head maid—or that she’s become a Seraph?
Looking slightly apologetic, Sara replied in a firm tone, “The truth is, my mistress, Lady Sakura, joined the school yesterday, and we immediately entered into the Golden Contract.”
“Sakura? Oh yes, I did hear about a new student arriving from abroad. Were the two of you already acquainted?”
“You could say that. I actually served her for a long time in Britain, so we’re very well acquainted indeed.” She grinned.
Ms. Hiyori hung her head, crestfallen. She appeared to have realized there was nothing she could do about it. “Oh, I see. I didn’t realize you already had a mistress before you even came here. That explains why your knowledge and skills as a maid are superlative. Oh, erm, I’m happy to hear that you’ve become a Seraph, of course! I knew it was only a matter of time anyway.”
She went on, “Quite a few students in this class have already become Seraphs thanks to you, and just as many have become Exousias. It’s been years since a first-year class has achieved such a feat. First years are still in the middle of learning everything they need to know to be a maid, so you’d normally expect exclusive contracts to come later. Your advice and support is what made all the difference. It has allowed everyone to learn surprisingly quickly and forge excellent ties to the Societal Arts students. Since you were the unsung hero behind all that, I knew it wouldn’t be long before you became a Seraph yourself. The day has finally come, that’s all.”
Ms. Hiyori’s acceptance seemed to be growing as she spoke. When she raised her head, her face still showed some trepidation but was far more resolute.
“As a result,” she added, “my own evaluation for the first term was surprisingly positive, and I can expect a proportionally large summer bonus.”
Right, I see. Just like we get paid more if we become Seraphs, the teachers’ pay goes up based on that as well.
“So I really can’t thank you enough, Sara. Still, I don’t suppose there’s any chance I could ask you to stay on until, erm, at least the end of this trimester? I’m not asking because of my own evaluation or anything like that—it’s just that a lot of students are really eager to get a contract before the summer break. That’s very important for the girls in both programs because it’s a long break, and arranging a contract before that means the maid can visit the mistress’s family and stay with her.”
“A lot of Societal Arts students want to show their future employee the house where they’ll be working,” she continued, “and introduce them to their families. However, if the vacation starts without them forming a contract, there’s a possibility the mistress might rethink the matter and decide it’s too soon to rush into one. I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with that, but it is important to hold on to that initial inspiration and momentum, you know?”
Then Ms. Hiyori doubled down on her entreaty. “I’d really like it if you could help with that final push, Sara. After everything you’ve done to support this class as head maid, I don’t think anyone could do it but you. A new head maid would have to start from scratch, learning about everyone’s individual problems and concerns, and they’d never manage that before the break. It’s only a month—no, more like three weeks. Could you think of it as one last job to take care of?”
She stared at Sara with an imploring gaze, looking as sweet as a baby animal.
Apparently deciding that it wasn’t right to refuse her teacher’s plea, Sara replied, “Well, I suppose it might be for the best. I’ll grant that there are a lot of girls on the verge of receiving that all-important contract, and passing the torch in the midst of that might have dire consequences. I doubt Lady Sakura would tell me not to. Furthermore, I have friends who I’m certain will be willing to assist, so I don’t foresee any problems in this final stretch.”
After saying that, Sara turned to glance at Kirara and me. Her friends who’d be willing to assist—does she mean us? If she’s willing to come to us to ask for help, that’s quite a change in her mindset! She genuinely sees us as her friends now.
I showed my assent with a thumbs-up. Kirara nodded, however reluctantly. She had to at least get along with Sara on the surface, since we were trying to get Lady Sakura to join the Sky Salon.
“Fantastic,” Ms. Hiyori replied. “Now my evaluation won’t suffer at all. Oh no! I mean, my number one priority is for all of you to find wonderful mistresses, of course! But I do have a life of my own, so it’s hardly a bad thing for me to benefit from all of your good news, is it now? Yes, that’s how you should all look at it.”
She flashed an innocent grin. This kind of openness was probably the reason Ms. Hiyori was so beloved. Everyone in the class nodded in agreement with looks that said, Sure, if you say so.
✤
After school that day, Kirara and I had a request to make of Sara.
“Hey, Sara!” I called out as I approached her. “Do you have a sec?”
I knew she’d have piles of work on her plate. With everything she had to do before giving up her post as head maid, she’d be even busier than usual. We were fully prepared to help but sadly couldn’t that day, awkward as that was. That meant we at least wanted to avoid taking up too much of her time.
“Certainly,” Sara replied.
“We’re wondering if you could ask Lady Sakura something.”
“Indeed.”
She’d probably guessed what this was about, so she hadn’t wasted any words. Taking her cue from this, Kirara got straight to the point.
“In the next few days, Lady Kagura is going to officially invite Lady Sakura to join the Sky Salon. If she receives any other invitations in the meantime, we’d like her to hold off on giving a reply. We’re not trying to get a head start before anyone else steals her or anything. It’s just that several salons seem to want her, and it’s going to take the rest of the day to check with them and coordinate.”
“Very well. My mistress is also rather unlikely to commit to joining a salon at such short notice given that she only arrived yesterday. Today I’ll be showing her the areas of the campus that she wasn’t able to see yesterday, so you needn’t worry.”
“Whew, that’s a relief. We’ll definitely make up for it by helping you out, but that’ll have to start tomorrow, okay?”
“That’s quite all right.”
With that, Sara got started with her duties as head maid. It already looked like she was hurrying as much as she could, presumably because she was eager to get back to Lady Sakura as soon as possible.
We were just as eager to get back to our own mistresses.
“Let’s go, Misaki,” Kirara said to me.
“Yeah!”
After a quick wave goodbye to Sara, who looked busy as a beaver, we left the classroom and headed for the Sky Salon without a moment to waste.
✤
When we arrived, Lady Saeko’s Seraph, Matsuri, and Lady Sumire’s Seraph, Mihaya, had already cleaned and tidied the common areas. They were so efficient that they’d already gotten everything ready even though we were only a few minutes late.
We’d recently asked for the common area setup to be left to us, only to be told that we should make sure we were doing everything right for our mistresses first. However, as first years, it wasn’t really right for us to leave the older students to do the grunt work, so our makeshift solution was to arrive earlier than Matsuri and Mihaya and take care of it beforehand. If we did that, all they could do was accept it with a strained smile and an “Oh well!”
It’s not totally ideal, though. Matsuri’s pay will go down slightly, and it’ll take her longer to pay off her debts, which worries me.
“Sorry we’re late!” I called to the two older maids as we rushed in. In a hurry to complete our own tasks, Kirara and I split up. I went to Himeko’s private spot and got to cleaning as quickly as I could before arranging the cakes she’d have with tea.
The second I was done, a sound in the distance signaled the elevator’s arrival. Then I heard the voices of Himeko, Lady Kagura, and the Kokonoe sisters. Before going to greet my mistress, I gave the area one last look-over to make sure everything was in tip-top shape.
“Okay, looks good,” I said to myself.
Himeko wasn’t exactly an expert when it came to cleaning, so it was essential that I checked my own work. Even though we had a different arrangement than most mistresses and their Seraphs, I was, at least in terms of appearances, the Seraph of the school’s deputy chairman of the board. My cleaning skills had to be up to par.
Himeko wasn’t too concerned, but that didn’t mean I could rest on my laurels. I had to reach a high enough standard that I was worthy of being called her Seraph. That came with the territory.
“Good day, Lady Himeko.”
“Yes, good day.”
When I went to meet her, she gently stroked my hair and cheek. She seemed to be quite fond of the way my slightly wavy hair felt on her hands. As for the cheek caress, I wondered if it stemmed from the way we communicated while in the bath. By now, we’d gotten into the habit of touching each other’s bodies. I couldn’t really explain it.
After our usual ritual of touching each other, I turned to lead Himeko to her table. Before I could do that, however, Lady Kagura made an announcement, projecting her voice for everyone in the salon to hear.
“Could I ask you all to gather round, please?”
In response, the various members of the Sky Salon emerged from their personal areas and assembled around the center table.
This has to be about Lady Sakura, right?
As expected, once everyone was seated, Lady Kagura brought up that very topic. “Thank you, everyone. Allow me to get straight down to business. As I mentioned before, a new student arrived from the UK yesterday. Her name is Sakura Medi Christine, and her family is extensively involved in online streaming platforms, such as ChrisTV, and they’re gradually taking over the world of mass media both new and old. Now they’re expanding into Japan as part of their plan to become a world-leading corporation. I’d very much like the support of Sakura and her family in my own endeavors. It’ll be essential if I want to make my dream a reality. As such, I’m determined to have her join the salon so I can form a deeper connection with her.”
She paused for a moment, then continued, “I’ve received information that our salon is not the only one vying for Sakura. In theory, we could reach out to her right now and recruit her before she has any other options to choose from, but that wouldn’t be wise. Knowing as we do that there are other salons competing for her, we have to engage in a fair fight and ensure that Sakura and the salon leaders are satisfied. Otherwise, it doesn’t really count. Naturally, we have no time to sit idly by; we can’t allow another salon to swipe her from under our noses.”
Lady Saeko interjected, “Can I ask a quick question? Out of curiosity, which other salons want her?”
“The first one is the Paradise Palace.”
“Ah, right.”
Lady Saeko let out a small sigh of understanding. Everyone knew about the Paradise Palace’s specific entry requirement, so it was clear right away what kind of person Lady Sakura was—or how tall she was, at the very least.
“The other is the Gloriana Guesthouse.”
Looking intrigued, Lady Saeko nodded. Clearly she’d heard the name of Lady Rosalie’s salon. “That was set up pretty recently, wasn’t it? Are they trying to boost the salon’s reputation by recruiting the new student from abroad?”
“I don’t know the full details, but the Gloriana Guesthouse is themed around British traditionalism, so it’s inevitable that they’d want her.”
“Right, I see. So it’s not just a publicity stunt. In that case, they could put up a good fight.”
She smiled eagerly. If her expression was anything to go by, she was ready to grind them into dust however Lady Kagura wanted.
As if she’d read my thoughts, Lady Saeko immediately turned to me. “What’s with the face, Misaki?”
I stifled a shriek. “Oh! Uhm, nothing! Nothing at all!”
“So far, we’ve only heard about those two,” Lady Kagura said, “but we can’t rule out the possibility of there being others. That’s why I’m making arrangements to oust any salons that are planning to invite her and make them all agree to a fair fight. Kirara!”
“Yes, milady.” Hearing her name, Kirara stood.
“I’d like you to immediately visit all the other salons and find out if they’re planning to invite Lady Sakura to join them or not.”
“Understood. Leave it to me.”
“I’d like everyone else to learn about Lady Sakura and prepare to show her hospitality she’ll appreciate when she comes to visit us.”
With a light nod, Lady Kagura broke up the gathering. Then she called on Kirara alone, probably to give her more specific instructions for the salon tour she was about to embark on.
It would be nice if I could go with her and help. No sooner did I think that than Himeko called my name in a hushed voice. When I turned to look, she was peeking her head out of her personal area and subtly beckoning with her hand.
If she was acting this way in the Sky Salon, there was only one explanation: she didn’t want Lady Kagura to know what she was up to. Trying not to draw too much attention, I hurried over to her. She pulled me around the corner to ensure nobody could see and drew her face close to mine.
“I want you to go with Kirara.”
“I’m totally happy to do that, but—”
But you don’t have to be so secretive, I wanted to say, but Himeko interrupted me. “When you get to the Mauve Manor, I want you to find out what Shion’s intentions are.”
“Oh, right!”
It was starting to make sense. Himeko suspected that Shion, a Societal Arts student who was like a sister to her, was the one who had fed Lady Rosalie the information about Lady Sakura. We didn’t have any proof yet, and it wasn’t directly related to the battle for Lady Sakura’s membership, so I could see why she wanted to keep it quiet for now.
“All right. When I get to the Mauve Manor, I’ll find an indirect way to ask her.”
“No, that won’t do,” Himeko replied, rejecting my plan in a surprisingly firm tone. “You need to ask her directly. Otherwise she’ll just dodge the question, and maybe even get angry at you for putting on airs.”
“Oh. Yeah, I really don’t want that.”
She wasn’t exactly approachable at the best of times, so if she actually got angry with me, I’d have to run and hide.
After groaning, I continued, “How should I ask her, then? Something like ‘You didn’t give Lady Rosalie any information about Lady Sakura, did you?’”
“Even more directly than that. ‘When you gave the information to Rosalie, what was your intention?’ Something along those lines.”
“But that’s really direct!”
This was a high hurdle for me to get over. Too high, in fact. I’d be accusing her out of nowhere. If I said that right to her face, she’d get angry for sure.
Himeko gripped my shoulders. “I know it won’t be easy, but if you don’t phrase it like that, she won’t open up. Besides, I’m almost certain that it was her. If you’d like, you can preface it by saying I wanted you to ask. That way, even if she gets annoyed, the brunt of it will be aimed at me.”
It was clear that Himeko wouldn’t take no for an answer. As scared as I was, her orders were clear, and I couldn’t disobey.
“Fair enough. I’ll do my best.”
“Thanks.” She gave me a gentle hug and stroked my head.
We went back out into the main area, where Lady Kagura was about to see Kirara off.
“Kagura, do you mind if Misaki goes with her?” Himeko asked. “I think visiting the other salons would be good experience for her.”
“That’s absolutely fine. Kirara, take Misaki with you.”
“Yes, milady,” she replied with a hint of a smile. It was no surprise that visiting every salon on her own had felt like a lonely prospect.
Himeko put a hand on my back. “It’s all up to you.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
✤
After Kirara and I got in the elevator, I heaved a small sigh. I’d told Himeko that I’d do my best, but actually facing Lady Shion and pressing her for an answer like that would take all my courage. When I pictured it, she grew so enraged that she instantly shot me a Medusa-like glare that turned me into stone.
That’s way too plausible. I guess I’ll have to ask her from a safe distance and try to avoid her gaze as best I can.
Just imagining it made me sigh again. Looking at me, Kirara noticed something was up. “Did Lady Himeko say something to you?”
“No. Well, kind of. She gave me a little task to do that’s like being thrown into a beast’s cage during feeding time, or poking a hornet’s nest.”
I guess I can tell Kirara, right? She’ll be going into the Mauve Manor with me anyway, so she’ll hear what I ask Lady Shion. Better to tell her now than have her try to stop me when I come out with something so weird.
“There’s something I have to ask Lady Shion. Something I have to tell her, really.”
“Wow, that sounds tough.” She looked at me with pitying eyes.
“Yeah. Basically, Himeko’s convinced that Lady Shion is the one who gave Lady Rosalie the information about Lady Sakura.”
“Oh, really?” she asked, surprise written on her face.
“It’s just Himeko’s deduction right now, but she’s pretty confident.”
“Why would she do that, though?”
“Even Himeko doesn’t know. That’s why I’m supposed to ask her directly.”
“Huh. That’s going to take some courage, all right.”
Still looking very sorry for me, Kirara took a step back. Hah. She should know that she doesn’t get to run away either.
I grasped her sleeve and grinned broadly. “You know you’ll be coming in there with me, right?”
The breath caught in her throat. “Right. I knew that.”
She nodded, looking very unhappy indeed.
When we got off the elevator, I asked, “Where are we going first?”
This feels just like the time we left to do our debut. In retrospect, it felt like a waste that I’d gone to all the salons without even realizing what the point was behind the whole thing.
“I’ve been instructed to head to the Paradise Palace first. Otherwise, there’s a chance of Mei taking action before we get there.”
“True. Mei seems to have a sixth sense for short girls. Even without any advance knowledge, she probably felt her presence.”
We glanced at each other, then quickened our pace and made for the staircase leading to the Paradise Palace.
I didn’t really think Mei would already be on her way to recruit someone who had literally arrived yesterday. And yet, as we climbed the spiral staircase, we heard the clacking of regular footsteps in the other direction.
No way. Surely not.
Kirara and I made eye contact, both thinking the same thing—right before we saw Mei walking down toward us.
It has to be a coincidence, though, right? Lady Asuka must have sent her out on an errand, or she’s going to buy something.
She smiled and spoke with a soft, lighthearted voice as if she was going on a picnic or something. “Oh, it’s you two. Good day! If you’re here, does that mean you want to see Lady Asuka?”
Kirara and I froze. An alarm bell rang in my head. This is bad.
Clearly, Kirara was on the same page. Together, we silently moved up and stood on either side of Mei, smiling back at her with a hand each on her back.
“We do, actually,” Kirara said. “We need to see her right away. It’s something very important, in fact. Her Seraph absolutely must be there beside her.”
Kirara did all she could to underscore just what a momentous, crucial conversation this was going to be.
“You don’t mind coming back upstairs with us, do you?” I added.
Little by little, we moved our hands, gradually rotating Mei’s body.
As we turned her around, she looked at me and said, “I’d love to, but I have an utterly urgent task to attend to as well.”
Our doubts changed into certainty. If something was that critical, it was either a special request from her mistress or a journey to go and recruit a lady who fit her precise preference. It probably couldn’t be anything else.
“Oh, really?” I asked.
“I don’t think you’ll be late even if you listen to what we have to say first,” Kirara said.
“This is quite awkward. I’m curious about what would make you be so insistent.”
It looked like we had won. Mei gradually began to make her way back up the stairs.
“It’s just that it’ll be relevant to you too, Mei,” I told her.
Rather than letting go of her, we decided to keep a firm grasp and lead her back without giving her a chance to escape.
When we arrived at the Paradise Palace, we entered with her. It was the second time I’d been here, but the interior design still reminded me of, well, a kindergarten, to be honest. Bright shades of red and yellow were everywhere, and wooden building blocks were piled up as decorations. The tables and chairs were clearly smaller than the norm.
This was related to the Paradise Palace’s strict rule that all its members must be no taller than four foot nine.
When we went a little ways inside, a scene spread out before us featuring Lady Asuka, the head of the salon, and Lady Erisu, who managed a restaurant on campus. A little farther away were some other girls who honestly looked like cute little children playing together. It was tough to see them as anything else.
Seeing Mei, Lady Asuka bluntly said, “Oh, you’re back early. Did she agree to join?”
So Mei really was on her way to invite Lady Sakura to join the Paradise Palace.
Then she noticed us and scowled. “I see you’ve adopted some strays too.”
My eyes met hers dead-on. Since I was there representing Lady Kagura, I smiled and gave her a suitable greeting. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it, Lady Asuka? I hope you’re doing well.”
“Don’t ‘I hope you’re doing well’ me! You must have come here with some ulterior motive.”
Snarling, she waved her hands to shoo us away. It wasn’t exactly a look befitting of a fine lady, but combined with her small stature, it still looked absolutely adorable.
“Squee!” Mei exclaimed forcefully all of a sudden. For some reason, she was staring up at the ceiling with a look of ecstasy. Then she whispered in my ear, “Very nice, Misaki! I hardly ever get to see Lady Asuka make such a cute gesture. That alone has made it worth coming back here with you!”
“Oh. Uhm, great.”
“Inside the salon, she works really hard to convey the image of a leader, so she rarely shows the cracks in her armor. I always wish she’d act more like a child—throwing tantrums, asking me for piggyback rides, crying, and so on. Don’t you think that would be lovely?”
“Well, erm, I don’t really have an opinion.”
Lady Asuka was definitely cute, but I sadly didn’t even come close to sharing Mei’s perspective, so I wasn’t sure how to answer.
“Mei,” said the lady herself, “stop gabbing about me and come over here. Then explain to me why you’ve brought those two with you.”
“Certainly, milady!” With graceful movements, she walked over and stood by her mistress’s side. “As it happens, I don’t know yet either. We bumped into each other when I was on my way down the stairs, and they basically forced me to come back here with them.”
“My, you have some nerve! Not only have you turned up unannounced, but you’ve strong-armed my Seraph too!”
She began to give off a threatening aura like that of Lady Saeko or Lady Shion. However, Mei was staring at her with a look of extreme glee. It was clear that she was relishing the opportunity to observe a rarely seen side of her mistress.
I knew Lady Asuka was trying to be scary, but in the end, her petiteness made her too delightful for it to work.
“I’m really sorry,” Kirara replied, “but we have some business we wanted to bring up.”
Our completely unflinching reactions seemed to leave her bewildered for a second. “Huh?”
With all due respect to Lady Asuka, we were here on an errand for Lady Kagura. Our mission had to take priority.
“Fine,” Lady Asuka said after a moment, pulling herself together and sitting down again. “What is it, then?”
Kirara and I looked at each other and nodded, then Kirara broached the topic.
“You see, Lady Kagura is planning to ask the new international student who arrived yesterday, Lady Sakura, to join the Sky Salon. We’ve come to inform you of that and find out where you stand.”
“Excuse me?!” Mei exclaimed. “That’s not fair! Why is Lady Kagura so keen on having her for the Sky Salon—for herself? Everyone can tell that she’s perfect for the Paradise Palace!”
Setting aside the question of how all these people had gained such detailed knowledge in the span of a day, there was no denying that Lady Sakura fit the bill. One look at her was enough to know that. When Mei set her sights on someone, there probably weren’t too many salons that would try to compete with her.
Kirara replied, “That’s up to Lady Kagura to decide, so I’m afraid I have no answer for you.”
After hearing those words, Mei couldn’t say much either. She bit her lip in frustration and grumbled, “I made a tactical error. When I met you on the stairs, I should have kept going.”
Mei had a point. We had run into her at a very critical moment. That was why we’d been so forceful in getting her back to the salon.
In the end, we’d successfully done our duty and informed Lady Asuka of our salon leader’s plans. If Mei rushed ahead now, it would look like she was trying to gain an unfair advantage while Lady Kagura was hoping to get everyone on a level playing field. That would be quite bad for Lady Asuka’s reputation, especially given the well-known feelings of rivalry she had toward Lady Kagura. She’d surely want to avoid any appearance of impropriety at all costs.
“It’s too late, Mei,” she admitted. “They have Himeko on their team, so they’ll always beat us to the punch when it comes to information.”
Lady Asuka tried to pat Mei on the head to console her. At least, that was what it looked like. She couldn’t quite reach, so it ended up as more of a clap on the shoulder.
“No need to count ourselves out just yet, though. If she’s sent you two to give us advance notice, that means she hasn’t actually approached the girl, right? Am I right in thinking she wants to arrange a fair contest to decide which salon gets to have Sakura?”
“Exactly,” Kirara replied. “My mistress knew as soon as she saw Lady Sakura’s profile that the Paradise Palace—Mei, more specifically—was likely to go after her. Also, given that there’s at least one more salon who wants her—”
“Oh, is there?” She arched one eyebrow and sounded quite surprised. “Has word traveled about her that quickly when she’s only just arrived from abroad? All I know is what I heard about her from Mei. Is she famous or something?”
“Erm, in a way.”
Kirara looked a little lost when it came to answering that question. Lady Sakura belonged to a British aristocratic family who operated a media empire, so in that sense, she was famous. However, in Japan there were still few people who had heard of her. In spite of that, for reasons we still couldn’t be sure of, Lady Rosalie had learned about her and already made an attempt to get closer to her Seraph, Sara. Maybe it would have been most accurate to say that Lady Sakura had somehow become famous without knowing it herself.
“I heard all about Lady Sakura from my friend Sara and spoke to Lady Kagura about her. I can’t tell you how anyone else got their information, but we’ve gathered from Sara that one other salon is definitely going to approach her. That’s why Lady Kagura wanted us to come. We’re visiting all the salons to make sure that everyone with an interest in Lady Sakura can have a fair chance of getting her.”
“Hmm. Well, Kagura has her own reputation to uphold, so if that’s what she’s learned, I suppose she has no other way to proceed. Maybe it’ll work in our favor. Instead of sneaking around, we can go toe-to-toe with each other. In which case—Mei!”
In what looked like an unusual move, Lady Asuka put an arm around Mei and pulled her closer.
“We don’t plan on losing, do we now?”
“No! No, of course not!”
Mei, who always walked around half-lidded, was now in a state of wide-eyed shock. She looked like her nose might start bleeding at any moment.
“We’ll gladly take you on fair and square,” Lady Asuka declared. “I’m looking forward to it. I was waiting for the next Salon Struggle to exact my revenge, but if I can do it sooner, then that’s even better. The Kokonoe sisters may have tricked us, but Mei was not defeated.”
It was no wonder she was so full of confidence. During the Salon Struggle, Mei had done everything perfectly. When it came to Domestic Arts students, her skills were the best of the best.
“I’m so glad you’re in agreement,” Kirara said in response. “In that case, we’ll be on our way.”
Phew. One salon down. Relieved, I went to stand up, as did Kirara.
However, with an ominous tone, Lady Asuka stopped us. “You’re not leaving so soon, are you?”
My imagination ran away with me for a moment. What was she about to do, hold us captive?
Lady Asuka made us sit again with a scheming smile on her face. “What kind of salon leader would I be if I let guests visit the Paradise Palace without showing them proper hospitality? My reputation would be in ruins. We’ll serve you some delicious treats, so stay here and relax for a while.”
“Thank you for the kind offer, but we’re not deserving of your hospitality!”
“Exactly!” Kirara agreed. “And we have several other salons to visit, so—”
Our attempts at politely refusing were flatly denied. “Oh, don’t worry. I won’t take up too much of your time. Mei, get serving.”
“Yes, milady. Leave it to me.”
With graceful movements, Mei walked over to what looked like the kitchen.
“Is the discussion over for now?” came a sweet voice with a hint of a lisp. I knew its owner well.
When I turned to look, Lady Erisu had come over to us, as if trading places with Mei. She still looked like a beautiful porcelain doll. Her soft blonde hair was tied with a large ribbon and two rose-shaped accessories, making her look all the more doll-like. Unbelievably enough, Lady Erisu owned a restaurant on campus that was staffed by her three Exousias. At one point, it had been struggling to drum up business, but it was doing much better now, as reflected in Lady Erisu’s radiant smile.
“Good day, Lady Erisu.”
“Yes, good day, Misaki.”
She came and sat down next to me of all people. A gentle floral aroma wafted toward me; it was so sweet that I had to fight the urge to bury my face in her neck and get a good sniff.
Looking closer, I saw that she had some cake crumbs around her mouth. Those must have been the source of the sweet scent.
Her Exousias are probably at the restaurant, so I guess it would be fine for me to point it out. Even if she’s not my mistress, as a maid, I shouldn’t just leave the crumbs there, right?
“Lady Erisu, you have something around your mouth.”
“Really? Where?”
She nonchalantly turned toward me, lifting her chin. She’s a mistress all right. To her, it’s the most natural thing in the world for me to clean it off.
Still, it made my heart race for her to present her lips to me so vulnerably.
“Excuse my fingers.”
Forcing myself to keep steady so I wouldn’t be admonished for my trembling, I wiped off the cake crumbs with my thumb.
Her skin is so velvety smooth! It’s just like a child’s! Wait, that’s not what matters right now.
Touching her for too long would have been weird, so I moved my hand away, then licked up the crumbs.
Lady Erisu laughed bewitchingly and cocked her head, staring straight into my eyes. “So audacious! Aren’t you embarrassed to be eating something that was stuck to my face?”
I know she’s making fun of me, but when she pulls such an adorable gesture, I can’t help grinning.
“Hee hee. I’ll have to tell Himeko how bold you were with me.”
“Wait! Lady Erisu!”
Oh no. I forgot how fond of pranks she is. There was that time she kissed me right in front of Himeko. Now I’ve given her an opening and gotten myself into a whole mess!
“Misaki,” said a low voice from behind. “Are you enjoying getting up close and personal with Lady Erisu?”
Yup. I knew it.
I immediately knew it was Mei’s voice, but I’d never heard her speak in such a deep rumble before.
“Uh, erm, nothing weird’s going on. It’s perfectly innocent.”
“Don’t worry. Lady Erisu’s very kind. When I make a mistake, she always helps out with my punishment.”
Shooting a resentful glare my way, she placed a tray down on the table.
This is nuts. Today I’m seeing a lot of sides of Mei that I’ve never seen before, and I really wish I weren’t.
“I promise you, it’s not whatever you’re thinking. She just had some crumbs around her mouth, so I cleaned them up.”
“Oh, believe me, I know that. But it’s unbearably disappointing that I couldn’t be the one to do it.”
Mei let out a sigh so heavy it was like she was expelling all the air from her lungs. She wasn’t kidding about being disappointed.
Lady Asuka clapped her hands, putting an end to this funny business. Clearly, she was used to this kind of thing by now. “All right, now stop talking nonsense and serve the tea.”
Groaning, Mei replied, “Milady, could you leave some crumbs around your mouth at some point?”
“Me? I would never do such a thing!”
I had a memory of her doing exactly that during the Salon Struggle, but I figured now wasn’t the best time to bring that up.
At her mistress’s urging, Mei reluctantly served the tea and accompanying confections. She presented us with Swiss rolls that were filled with decadent amounts of cream encircled by a drizzle of colorful fruit sauce and served on small plates with exquisite patterns.
I was impressed by the effort that had gone into the presentation. You can really make store-bought cake look like something special. The apple tea served alongside it had a wonderful aroma as well, giving it a soothing effect.
“Eat up,” Lady Asuka insisted in a cocky tone. “Don’t be shy.”
Is she proud of finding a really good store or something? If it’s not sold on campus, maybe she had to order it in specially.
“I’ll give it a try, then.”
“Me too,” Kirara said. “Thank you.”
We exchanged glances, each of us no doubt conscious of how rude it would be not to have any when it was right in front of us, and dug in.
Given how yummy it looked, my expectations had already been raised. When I put a piece in my mouth, however, I was blown away.
“This is incredible!”
The words tumbled from my lips before I could stop them. It applied as much to the quality of the sponge as it did to the richness of the cream. Obviously, no expense had been spared in the making of this Swiss roll. The store was either selling it at a loss or at a staggeringly high price to compensate. Either way, no regular store could have sold something like this.
I cut off another small piece and added some of the surrounding sauce. The fruit added new layers of depth to the flavor. I couldn’t get enough. A sip of apple tea was just what I needed to cleanse the palate as well, allowing me to enjoy the refreshing flavor again and again. The combo was incredibly well thought out.
I have to get some of this for Himeko too. Hopefully they’ll tell me what store it’s from if I ask.
As all these thoughts were running through my head, Lady Asuka interrupted with a question that blew my mind. “So, how are you enjoying Mei’s homemade Swiss roll?”
“What? Mei made this herself?”
“She did indeed!” She added a haughty laugh.
“But this has to be store-bought. Even the shape of it is absolutely perfect. There’s nothing about it that looks handmade at all.”
“Why are you so surprised? Mass-market products are often made to look like they were manufactured, but sweets are handmade as a rule. If you can’t tell, then the maker is just that skilled.”
“You must be right. I’m sure you know more about it than I do. Either way, aren’t her skills on par with the pros?”
Seeing as they were serving them at a restaurant, the desserts made by Lady Erisu’s Exousias were also far beyond the ordinary level a student would normally be capable of, but Mei’s confections were a whole different ball game.
Having regained her usual composure, Mei lowered her head elegantly. “I’m honored by your praise.”
Next to me, Lady Erisu was eagerly stuffing her face. “It’s true. Mei’s homemade goods are up to a fully professional standard.”
Was that why she’d come over to us? She wanted to make sure she got some of the Swiss roll too?
“She gives lessons to my three Exousias every now and then. It would be even better if she came and worked for me.”
“That’s not going to happen, I’m afraid,” Lady Asuka interjected. “Mei’s mine.”
The two adorable mistresses were fighting over Mei. It was really cute to watch.
I never knew Mei was such a fantastic baker, though.
Looking back, even though the dishes at Erisu’s École Kitchen tended to have some pretty eccentric flavors, the desserts were just plain delicious. It sounded like that was all down to Mei’s instruction.
“Anyway,” Lady Asuka said, “by now I’m sure you’ve realized the point I’m making.”
Despite her triumphant grin, I had no idea what she was getting at.
“No, I’m afraid not,” I replied honestly.
This made her smile even more broadly. “Listen. If a salon asks Sakura to join, she’ll obviously come and visit them. While she’s there, she’ll enjoy some tea as she soaks up the atmosphere. When she comes here, the sweets we serve will be even more delicious than this.”
It finally dawned on me. “Oh. Right.”
“She’s a teenage girl, after all. Tasty treats will steal her heart away; make no mistake. A lot of our members decided to join after sampling Mei’s baking.”
I gulped. “That’s a pretty good secret weapon.”
The way to a girl’s heart is through her stomach for sure.
“I’m glad you understand,” Lady Asuka said with a satisfied nod.
“But are you sure it’s okay that you’ve shown your hand like this?” I replied. “Now we’ll know to put in extra effort to win her over.”
“Oh, it’s no problem. In fact, that’s exactly why I made you eat some. Listen here!” She pointed at me. “We can win even while showing our hand! That will be the perfect way to get my revenge!”
Her sense of rivalry toward Lady Kagura was as fearsome as ever. We’d better not sell her short. Even with the Kokonoe sisters in Lady Kagura’s corner, we’ll be defeated if we let our guard down.
“Mei, our guests are leaving. Kindly show them to the door.” Lady Asuka’s cloying smile said she’d done everything she wanted to and was finished with us now.
“Certainly, milady.”
Mei stood and escorted us out. Her demeanor as a maid was so flawless that it seemed to give her an invisible aura of confidence.
Do we really have to compete for Lady Sakura with people like this? I think it’s going to be an uphill battle.
Mei giggled. “I’m looking forward to this. There are plenty of obstacles in my path, but that will only make it sweeter to get Lady Sakura in my grasp.”
Her smile made a shiver run down my spine.
Once we were some distance away from the Paradise Palace, Kirara let out a huge sigh and looked up at the tower that housed it. “Wow, that was a surprise. Just because they’re the second-place salon doesn’t mean they’ll be pushovers, huh?”
I found myself protesting as well. “As if we can compete with Mei!”
She had a huge advantage. If she could make treats that were even more delicious than anything you could buy, it also meant she could tailor the taste and appearance to suit the target’s preferences. I couldn’t think of any way to win against an opponent like that.
“Well, let’s just consider it a win that we’ve learned about Mei’s strength,” Kirara suggested. “We have a different mission for today, so let’s keep going with that.”
“Good point. Finding a way to beat Mei is up to Lady Kagura and the twins.”
We nodded to each other and set out for the next salon: the Gloriana Guesthouse run by Lady Rosalie.
✤
This salon was on the ground floor of the former classroom building. It was also in the farthest corner behind an easily unnoticed door. Since the salon had been set up so recently, the only locations left were presumably remote ones like this. In theory, Lady Rosalie could have initiated a Salon Struggle to get a better spot, but evidently she was either too kind or too lacking in confidence that she’d win.
I feel like they could pull it off, though. Her Seraph, Marie, seems like a pretty skilled maid. Together, they could probably win a slightly better location than this.
I didn’t know Lady Rosalie too well yet, but I was sure she was nice. Still, I felt wary not knowing how she’d gotten her hands on the info about Lady Sakura.
If it was like Himeko said, and Lady Shion was the one who’d told her, the next question was why. Her connection with Lady Rosalie remained a total mystery. Until all this got cleared up, I didn’t think I’d feel totally comfortable around Lady Rosalie.
“The door’s been cleaned up really nicely,” I remarked.
Matching the rest of the building, the entrance to the Gloriana Guesthouse was a large, antique-looking wooden door. However, it had clearly been treated very well. Despite how old it appeared, it had no major signs of damage. All I saw was the subdued elegance that came from long years passing.
“It’s even been waxed. You can tell how much Lady Rosalie cares about the details.”
Looking closely, even the doorknob had been polished to a sheen.
Kirara’s face said she meant business. “Whatever kind of person she is, right now she’s Lady Kagura’s rival. We mustn’t forget that.”
“Yeah, true.”
It occurred to me that Kirara hadn’t actually met her yet. If all she knew was what she’d heard from our chat with Sara, it was probably hard to form much of a picture of her. Given how early Lady Rosalie had learned about Lady Sakura’s arrival—and the lady herself—she had probably come across as a strategic person with a vast information network. She would most likely seem akin to the Kokonoe sisters.
“Now or never.” With a tense look about her, Kirara pounded the door knocker three times.
From inside, a voice I was pretty sure belonged to Marie replied, “Coming! One moment, please!”
This was followed by the sound of footsteps rushing over to us. The faint voice of Lady Rosalie chided her, “Come on, Marie! Don’t run inside!”
Kirara looked slightly taken aback. This one moment had probably turned her image of Lady Rosalie upside down.
With a deep rattle, the door flew open. “I’m here! Sorry for the wait!”
Standing in the doorway, Marie wore an amiable smile. As soon as we saw her, we bowed our heads and said, “Good day.”
“Oh, it’s you, Misaki. And this must be Kirara, right?” Apparently she recognized Kirara too.
Her voice trembling, Kirara stood facing Marie. “Nice to meet you. You’re Mari Sakuchi, but you like to be called Marie. Is that right?”
“That’s right! I can guess why you’re here. You’re throwing down the gauntlet, aren’t you?”
She grinned. Even though Lady Kagura hadn’t announced her intentions to anyone, it seemed like this opponent already knew about it.
Given the way everything else has mysteriously been leaked, it’s not a huge surprise, I guess. But does this mean Lady Rosalie already knew our plans and still hasn’t acted on it?
“That’s one way of putting it,” Kirara replied. “We’re here to talk about Lady Sakura, if that’s what you mean.”
“Ah, then you’ll need to see my mistress, won’t you?”
Following a polite curtsy, she showed us inside.
“Welcome to the Gloriana Guesthouse!”
After leading us in, she adopted a fairly casual tone as she took us to find Lady Rosalie. “Milady, Misaki and Kirara have come to say hi.”
This salon was going for an air of British traditionalism, so the imported furniture all around us fit perfectly. The place was overflowing with atmosphere. Everything was embroidered or engraved, and it was clear at first glance that every piece was of the highest quality.
Three little chandeliers hung from the ceiling, and electric lights designed to look like candles stood on the tables, giving the room a warm glow with their flickering light. The room wasn’t overly large—it had once been a classroom, after all—but careful positioning of furniture and mirrors made it feel more spacious than it was. You couldn’t have held a dance in here, but all it needed was some girls sitting there in formal dresses to instantly make it look like a banquet attended by noblewomen.
In fact, that exact scene was basically playing out in a corner of the room right now. They must be members of the salon. There were two young ladies in luxurious dresses enjoying a refined afternoon tea. On the table in front of them sat a high tea stand with cakes, scones, and sandwiches.
The girls next to them in maid uniforms had to be their Seraphs. They were efficiently serving their mistresses and nodding along to their conversations.
As soon as the mistresses noticed our arrival, their faces reddened and they slowly cast their eyes downward. Huh. I get the feeling they’re not used to this way of dressing and acting yet.
“Hmph.” Marie put her hands on her hips and quietly scolded them. “This is no good, ladies. We’re looking for far more elegant behavior.”
“We’re trying, but it’s still kind of embarrassing.”
The other lady turned to her and smiled awkwardly. “Right?”
This was all so charming to witness. I could already tell what a cozy atmosphere they had at this salon.
Are these the salon’s members? Those two mistresses, plus Lady Rosalie? The salon was brand new, but it already gave a clear sense of Lady Rosalie’s intentions.
“Now, ladies, please sit up straight and continue your afternoon tea. We have guests today, so our salon has to make a good impression.”
Both of them grinned cheerfully.
“Yes, understood,” one of them replied.
“Enjoy your time here, you two,” said the other one to Kirara and me.
“Thank you very much,” I replied.
“We’re grateful for the warm welcome,” Kirara agreed.
We both smiled and bowed our heads slightly as we followed after Marie.
While walking, Marie said, “To be honest, I wasn’t sure about wearing formal dresses outside of a ballroom either, but that’s what Lady Rosalie is into.”
“So she always wears a dress like that as well?” I asked.
“That’s right. She says getting the look down is the all-important first step.”
She led us to the far end of the salon, where a dazzling partition blocked off a corner of the room. When we got there, Lady Rosalie spoke from behind the partition.
“Marie, I need you to wait for a minute. I’m still not ready.”
“What are you blathering about? You’re always ready for anyone to arrive at any time, aren’t you?”
Apparently wondering what was going on, Marie speedily stepped behind the partition. Flustered, we followed straight after her. However, there was no sign of Lady Rosalie.
Undaunted, however, Marie kept going. She proceeded to a large, heavy curtain hanging from the far wall and forcefully pulled it open.
A panicked scream echoed throughout the salon.
“Marie! Why did you open the curtain?!”
Seeing the state of her mistress, Marie heaved an exasperated sigh. “What on earth are you doing, milady?”
“What does it look like I’m doing?” came the irritated response.
Curious about what was going on, I peered over Marie’s shoulder. There I saw Lady Rosalie in the middle of taking off a stunning white dress. In her dismay, she’d managed to keep it in front of her chest to cover herself, but her silky smooth back was on full display. The white bustier, with its delicate lace pattern, made her look especially bewitching.
As I gazed at her back, I unwittingly let out a surprised yelp.
“We have guests, Marie! Close it! Now!”
She crouched on the ground and turned bright red as if she couldn’t believe this was happening.
“Oh dear!” Marie replied. “Don’t sit on the floor in a corner like that! Your beautiful dress will get stained. Go on, stand up. I’ll help you get undressed.” She used both hands to lift her mistress up off the ground.
“I’m begging you, Marie!” Turning her back, she objected as forcefully as she could, desperate for us not to see her.
“Very well, milady. Misaki, Kirara, could you wait outside for a moment? I’ll get my mistress changed quickly.”
“Uhm, yes. Certainly.”
Kirara and I nodded mechanically, then escaped from Lady Rosalie’s personal spot.
Shortly afterward, Marie called, “All done! You can come in now.”
“All right,” we replied gingerly, stepping back in.
With a far more composed expression, Lady Rosalie was sitting on a chair in her regular Societal Arts uniform. “Welcome to my salon, the Gloriana Guesthouse. It’s a pleasure to have you here.”
She was smiling as if none of the prior events had happened. Hmm. I feel like the kindest thing to do would be to let it be, but she is trying to make formal dresses part of the salon’s official attire, right?
I hadn’t seen her wearing it properly, but what I had seen made it feel like a shame not to comment.
“That dress really suited you,” I ended up saying. “You looked as pretty as a princess. I hope next time I can see you fully dressed in it!”
She let out a sigh mixed with a wail. “I really hoped you’d just pretend you didn’t see it,” she confessed. Her face flushed again and she lowered her head. “I know it’s ridiculous. I don’t mind if you laugh at me. What’s the point in wearing a ball gown if there’s no ball?”
“No, don’t be silly! It really conveys the image you’re going for with the salon. It’s like we’ve stepped into the world of high society, especially with the other members pleasantly chatting away. You could forget you’re even at a school.”
Kirara backed me up. “Exactly! Dresses like that are what every girl dreams of wearing. I can’t wait until an occasion comes along where Lady Kagura needs me to wear one just like it.”
Gosh, I had no idea Kirara was such a fan of formal partywear.
“It makes me happy to hear that, but it’s still a little bit embarrassing, I suppose.”
As she spoke, Lady Rosalie slowly lifted her head. This looked so cute that all of us started grinning, but Marie had the biggest smile of all.
Marie whispered into my ear, “You see how adorable she is? It gets me so emotional that I just want to squeeze her tight.”
I’d gotten this feeling the first time I met her as well, but it seemed like Marie enjoyed seeing Lady Rosalie get into awkward predicaments.
“You do know I can hear you, Marie! I’m going to punish you later!”
“I’ll look forward to it!”
Marie added a little chuckle as she sat down next to her mistress. Clearly, she wasn’t worried about her punishment at all.
“Uhm, anyway, the two of you must have come to talk about Sakura, right?”
It looked like Lady Rosalie didn’t want to spend any time slowly sounding us out and instead got straight to the point. That meant we didn’t have to make any small talk to try and figure out her intentions either.
With a hint of a nervous frown, Kirara replied, “Yes. I’m impressed that you realized when we haven’t officially informed other salons yet.”
“Hee hee. I have my own information network, you know. I wasn’t told any details, but I found out not too long ago that the Sky Salon was going after Sakura. Of course, I already had an inkling when Sara resisted my early attempt to lure her in.” Lady Rosalie looked crestfallen. “I should have known it was a mistake to approach her out of nowhere. It was only natural that she’d find it suspicious.”
“Didn’t I tell you it was better to get closer to her slowly but surely?” Marie interjected.
“But I had secret information nobody else knew—except people like Lady Angelica and Lady Himeko. I couldn’t help being impatient.”
“I see your point. It might have gone better if Sara weren’t friends with Misaki and Kirara, I suppose.”
“That’s true,” said Lady Rosalie, turning back to us. “I didn’t realize you were her friend. Last I heard, you didn’t get along at all.”
A cold sweat came over me. Lady Rosalie knows way more than I expected. Whoever’s feeding her information, whether that’s Lady Shion or someone else, they even know details of our relationship with Sara. How? Does that mean it’s someone who sees us a lot?
Thinking about it, though, Kirara and I were actually pretty high profile at the school. Gathering information about us probably wouldn’t have been that difficult for anyone.
It was only very recently that Sara had really become our friend, so it made sense that that hadn’t reached Lady Rosalie’s ears yet.
“It is what it is,” Lady Rosalie concluded. “So am I right in understanding that your mistress wants Sakura for her salon as well?”
“Yes,” Kirara replied. “She’s decided to officially invite Lady Sakura to join the Sky Salon. That’s why we’re going around to all the other salons to find out if any of them have the same intention. If there are multiple salons who want her, Lady Kagura decided it’ll reduce the burden on Lady Sakura if we all ask her together.”
“Ah, I see. She could have approached Lady Sakura herself, but she chose not to. That’s the kind of care and concern it takes to run the Sky Salon, I suppose.” She nodded. “All right, then. I want to win over Lady Sakura, but I want to do it fair and square if possible. I’m happy to go along with what your mistress says.”
Hearing this, Kirara patted her chest in relief. “Thank you so much.”
“Incidentally, are there any other salons who want her to join?”
“So far, we only know of one.”
“I could probably hazard a guess,” Lady Rosalie began.
“I’m pretty sure your guess is correct,” Kirara told her.
No one needed to say it. If Lady Rosalie had read Lady Sakura’s profile, it would be obvious that Mei would be desperate to have her.
We all fell into an awkward silence, which was eventually broken by Marie.
“It’s fair enough that we’ll all do it together, but how will we actually decide? What kind of method will we use?”
“First of all, we’re thinking that Lady Sakura will need to visit each of the relevant salons and see what it’s like inside. She needs to meet the leader, talk to the members, and get a feel for the atmosphere.”
“True. The key factor there will be grabbing her interest.”
Lady Rosalie nodded. “Right, yeah.”
“After that we’ll have a combined tea party where Lady Sakura is served the best sweets the salons can prepare, and then she can make her final decision. That’s what Lady Kagura is proposing.”
“Right, I see. She’ll get a thorough picture of what the salons are like and what kind of treats they serve. This is going to be a tough battle. When it comes to location and members, the Sky Salon is one step ahead. Having said that, our interior decorating is nothing to sneeze at. I think Sakura will take a liking to it. The harder part will be the sweets. Is there a fixed number of items we’re allowed to serve? We’ll have to devise our strategy based on that.”
“It hasn’t been decided yet. If you have a preference, I can pass it on to my mistress.”
“Hmm, let me think. If the number’s too high, she’ll have trouble eating them all. It’s not a straightforward choice.” She grasped her Seraph’s hand. “What do you think, Marie? Your opinion is the most important, since you’ll be the one making it.”
Does Marie have a talent for making delicious desserts as well?
“One would be enough for me. There are rumors that Mei’s sweets are on the level of a professional patissier, so if we have to serve lots of different things, we’ll lose for sure.”
“Really? But yours are delicious too.”
“Thank you for saying so. Still, it’s undeniable that I’m at a disadvantage. But if it was just one dessert, I could really pour everything I had into it—do you see what I mean?”
“I do. In that case, our request is for each salon to serve one thing.”
“Got it,” Kirara replied with a polite nod. “I’ll tell Lady Kagura. To be honest, I think that would be better for us as well. Before coming here, we went to the Paradise Palace and tasted something Mei had made.”
“Goodness,” Lady Rosalie muttered.
“How was it?” Marie asked.
“It was too delicious to express in words. To begin with, I thought they had bought it from an ultra-high-end store. That’s how good it was.”
“So Mei really is as skilled as we’ve heard,” Lady Rosalie said.
While Lady Rosalie was our rival as well, she seemed to agree with our judgment that Mei was the one who seemed the most formidable at present.
She continued, “It might not be ideal for her, but perhaps we can overrule her with a majority vote.”
Maybe that is the best way. If we let Mei go wild and make too many things, we won’t stand a chance against her.
“I’ll have to report everything to Lady Kagura first,” Kirara replied, “and then she’ll probably ask me to spread the word about the extra rules. I’ll do what I can, though.”
“That’s perfect. Thank you.”
“Anyway, we’ll be going now. Thank you for your time.”
“Thank you, Lady Rosalie,” I added. “Goodbye!”
Since we’d gotten the agreement we needed, we left the Gloriana Guesthouse. Lady Rosalie definitely had someone feeding her information—that much was certain. That aside, though, she was sweet, very open, and sincere.
Marie seems like a nice, warmhearted person as well. I hope we can form good relationships with the people from the Gloriana Guesthouse. We’ll see!
“That’s a big part of our task out of the way,” Kirara said. “We’ve gotten an agreement from the two salons we know want Lady Sakura to join them.”
“Right. Yeah, that’s true.”
After our visits to the Paradise Palace and the Gloriana Guesthouse, Kirara’s job was almost over. All that was left was going to the other salons and confirming that they didn’t have any interest in the new arrival. It was pretty unlikely that they did. I doubted any of them would be like, We weren’t planning on it before, but since you’re asking, why not? From what I’d heard, jumping on the bandwagon like that could impact a salon’s reputation. There were so many unwritten rules and unspoken agreements at this school.
In other words, I could see why Kirara was relieved. Sadly, my work was just beginning, and it was not going to be easy. I had to go to the Mauve Manor and ask Lady Shion if she was the one who was feeding information to Lady Rosalie.
What happened to all the joy I was feeling just now? My stomach’s tying itself in knots!
Walking behind Kirara, I played the scene in my mind again and again. My face-off with Lady Shion never went well no matter how many times I imagined it. Every single time, it ended with her flying into a rage. The more I thought about it, the worse I felt.
✤
After that, we visited a whole lot of different salons and asked each one if they wanted to recruit Lady Sakura. None of them did.
“That’s pretty much all of them, right?” Kirara said.
It wasn’t quite all of them, though. There was one we hadn’t been to yet. It was possible she was intentionally blocking it out.
In a subdued tone, I murmured, “Except the Mauve Manor.”
“Oh yeah. I forgot.” Her face darkened. “We have to go and see Lady Shion as well, don’t we?”
“Yeah. I guess we do. I doubt she’ll want Lady Sakura to join, but there’s no way to avoid visiting her.”
“You’re right. This means I can leave this one up to you though, right?”
“Oh, uh, sure. I suppose so.” I nodded weakly. “I’ll handle it.”
Kirara gave me an encouraging clap on the shoulder. “I believe in you!”
✤
We passed under several arches made of bluish purple roses and emerged into a slightly open space. “Hello?”
The garden made for even more of a spectacular display than when I’d last been there. It looked like this was just the right time for the roses to be in full bloom. Fences entwined with them stood several layers deep in a maze-like arrangement.
As I stood there, enchanted by the flowers, Aoi’s voice came from somewhere nearby. “Oh, welcome.”
Her face peeked out from a corner of the maze. In her hands, she held some sort of garden tool, while her head was covered by a straw sun hat.
“Misaki, it’s you. Welcome back to the Mauve Manor. Apologies for my appearance. If I don’t tend to everything just right, there will be bugs everywhere. It’s that time of year.”
“Don’t worry about it!”
There was surely no way Aoi was maintaining a garden of this size all on her own, but given how beautiful the result was, the work had to be more intense than I could ever imagine.
“Are you here to see Lady Shion about something?” she asked, smiling as she took off her hat.
“Yes, if that’s all right,” I replied. The nerves were starting to hit me. This is it. It’s finally happening.
We wended our way through the maze of a garden. There, at the end, was Lady Shion.
I was pretty sure this was the same place I’d met her before, but the additional walls of roses that had been layered around her gave it a totally different impression.
“Misaki is here to see you, milady.”
“How unusual!” Her eyes glinted as she pierced me with her gaze. “I had the impression you didn’t like me.”
“No! Not at all!”
Despite the warm summer sun shining down on me, I was shivering, overcome with cold as icy as the dead of winter.
“Either way, I’ll gladly show you my hospitality. I’d like to know how Himeko’s doing, for one thing. Sit. Aoi, bring her some rose tea.”
“Certainly, milady.”
If I were to make an obsequious comment about how unworthy I was of sitting at the same table as her, I suspected a gale of thorns would come raining down on me. All I could do was be a good little girl and sit down. Plus, I was fairly sure the rose tea would be their own homemade creation, and I was a little curious to taste it.
Once I was seated, Lady Shion showed a satisfied smile. “So, what brought you here today?”
“Well, I have some questions for you, if you don’t mind.”
“How intriguing. Go ahead.”
Her grin was absolutely terrifying. If she had given Lady Rosalie the information, that meant she knew exactly what our team was thinking and was responding with cool confidence.
“The first question is about Lady Sakura, the new student from abroad who joined the Societal Arts program as a first year yesterday. Do you have any plans to invite her to join the Mauve Manor?”
“I see. Is it safe to assume, then, that there is a plan to ask her to join the Sky Salon?”
She wore a look of feigned ignorance—a truly spine-chilling poker face. There’s no way she hadn’t figured that out on her own. No way at all.
“Yes. The Sky Salon wants to recruit Lady Sakura, so today we’ve been checking with every other salon to find out if they have similar intentions.”
“Fair enough.” She cast her eyes down and spoke in a measured tone. “Well, I don’t really know anything about this Sakura girl, and I wouldn’t decide to invite her just because you’ve mentioned her now. When it comes to recruiting a new salon member, the early bird catches the worm, right? If I didn’t have the information before now, I’m not really in a position to invite her.”
I desperately wanted to make a comment about her still playing innocent, but I held it in.
Just then, Aoi returned with the rose tea. “Sorry about the wait.”
This thankfully calmed me down a little. As soon as I lifted the cup to my mouth, the rich scent of roses wafted into my nose. “Wow, it smells incredible!”
It almost seemed a waste to drink it. I held it there for a moment longer just to enjoy the aroma.
“It uses a variety called the damask rose. You can extract rose oil from it as well. I can give you some if you’d like.”
“Oh, you don’t need to do that. Although if you’re offering, I can hardly refuse!”
“Excellent. Then you shall have some to take away.” Lady Shion chuckled and took a sip of her tea. “Incidentally, are there any other salons trying to bring Sakura into their folds?”
You’re the one asking me?! It did occur to me, though, that Lady Shion might have been trying to figure out how much we knew. That said, I’d come here to question her directly, so there wasn’t much point in hiding anything. In fact, if anything I said made her flinch, even slightly, that could be valuable information to support Himeko’s theory.
I gulped, then answered her question. “We’ve confirmed that two other salons are interested: the Paradise Palace and the salon led by Sari Tsuyuki—Lady Rosalie—the Gloriana Guesthouse.”
I stared intently at her face, but her expression didn’t change one whisker. Somehow, I was starting to think Lady Shion really didn’t know anything. Himeko seemed so sure, though. She has to be right.
“I know all about the Paradise Palace, of course, but the Gloriana Guesthouse was set up only recently, I believe.”
Yep, that’s right! And you can drop the sweet and innocent act! You don’t have to pretend you’ve barely even heard of it!
Clearly, her poker face was more resilient than I expected. It looked like there was no choice but to go for the direct approach, even if that was a little scary. Incredibly scary, in fact.
“Erm, there is one other thing I’d like to ask you, Lady Shion. If you don’t mind.” My voice was quivering, but I had to do this.
She gave me a teasing stare, her eyes wide. “Whatever could it be?”
“Why did you give information about Lady Sakura to Sari Tsuyuki?”
I said it. I actually said it. In a state of panic, I hung my head to avoid her glare. I couldn’t bear to see her face right now.
And yet...
“Information about Lady Sakura? What do you mean?”
When I glanced up at her again, Lady Shion had cocked her head to the side. Her expression was completely unchanged.
“You really didn’t do it?” I asked.
She bared her fangs in a meaningful grin. “You’re being awfully direct. I hope you realize that if you’re wrong, you’ll be facing consequences from me along with Himeko for leveling false accusations. Are you okay with that?”
This thought was enough to make my blood run cold, but I couldn’t let her put me off. Whatever happened, Himeko would be with me.
“Absolutely. Lady Himeko is prepared for that.”
Silence fell between us for a few moments.
Then, beaming radiantly, Lady Shion replied, “If you’re willing to go that far, I’ll generously pretend I didn’t hear any of that. To be clear, I have no idea what you’re talking about and had nothing to do with it, of course.”
Her smile held a clear implication that any follow-up questions would be a waste of time.
“Oh.”
Himeko probably hadn’t expected her to give the game away so easily either, but I still couldn’t believe she hadn’t shown even a single crack in her armor. It was pretty impressive, honestly.
My shoulders sagging, I stood up. “Very well. Then I’ll pass that on to my mistress.”
“Please do. Aoi, our guest is leaving. Guests, rather—there are two of them. As a souvenir, give them some rose tea leaves and a few containers of rose oil. Make sure to give them plenty of roses too. Between them, they should be able to carry a lot.”
“Certainly, milady. I’ll pick out some of the freshest blooms.”
Despite my best efforts, all I received in the end were various rose products. I could look on the bright side and say that at least I didn’t bring her anger raining down on me, but Himeko’s still going to be disappointed.
I rejoined Kirara, who had been assiduously trying to pretend she was part of the scenery all this time. She gave me a reassuring pat on the head. “You did everything you could.”
As Kirara came close, though, the roses she was holding pushed against me as well—and it wasn’t only their sweet scent that struck me. Some of the thorns were digging into my shoulder.
“Kirara! The rose stems still have their thorns on them!”
“Oh, sorry.”
Aoi turned back to us with an apologetic expression. “My apologies. Lady Shion says I should give roses to people with their thorns still intact. The thorns are what make them roses, she tells me.”
“No need to apologize. They only pricked me very slightly.”
“Still, though!” Aoi chuckled; it was rare for her to be smiling so distinctly. “You really worked hard today, Misaki.”
Even to her, it must have been obvious how much effort it took.
“I really did—or tried to, at least. I didn’t stand a chance against Lady Shion.”
“I wouldn’t look at it in such a pessimistic light. Look at all the gifts you got as a result.”
“Well, yes, I suppose.”
Everyone at the salon would be thrilled about the rose tea and rose oil, but without the key information I’d been seeking, it was all kind of meaningless.
With a giggle, Aoi replied, “In the end, it’ll be up to Lady Himeko to interpret the conversation you had just now, won’t it?”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
“So all you need to do is report it as accurately as you can.”
I wished I could agree wholeheartedly with her advice, but I still had too much weighing on my mind.
✤
Upon our return to the Sky Salon, Kirara and I were greeted by a chorus of voices welcoming us back. Even though it was pretty late by now, all of the members were still there.
Lady Kagura came forward to greet Kirara at the entrance. She was the one most eager to get Lady Sakura for the salon, so she must have been waiting for her Seraph’s return with bated breath. “Welcome back, Kirara. How did it go?”
“As expected, the only salons planning to recruit Lady Sakura are the Paradise Palace and the Gloriana Guesthouse.”
“Great! What did they say about the method of approaching her?”
“On the whole, they were happy to go along with our idea. However, the Gloriana Guesthouse requested that in the joint tea party, each salon should only be allowed to serve one dish to accompany the tea.”
“That makes sense. If every salon can serve as many sweets as they like, Sakura would get too full. I’ll inform the Paradise Palace about it.”
“Also, we sampled a dessert made by Mei from the Paradise Palace. It was—”
“Hold that thought. We should sit down and go over it all. Ayakas, bring Kirara a drink.”
“Coming right up,” they replied.
“I can’t wait to hear every detail!” their mistress exclaimed.
They walked off toward Lady Kagura’s personal area. Since Kirara had fulfilled her mission completely and got new information about Mei and Lady Rosalie besides, her mistress was sure to be thrilled.
I was the one who might be in more trouble.
“Welcome back, Misaki.”
Himeko greeted me with a kind smile, but I didn’t think she’d be overly satisfied with what I had to tell her.
“Lady Himeko!” I cried, whipping around to face her.
She let out a yelp of surprise. Apparently, the quantity of roses and other items in my hands had come as quite a shock to her.
“Oops, sorry! I got all these from Lady Shion.”
“Even so, it’s a pretty incredible amount. Did something happen at the Mauve Manor?”
“Not really. The opposite, you could say.”
“That’s all right. Let’s go over here and talk.”
She took half of what I was holding and headed to her own private spot.
“The roses are blooming as beautifully as ever,” she said as we sat down. Sniffing them in rapt delight, she added, “They smell wonderful too.”
All I could focus on was having to tell her how little I’d achieved. It made me dejected just thinking about it.
“Is Shion doing well?”
“Yeah. In fact, I’d say the sharp glint in her eye is doing better than ever.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” She nodded to herself, although I wasn’t sure what exactly was so great about that. “Did you ask her why she gave Rosalie the information?”
“Yup. Just the way you told me to.”
“And?”
“I’m sorry, but she didn’t give me anything to go on at all. Not only did she not confirm she’d done it, but I was watching for the slightest change in her expression, and she didn’t even give me that.”
“Oh,” Himeko replied, putting a finger to her chin as if something was weighing on her mind. “Well, could you tell me how she reacted in a little more detail?”
“For sure.”
I relayed my conversation with Lady Shion, trying to include every detail I could possibly remember.
When I was done, Himeko mused for a moment. “Hmm. You were really insistent, but instead of getting angry, she actually smiled?”
“Uhm, yeah. That’s about what happened.”
“In that case, I’m even more certain it was Shion who gave the info to Rosalie.”
“You are? How come?” I couldn’t even guess what part of my story had been enough to determine that.
“When Shion smiles, it’s because she’s enjoying herself.”
“That’s kind of normal, isn’t it?”
She shook her head quickly. “No, that’s not quite what I mean. She smiles when things are going even better than she expected. When something happens that’s really entertaining. In this case, she knew we would suspect her and had an idea of how we’d act. However, when the moment came, you spoke with far more conviction than she’d expected, and that really tickled her.”
“I see.”
“That’s why she didn’t get angry—and why she gave you so much stuff to take with you.”
“Even so, I didn’t get any proof, right?”
“True, but it’s enough. However else we try to investigate right now, she’ll continue to play innocent. I doubt she’ll reveal her involvement until after Sakura chooses a salon.”
“Why do you think she did it in the first place?”
“I have no idea. All I can say is that she’s probably not trying to get in Kagura’s way. Whatever hidden agenda she has, it’s about me.”
She fell quiet and cast her eyes downward. When she wore an expression like that, there were usually some circumstances I wasn’t aware of. Now that we’d broached the topic, I really wanted to ask for more details, but I was worried about bothering her. If I were a real Seraph, would she find it easier to tell me?
“Himeko, if you ever want me to ask Lady Shion anything else, I’m ready anytime.”
That was all I could say right now, but hopefully it was some help to my mistress, at least.
“Thanks, Misaki. If I do, I’ll be sure to ask.”
She smiled at me, and it was enough to make me want to do whatever I could for her.