Vol 1 Chapter 4 (1/2)

The Day of Sierra’s Absence

The following day…Sierra was absent from school

Within the classroom, the seat that was always the center of attention, that was normally radiant like a flower in bloolish reading class…The girl who stood up fro like an incantation throughout the quiet classroom

Until just the day before yesterday, he wasn't even aware of Zadou Sierra's existence…And yet, now, the classroo its color, seerayscale

Not really listening to the reader, the other students whose eyes were all glued to their textbooks also seemed to be like lifeless dolls It felt as if, without her there, all the energy had disappeared from the world

“Jin Well aren’t you looking unusually sharp today”

Hearing Yuuya’s voice, Jin reeled in surprise Class was already over, and the board was already erased by those on duty

“Ah…so class ended?”

“I feel ya I can barely keep awake lish class”

Yuuya laughed then pinched Jin’s collar

“You dried your clothes by thelast night, right? As I thought, when you wash it by hand, you don’t have to use an iron to get it crisp like this I had no idea that you cared so ood”

“Ah, no This wasn’t …”

“Using the dorm’s laundromat, they end up all wrinkled, you know I’d like to wash h, I won’t be able to play the guitar anymore”

“I see So handwashi+ng…h, huh”

Jin looked down at his shi+rt Although it hadn’t been ironed, it had been properly washed, spread out, and dried That Sierra, who had until recently had everything done for her, had washed it with her fair hands that had probably never even touched a scrubber before

I really said soht to himself He should have been well aware…that she hadn't done it just for money or to level up as the Genie of the Lamp After she had smiled so happily when he praised her omelet too

“Yuuya Have you ever, hurt so you shouldn’t have?”

Jin hung his head as he questioned Yuuya

“Tons of times, I should think What about it?”

“Afterwards…were you able to patch things up?”

“Well, they said they’d never forgive uess not?”

“They must have been really pissed off…”

Jin let his shoulders slu trivially, Yuuya tilted his head to the side, co so depressed

Staying home from school, Sierra was in bed wrapped up in her silk sheets As of yet, she had not gotten out of bed even once today though the clock read three in the afternoon About ti at her door

“Excuse ht you your tea, may I come in?”

Merely glancing out from within the bundle of sheets, Sierra replied in a thin voice,

“…Fine”

The door opened and Nikolai Pavlov, the butler, walked in Atop the gold-colored cart he pulled along, there sat a Samovar kettle, which looked like an old-fashi+oned furnace

“I a a nuisance, but as , I orried and took the liberty to prepare this If it is hay fever…Well, I have heard that black tea is effective against hay fever”

“Thank you However, it is just a cold”

“Black tea works for that as well It war a cold”

Opening the Sa out hot water, Nikolai cooled the teapot before preparing a rich black tea Sitting up in bed, Sierra donned a shawl over her negligee Though one nificently crafted with such an abundance of silk that it was more like a dress

“I always enjoy drinking Nikolai’s Russian tea”

Sierra drank the hot black tea while eating the apple jam prepared by the maids with a spoon Bathed in the ware Nikolai adjusted hisa poker face

“Because you have shut yourself up in your roo to worry”

“M Papa’s face at the moment”

Sierra was feeling a considerable aainst her father If only she hadn’t been born into this lineage as a Genie of the La like this

It would have been fine even if they didn’t have ether happily as a fa to fall apart At this rate, she couldn’t be the Genie of the La it all, theJin was already enough to hurt her this badly

Sierra clutched her chest tightly with both ar pain in her heart

“Nikolai If I were to become completely destitute…You’d surely leave me too, wouldn’t you?”

“Hm? Completely…destitute?”

Slightly taken aback by the sudden question, Nikolai stopped to adjust his , he responded firmly

“I would not, e of servants for generations Before, we even served the royal Ro faious I have been raised from birth to be a quality butler And now, as I am able to serve such a wonderful master as my lady, I am content I do not serve for money I shall work for no other, only for you, my lady Sierra If by some slim chance, this house should happen to fall, I shall relory!”

Nikolai proudly puffed out his chest With a pained look, Sierra shook her head side to side

“Thank you…Nikolai is quite strong I cannot accept my fate so readily…”

“Has so happened?”

Looking at Sierra with a worried look on his face, Nikolai asked with some reserve

“Before, I heard that someone placed an insect inelse have happened after that?”

“Ah, no That, it ended there, so it’s fine”

“Then…Araki Jin Could it be so a classmate by that name?”

Hearing Nikolai casually speak that na suddenly red

“W…where did that come from?!”

“The other day, while taking that young girl naize, but I overheard my lady Sierra speak such a name

“Ah”

Sierra quickly fell silent, bringing her hand to her ht, and whilein a calm voice,

“That girl from the middle school division, I don’t know if it was because you felt she was a rare sort or irl orried about you so much after the incident with the insect in your sobx…butthat conversation”

“W-What do you‘unusually’?!”

“Along with e I know oes to such extre other people’s expectations without fail and consistently conducting herself with the ut does not exist, I should think So, is it not difficult to act like that?”

Certainly, it was just as Nikolai said, Sierra thought She and Jin even shared a secret…even though they had started off with an argument, she had been able to speak freely with hiry; however, for Sierra who had never been able to express her anger to anyone else, it was refreshi+ng For the first tis like a normal person But, now she and Jin were on per terms

Unable to watch Sierra curl up seeentle hand upon and kindly caressed her shoulder

“If you would like, please call upon me anytith”

“Thank you for the offer, Nikolai, but it’s fine That is, if I were to lay bare allmy protective shell Then if I was hurt a second tiain”

“But the weight of such a shell, surely it would make it impossible to stand back up a second time as well”

“It ishurt”

“I heard irl na you…That there is a boy who si your existence And that, as you have never encountered such a boy before, it eighing on your mind About that, is there a problem?”

“W-Well, that’sjust,”

Mo her head Really, she would have never considered the possibility that Aika would be Jin’s childhood friend Fortunately, it see what Sierra had said with too nificance and hadn’t told Jin about any of it, so at least that was a relief

“I think I understand your concern Like a rose, even if my lady does not speak up, she attracts considerable attention But for someone to not take notice, they must be quite the odd one Could he possibly hate h I have never done anything to hiirl worry and ask herself such questions, but someone as splendid as my lady does not have any characteristics that would warrant others’ spite So please, do not mind it too much”

With all his ht, Nikolai continued on

“To be interested in y books rather thanoutrageous like a mummy or some such Since he has such a skewed sense of aesthetics as that, there really is no helping it”

Nikolai was trying so hard to encourage her It was precisely because he was always like this, worrying about her so much, that Sierra couldn’t confide in him She didn’tit off afterwards…But she didn’t want to needlessly trouble Nikolai, ould seriously worry himself for her sake

“I guess so…”

Pretending to accept his take, Sierra forced a smile

“Thank you, the tea was delicious”

Acting like she was fine, she returned the cup Nikolai understood this to mean ”please leave already” However, as he was still worried about her, he asked just to make sure

“Would you like seconds?”

“No, thank you”

For Nikolai, her empty smile and words were full of loneliness Because, he understood that Sierra would continue on in her confusion by herself without confiding in anyone else

“Well then, excuse ht away”

Reluctantly, Nikolai bowed and ht outside, he found Mary, the head ry

“Mister Pavlov The servants have been looking for you, since they cannot proceed without your command”

“Ahh…ies, Miss Savant Thank you”

He gave a s by Mary’s side, she murmured

“Conversing with the mistress is a job for the maids

“I apologize…As the mistress’s driver, it was si to intrude on your territory, Miss Savant”

“Let ive you a piece of advice…Of course, I ae that even served the Romanov royal family, you must have heard what I am about to say before”

Mary was looking at Nikolai with a sharp glint in her eyes

“We arestaff A master and a servant are of decidedly different levels, a difference that cannot be overcome A romantic relationshi+p with a master is forbidden…That is an absolute law for butlers and maids”

“I-I know that!”

Nikolai’s pale face reddened with anger While Nikolai was frazzled, Mary turned an even colder glare upon him

”Ohe of a servant Handed down through the generations froland, that is a personal family tenet”

“N-No, it’s not like I was actually angry”

Nikolai hastily tried to put on a blank expression, but as flustered as he was, it was si that at this rate, he'd be further criticized, Nikolai hastily o, Mary released her ice-like expression and let out a h

”Such an easy boy to tease I’ll land, the motherland of maids That, even as servants, we are still of different status…Taste the pride of the British Empire!”

Mary did an about face on her heel Elegantly and nificently, her apron dress fluttered as she turned Then, facing the battlegrounds where her next job awaited her, she walked heroically forward

At the sa warm and sleepy

As she was on the verge of sleep within the embrace of her bed, her cell phone that she had left atop the bedside table began ringing Checking the caller ID, she didn’t recognize the number

“Probably a solicitor?”

Sierra covered her head with her sheets and attenore the call However, the phone si Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Sierra reluctantly picked up the phone Immediately, there came a quiet male voice

“You were absent today, weren’t you, Genie of the Lamp”

Sierra’s face went stiff The only ones who should have known that she was the Genie of the Lamp were her father and Jin, no one else

“You…Who is this?”

Holding the cell phone in both hands and sitting upright in bed, Sierra asked while treh

“Right now, your lamp is in my hands…If told you that, ould you do?”

“Eh? W-Why do you have it?”

“I could ht now if I rub this lamp Oh, I know…Wouldn’t it be funny if I called you out in the middle of the school, to let as many people find out as possible”

“D…Don’t joke like that! That sort of disgraceful…Rather than that, anyone would refuse becoer!”

“I thought you’d say soe ownershi+p of the lamp midway anyway…Since your level will return to zero and all the spells from the spellbook would disappear, after all”

“How do you know about that?”

“If I summoned you, you’d understand…you’d even find out who I am”

Clink, she heard a ht be the sound of the lahtly

“W-Wait! If it’s ive you however ive it back!”

“Are you that opposed to becoood about that Araki Jin?”

“A…About Araki Jin?”

Sierra’s face turned bright red, blushi+ng as if on fire

“It’s not like I actually want to be his servant or anything! I, it’s just that I don’t want to go back to level zero after finally leveling up, so…Never ive back the lamp!”

“Well then, you should coht”

“I can’t leave my house that late Mary is very strict, plus my driver Nikolai would be asleep then”

“When ht comes, I’ll rub the lamp Then, you’ll be my servant…permanently Until I rub your head, you won’t be able to return I'll never let you leave my side”

“W-What are you thinking?! That’s horrible!”

“Well, make sure to come to the school then”

“Why are you doing this to ?”

“A grudge…well, I guess you could say that You could also say I hate because I love My love letter, you threw it aithout even reading it, didn’t you?”

“Love letter? I didn’t receive anything like that, are you sure you didn’t get the wrong person?”

“…I’ll be waiting for you at the school”

“Wait aall on your own…!”

Sierra shouted, but he had already hung up Dumbfounded, Sierra just stared at her cell phone The laer…She just couldn’t believe that had happened Maybe it was a lie But in that case, he knew too s that no one else should know

She was scared to check for sure But, she had to check While struggling to calolden bell that lay atop her bedside table Right away, Mary and another one of the maids arrived

“You called, my lady?”

“I’ out”

“Understood”

Mary respectfully nodded While she brushed Sierra’s hair, the other e of clothes froed

Standing still like a dress-up doll, Sierra thought about Jin Even though she had told him that she didn’t want anyone else to see her dressed in a iven up the lamp, she just didn’t want to believe that he could have done such a thing Rather than anger, she felt an overwhel sadness

As she allowed the hed bitterly

Long fingers closed the cell phone with a click

They belonged to the one who called Sierra…That is, to Konoe Ukyou Dressed in his uniform and seated comfortably in the student council room, Ukyou wore a devilish smile upon his carefully readied face Upon the president’s desk in front of hiic lamp

“President, are you here?!”

Hastily knocking as she passed, Eriko Himuro the vice president rushed into the room

Eriko, a second-year, was relatively tall and was stylish like a model Her expression tended to be rather cold, and perhaps because of that, her sharply designed glasses suited her quite well Along with her seave off a mature impression With a blank face, Ukyou asked Eriko

“What’s the matter? It’s not like you to make a ruckus”

“It’s a serious problem, so I felt I needed to inform you directly”

Placing her hands on Ukyou’s desk, Eriko leaned forward and with an almost vicious air, vehemently expressed her concern

“The boys froht the freshman Zadou Sierra into their room! It’s a clear violation of the dormitory rules!”

“Hmph…Impossible”

Ukyou practically snorted Eriko hit the desk roughly with both hands

“It’s true, President! Sierra often calls the pizza place where I work part-tiht, she wanted to place an order to the centermost room on the Tachibana dorm’s second floor!”

“The ones in that room are her classmates, Araki Jin and Utada Yuuya Yesterday, as punishulations, Araki was deprived of dinner, so feeling sy, don’t you think?”

“No, it didn’t seem like that at all!”

“If, as you say, she was in their room, then do you really think they would have ordered food or anything like that? All the dor out are prohibited, after all”

“You…no, all the students of our school even, they have been completely taken in by Zadou Sierra! Even now, I’ht sound like irl is nothing like the perfect girl everyone see!”

Eriko was standing with her fists in the air as she stressed her point, but Ukyou disregarded her without interest

“It’s an impossible story”

“I don’t think it’s good for sos into their decisions”

As Eriko watched him with a concentrated look in her eyes, Ukyou asked with a hint of suspicion

“Personal feelings?”

“To the president ould always say ‘boys and girls should be kept separated after age seven’ and kept his own distance froave a love letter to her, didn’t you?”

“W-What nonsense are you spouting?!”

Eriko pressed the bewildered Ukyou even further

“I found it while I was cleaning the president’s room”