episode_0176

After going to bed late, when morning arrived. I realized a little late the fact that I had gone to sleep without clearing my desk and, turning pale, watched Emily’s reaction. Whether it was luck, or if Emily just didn’t think much of it, I was able to get away without any bitter words. I couldn’t think of any excuse at all and was contemplating how I should bow my head so that Emily would generously overlook it, so it was a stroke of good fortune. Since there was nothing particularly difficult after that, as long as the fact that I went to bed late wasn’t discovered. Even in a short time, I was able to smoothly prepare the things to give to Emily as gifts, one by one. I completed the scrunchies one by one, working on them intermittently while I was working. I asked Charles for the comb and mirror and had him secretly buy them while I was working. If I prepared it too grandly, Emily would feel burdened to death, so I omitted packaging. Instead, I sewed the leftover scrap fabric from making the scrunchies into a long piece and decorated the gifts with a ribbon-shaped knot. Since the knot could be recycled later as a hair tie or decoration on clothes, it was essentially a gift as well. As I prepared the gifts little by little like that, when evening came, a set of simple yet appropriately thoughtful gifts for Emily was completed on the desk. Among the gifts I’ve prepared so far, this is the least burdensome and the neatest. Now all that’s left is to hand them over naturally. Last time, when I gave the necklace, I was overly serious, but this time I need to create a completely light atmosphere. “Humming softly~” Humming softly, I neatly arranged the gifts on the desk and lay in bed earlier than usual, running a simulation in my head of how I should give the gifts tomorrow. I hope Emily likes them. _ The day of my birthday dawned. I woke up about 20 minutes earlier than usual, received congratulations and cookies from the other servants, and stood before the Master’s door, tidying my hair and clothes even more carefully than usual. Although it’s a moment that makes me nervous every day, knowing that the Master had prepared a surprise event today meant the level of tension was different from usual. If I had to choose the moment most similar to how I feel now, I’d say it was when the Master asked me to wear stockings. “Whew…” I took a breath and put strength into the hand holding the doorknob. From now on, I just need to act calmly as usual, without shifting my gaze elsewhere as much as possible. Slowly, muffling my footsteps. I drew the curtains, checked the basin filled with water, and turned around to stand about a handspan away from the Master’s bed. Next, I bent my waist slightly, placed my hand beside the Master’s left forearm, and faced the Master. “Gulp…” Before gently tapping the Master’s shoulder, I swallowed once and relaxed my trembling breath and stiff face. And then I cautiously raised my right hand and touched the Master’s shoulder. At the first touch, his eyelashes twitched and trembled. And at the second touch, his head slowly turned towards the direction I was standing. “Master, please wake up.” When the Master’s consciousness was between sleep and waking, I moved my lips and woke the Master with a soft voice. “……” His eyelashes trembled finely, his eyelids gently opened, and his hazy emerald eyes turned towards me. A few slow blinks. Life returned to his hazy eyes, and my face was reflected in the Master’s pupils. Now, the moment I can be closest to the Master ends here. I straightened my waist stiffly and showed a smile. “Did you sleep well?” “Yeah… good morning…” Saying hello in a slightly muffled voice and sitting up, the Master glanced at my face once, then at the basin, and sat on the edge of the bed. And then followed a short facial cleansing time. “Ugh…!” The Master, who had tidied his face as usual and quietly gotten up from his spot, stretched and let out a groan before staring intently at my face. “Is something wrong?” “Today is Emily’s birthday, isn’t it?” “Oh.” My composure, which I had barely maintained, was disturbed by the Master asking so directly. But I quickly regained my expression and smiled lightly, raising my eyebrows. “Oh, has that time come already?” “What, you didn’t even know it was your birthday?” Oops. Focusing on showing a reaction of knowing nothing, I made a ridiculous mistake. Even so, to forget one’s own birthday… I lightly bit my lower lip and observed the Master’s mood. “Well, that works out.” “Huh…?” Fortunately, the Master didn’t seem to think much of it and walked past me towards the desk. The Master, who rummaged through the items on the desk and gathered them, then walked back to me and suddenly held out his hand, saying: “Happy birthday. I just picked this up on the way, so feel free to take it.” Wondering what this could mean, I shifted my gaze to the item held in the Master’s hand. A bracelet-like item with flower embroidery and fluttering ribbons? along with a wooden comb, and a mirror. These were clearly things the Master was busily making yesterday and things he had bought from somewhere. “…?” I tilted my head and stared intently at the Master. Is it some kind of joke? Or did he really pick up the comb and mirror? The possibility of it being a joke was high, but for now I put on a serious expression and firmly held the Master’s hand. “Um… Master, you shouldn’t just pick up other people’s things recklessly, you know?” Taken aback by my reaction, the Master’s shoulders twitched and he began to rapidly roll his eyes. “No, I didn’t really pick them up, I was just joking a little to make you feel less burdened…” “I see.” I still didn’t understand why saying he “picked it up” would lessen the burden, but since the Master was blushing at the earlobes and looking embarrassed, I just nodded. “So, what is this?” As I pointed at the item in the Master’s hand and quickly changed the subject for him, the Master’s expression visibly brightened, and he held up the item that looked like a bracelet. “Could you untie your hair?” “My hair…? Hmm…” I didn’t particularly want to untie it today as I had tied it really nicely, but seeing the Master asking with sparkling eyes, it was hard to refuse. Hesitantly, I brought my hand to the back of my head, untied the hair that was neatly tied and wrapped in a net, lightly shook my head, and let my hair fall naturally. It feels awkward. What if the Master thinks this look doesn’t suit me? I feel anxious and also embarrassed. “… Why did you suddenly ask me to untie my hair?” To hide my embarrassment, I pretended to tidy my hair, fluttering it, and asked the Master curtly for no reason. “Could you turn around?” “Hmm…” But what came back was yet another request. I couldn’t possibly guess what he was thinking, so my anxiety only grew stronger. “Should I turn like this?” “Yes, just stay still for a moment, no matter what I do.” “What?” As soon as I turned around, the Master said something ominous, so I widened my eyes and tried to turn my head back. But immediately, my hair was grabbed by the Master, and my head stopped abruptly, unable to even pass my collarbone, let alone my shoulder. “Master? Why my hair suddenly…” “I’m giving you a gift, you should actually wear it in front of me.” “Wear it?” I didn’t understand what he was going to put on my head, but before I could question it, my hair was already neatly gathered together in the Master’s hands. The Master, who lightly pulled the neatly gathered hair, then inserted something into my hair. “Doesn’t hurt, right?” “No, rather, I wonder if it’s a little loose.” “Hmm… I’m nervous about touching it harder, so I’ll finish it like this for now.” The Master, who pulled the object inserted in my hair tight against the back of my head, then appropriately draped the lace-like thing hanging from the item attached to my hair and lightly tidied my hair with the comb he held. “Check it out.” “Okay…” And then he suddenly held out the mirror, filling it with my face. Cautiously taking the mirror and slightly increasing the distance, I lightly turned my head left and right, checking what the Master had done to the back of my head. “A headband? No, a hair tie… was it…?” “Yes, it’s called a scrunchy, it’s good for tying hair simply. Originally, it’s just the band-like part, but since I like pretty things, I also attached a ribbon decoration, how is it?” I picked up the ribbon decoration attached to the headband-like item called a scrunchy and lightly pulled it to the side. On the ribbon, embroidery similar to the flower drawings I had seen on the Master’s desk yesterday was etched. As expected. It was true that he had been preparing it for me. “It seems excessively bright for me to use, more than I deserve. I told you you didn’t need to prepare such things…” Suppressing the corners of my mouth that were twitching upwards, I put on a prim expression and showed my usual reaction. “You don’t dislike it, do you?” “That’s not it. It’s just too precious to use.” “Then that’s fine.” The Master smiled contentedly and handed me the comb and the extra scrunchies he was holding. “Don’t feel burdened, and wear them often. If anyone says anything, mention my name. If anyone compliments you, mention my name too, got it?” “Yes…” I nodded lightly and continued to fiddle with the scrunchy. “Hehe…” I’ve never disliked a gift from the Master, but this one was particularly touching. Including the one I was wearing, I received a total of three scrunchies as gifts. I will keep at least one of them, the one that looks in the best condition, unused forever.