I, Rouché, beca Lady Sophia’s personal maid just a few days ago. Until that point, I had been working at the Rosenberg Marquis household as an apprentice, but due to an incident in which several servants had to be dismissed for embezzlent, I was promoted.
Normally, the people becoming servants of a marquis household would either belong to a family that had served that household for generations, or have connections to nobility. My mother was only a daughter of a low-ranked noble, so under normal circumstances, it was very unlikely that soone like , who had been born into a rchant family, would beco their regular maid, much less the young Lady’s exclusive maid. However, it might not be that unreasonable, I thought, as I turned my gaze to the ‘Sir Butler’ who had been the young Lady’s training partner for so ti now.
Despite belonging to a prominent family that served the Rosenberg Marquis household for generations, he wasn’t a noble. Therefore, it was solely due to his abilities that the barely six-year-old beca Lady Sophia’s exclusive butler.
He was known as ‘Sir Butler’, although the origins of this nickna were unknown. It was Lady Sophia who told this title. It was said that this Sir Butler had acquired all sorts of skills and he was knowledgeable enough to beco a senior in high school. He was such a genius that anyone who felt a need to challenge him would just make a fool of themselves. But, although he was a genius, he was still a young child. There certainly couldn’t have been many people capable of working as a commoner child. He had saved , so in that sense, I was suitable for this position as well.
Indeed, I never felt displeased about following his orders. At most, I wished that he would acknowledge my limits and go a little easy on with last minute demands.
However-
“Young Lady. Femininity doesn’t only stem from speech and appearance, but also from a person’s movents. Maintain control of your body all the way to the tips of your fingers, you mustn’t ever lose focus.”
“Hmmm… Um, like this?”
“That’s right. Also, please strive to refrain from looking sloppy in any way, and minimize the amount of open movents.”
He was talking about how, technically speaking, whenever you were to pick up a thing that’s to your left, you should pick it up with your right hand. The reason for this was that, if you were to pick it up with your left hand, the arm would open to the outside, and the movent would look unrefined. This wasn’t inaccurate when it ca to a lady’s etiquette.
For example, if you were to rest your chin in your hands on top of a table, you mustn’t place any of your body weight onto your hands. You may only place the tips of your fingers onto your cheeks in the shape of a spread wing, and let the body support its own weight. It makes one want to cry out: ‘That’s no fun at all! It’s even more tiring than just sitting normally!’ In this sense, absurd grace was required of young Ladies.
But I was wondering what was his aim, explaining these things to such a small young Lady? I breathed a long sigh, wondering if, since he was a genius, he might believe that, if they were his sa age, other people could do everything he could too.
“Cyril, isn’t this a little too hard for Lady Sophia?”
“I think so, as well.”
He gave an unexpected answer. I was certain that he would give a hardheaded response such as: ‘It’s for the sake of the young Lady’. I frowned, wondering why he was teaching her so strictly then. But I imdiately understood why. At that point, Lady Sophia turned to look at , pouting.
“Lady Sophia?”
“I can do this much.”
“N-no, I wasn’t saying that you can’t, I was just wondering if it perhaps wasn’t too much.”
“It’s not. I can still work much much harder!”
S-she was too dazzling. The adorable young Lady was glaring at with a slightly pouty expression, telling that she could work much much harder. Unconsciously, the impulse to give her a hug took hold of , but since that would be disrespectful, I was determined to restrain myself.
“Wah, w-why are you suddenly hugging ? I am in the middle of training right now, so please, don’t interrupt.”
I was brought back to my senses by the young Lady’s voice as she squird in my arms, and I hurriedly let go.
This was no good. She was a wicked little girl that turned others useless.
“I apologize, I seem to have been unnecessarily cautious.”
When I bowed my head deeply, Cyril continued my statent.
“Rouché was rely worried for you, Lady Sophia, so please, do forgive her.”
Then Cyril looked at with an expression that seed to ask: “Do you understand now?”
…Yes, I understood it clearly.
I beca unable to say things such as: ‘This is enough for now’, when she insisted that she could work this hard. Or perhaps I should more accurately say that the strict one wasn’t actually Cyril. It seed to be Lady Sophia herself.
But I realized that this sort of scene was only the beginning.
“Un, deux, trois, un, deux, trois… that’s right. Your steps are still small, young Lady, so you must make as big movents as you can.”
“K-kind of like this?”
“No, it’s not good to simply move fast. Every single movent has to always have a beginning and end.1 Imagine as if there were weights hanging from your limbs.”
“Like this?”
“That’s right. Let’s try to take steps as big as possible that way.”
I was in the practice room of the Rosenberg Marquis household, captivated by the sight of the two of them dancing under the magic-powered lights. Although Cyril and Sophia weren’t tall enough to even reach my chest, they were making full use of the large practice room as they danced.
They drew a circle with their evenly paced movents, making even this casual performance look beautiful. The young Lady’s platinum blonde hair danced, sparkling brightly whenever it caught the light. This beautiful, priceless view had already been going on for several songs.
Continuously dancing for several songs would exhaust the stamina of even an adult. Yet these young children continued to dance single-mindedly, despite the fact that the young Lady had just received etiquette lessons right before the dance.
Besides-
“You’re very good. But you are a bit tired, aren’t you? Let’s end the dance and change clothes and continue studying so theory.”
‘Don’t just change clothes, let her rest for a bit! I will prepare you tea!’ I was yelling out in my mind. However-
“No, I want to learn by repetition, so please, do the theoretical lesson like this.”
My inner voice was extinguished by Lady Sophia’s words.
Huh, what? By ‘like this’, does she an that she wants to have a theoretical lesson while dancing? Did she just say that she wants to receive theory lessons while dancing? She wants to have a theory lesson while continuing this dance that makes feel out of breath by just watching? That’s out of the question, isn’t it?!
“As you wish. Then, let’s ease into it by reviewing history first.”
Don’t ‘as you wish’ her! More importantly, what do you an by ‘let’s ease into it by reviewing history’?! Are you trying to say that, since you’re reviewing the previous class, it’s sothing that can be done rather mindlessly and therefore fine? Your standards are way too unreasonable?!
Indifferent to my situation of not even knowing to what part I should even retort, Cyril began to ask questions about history, and Lady Sophia gave him exemplary answers in turn.
All while taking graceful yet bold steps.
Just what sort of sense of rhythm did those two have? More importantly, they were able to dance even during a history lesson? I did hear about people talking while dancing but…
What astonished the most was the fact that it was the young Lady herself who ca up with it. I couldn’t help but feel puzzled. Just what was spurring the young Lady on to this extent?
This was… not the daily routine of the daughter of a marquis, I was sure of it. Despite hearing that the higher the social position, the more one had to learn; no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t think of this as being normal.
As I watched them attentively, astounded by these two, Cyril sent a look. …W-what was it? I could guess that he was asking sothing of , but I wasn’t able to understand as far as to know what it was. I was troubled, pondering about it when Cyril smiled wryly, as if to ask: “I guess you don’t understand?”
Roughly at the sa ti, this ti, it was Lady Sophia who sent a glance.
‘I don’t like it, so I don’t have the skills to guess what a person is thinking just from getting a look from them!’ I was grumbling in my head, when Lady Sophia smiled in satisfaction.
…No, sorry. I don’t get it at all. What is it? That it’s fine like this?
I didn’t understand it well, but there was sothing I did get. Lady Sophia was a genius, just like Cyril. Without a doubt, they didn’t understand things such as how bad the comprehension skills of an average person were. Having arrived to this conclusion, I continued to watch over their training, and, after a short while, it ca to an end.
“Rouché, prepare a change of clothes for Lady Sophia.”
“I have them already prepared in the other room. I have also boiled so water, thinking that it might be needed…”
While I was trying to figure out if there would be ti to wipe the young Lady’s sweat off with a wet towel, Cyril’s eyes widened.
“Then, please wipe Lady Sophia’s sweat off. I will prepare so tea in the anti, so let’s continue with the theoretical lessons after that,” he said, and smiled, adding that he would leave the rest to and then left the room.
Then, I led Lady Sophia to the other room, helped her take off her dress, and then, using the prepared pail filled with hot water and a towel, I began to wipe off her sweat.
“My Lady, please tell if it hurts anywhere, okay?”
Lady Sophia’s skin was translucently white and without a single blemish. Although I was using a high quality towel, it would be very troubleso if I were to hurt her skin, which was as beautiful as a pearl, so I was wiping her very carefully.
“Thank you, Rouché. But you can use a little bit more strength.”
“As you wish.”
I was not only wiping off her arms, legs and her back, but also her chest. For the daughter of a marquis, it was normal that even their chests would be cleaned by a maid and not by themselves. As I was raised as a commoner, I felt a little uncomfortable.
Although there wasn’t a big difference between the young Lady’s chest and her back…
“…Rouché, I will still grow from now on, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
…More importantly, the young Lady was way too perceptive. It was scary. Right, speaking of ‘perceptive’…
“Um, Lady Sophia, may I ask you sothing?”
“Of course, I don’t mind. You’re my maid, but you don’t have to be so respectful to when it’s just the two of us. So… let’s be friends, okay?”
The young Lady looked up at , smiling innocently. When it ca to the public and private parts of her life, it was precisely because the young Lady maintained her dignity that she was able to show a more unguarded side in private. And these sides of her were so charming… Almost undoubtedly, this was Cyril’s influence.
“Then, please tell . What were those eye signals you sent during the dance?”
“Ah, that. That was Cyril telling you to prepare a change of clothes. He must have noticed that I was tired after all, and tried to co up with an excuse to end our practice.”
“…I see. Then, what were you trying to signal to with your eyes, Lady Sophia?”
“‘I also want Cyril to rest, so it’s fine if you prepare them slowly.’”
“…By ‘I see’ I an that I cannot understand sothing like that from just a look.”
“I know,” Lady Sophia giggled, and then continued: “That’s why I and Cyril were both surprised!” I washed out the towel in the hot water and wrung it out, puzzling over what she ant.
“Not only did you prepare my change of clothes, you even made preparations to wipe my body with a hot towel, didn't you? Rouché, you had already fulfilled Cyril’s and my requests even before you were given the eye signals.”
I didn’t understand at first. But then I imdiately realized. I prepared a change of clothes according to Cyril’s wishes, and by making preparations to wipe off her body, I also fulfilled Lady Sophia’s wish to let Cyril rest. I see. Saying it that way, it sounded like I was extrely capable.
“Wait, no, no, no, that was just a coincidence, though!”
“Is that so? It might be,” the young Lady said and smiled. However, she clearly didn’t think that it was a coincidence. I sighed internally. It would be nice to not get any more unreasonable demands from now on…
But, at the sa ti, a desire to live up to my cute master’s expectations welled up inside . Both and Cyril, who had saved that family, want to et Lady Sophia’s expectations.
‘So I guess I could try to give it my best, a little…’ I thought, and suddenly realized.
That was it! The reason why Lady Sophia was doing her best like this, must surely be…
Thank you for reading! Apologies for the slight delay, my team had so personal stuff to deal with.
This is the last side chapter and last chapter of the second volu, next week, we're scheduled to start volu three! Thank you for your support and hope to see you in a week's ti!
序破急 – ‘johakyuu’, artistic modulations in traditional Japanese performances; opening, middle and climax (end).
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