For now, Himeko put our own case to the side and carried on discussing the matter at hand. “I suppose that doesn’t apply here. It’s happening because both of them are upholding the terms of their contract, which doesn’t give us much room to intervene.”
“Quite a conundrum indeed. They both believe they’re doing exactly what they should be.”
“Do you have any suggestions?”
“Not as such. One thought has occurred to me though. I’m wondering if Saeko might be feeling some regret.”
“Regret, you say?”
“Yes. Saeko’s an intelligent person. She might have started to see a problem with what she was doing. After all, she seems to like Matsuri, so she can’t be happy about breaking the contract. Deciding to let Matsuri go anyway might be a sign that she doesn’t think their existing relationship can or should continue.”
“What do you mean?”
“At first she made Matsuri her Seraph purely as a show of mercy. It was a way to save her family from financial ruin. However, after a year of having Matsuri in her service, she’s genuinely come to like her. Only she can’t forget about the particulars of how and why Matsuri became her Seraph to begin with. She might be doubting whether Matsuri genuinely wants to serve her. If there’s even the slightest resentment there, she’d rather cancel the arrangement altogether for both of their sakes. Maybe she decided that settling the balance was a good opportunity to draw a line under their relationship too.”
“When you put it that way, Saeko has looked distressed about the whole thing.”
“I am only speculating, of course.”
Speculation or otherwise, it sounded plausible to me. It fit with a lot of what we’d seen.
“Even if it’s true,” Himeko replied, “changing her mind will be no mean feat.”
Himeko had seen Lady Saeko’s stubborn attitude as well as I had. Whatever regrets she might have, it was clear that she intended to stick to her guns.
“I’m sure it won’t.” Lady Angelica paused and thought for another few moments. “Unless we can persuade her that there’s something more important than honoring—”
She was interrupted by the sound of the elevator arriving.
Every member of the salon was here other than Lady Saeko and Matsuri, so it had to be one of them. We were probably all thinking the same thing as we simultaneously turned to look.
Moments later, the doors opened and Lady Saeko stepped out. As soon as she realized we were all gathered here and staring right at her, she frowned and shrugged her shoulders.
“Good day, everyone. I see you’ve even invited Angelica here for tea.”
Her tone suggested that she knew exactly what we’d been talking about.
“Good day, Saeko,” Lady Angelica responded. “We were just discussing your abandonment of Matsuri.”
That reply was so direct that I screamed internally. So impressive! She doesn’t hold back even a little.
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t use such an odd turn of phrase. I certainly didn’t ‘abandon’ her. She fulfilled her side of the contract, so I released her from it accordingly.”
“So you say. I have the feeling those around you see it rather differently.”
“I don’t believe so. I’m a woman who upholds her contracts. There’s no reason to see it any other way.”
After her forceful reply, she didn’t wait for Lady Angelica’s response before heading over to her own personal space.
When she was gone, Lady Angelica smiled in amusement. “I can see this is going to take some elbow grease.”
Himeko sighed, then looked at me. “Misaki, why don’t you bring Saeko a drink?”
She was telling me to go and check on her. Honestly, I was worried about how she was doing too, and it would be a good chance to give her an update on Matsuri.
“Yes, milady.”
I went and made her a drink. She was fond of Earl Grey with a little milk and a little sugar, so I decided to purposely put in lots of sugar and no milk. I put some matcha cookies on a plate to accompany her tea, then took both over to her personal space.
“Lady Saeko, I’ve brought you some tea,” I called from the entrance.
She left a pause before replying. “All right.”
I came straight in and saw Lady Saeko reading a paperback book with a languid expression. After a bow, I silently placed her refreshments on the table.
Lady Saeko looked down at the cup I’d placed in front of her and froze for a moment. “This was a premeditated crime,” she murmured.
“What do you mean? I remembered you like Earl Grey, so I brought you some.”
She scowled at me, then took a sip. Then, putting on a false show of courage, she said, “Well, sometimes it’s nice to have it extra sweet with no milk.”
Stubborn to a fault.
“Matsuri’s staying in my room, by the way.”
“Oh.”
“Yesterday she was really down, but today she seems to have recovered a tiny bit. She went to the restaurant as usual.”
“I see. I don’t recall asking you, however.”
“If there’s any kind of message you’d like me to pass on to Matsuri, just let me know.”
“Nothing springs to mind,” she said after a moment. “If she’d like to have her personal belongings delivered to her dorm, I’ll arrange it.”
“I don’t think Matsuri will ask for that, so can you please keep them in your room for now?”
“You’re pretty mean, you know that?”
“Am I?” I replied with a look of feigned ignorance.
“Anyway, never mind that. Thank you for the tea and cookies.”
She waved me away. It was pretty clear that she wouldn’t be happy with me saying anything else, so I decided to obediently withdraw.
I went back to Himeko to report what I’d learned, even though the answer was “not that much.”
“How was she?” my mistress asked.
“It’s hard to say. I think she’s worried about Matsuri, but she didn’t show it very openly.”
Staring toward Lady Saeko’s personal space, Lady Sakura said, “I think coming to the Sky Salon is probably a sign, though. I think she wants us to do something. She had to have known we’d be talking about her, so if she decided to come here anyway, it’s like her subconscious is sending out an SOS.”
“Yes, I have that feeling as well,” Lady Angelica agreed.
Lady Sakura sighed softly. “Which makes your suggestion seem the most likely to get results.”
Huh? What suggestion?
Himeko sighed in a similar manner. “The timing will be awkward, but hopefully we can find a good opportunity.”
It sounded like the conversation had moved on quite a bit while I was talking to Lady Saeko.
“Erm, I don’t suppose you could tell me what you’ve decided?”
Potentially, it was something I could recruit Matsuri to help out with.
“I don’t think it’ll be that difficult,” Lady Angelica insisted.
“That what will be that difficult?”
Once she’d finally explained her idea, it actually made sense. This could work!
She concluded, “That’s it in a nutshell.”
One point about this was that it was better not to tell Matsuri. Matsuri had to be involved, but if she play-acted her part, Lady Saeko would never accept it.
My eyes met Himeko’s. Himeko had an important role in Lady Angelica’s plan—but at the same time, it felt like she was judging our relationship as mistress and maid. We both smiled very awkwardly indeed.