It was after midnight by the time the Dragonherz's staff and Rina had finished cleaning up the party venue after Clara's Social Debut. So, exhausted and looking forward to a good night's sleep, Rina went back to her room. However, she wouldn't be sleeping alone tonight, as she would be sharing her bed with another girl.
Usually, the prospect of sleeping next to a girl she had even shared her first kiss with would be enough to stress her out. So much so, in fact, that Rina even wanted to slap herself for even suggesting, on the spur of the moment, that they shared her bed.
Fortunately (?), so much had happened today that Rina didn't have the mental capacity and energy left to regret her mistake. Now, also due to her exhaustion, she was even slightly glad to be able to sleep with the warmth of another person. So, slightly looking forward to that event, Rina opened the door of her room when she arrived.
“...”
“”...””
After looking into her room, Rina immediately closed the door again without stepping inside. She needed a moment to reboot her brain after seeing the situation in her room.
'W-why is Clara in my room!? Why is Marianne sitting on both knees in front of Clara!? And why does Clara look as if she could massacre everyone here at any moment!?'
Only after some more panicked thoughts, Rina remembered that she hadn't told Clara about Marianne yet. After all, she had wanted to explain what had happened today to Clara and Eric the next morning.
But before Rina could collect herself to think about how to best deal with the situation, the door to her room opened again. Behind it stood a tall, blonde girl, Clara, with her arms crossed and glared at Rina.
“Why don't you come in?” Clara stepped aside to make room for her maid to step in.
With no choice but to obey Clara's command, Rina entered her room. Since this situation was originally her fault, Rina copied Marianne's posture and kneeled beside the brunette in the 'seiza' position, hoping that her beloved mistress's mood would improve.
Unfortunately, Rina's plan backfired, as Clara grimaced even more. “Rina, why are you kneeling next to her like it's the most normal thing in the world?”
“I-I'm sorry.” Not knowing what to say and why her actions had made her mistress even angrier, Rina simply apologised.
Clara sat down on the chair facing Rina and Marianne and crossed her arms and legs. “So? Will you explain to me who this girl is and what she is doing here?”
“Um, Lady Dragonh-”
“You... SHUT. THE. F*CK. UP.” Clara immediately silenced Marianne, who tried to answer her question on Rina's behalf. Normally, Clara was known for always maintaining a calm and perfect smile and for her exceptional manners. However, this situation, with an unknown girl sleeping in Rina's bed, upset her so much that she threw all her manners and calm demeanour out of the window.
“Her name is Marianne. I met her today on the way to your room. She wants to serve you together with me.” In the end, Rina replied to her mistress's questions.
“That doesn't explain why she was sleeping in your room.”
“B-because it's already late and I didn't want to disturb you or Lord Eric. After all, you seemed extremely tired earlier. I wanted to talk to you and Lord Eric about her tomorrow, when things have calmed down.”
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“You should have told at least me about it right away. Didn't it occur to you that hiding her in my home could be considered treason on your part? Even though you're officially my permanent assistant as of today, that doesn't mean that you're untouchable. If I wanted to, I could still fire you because of this, as your actions may have violated my trust... So don't do anything like this again, okay?”
“...”
“Rina?” Seeing or hearing no reaction from her maid, Clara got up from her chair and crouched down to look at her maid's face. “R-Rina!? W-what is wrong?” What Clara saw, however, was tears forming in her maid's eyes.
“I'm sorry... P-please, d-don't fire me... I w-won't do it again...” After spending two years with Clara, Rina knew that she was highly valued and perhaps even adored by her mistress. In fact, she was confident, that a few mistakes wouldn't upset Clara in the least. However, when she now heard what Clara had said, combined with the nightmares she had had earlier during her unconsciousness, that confidence plummeted down in a straight line.
“Mou... Rina... I only meant that hypothetically, I'm not firing you and never will! So please, smile okay? Have a little faith in me, okay? I'll never let you go.” Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Clara took out a handkerchief and wiped her maid's eyes dry, before the first tears could fall.
Hearing her beloved warm words Rina calmed down again almost immediately. “I'm sorry. I panicked just then... thank you, Clara.”
“Mhm.” Satisfied with her maid's response, Clara stood up, sat back in her chair, and looked at Rina. “Well, you're right about it being already late... So what was your plan?”
“I was thinking about letting her sleep on my bed for tonight.”
“What about you?”
Rina tilted her head, not understanding Clara's question.
“Where are you going to sleep tonight?”
“On my bed?” Rina replied, making her answer sound like a question by raising her tune at the end. After all, she didn't understand why Clara asked about her sleeping place in the first place.
At Rina's response, Clara furrowed her brow and massaged the bridge of her nose. “So, you plan to sleep with this girl?”
“Yes.”
“On that tiny bed?”
“Well, yes... I'm small, so we should both fit.”
“Haaaaah, there's no way I can allow that...” Saying this, Clara got up and pulled her kneeling maid up. “Take your nightwear and come with me, I'll show you where to sleep.”
At Clara's command, Rina went to her closet and grabbed her nightgown, before turning to Marianne, who had been watching them the whole time. “As you've heard, we have to change our plans. Please sleep here alone for tonight. I'll come back tomorrow morning and introduce you to Lord Eric.” With a smile, Rina wished Marianne a good night and then followed Clara through the door that led to the blonde's room.
Even after Marianne was left alone, she still needed a few minutes to process what she had just experienced.
Earlier, she had planned to get on Rina's good side, even seduce her, to live off her in a life free of worry. She had concluded that seducing someone as insecure as Rina would be child's play. And under normal circumstances, her conclusion have been right, since the redhead was already aware of her.
Marianne further deduced that Clara Dragonherz was the biggest hurdle to overcome. But a few hours earlier, she hadn't been entirely sure that the blonde had feelings for her maid, even though there were signs that Clara did.
But now, after seeing their interaction, Marianne was one hundred percent sure that Rina's feelings were not one-sided. In fact, Rina's target of affection was a downright jealous and possessive one, so Marianne knew that she would definitely not have a good time trying to get between them.
But still, giving up, before she had even started didn't feel right for her. So she got up, lay down on Rina's bed, and thought of ways to get the owner of the bed to look at her.
***
“So, Clara, where am I supposed to sleep tonight?” Rina asked after following Clara.
“...”
Getting no response, Rina walked around Clara to see her face, which was bright red. “Clara? Are you feeling ill?” Naturally, seeing this made Rina worry for her.
At the maid's question, Clara finally woke up from her fantasies and shook her head frantically. “N-no... I'm fine.” She then slowly raised her right arm and pointed to her right.
This caused Rina's eyes to follow her mistress's arm. Her gaze eventually landed on Clara's king-sized bed, which was more than twice as large as hers. Not understanding, or perhaps understanding but ignoring the intention of that gesture, Rina turned back at her mistress. “Is there anything wrong with your bed?”
Clara opened her mouth, seemingly about to say something, but immediately closed it afterwards. Then she looked into Rina's red eyes, only to bashfully turn away. These facial expressions and gestures were rinsed and repeated for several times, until after a few minutes, Clara finally managed to pull herself together.
Now, for real, Clara looked into her maid's red eyes.
“S-s-sleep with me on my bed tonight!”