Just as she thought about what to do, a man with short purple hair and ruby red eyes slammed his fist on the walls. The maids flinched, "Y—young master ..."
"Scram."
"Y—yes sir," with those words said, the maids scurried away.
The man named 'Eisuke' turned to her. With his purple hair and ruby eyes, he certainly looked like a foreigner to her. Setsura bowed, "Thank you for helping me."
"You don't have to thank me. My stupid brother doesn't understand that he needs to replace the servants in the manor. "
Brother? But they look nothing alike.
"We have different mothers," Eisuke explained.
So it's something like that.
"What are you doing up? Aren't you supposed to be recovering?"
"Ah," Setsura wondered, and pulled out the brush from her pocket, "I was wondering, if there's anywhere I could use this for." She didn't know what precisely what she would do with this brush, but when she saw it beside her. Setsura felt like she wanted to use it.
"Huh, oh? You're one too," Eisuke ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "Well there is a place, I guess it should be okay. Follow me."
Setsura nodded and followed after him. She is relieved that he doesn't ask questions. 'So, other people are living in this mansion too,' Setsura thought as she watched the boy. She wonders if any other people live here.
______
September 25th, 18XX (Monday) Council Building
A man with long black hair tied to the side, wearing a military uniform was spinning his hat with his fingertips. For the last few hours, he sat in his seat in the government official building, attending a dull meeting and, 'They still have decided nothing,' he thought. It's normal for them to be indecisive, but isn't this more than usual?
"Are you listening? Lord Akito."
"I am, there was a dispute in the next town. I'm on it," Akito turned to leave, only to be stopped.
"Lord Akito, supposedly, you picked up a strange girl on the street."
His lips curve to a smile, "Strange girl? That girl is my distant relative sir."
"Oh? But what was she doing in the streets for?" the man challenged.
"It seemed like she was looking for me. Silly girl, I told her to what for me at the station," Akito already planned for this beforehand. He spoke to the stationmaster and dropped a hint about supporting the new train line as long as he stated that he saw Setsura leave the train.
"I— I see," the man who was questioning him was a lord. Sir Collins, a foreigner from the place called 'England.' They treated the man as a special guest because of his foreign status. They are indeed establishing peace treaties with the west, by allowing them to do their trades here. But Akito would not let them to step all over him.
…..
Akito stepped out of the council building; a deep sigh passed his lips. He was in no rush to get to the third street and deal with the issue. Though his fellow councilman made a big deal out of it, Akito knew it was most likely the usual problem. He may have attended this meeting; however, the whole time, he was only half-listening. His thoughts wandered on to the unusual girl that he picked up. It seemed like people already caught word that it was him who picked the girl of the street- Akito did not like to phrase it that way though.
It seemed rude. The girl may be a stranger to him, but he did not want to treat her with disrespect while he was the type of person who avoided attracting too much attention. It was during a point in the week where the streets were busy, and people were on their way from work.
That girl, where did she come from? Akito was returning from work and stopped at a nearby teashop. He sat there for a good few minutes and quite close to that street, and that girl appeared out of nowhere. For a split moment, Akito thought he just saw things. After all, it is unheard of for somebody to appear out of the blue like that.
This is the Meiji era; they no longer live in that superstitious time. However, 'it's not like magic is unheard of during these times,' his gaze darkened. Indeed, when he recalled the events of the girl's appearance, she really did appear before his eyes. But isn't it unheard of to appear in the middle of the streets without going noticed? The girl was there for a good few minutes before people noticed her presence. She was laid down flat on the ground and blocking the path.
Funny enough, once they saw the girl's appearance, people suddenly started to pay attention to her. Who wouldn't?
….
- Edge of town -
His mansion is on the outskirts of town. Akito, as a government official liked his privacy and thus made sure he lived in an area where people were less likely to travel to. Or rather, 'Just in case something were to happen, no innocent civilians will get dragged into his mess,' yes this is the main reason why he lived in this secluded area. Due to his high position, people often attacked him. Many battles have taken place in this area, even now as he walked out of the carriage, he could spot it - traces of where the last fight took place.
To be on the safe side, he always parked the carriage a distant away from where the actual house was in the middle of the forest. Funny, despite all the attacks on him, nobody has found the real mansion yet. As he walked through the woods, he recalled the girl he picked up recently. The paper works to forge her identity; he already took care of it today.
There shouldn't be anything missing. Yes, Akito confirmed that she wasn't a member of any noble house in Tokyo or anywhere else in Japan. He checked the missing people list and couldn't find a trace of her. So he came to one conclusion, she's either from the foreigner's side or, maybe she's one of those. If it's the latter, it would be best to call a specialist.
Like he said, he figured there was something unusual about her from the moment he saw her appear out of nowhere. She could still be an innocent bystander who got dragged into the 'magical conflict,' but Akito felt that was wrong. If she were somebody innocent, why does she have one of those shards? At first, when he saw it he wasn't sure, but then his soldiers saw it and said that it looked the same as the one that's in the main office. So, today Akito confirmed it himself, and indeed it's similar.
He pulled the shard out of his pocket and sighed. That girl, she will get him in a lot of trouble it seems like.
After walking for a few minutes, Akito eventually arrived at the mansion. His servants greeted him like usual. Akito removed his cape, and one of the maids took it away. He looked around, "I'm back; where is she?"
The servants seemed too nervous to answer. But eventually one of them stepped forward.
"Young Master, we told young mistress not to enter the east wing. But she went anyway,"
The east wing, that's where his deceased wife's belongings remained. After she passed away, Akito locked the place up. He didn't even allow the servants to clean there. A puzzled look appeared on his face, what does that girl want to do there? Or rather, "Who said she could walk around?"
"Madame Kuri dropped by earlier and gave her the usual checkup," Akito didn't need to hear the rest of it, as he nodded and made his way down the hallway. If Kuri gave her permission to move around, then perhaps she is slightly better. Akito isn't fond of being kept cooped up indoors either, so he spent most of his time with her and worked from home. He figured she would be bored and needed company.
None of the servants seemed to be a good match for the girl. At the start, he tried rotating different servants shifts with her to see who would make a good companion. But each of them left afraid. It turned out the woman he picked up had quite the temper — the complete opposite of the last woman who stayed in this household. Then again, his wife was too clumsy and ditzy. The servants often looked down on her for that; if he noticed it sooner, then perhaps she would still be around even now.
His thoughts broke off when he arrived in a particular room. The girl in question is hunched down on the ground.
"Setsura-chan? What are you doing?"
"These brushes are hard to use, or maybe I'm not used to this hand yet."
Akito looked down and discovered that the girl had been painting. His eyes go wide when he saw the drawing. It was of the garden; the girl was still drawing the flowers, but there was something beautiful about the picture.
"Your an artist?" he muttered. Pain flashed through his eyes. His wife was an artist too, and people looked down on her for it. It did not help how she was very talented. People respect those who are skilled, and yet there are those who loathed her for it. Learning that the girl he just picked up shared the same fate as his deceased wife, made his stomach churn.
"Artist?"
The girl looked puzzled, and Atsuro recalled how the girl lost her memories, "Somebody who paints like you did just now."
Setsura nodded, the confusion lifted from her face, "I believe so," the girl's response was vague, which made him believe that she was uncertain. It's probably just a hobby to her.
Do not be fooled by her elegant demeanor.
"You had a problem with the tools?"
"Yes, it's challenging painting with brushes that look like they could snap at any given moment."
"The brushes you had with you, why do you not use it?" It was not just one but several he found in a strange container. The items inside, the bag that they found with the girl was unusual. It was large and made out of durable material.
"It felt like a waste," the girl's response was vague, but Akito understood. It must contain sentimental value to her. When he first laid eyes on the brushes before, it felt like this wasn't the first time he saw it. It was the same for her, too, it felt like he had seen her somewhere before.
What is this strange feeling? She's just a random girl. But it felt like he has known her for a very long time.