"Yuuya, you have a lot of bags?" Marin said pointing at the bags in Yuuya's hands.
When they left after shopping for cosplay materials there were only 5 bags but now there were 15 of them.
"I told him I didn't need it," Yuuya was talking about how Hikari purchased a new set of all the clothes he had worn for the shoot.
Yuuya said he didn't need it but...
'It would be a waste because they all suit you so well, also the coupon isn't really enough of a payment for your work,' Hikari wasn't going to take no for an answer and handed it all over after paying for it from his own pocket.
Because of this, Yuuya looked like he has just had a shopping spree when he and Marin went to Sweet Street.
Yuuya just placed the bags down when eating from the different shops.
"It was super fun, let's come back next week again," Marin said as they were walking to Ikebukuro station.
"No," Yuuya denied it instantly.
"What? Come on it'll be more fun," Marin tried to persuade Yuuya during the entire journey back home but to no avail.
'I'm going to have a relaxing Sunday next week,' Yuuya already had other plans.
"Ara, look who decided to come home?" Apophis opened the door for them with a smile, as Yuuya wasn't answering Apophis turned to Marin who was pouting.
"Was your date not fun Marin-chan?"
"Yuuya just doesn't listen," Marin said as Yuuya took off his shoes.
"Tell me about it," Apophis sighed as if she had the same problem with him.
"Master, are you going to have dinner first or a bath?" Grayfia asked as soon as she came to the entrance to welcome Yuuya.
"I'll eat first, but before that let me place these in my room," Yuuya said while showing the bags in his hand before walking to his own room without listening to the grumbles of Apophis and Marin.
"Tsk tsk, Grayfia you messed up another chance, even after I taught you so well," Apophis sighed in disappointment and Grayfia couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"What did she do wrong?" Marin asked as she was already over her unhappiness from before.
"You see as a maid she should've said this 'Master, would like dinner first, A bath, Or perhaps~ Me~~~?'" Apophis spoke fully in character with expressions and body movements.
"Woah! That's like a classic line!" Marin's eyes lit up since Apophis did it so well.
"Right? And here she messed up," Apophis shook her head.
"…Then I'll go and get the dinner ready," Grayfia was already walking away from the two by the time Apophis finished her enactment.
"She's just too stiff, So, how was your day?" Apophis turned to Marin.
"Oh, we had a lot of fun, You see in the afternoon…" And Marin told her about what she and Yuuya did today.
It continued till dinner since Marin got too absorbed in eating the new dishes Grayfia had made, Yuuya also liked the food and dessert that was served.
'It was good that I went there myself and learned about it,' Grayfia visited different regions around the world to increase the number of dishes she could cook. One dish was Hanmi karaage (A half-body of a chicken seasoned in curry, and fried in oil.)
It was very well-liked by Marin as well, another one was Jingisukan (Grilled lamb) a specialty from Hokkaido.
'I'll try the Takikawa city-style (Lamb is marinated with sauce before grilling) next week,' What Grayfia made today was Sapporo City-style Jingisukan (Grilled lamb dipped in sauce after it's cooked), she didn't have enough time today to marinate it beforehand.
'I should clean up the kitchen and make some dough for tomorrow morning,' Grayfia thought as she looked at the dishes and the kitchen counter 'I also need to study more about the dishes and then there is school in the morning as well.'
Grayfia stopped for a moment after her thoughts reached the school. But she got back to work quickly and finished arranging the utensils back to their place after washing them.
After that, Grayfia opened the refrigerator and started to look through the stock they had before updating the information on the labels, seeing that everything was still fresh there seemed to be no need to get anything but…
"There are 3 carrots missing here, yesterday's rice is missing along with 6 eggs, and the pan from before as well …did Master make some fried rice?" Grayfia muttered while looking at the label on the carrots box.
'Godspeed Carrots(3 D, 6:12 A)' It was the carrot from the otherworld harvested three days ago at 6:12 A.M.
"Well, I think I'll need to buy some more normal vegetables since Marin-san is coming over more frequently now," Grayfia took note of the ingredients she needed to buy and closed the fridge.
It was already half past 9 by the time Grayfia reached her room, Marin left a while ago and…
'Master and Apophis are sleeping,' Grayfia could feel their presence beyond the wall, they were in the same bed as usual.
There was no such thing as sense-blocking magic in this house aside from the bathroom, so Grayfia could easily know what was happening beyond the wall in Yuuya's room.
It is just that Yuuya didn't mind it, he particularly didn't mind a lot of things. And that is the reason why…
'I need to be more careful with what I do,' It would be a lie if Grayfia said that she never thought about giving in to the things Apophis said.
But the thing was that Grayfia ...was scared.
'I am not Apophis-san who can get away with things, nor am I Marin-san towards whom Master acts favorably, all I am to Master is…'
"…A Maid, so I should do what I am here for," Grayfia muttered to herself, for the longest time she had wanted to be a Maid.
A Maid that can stay by her master's side, take care of his needs, feed him the food he likes, make sure he is clean every day, make sure he gets a good night's sleep to start a new day with a healthy body and mind.
Grayfia wanted to support Yuuya through his day-to-day life so that he can live comfortably. That is the maid she wanted to be…
But in these pure thoughts of hers, some foreign emotions started to pop up a little while ago, and these have been getting more and more frequent.
Although it was something that shouldn't be there, since it was a common occurrence for Maids to do these types of 'Services' for their Masters.
Even then, Grayfia knew that as her Master was, he…
'…would never ask me to do such a thing,'
Even while knowing of this, the weird feeling inside her heart had grown over the days and it still was. It was something that shouldn't be there. if her Master didn't want her that way, she should follow it but somehow the more she thinks about it…
'…The more it hurts,' Grayfia was now lying down on her bed looking at the ceiling. It was a feeling she had trouble describing a few weeks ago.
But after observing Apophis, Marin, and many of the students in school, she can now name that feeling.
'…I've fallen in love with Master,' Grayfia felt the pain in her heart vanish when she understood that, now she felt like butterflies were flying inside her chest. It was a light feeling like she had been freed.
She felt happy that she was able to fall in love with the man she serves; it was something to be overjoyed about, but…
'Does ...Master even need my love?' This question has been in her mind all this time.
Grayfia knew the troubles her Master had, even if she didn't know everything about Yuuya, she knew that he was suffering. Every minute, Every second he was suffering, he had never made it appear on his face, but even then…
'I can feel it clearly,' Grayfia knew the reason for this thanks to Apophis, it was because of the loss of a loved one. But she knew that it was more than just that even without fully knowing what he has been through, she just knew that someone like her Master will not be like this because of just one incident.
So, even while knowing this, if Grayfia tries to push her feelings onto Yuuya that would be her own selfishness. That selfishness wasn't something a Maid should have.
'A Maid should be selfless, only existing for the sake of her Master, her own thoughts shouldn't matter,' Grayfia thought as she stood up from the bed and walked over to the table.
'I am not Apophis, and neither am I Marin, I am Grayfia Lucifuge, I am…'
"…just a Maid,"
...
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