Chapter 53: Beautiful imagination.

Two women in comfortable pajamas were sitting on the bed.
The smaller woman, holding a soft brush, was brushing the other’s long, loose hair.

“Sister still has such beautiful hair.”

“You’ve only done hard work, but there are no split ends… How is it so soft?”

“It’s not to the point where you can say that.”

“No. It’s still so fluffy and soft, just like a child.”

“Rather than being like a child… Isn’t it too old for me now?”

The woman sitting in front of her smiled faintly.

“No, it doesn’t look like that at all.”

The woman with the brush emphasized.

“If you’re worried about your prime, it’s really okay! Someone like you could go anywhere…”

“Don’t say that.”

“Why? Aisha is now at an age where she can…”

“Hmm… I still don’t know, Aisha.”

The woman called Aisha turned around and faced her younger sister.

“If it’s hard work, you must have had it harder working there, right?”

“I, I’m okay now! The master received a large sum of money from that… your master…? And it’ll be much better to live now!”

Aina smiled lightly.

“You’re a really good master. He’s already raised my salary. So you don’t have to rely on me anymore.”

“Yes. That’s a relief.”

Aisha gently stroked her younger sister’s hair.

Her long-missed younger sister had become a much more reliable lady than she had thought.

Since Aina had started working at the Irendel family, they had always communicated only by letters.

Aisha, who was now high enough in rank, also had a private bedroom,
and Parnen and Minon both took care to allow the sisters, who had reunited after a long time, to share old stories with each other.

“I’m glad you’re serving such a person.”

“That’s right. The young master is a bit scattered, but he’s a really good person.”

Aisha flinched slightly at her younger sister’s words.

“Yes… ‘Young master,’ you say.”

Aisha’s words had a hint of bitterness.

“The Duchess brought him, so you’ve seen him too, right?”

“Yes.”

“What do you think? He seems like a really good person, right?”

“…That’s what it seemed like.”

A good person.

Really, too good of a person.

‘Too good for someone like me…’

Aina asked Aisha, who looked somewhat gloomy for some reason.

“Sister… But why do you look so worried since earlier? I’m sure it’s about marriage…”

“You little rascal.”

Aisha poked Aina’s head.

“Are you telling me indirectly that your sister is getting old?”

“Ah, that’s not it! You’re too pretty!”

Aina hurriedly denied.

‘Marriage, huh…’

Even if you ask her why she didn’t get married… Aisha herself didn’t know well.

Now that she was 25 years old, it was true that it was a bit precarious to find a groom.

Her younger sister had now found her own job, and it was also true that the job of a high-ranking maid in the Duke’s family was something that wouldn’t make her ashamed anywhere, and the amount of money she had saved was definitely not lacking.

Her master, Yukomis, also said that if she wanted, she could easily grab the youngest son of a small local noble family as a groom.

In fact, such an opportunity to raise her status was not something that would come to an ordinary commoner.

It wasn’t common, but it was possible if the Duke’s family acted as a matchmaker and showed off that they could gain connections from this marriage.

Anyway, there were quite a few men who were fed up with a life where they had to serve their wives all their lives.

The knowledge and culture that Aisha had acquired at the Duke’s family were also not lacking to the point where she would be inferior anywhere.

However, Aisha only told her master that she would think about it,
and she had never seriously thought that she should hurry to get married.

She was just caught up in work, caught up in her schedule, and naturally ended up like that because she was serving two masters.

Her second master, Yukomis, didn’t seem to have any intention of getting married either, Parnen couldn’t get married,
and her first master, Thermis, was someone who hated that topic altogether.

Because she was working in such an environment…

She just ended up like this.

“I’m complicated with other thoughts.”

“Other thoughts?”

“Your master. So, how does Baron Minon look right now?”

When Minon’s story came out, Aina also became a little gloomy.

“She still looks a bit anxious… She came to see the young master, but for some reason, she couldn’t meet him…”

“I guess so.”

“They say that the young master is currently in a nearby region for education, and the Duchess is said to be ill.”

A remote area.

For education…

“Sister, don’t you know anything?”

“I don’t know.”

Aisha recalled what had happened early in the morning.

She had entered the detached palace after listening to Parnen’s instructions, and she had seen a scene that she shouldn’t have seen.

The head maid had told her to prepare her heart firmly before entering, and she had done so…

But even so, as soon as she opened the bedroom door, she saw her ‘former’ master, Signa, tied to the bed with a leash around her neck…

While she was staggering and leaning against the door, shocked,
a chilling voice was heard from behind her.

‘Ah. You’ve come, Aisha?’

She barely managed to stop herself from reflexively screaming.

Turning around, Yukomis, wearing a mechanical smile, was standing there.

‘Ma, Master. What did you do to Lady Signa…?’

‘It seems like Signa doesn’t know well.’

‘Yes..? What do you mean?’

‘That Signa and I shouldn’t be apart.’

‘Ma, Master. What are you talking about…?

It was an impolite question that Aisha would never have asked normally.

However, Yukomis didn’t answer that question.

She just put her index finger to her lips and said this.

‘Aisha. You don’t have to say anything.’

Signa seemed to have a lot of things she wanted to say, but
seeing Yukomis’s eerie expression behind Aisha, she just closed her mouth tightly.

‘Don’t say anything.’

It was obvious that she didn’t put on the leash willingly.

She just seemed to know well that whatever she said here would only be counterproductive.

‘Aisha is a smart and kind maid, so you understand what I mean, right?’

It was said in a roundabout way so that only Aisha could understand, but the message was clear.

It was to keep silent to Minon.

‘Aisha. I have a favor to ask.’

‘A, a favor?’

‘Go and bring the clothes that my sister and I wore.’

‘If you’re talking about Te… Thermis’s clothes… what kind of…’

‘All of them.’

Signa, who had only been listening to the conversation between the two, flinched.

Passing by Aisha’s back and approaching Signa’s bed, she hugged Signa tightly.

…Signa didn’t resist.

She just looked at Aisha with eyes asking for help.

Even Aisha could see that her master was not normal now.

Yukomis was not a person who would do things in such an emotional and reckless way.

It wasn’t difficult to guess the reason that made her like this.

If there was a variable, it was of course Minon, the family of Signa, no, Signo.

To Aisha, Yukomis was her current master, and Signa was her former master.

However, if Signa had decided not to say anything to Yukomis, there was nothing Aisha could do there.

She… had to follow Yukomis’s orders.

“…Sister? What are you really thinking about?”

Aisha suddenly came to her senses.

Aina was tilting her head and looking at her from a distance so close that their noses were touching.

“…It’s nothing.”

Signa… Did Thermis say it was an incredible coincidence?

I think I heard those words while washing her before revealing her identity.

Aisha seemed to know what that meant now. To think that they would be entangled in such complicated relationships with each other.

Her current master, Lady Yukomis, told her not to say anything.

Lady Parnen also said that she should not provoke her for now and try to find a way.

Karat only sighed deeply,
and of course, she couldn’t confide in Aina either.

She… didn’t know what to do at all.

She thought that Lady Signa might have brought this situation on herself a little bit,
but who would have expected that Minon would come directly without notice at a time like this?

‘What would it feel like to be imprisoned by your younger sibling…’

Aisha blankly looked at Aina’s kind and innocent expression.

If this puppy-like Aina put a leash around her neck and locked her in the house…

“Hehe.”

…Aisha laughed softly without realizing it.

It was impossible to even imagine such a thing with Aina.

“Come here. My sister.”

“Ah…”

Aisha grabbed Aina’s shoulder and pulled her towards herself.

And they fell together on the bed, which was a bit big to be used by one person.

“Let’s sleep together today, Sister…”

Then Aina, who was in her arms, said softly.

“Being like this reminds me of the old days, Sister.”

“Yes… it does.”

Compared to the miserable shack where they used to live when they were young, this place, even if it was the servants’ quarters, was a very grand place.

“Hehe.”

Smiling, Aina snuggled into Aisha’s arms, and Aisha gently accepted that pampering.

‘Yes. I’ll decide what to do tomorrow with Lady Parnen…’

She had to go to sleep now to start her work tomorrow.

“St, stop it now.”

“Let’s do one more.”

“You said one more…”

Signa was already exhausted.

“Wear this this time.”

Next to Yukomis, there was a pile of clothes that Aisha had brought.

There were almost no clothes that Thermis wore when she was young left.

That was because her mother, the current Duchess Solenas, had disposed of most of them without Yukomis’s consent.

After her sister had died in battle, she had frantically searched the entire mansion to find her belongings,
and she had yelled madly at her mother, knowing that there was almost nothing left except for a room in a remote place.

How could she do this, and shouldn’t she have said something…

I think that was when she first yelled at her mother.

She threatened to burn this terrible mansion to the ground if she even touched her sister’s room, which was barely left.

Her mother just answered briefly, ‘Okay.’

There was no emotional upheaval there at all. Her mother was always like a cold steel person.

Instead, most of the clothes that Aisha had brought were clothes that Yukomis wore when she was young.

“It’s a party dress I wore when I was young at the Imperial Palace.”

It was what Yukomis wanted to make her wear the most.

“It’s a bit out of fashion now, but… it will still suit you well.”

She held up the dress with both hands.

A sleeveless dress made of a snow-white fabric that was so dazzling that it shone even though it was late at night.

The Solenas family crest, complex great magic circles, and abstracted beautiful embroidery of ancient spells were engraved on it.

The delicacy of its workmanship was so excellent that even the craftsmen directly under the Imperial Palace could not easily imitate it.

“I wore it when I first debuted in society.”

The strap that decorated the waist of the dress was a dark navy blue like the night sky, and the constellations of the southern sky were embroidered with gold threads infused with magic power.

The skirt, which had a moderately inflated volume, was decorated longer at the back than at the front.

“I always… I always imagined my sister wearing something like this.”

Yukomis carefully started to put the clothes on Signa.

“If you wanted to see it that much, I would have worn it whenever you asked…”

Signa muttered timidly, but she never refused Yukomis’s touch.

It’s just that she still had a sense of resistance to these clothes, and she thought she wanted to avoid them if possible…

But it wasn’t to the point where she would reject it if she asked her so desperately.

Moreover, except for the slight scar left on her right eye, there were no major scars on her body now.

Yukomis quickly put all the dresses on Signa.

Thanks to the fact that it was a party dress for girls, it wasn’t a complicated dress that required several skilled maids to put on.

“Haa…”

Finally, when Signa put on all the dresses, Yukomis let out a satisfied sigh.

Below the jet-black hair that Yukomis had carefully braided and tied up, a graceful neckline fell down.

Surely her sister had hair like that before she turned white.

Signa’s appearance was really beautiful.

Except for the fact that she didn’t have any appropriate accessories right now.

‘When I was that age… I wore a platinum necklace with sapphires.’

If you look for it in the treasure vault, it will still be there. I wanted to give it to her right away,
but Signa had to wear a leash now. She couldn’t do that for a while.

‘No. Maybe I can just give her a pretty leash as a gift.’

The appearance of her wearing a crude leather leash on top of such a luxurious and high-quality dress…
It didn’t look bad at all.

This discord slightly moved Yukomis’s heart.

She despised the idea that only the nouveau riche would customize a jeweled leash for a pet,
but Signa wasn’t a pet, so she could give it to her as much as she wanted.

‘I’ll just give her the prettiest leash in the world.’

I don’t know if she’ll like it, but I can make her like it.

She’ll like it, right?

‘You promised you wouldn’t hate me no matter what I did.’

Of course, that wasn’t what Signa meant, but Yukomis didn’t think that way.

“How is it?”

“Even if you ask how it is… Is this what it’s supposed to be like when you wear it?”

Signa looked uncomfortably back and forth at the top, which was cut out from just below the collarbone to about half of the back,
and the calves that were all exposed below her knees.

Signa seemed more uncomfortable with that than with the loosely worn leash.

“Yes… Maybe it’s normal for the chest area to be a little tight.”

“Why?”

“Because… Because my sister had better development than me around this time.”

“What does that… Ugh!”

Signa, who had said that far, blushed red, knowing what it meant.

“Sister… Sister should have worn clothes like this too…”

Yukomis hugged Signa tightly.

“Not only me… Sister should have been in places like this too…”

Yukomis’s head, which was buried over her shoulder, was shaking slightly.

“My sister always wore clothes that covered her body to hide her scars.”

“Oh, I see.”

Signa thought that even if she didn’t have scars, she wouldn’t have looked for clothes like this,
but Yukomis seemed to be truly heartbroken by that fact.

“I’ll give you a lot of clothes like this too.”

Yukomis, who had taken her head off her shoulder a little, said in a whisper.

“You’ll be really pretty. I’ll give you clothes, accessories, anything you want. If you want a more wonderful sword, I’ll give you that too. Just tell me if there’s anything you want to learn. I’ll teach you anything. I’ll teach you to the best of my ability. Just say one word that you want it. Just one word.”

Yukomis stroked Signa.

“If you say it, you’ll have it right away.”

Signa couldn’t bring herself to say ‘I don’t need it.’

“Until when…”

Signa asked, shaking her braided hair as Yukomis stroked her.

“How long are you going to be like this…”

“Forever. I told you.”

“…Sister. That can’t be possible.”

“It is possible.”

Yukomis answered as if it were nothing.

“Aren’t you happy being with me?”

It was a voice with a heavy pressure.

“I’m, I’m happy. But…”

“Listen to what I’m thinking.”

Yukomis cut off Signa’s words.

“I’m going to hold a small ball for you.”

“Yes? A ball?”

“Yes. I’m going to hold it here.”

Leaving the dazed Signa behind, Yukomis began to speak about her plan.

“I’m going to tear down the rooms in the unused detached palace… and make a small hall near the central staircase. And it would look really nice if I hung a chandelier on top of it, right?”

“Si, Sister.”

“I’m going to lay a carpet ordered from Leghin on the floor, and you’re going to walk down from the second floor wearing that dress.”

Signa looked at Yukomis with frightened eyes, but she didn’t care.

“When I’m clapping lightly on the first floor and ask you to dance… You pretend to hesitate a little and accept.”

There, Yukomis added in a whisper as if she were whispering in her ear.

“You really only have to pretend to hesitate? Don’t make your sister anxious too much there?”

“But I, I don’t know how to dance.”

Signa had never danced with anyone even in her previous life.

It’s not like she didn’t have the opportunity to debut, and in the forced transmission event she participated in, she would cut off any man who asked her to dance with a knife.

“It’s okay. You’ll learn quickly. I’m sure of it.”

Yukomis said as if there was nothing to worry about.

“We’re going to have a ball just for the two of us. Like in a fairy tale…”

Yukomis’s eyes were moist while talking about her romantic plans.

She revealed all of her girlish imaginations and tastes, which she had never shown to others, in front of Signa.

“Let’s tear down the walls on the second floor and make a small balcony too.”

What should the chandelier be like. I’m going to wear a feathered suit instead of a dress.

What kind of shoes should I order, and I want you to say these words…”

Signa was terrified at the thought of having to match those things, but
as Yukomis’s words got longer, she also slowly began to feel sorry for her.

So she was thinking about this. Her taste was like this.

She wanted those things, but she had never said it in front of others.

Because she was afraid of looking like a spoiled brat.

“…You like it too, right? You’ll do that, right?”

Looking at her misty, sparkling eyes, Signa could only say ‘yes.’