She took a deep breath once she found the storage room. It is not because I want to meet him, She tried to persuade herself. I am a mage. If the familiar is not around, I just become insecure. Really, nothing more. We haven‘t talked all day long today. And if you do not talk even a little, the familiar will feel bad, she thought.
“Really, nothing else.” Louise muttered opening the storage room doors, her face dyed bright red.
However, it was Siesta who sat there on the bed.
“Huh? Miss Vallière.”
Her cheeks were crimson red. And in her hand, she held a bottle of wine.
“W-w-what are you doing in here?”
Confused, Louise asked.
“I came here to have fun.” Siesta answered.
Then she saw Saito behind the bed. He let out a loud “Guah.” It seemed like he got drunk, collapsed and fell asleep.
“Get out of my room.”
Louise said, emanating all her pride.
“This is not Miss Vallière’s room.”
Siesta answered back.
“It is my house.”
Louise indomitably glared at Siesta. They both stared at each other, not backing off. Both ready to burst into a flaming rage.
When drunk, Siesta is very strong-willed and daring. She can snap back even to Louise. Alarmed and agitated, she declared to Louise,
“I am a housemaid employed by the school. I am not employed by Miss Vallière. Besides, we are on vacation anyway. It is up to us on how we use our free time. So please, do not disturb us.”
It was absurd. Louise rudely approached the bed, and tried to drag the sleeping Saito by his ankle. Then Siesta grasped his other foot...
“Let go!”
“You let go!”
“Well excuse me, but this fellow happens to be my familiar. In other words, he is mine.”
Siesta glared at Louise with eyes full of hostility. She wasn’t listening to what Louise said.
“…Are you disobeying a noble?”
Suddenly, the air in the room became tense.
Siesta, with a jerk, drank more wine.
And muttered in a small voice.
“Noblenoblenoble, shut up.”
“Haa? You l-l-lout….”
The moment when Louise shouted…Siesta brought her face next to the young noble.
“It's love, isn’t it? In short, you are just jealous. Despite you being a noble... How ridiculous!”
“Wha-wha…”
In an instant, her resolution was washed away and Louise panicked.
“Have you confessed? Are you just jealous of my love?”
Siesta continued pressing Louise into a corner.
“Ah, auuh... uuh…”
Mumbled Louise, blushing.
“What? You haven’t confessed? Coward.”
“Uuh…”
Strangely powerful now, Siesta made Louise to retreat completely.
“But the most important is Saito-san…”
“Wha-what?! What are you talking about?!”
“He likes girls with big chests.”
This made Louise to stop at once, at a complete loss of words.
“And when you think about it, you don’t have much of a bust.”
Siesta primly poked Louise's chest.
“B-breasts.”
“Let’s call things the way they are – you are flat as a board, a board!”
“Uuh,” Louise let out a strangled cry.
She remembered Saito’s glances. Weren’t that stupid familiar’s glances always aimed at the valley of the breasts?
“Saito-san said it himself. Miss Vallière's breast size is the same as a kid’s.”
With drunken bravery, Siesta declared an unexpected thing.
Firmly biting her lips, Louise dashed out of the room.
After making sure she had left, Siesta laid down next to Saito and fell asleep.
Cattleya was surprised to see Louise coming back to the room in tears.
“Oh, what’s wrong, Louise? What happened?”
“Fueh…” Louise threw herself into Cattleya's chest.
“It’s all right... why are you crying?”
However, Louise just kept on sobbing, not saying a word.
“Fuuh,” Cattleya sighed deeply.
Just like during old times, Cattleya kept on patting Louise’s head until she fell asleep.
Saito woke up and was instantly surprised. It was because Siesta had been sleeping next to him.
“Uuhn, uuhn,” she seemed in pain in her sleep. Siesta, why she is next to me… he wondered, but, after seeing a bottle of wine lying on the floor, he remembered.
“Oh no, I got drunk and, after that…”
I was forced to drink a strong, distilled liquor by Siesta and collapsed.
“Siesta, Siesta,” he lightly tapped her cheek.
However, she didn’t wake up.
“Uuh, uguu, mguu.”
It made Saito worried as she was holding her chest as if choking. She was wearing a shirt too small for her. Had she borrowed underwear from someone in the castle? Really, when you wear a shirt whose size doesn't match your body and you also have a hangover, you must feel very bad. Saito loosened a button on Siesta's shirt.
Thereupon Siesta slowly opened her eyes. Saito hastily removed his hand from her shirt.
“Go-*yawn*-good morning…”
Siesta muttered with a still drowsy face, but in a instant it turned into a blush once she noticed her surroundings.
“S-Saito-san, why? That! I!”
Hey hey, weren’t you the one who broke into my room all drunk in the first place? Saito smiled wryly.
“Siesta, last night, you got drunk and…”
Saito said, increasing the blush on Siesta’s face even further.
“Eh? I got drunk?”
“Yes. Look!”
Saito pointed at the bottle of wine lying on the floor.
“You brought it with you.”
“I drank wiiiiine?!”
“Ye-yes…”
“Which reminds me, during dinner, I drank one glass. But it seems like I took more than just one sip. Ahh, what to do…”
Saito was surprised by Siesta’s worry.
“Siesta?”
“I..I really did it, didn't I?”
“Y-yes.”
“I think I drank too much. I’m not very good at drinking wine.”
Averting her face, Siesta muttered awkwardly. <!>Indeed, ‘You drink too’ was it, Saito consented. Seems like this maid inclined to drunken frenzy.<!>
“After drinking all that wine, I don’t have any memories of last night. Was I rude, Saito-san?”
“No, not particularly…”
Saito shook his head.
That moment… a sound of someone running noisily through the corridor could be heard. *Bam* The door opened and one of the castle’s housemaids jumped in.
“W-w-wha-!” Saito shouted.
“No time! Master has arrived! We need to keep the castle sparkling…” she shouted, and with an armful of cleaning tools, she ran out. Soon, another employee came and dashed out with a mop and bucket. It was a storage room after all. Though there were a lot of cleaning tools, they are almost never used. However, it seemed that today was an exception.
Master? Siesta and Saito looked at each other.
In short, Louise's father had returned.
Chapter Three: Duke of La Vallière
At the break of dawn in the castle’s garden, there was a giant cage with dragons at each of its four corners.
The servants that had gathered in the surrounding area simultaneously took off the wheels of the cage-like carriage. Footmen caught the dragons and, at the given opportunity, the servants opened the carriage door. A red carpet spread out all the way to the cage’s entrance in order to accept a middle aged noble.
It was Duke of La Vallière. He was more than fifty years old. He had blonde hair and a beard that were both turning white, and he was dressed in wonderful clothes suitable for a king. On his left eye he had a monocle, and his eyes had a strong glitter to them.