I'll Stay Here Until You Open the Door
Two hours before Duchess Vireyer Sirius informed Serena of her successful interview.
Vireyer Sirius lightly struck the desk with her fist.
What on earth is going on…!
She had expected the vassal houses of Sirius to send ladies for the interview to select a maid for her stepdaughter. That was why, instead of openly failing them and immediately passing someone from her own family, Vireyer had split the process into two stages. By including a girl named Serena as a formality in the second round, the two vassal houses of Sirius would have no grounds to question the fairness of the selection.
Serena had been meant to stand there as nothing more than a prop for the second interview.
But then—of all things—the three ladies from her own family side had linked arms and spectacularly self-destructed.
In the end, by simple process of elimination, Vireyer had no choice but to accept Serena—who had never even been part of the plan—as her stepdaughter’s maid.
“Miss Meridiana. You have been selected as our Lumina’s maid.”
“Wow! Really!? Yay!”
Serena cheered by herself, then let out an “Ah!” and quickly bowed her head.
“There were so many other wonderful older sisters, yet you chose me among them. Thank you so much!”
“Not at all. The right person simply became the right person. Oh, and you may speak more casually now, if you like.”
“Yes!”
“You may also call me Madam.”
“Yes, Madam.”
“Then follow me.”
Vireyer climbed the stairs leading to the fourth floor. Serena already knew perfectly well from her prior research that the young lady lived on the fourth floor, yet she still pretended otherwise.
“Huh? Is there something on the fourth floor? Isn’t that where the maids stay?”
“Ah. That child has her circumstances and is living on the fourth floor. Poor thing…”
Vireyer trailed off as she led Serena toward the young lady’s room.
“What kind of circumstances…”
Trailing behind Vireyer, Serena deliberately played dumb even though she already knew the reason.
And so they arrived at the fourth floor, before the darkest, most sunless room of all.
“This is…”
“Yes. This is that child’s room. Before you meet her, I have a request.”
“A request?”
“Even if our Lumina looks a little special, don’t be too surprised.”
Serena nodded with a carefully puzzled expression.
Vireyer knocked on the door.
Knock knock.
“Lumina. It’s Vireyer. Open the door.”
“…”
From behind the door came a clattering crash of something rolling and breaking. It was quite some time before a silver-haired, silver-eyed girl appeared through the crack of the opened door.
“…Mother.”
Vireyer did not even glance at the young lady; her eyes remained fixed on Serena. Serena, as though seeing the young lady for the first time, covered her mouth with her hand in moderate surprise, then lowered it with an “oops” expression.
Seen up close, the Sirius young lady—Lumina—looked terribly haggard. The clothes she wore seemed quite fine, yet they were wrinkled and soiled in places as if they had gone long without care. Some parts were even torn. And her face… her skin was so pale it looked as though she had barely ever seen light, and small bruises and scratches marked it.
Doesn’t seem like wounds from being hit… what could they be…
And then the most important feature of her face: those eyes.
Those bone-chilling eyes.
An inorganic silver like polished metal. Not the bright gleam of a freshly minted silver coin, but the faded, oxidized dullness of an old one. Like the eyes of a dead fish.
With those cloudy eyes, Lumina was looking not at Vireyer’s face but at the area of her neck—an extremely vague and unnatural direction of gaze.
“Now. This child is the maid who will assist with Lumina’s daily life. Serena. Greet Lumina.”
“Ah, h-hello? I’m Serena Meridiana.”
She deliberately stammered. She was still a timid twelve-year-old. Showing a perfectly calm reaction to a child with a witch-like appearance would have been far stranger.
At Serena’s greeting, Lumina turned her head. The place where her gaze landed was somewhere between Serena’s neck and shoulder. Again, the direction was wrong. After staring toward Serena for a while, Lumina spoke in a small voice.
“…Mother. I don’t need a maid. I can manage alone.”
“Lumina.”
“Yes.”
“You cannot even properly meet the eyes of this mother standing right in front of you, or the maid’s eyes, so what exactly do you claim you can do alone?”
“…”
Lumina lowered her head. Vireyer seized her chin and forced it upward.
“Look at your face. You’ve rolled on the floor again.”
“That’s because there are so many things on the floor…”
“You tripped and fell?”
“Yes…”
“Then you should have cleaned regularly. What sort of confidence is it to declare you need no maid when you cannot even tidy your own room?”
Vireyer released Lumina’s chin, and Lumina immediately hung her head low.
“…I’m sorry.”
“Instead of apologizing, correct your own faults. Honestly admit what you cannot do yourself, and accept the maid’s help.”
“…I under… stand.”
Having scolded her thoroughly, Vireyer took Serena’s wrist.
“Lumina, stay still for a moment. I have something to discuss alone with my Serena.”
Vireyer led Serena off to a corner.
“Now, I believe Serena can already guess why this child is here.”
Serena nodded.
“She’s the spitting image of that witch from forty years ago. Because of that, everyone shuns her, so we had no choice but to hide her in the most remote place. And did you notice? About that child’s eyes…”
Even a child still carried blue blood in her veins. Speaking carelessly about the person who would become one’s master was a demerit. Serena deliberately put on a hesitant, fidgeting act. At that, Vireyer smiled with satisfaction.
“Lumina cannot see. She can only perceive light and darkness, and very rough colors at best… Those wounds on her face also appeared because she cannot see. From now on, Serena, take good care so she does not fall.”
So that was why her gaze was so strange—she’s blind.
Only then did Serena understand why curtains hung in Lumina’s room. Since Lumina herself could not see anyway, the curtains had been drawn so that anyone looking up at the fourth floor from outside would not be able to see her.
Suddenly Vireyer’s expression grew sorrowful.
“My niece will enter the Imperial Academy in two years, so I mentioned that a maid would be needed, didn’t I? Actually… it is also a proposal because that child does not have much time left.”
“Doesn’t have much time left…?”
“At shortest one year from now, at longest two… That child will pass away before she reaches your current age. Originally it was a family secret, but now that you are her maid, I am telling you in advance.”
Terminally ill and blind, huh. Serena thought it would not be easy and simply nodded.
“Please treat her well while she is still alive. If that child can close her eyes happily, wouldn’t I then be able to entrust my niece to you?”
Serena clenched her two small fists tightly and declared,
“I’ll do my best…!”
After giving Serena a few more instructions, Vireyer went downstairs.
The moment the conversation ended, Serena headed straight for Lumina’s room.
Huh? The door’s closed?
Serena tilted her head and turned the doorknob.
Click.
It was locked.
“Lady Lumina…? Why did you suddenly lock the door…”
“Go…”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll tell Mother myself… so just pretend I don’t exist… live however you like here… There’s nothing good about getting involved with someone like me…”
At Lumina’s words, Serena’s brow furrowed.
That child was a tool. A tool for meeting the Altair Duke’s daughter. Moreover, she was terminally ill. Serena was not so foolish as to grow attached to a child who would live two years at most and then die.
I don’t particularly plan on getting close to you either, but…
Being rejected right from the start like this was a little annoying.
A stubborn competitive spirit rose in Serena.
“I’ll stay right here until Lady Lumina opens the door.”
“Do as you please…”
She deliberately made a loud noise as she plopped down onto the floor.
“Thud.”
She even voiced the sound in case it hadn’t been heard. That way the girl would know she was camping out here.
Her speech and mannerisms seemed mature for her age, but she was still only ten. She would open the door after gauging the situation for a while.
…That was Serena’s miscalculation.
“Haaawn…”
Hours passed and Lumina still did not come out.
Doesn’t this kid even go to the bathroom? Tough little thing. Eventually Serena raised the white flag and asked,
“Lady Lumina, don’t you need to use the bathroom?”
“…If you move away from there.”
“And if I don’t?”
“I’ll just go right here.”
From behind the door came the rustle of cloth. Specifically, it sounded exactly like a little girl lifting her skirt hem and squatting down on the floor…
Serena’s face drained of color as she frantically groped at her waist.
The so-called lockpick made its appearance.
This was the fourth floor used by servants. The lock would not be that complicated. If she could not pick even this right away, she would be disqualified as a schemer.
In an instant she unlocked the door and stepped inside. Lumina, who had been rubbing the curtains to make noise, turned her empty eyes toward Serena.
“How…?”