“Why is your dress red?”
At Rina's question, Clara tapped her chin with her index finger to show that she was thinking. “Hmm... I wonder why... Because I asked for a red dress, of course”
“Clara, please don't dodge my question. You know that's not what I meant. Why did you order a red dress? Shouldn't it be yellow or blue in your case?”
“It is, look.” Clara pointed to the ornaments and the small stripes on her dress that were in the colours mentioned.
“They only make up five to ten percent of your dress. Shouldn't those colours be the majority on it instead of red?”
“Usually yes, but I like red. Red is my favourite colour.”
“Eh?” Rina was genuinely surprised at her mistress's explanation. “I remember you saying once that you liked blue the best.”
“Tastes change over time, and so do mine. Now, it's red,” Clara said as she slowly approached Rina.
Rina, on the other hand, seeing her mistress closing in with a mysterious smile, unconsciously stepped back as if to gain some distance from the blonde. But it was to no avail, as Clara continued to close the gap between them again. Therefore, Rina kept going back as if she wanted to escape. For every step Rina took backwards, Clara responded with a step forward. This continued for a few seconds until Rina reached the wall behind her, preventing her from retreating any further. As a result, her mistress was now so close to her, that she could even see Clara's eyelashes clearly. So, as if to distract herself from getting embarrassed by the sight of the blonde's beautiful, well-formed face at point-blank range, Rina resumed her questions.
“W-w-why d-did it c-change?” Unfortunately, her nervousness was at its peak at the moment. Thus, she could only stammer out those words.
“I wonder why...” Still smiling mysteriously, Clara looked down at her maid, who was over 30cm shorter than her. She then slammed her left hand on the wall next to Rina's head and took several strands of the smaller girl's hair with her right hand, stroking them. “I really wonder, why I suddenly like red so much.”
Unfortunately, Rina didn't get Clara's implications at all, as her eyes were spinning from the blonde's actions. Or even worse, as it seemed that Rina had fallen into a kind of daze from overheating.
Seeing her maid in this state, Clara wasn't quite sure whether she should be happy, or not. On the one hand, it was obvious that Rina appeared to be somewhat conscious of her. On the other hand, the fact that her maid's brain had switched off, meant that Clara had to stop her approaches for the time being. So she grabbed the still-stunned girl's hand, guided her to the sofa, and sat her down. Then Clara settled into a chair across from her maid. Now all she had to do was wait for Rina to come out of her daze.
Luckily, it only took a few seconds for Rina to regain her awareness.
“Awawawawawa.” Sadly for Rina, just because her brain had turned off from experiencing things that were too spicy for her, it didn't mean that she didn't notice Clara's actions. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Because of her mistress's behaviour, her mind was more in shambles than ever before, as she couldn't understand the blonde's actions at all.
'Why did Clara order a dress with red as the main colour? Why did Clara stroke just my hair? Was it because she now likes red? Is she only so kind to me, because my hair and eyes are also red?... D-d-d-don't t-t-tell me... she d-d-developed her f-f-fondness for r-red b-b-b-because of m-m-m-e!?!?'
Rina glanced at her crush, who was sitting across from her, smiling back in silence. If Rina's meager brainpower hadn't been occupied with something else right now, she could have lost herself in that charming smile.
'N-n-n-no, stupid Rina, you know that's impossible. Save your dreams for when you're asleep!'
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Rina shook her head frantically, trying to clear her mind of her latest thoughts. Then, when she couldn't find an answer to her questions and as if she wanted to divert her thoughts in another direction, she turned to Clara to ask something that had been on her mind for a while now... while pretending to be calm.
“C-C-C-C-C-C-Clara, I h-h-h-have a q-q-quethtion for you....” Needless to say, she failed miserably, even biting her tongue.
“Fufufu, no need to be so nervous~. What do you want to ask me, my cute little maid?”
“P-p-please stop teasing me!”
“Fine, fine, I'll stop, for now... So? What's your question?”
Seeing how her mistress was still smirking at her, Rina couldn't help but be still somewhat suspicious if Clara genuinely meant it. For quite some time now, Rina had been wondering if her mistress was really going to be twelve soon. After all, if Clara was actually that young, Rina had some explaining to do, like how she, someone who was supposed to be mentally in her thirties, was regularly being played by a girl in her early teens. From an outsider's perspective, it might even look extremely easy for Clara, like taking candy from a baby.
So, while Rina felt her pride as a grown woman (in mind) being crushed, she pushed the thought away and continued with the conversation. “Clara, are you sure you want me to accompany you to the party venue?”
“Yes, I'm absolutely sure, and I won't allow a refusal.”
Hearing her mistress's serious tone, Rina couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. “But isn't it normally for your lifelong servant? I haven't passed Lord Eric's test yet.”
“It's fine, you will, no, WE will definitely pass that test, so you don't have to worry about it.”
“B-But wouldn't it be bad if we failed nonetheless? As far as I remember, when a personal servant accompanies a noble in public, it's supposed to be for life, right? S-so if I'm not allowed to stay by your side further, won't it then damage your reputation?”
“Yes, but I still want you to accompany me to my Social Debut and birthday party... *mumbles* ...so that you being with me forever is finally a fait accompli. *mumbles*”
“Hmm? Could you repeat that sentence, please? I didn't quite catch the second part.”
“Nothing! I just said that I want you to come with me, no matter what! Understood?”
Although Rina was a little startled by Clara's suddenly loud voice, she nodded in acknowledgement of her mistress's wish.
“Okay, now with this out of the way, let's go to your extra lessons.”
Actually, for Rina, this subject was anything but 'out of the way'. There were still many questions to be answered. However, it was Clara's wish not to continue this topic, so who was Rina to refuse it? Therefore, Rina pushed her remaining uneasiness to the back of her mind and joined Clara on the new topic.
“As for my magic training... are you sure that you don't get bored watching me practice my magic all the time? You already know how my gravity magic works, so why do you still insist on accompanying me?... Ah! If you are worried about me not doing my maid work... I can ask Lady Fran to train me at night again.”
“No, it's not boring and I'm going with you, no matter what! You never know what that perverted elf will do to you if I'm not watching...”
At these words, Rina tilted her head in confusion. “What do you mean? Lady Fran is very good to me, and I thought you don't hate her anymore?”
“... Haaaah... if you don't understand, then fine... Now wait for me outside the room for five minutes until I change out of this dress.” Then, Clara approached Rina, grabbed the smaller girl by her shoulders, and looked intently into her deep-red eyes. “And absolutely don't go to the elf until I come out, do you understand?”
“Y-yes, Lady Clara.” Feeling the pressure oozing out of her mistress, Rina tensed up and could only stutter her confirmation politely in return.
“Good girl, now wait outside.”
It was only when the pressure had disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared that Rina was able to relax and headed for the door. But then, she remembered how vehemently the blonde had refused her assistance in getting dressed. It was obvious to her that Clara didn't like being seen naked and in underwear by other people. So the red-haired girl had an idea of how she could get back at Clara for all the teasing she had received today.
Therefore, Rina stopped halfway to the door, turned around, and looked at her mistress with a smirk. “Clara, do you want me to help you change after all?”
Of course, Rina expected her offer to be rejected. If not, she would be in trouble herself, as seeing her crush in underwear, or even naked, was definitely too much for Rina. She was sure that her head would explode from embarrassment in that case.
And indeed, as Rina had already guessed, the blonde immediately turned red. Unfortunately, however, Clara had seen the smirk on Rina's face and, thus, was able to guess her intention. So, Rina suddenly had a very bad feeling when she noticed that her mistress returned her smile with an evil grin.
“Rina, I never knew, that you were such a pervert!” Clara exclaimed theatrically while putting her arms in front of her as if to protect her body from something.
“Eh?!”
“But it's fine... if you really want to see me naked, then come, I will strip... it's my precious maid's desire after all.”
“Ehhhhh!?” It went without saying, that the person spoken to, Rina, was as red as a tomato because she had not expected such an answer. To make matters worse, her mistress's adorable gestures and suggestive words made her imagine all sorts of things.
Of course, Clara was not the kind of person to let her maid get away with just that. So she started trembling, moistened her eyes, and looked with them upturned at Rina to go for the kill.
“B-but please... be gentle.”