“They’re two sides of the same coin, right? Give us both together,” Lisa said, sounding exhausted.
“Oh, Lisa, you’re no fun. The good news is that four cases of clay masks have arrived from the Kingdom of Zenoya.”
Everyone—except for Sofia, who actually was no fun—threw their hands in the air to celebrate. Clay from Zenoya was renowned for its incredible beautifying properties, but importing even one jar of it cost a number of gold coins. Normally, only nobles or affluent merchants could afford it, but Rachel offered it to her subordinates at cost as a reward for their hard work. Her subordinates just had to load the jars into the regularly scheduled carts when there was room for them, so Rachel was able to buy it at almost the same price that Zenoya’s locals paid.
Rachel provided these sorts of expensive cosmetics to the women, and rare foreign alcohol to the men, for dirt cheap as a way to win their hearts and minds. People wouldn’t work for all whip and no carrot. Incidentally, Rachel had her hooks in the customs employees as well, so she could bring these gifts into the country undeclared—generally referred to as “smuggling.”
Because the maids were young women, most wanted the products for themselves, but they also had the option to buy the rights to them and leave them with the Black Cat Company to sell on their behalf. It was bonus pay, but in the form of foreign souvenirs. No one could be unsatisfied with that.
Just as everyone was feeling happy, Mimosa let the other shoe drop. “Now, as for the bad news... Since the ship has arrived, you also have a big pile of extra foreign reports to sort through. Good luck with that.”
This time, everyone—Sofia included—hung their heads.
The Black Cat Company was a medium-sized business that faced one of the capital’s back streets. At first glance, it didn’t look like it would be prosperous, but many of its customers were among the nobility and the upper class due to the large selection of quality-made foreign goods. Since the majority of their business was conducted through house calls, they’d refrained from setting up a storefront on the main street, but those in the know were acquainted with the business and its reputation for only dealing with the best.
That was how the customers saw the Black Cat Company, but if you were to ask Sofia or one of the other insiders, they’d tell you that while the public perception wasn’t a lie, it wasn’t the whole truth either. For this company, which had been founded without disclosing that Rachel was its sponsor, the luxury goods trade was no more than a front. It made money for its operations that way, but the branch stores abroad sent back not just products but intel as well. The employees were also able to enter the houses of powerful individuals in the capital, surreptitiously uncovering valuable information.
Their top priority, obviously, was infiltrating factions that were hostile to the House of Ferguson or Rachel herself. That was why, if Rachel said the word, they could discover anything from what Prince Elliott had for dinner to the layout of the cosmetics on Margaret’s dresser. That would be silly, though, so Rachel had never given an order like that.
Sofia was tasked with managing not only the Black Cat Company, but also Rachel’s personal forces inside the ducal house and the servants in the palace whom Rachel had won over. No duh, she was busy. Organizing all the incoming information, public and otherwise, and signing off on the paperwork in Rachel’s stead... Even if Sofia were to have subordinates helping her, it wouldn’t be enough.
Sofia took a sip of the tea Meia had made, then sighed. “It might not be unreasonable if I were to pay myself triple the salary...”
“After all, the work we do isn’t in a maid’s job description...” Lisa added.
The other maids working with them all nodded, looking tired.
There were ten commanders of the Black Cats of the Dark Night. The main five were Sofia, the top commander; Meia, in charge of domestic politics; Lisa, in charge of domestic finance; Mimosa, in charge of international affairs; and Heidi, in charge of operations inside the palace. They worked together with Campbell, the “acting” president of the Black Cat Company; Waters, their face in the underworld; and three anonymous individuals, in charge of the knights, bureaucrats, and courtiers inside the palace.
These ten took charge of their respective domains, cooperating with one another to keep the organization running. If you counted everyone, including those on the fringes who had no idea of the command structure, then the Black Cats of the Dark Night’s membership numbered in the hundreds.
“Is it all right for half the people at the top to be young maids?” Lisa questioned.
“All we did was follow the young mistress’s orders, and at some point, we found ourselves capable of sorting through secret intel without questioning it,” Sofia answered.
“The people at the bottom don’t know about us to begin with. Some of Waters’s men have probably mistaken us for a crime syndicate.”
“Waters looked down on us at first too, but once I brought him to the young mistress’s room, she had him as tame as a kitten in five minutes.”
“I guess the young mistress’s crazy criminal vibe had an effect on him...” Lisa mused.
“If the young mistress calls you on talking about her like that,” Sofia said, “I am not going to cover for you.”
Once they’d gone through everything, Sofia got permission from Jonathan to head out with Lisa. The roads were still wet from the rain, so they wouldn’t kick up dust as they went, and the sun had come out—ideal conditions for a walk.
“This place is perfect. If we were normal maids, we’d probably be delighted to get out and about like this,” Lisa said.
“Yes,” Sofia replied, “but since we are always heading out on the young mistress’s business, it does not feel special at all, no matter where we go.”
“Agreed. The way we traipse through the back streets at night, we’re just not like normal young women.”
Sofia and Lisa headed to the Black Cat Company with their finished report. When they arrived, they were immediately shown through to the president’s office, where a well-set old man was busily filing paperwork and a middle-aged man with a villainous face was lounging on a sofa—part of a reception set—smoking.
Once Sofia and Lisa entered the room, Sofia walked past the sofa, casually hooking her foot under it as she did, and upended it, middle-aged man and all.
“I have told you before that you are not to smoke when I am coming, Waters,” Sofia reprimanded him.
“That was a little violent and out of nowhere, wasn’t it, big sis?!”
The man called Sofia “big sis” even though he was over forty and she was still in her twenties. Neither Lisa nor Campbell acted like this was at all unusual; Lisa took her seat, and Campbell got up from his desk and came over to join them. In addition to delivering the documents, Sofia and Lisa were here for an executive meeting of the Black Cats of the Dark Night.
“What’s wrong, Waters? Would you get up already?” Campbell chided.
“Show a little concern, would ya, old man?” Waters replied.
Sofia quickly looked through the two men’s reports, then put them in an envelope together with her own and handed the envelope to Lisa.