The Young Lady's Business
Waking at dawn to clean, rousing my young lady, and then sharing a peaceful breakfast side by side—that was how the day began. The days slipped past in the same quiet pattern, and yet not once had I ever felt bored of them, or anything like boredom. Every moment I could spend with her was a precious memory to me.
Back at the estate we had been dragged into one uproar after another, and there had never been time for anything like this. Thinking it over again, leaving that mansion with my young lady had been the right choice.
"...Say, Lily."
"Yes, my lady."
"Do I have anything simple I could wear out?"
"Of course. If you're thinking of a walk in the garden, I'll find you something that suits, my lady."
"No. Today we're going somewhere other than the garden. Not my usual clothes—something sturdy enough that it won't tear if it can help it. Please, Lily."
Clang—!
The knife I'd been using to spread jam on bread slipped from my hand and clattered onto the table, but the thought of picking it right back up never quite arrived. My lady, going out? Since we had come to this house, she had not set foot beyond the garden even once. My lady, of all people? ...Hic.
"Hic... I... I under—sniff—stand...!"
"...Why are you crying all of a sudden?"
"It's... uu... nothing... Eubeee!"
"Looks like Lily wants to find out just how far her cheeks can stretch."
"I'm sorryyy...!"
I thought I had done a fine job of hiding how proud of her I was, but sadly, she saw through me at once. I could read her feelings well, and she was just as quick to notice mine. Still, what was I supposed to do when I was this overwhelmed, Lady Renoir?
"Haa. Today's outing might run long, so pack some simple food as well, Lily."
"Yes! I'll prepare everything with all my heart, just for you, my lady!"
"Heh. I'll be looking forward to it, Lily."
"...That's quite a lot of luggage."
"Yes! I packed it down tight—only the things we'll need!"
The bag was so large I could barely lift it with both hands, and it would hardly be an exaggeration to say it was crammed full of my dreams. A spare change of clothes for my lady, of course; enough food to last well past three meals; and gifts besides, in case we happened to meet someone from another village.
Handmade handkerchiefs embroidered with my lady's crest. They were nothing expensive, since I had made them myself, but I had wanted to start changing how people saw her, beginning with little things like these. To show them she was no longer the young lady she used to be. That was all.
"Leave only enough for the two of us to eat, and put the rest back in the room, Lily."
"...Hweh?"
"Quickly. If we get deep into the mountain before the sun sets, there'll be less trouble."
"Y-yes..."
Sadly, my plan fell apart at the very first step. So we weren't going to the village. Well, unless her heart had suddenly changed, there was no way we would have been. Sniff.
"I put it all back..."
I was disappointed, but I didn't think it was something to despair over entirely. Even if we weren't going out to meet people, leaving the house for somewhere else was already a great step forward. One step at a time, nice and steady—until she became the angelic young lady she had been when we first met.
"Your hands are finally free, Lily."
Suddenly—truly, with no warning at all—my hand was caught in hers. And not loosely, either. Her fingers laced tightly through mine, so I couldn't pull away.
"Don't let go, Lily. Without you, I'm sure I'd lose my way."
"Yes... I won't let go, my lady."
Flustered as I was, I tightened my own grip and held her just as firmly. Could she be imitating Aunt Mary? No, surely not.
...This feels a little more embarrassing than usual.
Hiking while holding my lady's hand. By all rights I ought to have been overjoyed, but my foolish head kept drifting back to the punishment from last time. She had washed every inch of me. I hadn't known it could feel so good to be bathed by someone else.
Would it be all right if I washed her like that someday? With a blindfold on, maybe... No, no, no—forbidden thoughts! Unless my lady asked first, I was absolutely not allowed to bring it up myself.
"Say, Lily."
"Y-yes!?"
"...What are you so startled for?"
"Ah, i-it's nothing, ehe. Wh-what did you call me for?"
"Is that so? ...Well, it's nothing much. I wanted to ask whether you're satisfied with the life we have now."
Her grip tightened. A hard pressure closed around my hand.
My lady... had she been worrying about that all this time?
"Of course I'm satisfied! So satisfied that even if you tried to send me away by force, I wouldn't leave."
I squeezed back as hard as I could—hard, and harder still, enough to fill whatever unease she might be feeling. My young lady really was too kind, and far too tender-hearted. She didn't need to worry about things like that.
"Hehe... Is that so? Thanks to you, Lily, I think I can enjoy the work I have to do today."
"Work...? Weren't we simply out on a picnic?"
"A picnic... It would be lovely with you, but we'll have to save that for later. Today there's something the Grey Man asked of me. I wanted it dealt with as soon as possible."
The Grey Man.
The moment I heard those words, my steps faltered. It was the name my lady usually used for her father, the Duke. I had never learned how she came to call him that. His hair was blond, and the clothes he wore day to day were closer to red than anything else. It was only that she had called him so since she was small, and so I, too, had come to think of him naturally as the Grey Man.
"What did the Duke ask you to do? He was always dumping every odd chore on you as it was...!"
"Getting angry in my place, are you?"
"Of course! I don't have a single good feeling toward that man to begin with! Hmph."
"Heh... How cute."
With her other hand, my lady gently stroked my head. It was such a pleasant touch that my indignation settled in an instant. I was neither a dog nor a cat, and yet I understood perfectly why pets loved the touch of a person's hand.
"Today it wasn't an order. More of a request. No—the Grey Man isn't in any position to force anything on me in the first place."
"Is that so...?"
"Mm. I'm only doing it because I want to live quietly with you, Lily. It would be a nuisance if he came looking."
What on earth had happened between my lady and the Duke? Two years ago, on that fateful day, everything had moved so fast that I never properly grasped the situation, and I still regretted it—all the more whenever I heard things like this from her.
"Looks like we're just about there."
I buried the uneasy business in my heart, and somewhere between our easy chatter we had arrived deep in the mountains. The forest was so thick that, without the sunlight filtering through the trees, I might have mistaken it for night. And in a place where no human foot seemed as if it could ever reach, there it was.
"A well...?"
A well so strangely clean that not a scrap of moss clung to it.
"Lily, would you get the meal ready? I'll be looking at the well."
"A-are you sure? Anyone can see that touching that well would be a disaster, and you're going to investigate it, my lady?"
"Mm. That well was today's goal."
"My laaady!"
She patted my shoulder, let go of my hand, and walked toward the well. Meal or no meal, the fear I felt on instinct made me try to grab her somehow—but strangely, my feet wouldn't move. It felt as if something heavy had seized my ankles and refused to let go. A helplessness wrapped my whole body, as if I had sunk into a bottomless swamp and was being drawn down forever.
"Aaah... just as I thought. Black."
While I stood unable to move, my lady had already drawn close to the well and was leaning her face over the opening. Wasn't she afraid at all? Or was she simply that confident?
She had always told me she was a Master of Magic. I didn't really know how exceptional that was, but she must be tremendously skilled. She was my young lady, after all.
"Lily, I have one piece of sad news."
"Huaaah!"
The body that had seemed frozen started working again the instant she came back from the well and patted my shoulder. Even though I had been breathing just fine, I gasped again and again, as if trying to revive a body that had been dead for a little while.
"It seems we'll have to wait here until tonight. That's all right, isn't it, Lily?"
"...What?"
While I was still trying to still my trembling hands, my lady really was delivering sad news.
"Otherwise we'd have to come back again the next night. What do you want to do?"
"No, no, no. If that's the choice, finishing it today is much, muuuch better! Absolutely!"
The moment I realized the point of this walk was the well, coming back down this path without a second thought had become nearly impossible. Even now, talking with my lady, my whole body was shaking from the chill pouring off it. Next time, I wanted to come for something peaceful. Uuuu.
"Hehe... Right. I thought you'd say that, Lily. Well then, there's only one thing left for you to do."
"Something to do...? Ah. If it's preparing the meal, I'll hurry and—!"
"Mm, not that."
Before I could finish, she pressed a finger to my lips and slowly shook her head.
"Lily, the walk here was so hard on me. Unlike the house, which is full of you, the outside was... nothing but dark things."
The forest was a little dark, yes, but had she disliked it that much? Next time we went for a walk, I would have to bring a lantern.
"So, until night comes, I want to look at nothing but you. Do you understand what I mean?"
"Hweh?"
"Mm, this is nice. No matter where I turn my eyes, I see Lily."
"...If it makes you happy, my lady."
What she had wanted was my lap for a pillow. We had spread a mat right beside that utterly ominous well, and there I was, offering her a place to rest her head—an avant-garde predicament if ever there was one. While I fretted over how I was supposed to react, my lady wore the loveliest smile I had seen all day.
"Are we staying like this until night...?"
"Mm. If your knees start to hurt, tell me, Lily. We can switch whenever you like."
Switch? I was already far too aware of my lady's chest, and she wanted to change positions? ...Auu.
"W-well, if it hurts..."
Honestly, I hated myself for being unable to refuse, just because I wanted to see that sight even once. Lying with my head in my lady's lap would disqualify me as a maid, but if not this chance, who knew when another perfect one would come.
"Hehe... This is nice. I'm glad we came out today."
"I think so too, my lady."
It might have been beside a well that looked as if it had swallowed several people, but if you looked only at the two of us, it was every bit the picnic I had longed for. Yes. Enjoy the moment.
Kreeeeak...
Even if a strange sound was coming from the well—ignore it, Lily.
Kreeeeeeak...
"I want to go home..."
"Hehe. Wait until the sun goes down, Lily."
And so began the longest day of my life.