When she was gone, Lady Saeko went back to her own personal space. All the rest of us could do was exchange worried glances and sighs.
“What are we going to do?!” I asked, barely holding it together.
Tilting her head, Himeko put a hand on her cheek. “As I said before, I don’t think there’s anything we can do. Nothing that springs to mind right now, anyway.”
“But we can’t just do nothing!” I was shaking so hard that my voice had started to sound like a toy on the verge of breaking.
“I agree, but I think we need to give it some time. Whatever we say to Saeko now, it won’t get through to her. Thankfully, since it’s summer vacation, there are only a handful of people who know about any of this. We have a while before word starts spreading. If we can change her mind before that happens, it’ll be fine.”
This calmed me down a tiny bit, but I still couldn’t stop the shaking in my voice. “Do you think we can?”
Himeko sighed. “I think so, but it’s easier said than done.”
“I have a few ideas,” Lady Sakura interjected in an unassuming manner.
“Really?” I asked.
“Yes. They may not be entirely above board, of course. Given how much importance Saeko places on contracts and trust, I don’t think just asking her will be enough to make her agree. It does suggest another solution, however, and that’s forming a new contract.”
“But why would Lady Saeko enter into another contract with Matsuri now that Matsuri is fully paid? Wouldn’t she still see it as trying to keep Matsuri entrapped past the terms of her initial contract?”
“You have a point, yes. From the outside looking in, it seems slightly ridiculous, but her conscientiousness is rather admirable.”
“But you have some way to convince her?”
“No, I don’t.”
“Huh? Wasn’t this plan your idea?”
A mischievous smile formed on Lady Sakura’s face. “It was indeed. I didn’t say it requires convincing Saeko, however.”
“It doesn’t?”
She was presenting it like a riddle, but no matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t figure out the solution.
“You’ve heard some hints already, Misaki.”
“I have? When?”
“The other day at Erisu’s and after that at the Sky Salon.”
“Huh?”
This left me baffled. What had I heard back then? It had to be something Lady Saeko had said herself, right? She’d tried to interfere with Matsuri’s work at the restaurant. Why? So it would take Matsuri longer to repay the debt?
“At the restaurant, she tried to get me to trip Matsuri. If I’d done that, it would have looked like Matsuri had made a mistake—and if anything had gotten broken, I guess that would have added to her debt. Is that what you mean?”
“Precisely.” She lifted a finger. “In other words, all we need to do is get Matsuri in debt again and have Saeko take on the debt.”
“Right, I see! Then they’d be back where they started.”
“Indeed. There’s only one problem.” She whipped around to face the others. “Who’s going to suggest it to Matsuri herself?”
“Does that matter? Won’t Matsuri go along with it no matter whose idea it is?”
“If you’re sure of that, why don’t we leave it in your hands, Misaki?”
“Wait, what?”
In a panic, I looked at Himeko and Sara, but both of them were pretending not to notice me. Nothing came from them but silence.
“This is crazy! I can’t go to someone and say they should take on debt, let alone someone older and more experienced!”
Himeko looked up at the ceiling. “That’s true. It would be especially scandalous for a Societal Arts student, but even a Domestic Arts student would probably end up getting expelled if word got around that they’d made someone do that. It’s not a terrible idea, but we don’t have anyone to carry it out.”
Lady Sakura turned to face us again. “Indeed. I really think putting everything back the way it was is the easiest solution, but if the two of them won’t do it on their own, it falls to onlookers like us to step in—and that brings all kinds of problems with it.”
“Hmm, yeah,” I replied. “With all the hard work Matsuri has put into paying it back, I don’t know if it would really be okay to ask her to take on even more debt.”
“Probably not.”
“Do you have any other ideas?”
“One more. It’ll take some time, but if we can convince the two of them, it should work.”
“Really? Tell me, please!”
“Well, the stumbling block for Saeko is that she wants it to be clear to everyone around her that she honors her contracts. That’s why, from the start of the next term, it will be clearly established that Matsuri has fully repaid the debt, honoring the contract. Saeko will have proven that she’s done the same and made her a free agent for now. Then, once that becomes common knowledge, Matsuri can ask to be Saeko’s Seraph again. That would work, wouldn’t it?”
“Right, I see. I think that’s a great idea!”
All of a sudden, I felt a forceful hand gripping my shoulder. “No, it is far from a great idea.”
It was Lady Saeko, and she did not sound happy at all.
“Huh?” I exclaimed.
“If you’re going to talk about me behind my back, you could at least have the decency not to do it so loudly where I can hear you.”
Furrowing her brow, she bared her teeth threateningly at Lady Sakura and the others.
“Sorry to tell you this, but even if Matsuri said she wanted to be my Seraph, I’d tell her no and that would be the end of it. Also, since you’re still new, Sakura, it makes sense that you’re not familiar with all the rules yet. Normally, if a Domestic Arts student actively asks a lady to let her be her Seraph, that’s a rule violation. I’m not such a good-natured softie that I’d make a girl my Seraph if she was so lacking in decorum. What’s the problem, anyway? Matsuri worked hard to pay off her debts, and she finally did it. Now she’s free.”
“But she told us she wants to keep serving you.”
“Who knows whether she was telling the truth?”
Oof, Lady Saeko is surprisingly obstinate.
“If we confirm that she was telling the truth and does really want that, then will you let her be your Seraph again?”
“No.”
“Why do you have to be so stubborn about this?!” I cried, only realizing a moment later just how rude this was.
Lady Saeko took on a low voice and directed her next words not to me, but to my mistress. “Himeko. I’ve said this all along, but don’t you think you’re a little too lenient with Misaki? As a student who frequents the Sky Salon, she should be expected to have more class. If you don’t make her more careful about her phrasing and her attitude, the Sky Salon will go down in others’ estimation.”
“Perhaps, but I think Misaki has been very careful about that sort of thing lately. For example, she’s been consistently calling me ‘Lady Himeko’ whenever we’re in public, and she’s been showing me plenty of respect in other ways.”
“It’s not nearly enough. If you ask me, you two look like you’re only pretending to be master and servant. You uphold the facade, but you’re really acting more like a lovey-dovey couple.”
“No, that’s not fair!” Then Himeko suddenly put both hands on her face and looked at Lady Saeko, doe-eyed. “Wait, is that how we look?”
“Absolutely.”
After a moment’s pause, Himeko’s face went bright red. Covering it with her hands, she said, “I see. I’ll watch out for that.”
Stepping in front to shield Himeko, I faced Lady Saeko head-on. “Hold on just one minute! If you’re going to tell my mistress that, say it to me directly. It’s not fair to blame her.”
“Not fair? Don’t be ridiculous. If a Seraph messes up, it’s only natural for the mistress to take responsibility. In fact, if I were to address you directly, that would be against the rules. Whatever cautions are needed, you have a mistress, and that makes it her responsibility to deliver them. If you want to avoid getting Himeko into any more embarrassing situations like this, then you might want to be more careful.”
Whimpering, I replied, “I suppose that makes sense, but—”
“Speaking of which, your punishment is that you’re forbidden from entering the Sky Salon for the rest of the day. Now leave and think about what you’ve done.”
“What?! But—”
Just as she had with Matsuri, she started forcibly shoving me toward the elevator.
“Himeko!” I cried out.
“Misaki!”
Like Romeo and Juliet, we reached out our hands to each other, but the distance was too great. Even Himeko couldn’t stand up to Lady Saeko’s will at this moment.
“You two just don’t know when to give up. Do as I say for today, Himeko. You too, Misaki.”
Suddenly, Lady Saeko leaned in and whispered something into my ear. When I heard it, I lost all my power to resist.