Half a Year Later: The Day Marian Becomes a Woman
Half a year had passed since the day she became a woman. The season had turned to winter, and even the Arona and Perona sisters—whom she still wanted to smack just for looking at their faces—were starting to work like actual humans. Just to be safe, she'd shadowed them for the past few months, but they must have realized they couldn't evade Chloe's eyes and ears, because they never so much as opened their mouths carelessly.
I've turned two beasts into people.
Now they were exactly the dumb but loyal maids Chloe had planned for. The thought of poisoning the food wouldn't even cross their minds. With the internal threats neutralized, it was time to refocus on the enemies outside. Half a year had gone by, after all—it wouldn't be strange if another assassin was dispatched soon.
"The fabric of your uniform looks a bit fancier...? Am I imagining it?"
"The apron's changed. This navy blue one's for second-class maids."
Change hadn't come only with the seasons or to Arona and Perona. Viola had undergone a transformation too. She'd been promoted to second-class maid, a rank that set her apart from the ordinary ones. There were still senior second-class maids, head maids, and the maid captain lording over her... but at least she was no longer at the level of getting stuck with the dishwashing on the twins' whims. Her pay had increased too.
"And when did you learn to paint like that?"
"I practiced on my own for the past half year, but I guess I have some talent for it. Hehe...."
"That's not a skill you pick up in half a year. Did you study painting as a kid or something?"
"A little. About five years before coming to the Grand Duke's Castle?"
"That's not 'a little.' What wind blew you to pick up the brush again?"
"I just... suddenly felt like drawing again...."
For some reason, Viola had also gotten good at painting. It had gotten to the point where Rosetta herself summoned her to paint a portrait.
"Viola, don't talk while painting portraits. It messes up the lines."
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
"And you— you've been coming around a lot lately. What's the problem this time?"
"Today I came to deliver the fire clock."
"Fire clock?"
"Yes, like the water clock I gave you last time. It's a tube like an hourglass filled with fire that moves precisely from top to bottom every five minutes."
"Another clock? Three months ago it was a pocket watch, two months ago a water clock, one month ago a glow clock, and now a fire clock? Don't you have anything more original?"
Lately, Rosetta had been accepting the alchemical items Marian brought without complaint. Her bedroom even had a dedicated display case in one corner for all the various alchemical artifacts Marian had made.
"You said you didn't like the moving spider doll and snake doll from last time...."
"Watch your mouth! Did I ever say I hated spiders?"
"Uh, Duchess? If you move too much, the painting... "
"Haa, fine, fine. I get it. Forgive me—the blonde bitch in front of me keeps picking fights. I'll stay still."
"Y-yes, ma'am...."
"Mm...."
"And why are your eyes so wide now?"
A thought that had crept in over the past half year of delivering these gifts to Rosetta in Marian's stead....
"Don't you think we've gotten a little closer?"
"Closer? Me? With you?"
"Well, yeah."
Of course, their relationship was still prickly.... But over the past half year, Chloe hadn't just passed along Marian's alchemical items to Rosetta. Among them were quite a few beauty products Chloe had made herself: wrinkle removers, skin whiteners, blemish erasers, and the like. And every time she handed over those beauty items of her own making, she could feel the distance between her and Rosetta shrinking noticeably.
"It's not that you and I have gotten close. I'm just treating you a bit warmer because I'm grateful for your gifts. And instead of wasting time hauling your girl's toy trash over here, make more beauty products."
"Erm... even so, calling it trash? Marian and I worked so hard on them."
"Anyway...! Every time I use the cosmetics you make, that man notices and compliments me, and I can see myself getting younger. How could I not be nice to you when that's the case?"
An old couple's anguish always lies in the past. The dazzling beauty of youth and the thrill of gazing upon it were surely beautiful.... But as time flowed on, those radiant moments faded, leaving only dissatisfaction with the present. Since Chloe was restoring Rosetta's lost brilliance, it wasn't all that strange for her sharp tongue to soften—at least toward Chloe.
"Then, for my sake at least...."
"No!"
Couldn't she look upon Marian a little more favorably? Chloe had been about to suggest as much when the sharp retort cut her off. Rosetta's resentment and anger toward Marian ran too deep to be soothed by a mere six months of gift offensives.
"Sorry. I overstepped."
"If you know that, then... just one more...."
"I'll have it ready by the end of the week."
Still, being able to mention Marian in front of Rosetta was clear progress. A mark of respect toward Chloe. A small courtesy paid by a wife buying cosmetics to win back her husband's affection.
If she kept chipping away at the distance between them like this, even indirectly.... Then five years from now, when Chloe left, there wouldn't be any absurd incidents like Rosetta's hired assassin injuring Marian.
"Then, I'll come again next time, Duchess."
"Yes, go on."
Chloe bowed politely to Rosetta and prepared in earnest for the night ahead.
#
"Good, no issues here...."
Using lantern light, Chloe stepped out beyond the Grand Duke's Castle and surveyed the flower bed in the direction of Marian's bedroom window. Amid the ordinary roses she'd planted herself were the Shrimp-Catching Seaweed flowers. They looked like regular roses at a glance, but their true value lay in the vine clusters beneath the rose-like blooms. By day, they pollinated via bees or butterflies; by night, sensory organs on the petals detected passing beasts, extending vines to ensnare them. Then the protrusions on the vines wounded the prey, absorbing its fluids through the vines for nutrients. An advanced carnivorous plant, perfect for detecting assassins.
"Growing nicely."
Even if they couldn't fully repel intruders, a mere feeding reaction—enough to cause a small commotion—would suffice against assassins. That tiny sign would alert Chloe, living directly below Marian's room, to leap out the window and deal with the threat.
"The flower bed's been here since before Marian was born, she said...."
Assassins attempting infiltration wouldn't dream of beast-trapping flowers being planted there.
"I'm counting on you."
Chloe smiled faintly at the Shrimp-Catching Seaweed hiding in the roses' crevices, then slowly scaled the wall back to her own bedroom. The castle gates were mostly locked at this hour. For nighttime patrols, she used the bedroom window.
But....
"Young miss, still awake?"
For once, Marian seemed to be up late tonight. Well, puberty would start soon enough. She'd sleep later and wake later. And when that time came, would Marian still follow Chloe around so readily? Who knew. Chloe herself had never experienced anything like adolescence in a normal environment.
Hoping to pass quietly, she opened the bedroom window and peered inside....
"Chloe, Chloe...."
"Huh...?"
"Where...?"
There, in her bedroom—where Marian had never once come unannounced—was Marian, sobbing. Not sitting on the bed or chair, but collapsed on the floor.
"Y-young miss!"
"Chloe!"
Chloe rushed in and embraced her; Marian, trembling as if craving that warmth, clung back desperately. And so, the two women who had built solid trust over the past half year shared their warmth for a moment.
"What happened, young miss? You didn't say you were coming."
"Chlo, Chloe.... Sob, I...."
"Don't cry. Slowly now."
"Am I... dying...?"
Once Chloe calmed the sobbing, emotional outburst, an answer far beyond expectations tumbled out.
"Pardon...?"
"My, my body... blood's coming out.... And my stomach hurts, hurts so much...."
"Ah...."
It seemed Marian was becoming a woman. In that case....
"You're not dying. Why would you die?"
"I'm not...? Then why does it hurt?"
"Well, that's...."
As a six-month senior in this, Chloe would need to guide her. She could fetch Viola, but Marian in her panic refused anyone but Chloe's touch.
"Let's wash up first and change into clean clothes. Something without blood."
"Ung...."
Chloe led Marian to the bathroom. They bathed together once a week anyway—sharing the bath was nothing new.