Miyako returned to the house and tiptoed to her bedroom. Umi had curled up into a ball and was fast asleep, snoring gently. This water spirit is getting more and more cat-like by the day.
Miyako changed her clothes and let her hair down. I need to get some sleep and then think about my rescue plan for tomorrow... Although, I think I’ll just go in guns blazing anyway.
When she thought of Fuuka, still in that crude shed, she cursed the freezing weather outside. Something else was troubling her too.
“I’d better have a chat with her.”
She went downstairs and into the kitchen. Inside sat the woman she was after.
“Susie.”
“Welcome back, Lady Miyako.”
“I saw my brother in the Hamilton family’s garden.”
“...Oh.”
The head maid, who had served the Florence family for many years, sat quietly peeling vegetables.
I wonder if that’s for tomorrow’s breakfast. But why’s she doing that this late in the night? There’s no need to do it now.
She continued to peel the vegetables in silence, as though she were killing time so that she could talk with Miyako.
“Why did you tell him, Susie?”
The head maid was strict, but she was kind as well, and she had always let Miyako have her own way. So why would she tell on me?
An example of letting Miyako have her way happened when she was still Klaus Reinhardt’s fiancée. At that time, she utilized to the fullest her knowledge of the in-game events before they happened, an advantage she gained from being reborn into a game she knew. Making the most of that advantage, Miyako pulled every kind of trick on Klaus.
Once, Susie caught her red-handed while she was planning more pranks and tricks for Klaus, using her knowledge of the game’s scenarios. When that happened, Susie burst out laughing.
“My lady, this is... quite exhilarating, isn’t it?”
The head maid, who always maintained an air of decency, bent over in fits of laughter. She laughed like it was the best thing she had ever seen.
To say she was a prudish woman would be an understatement. But there was also a side of her that found joy in little rebellions against authority. And whenever she scolded someone, she would do it in her own words, looking them in the eye as she gave them hell.
So why would she do this? Why would she rat me out to Odina and get him to stop me?
“It seems I lost my composure a little,” she said quietly.
She peeled a potato, sliced up and washed the pieces, then started again, all in silence. With no break in her movement, she continued.
“I knew that you were always looking at a world only you could see, and fighting things invisible to the rest of us. I’ve served the Florence family to a good old age, and I wanted to avoid any misfortune befalling them at all costs.”
She spoke in hushed tones.
“Sorry, but I...” said Miyako, hanging her head. No matter what my brother or Susie say, I have no intention of stopping. “Even so, Susie. As a Florence, I really am grateful for all your service to our family. But...”
“But what, I wonder? Are you going to tell me I ought to live my own life?”
“I... You’re right, that would be disrespectful.”
“No, I thank you for your concern.”
In the nighttime kitchen, the light from the moon and the lamps glinted off the knife Susie held. The potatoes dropped into a bowl of water one after another, with a plop.
“But, my lady, I have lived my own life. I’ve worked in this house all these years without ever finding a husband, but even I have done that.”
“Susie?”
“So, even after seeing Odina-sama, you’re still going to go your own way?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan.”
“All right,” said Susie. “In that case, I won’t stop you. If the Florence family disowns you, we might not see any more of each other. But until then, I’ll be here if you need me.”
“Susie, does that mean...?”
“I apologize for eavesdropping. ‘We’ll live happily together, as two women.’ There was a time when I held that dream too.”
“Huh?”
The sound of Susie clapping her hands rang out. When Miyako looked, she realized all the potatoes from the tabletop had transformed into finely cut strips.
“I’ve made too many slices. Well, my lady, do you mind making a start on the fried potatoes tomorrow morning?”
“We’re having them all day?!”
“Yes. Potatoes are one of the Atika region’s proud specialties, after all,” laughed Susie.
Miyako would be lying if she said she wasn’t interested in Susie’s past. But it would be rude to try to pry out a story like the one Shan Li and Maria had volunteered themselves.
“I’m looking forward to them. Good night, Susie.”
“All right. Good night, Lady Miyako.”
One day, I want to hear her story, thought Miyako as she made her way to her bedroom.