🏰12. The Young Lady's Mess
The moment the apartment door opened—
Tekipaki's face froze solid.
“My Ladyyyyy!! What on earth is this!?”
The floor was covered in clothes and cardboard boxes.
The kitchen sink was piled high with used dishes.
The room that Tekipaki and Siret had tidied up just the other day
had returned to its former state of disaster in the blink of an eye.
“There’s no way you can live in a state like this!”
“...Well... I let my guard down, and it ended up like this...”
The young lady shrugged her shoulders slightly,
looking apologetic.
Meanwhile, Siret started moving without a word.
Books were lined up on the shelf by their spines.
Documents were sorted by type and clipped together.
Socks were quietly returned to their pairs.
Without a sound, yet with terrifying speed, order was returning to the room.
“Siret, no! You’re doing too much!”
Tekipaki stopped her.
“There’s no point if you do everything for her.
The young lady needs to be able to do it herself.”
Siret stopped moving instantly.
Tekipaki continued gently.
“My Lady, you don’t have to do all the cleaning at once. If you try to do it perfectly, your heart will get tired.”
“Let’s just do the ‘floor’ today.”
She nodded.
“There are three categories for sorting: ‘To wash,’ ‘To put back,’ and ‘Unsure.’”
“What should I do with the ‘unsure’ items...?”
“For now, just put them all in one place. We won’t decide whether to throw them away or give them away today.”
“...Just... sort them...”
“Yes. That is enough for today.”
During that time, Siret moved in the background, doing only the bare minimum.
Picking up trash, stacking cardboard, and emptying the sink.
The kitchen was, in an instant, shining
like a mirror.
Tekipaki immediately placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Siret, too much! You’re too fast.”
Siret bowed her head slightly.
Seeing that, I remembered the two of them at the mansion
and couldn't help but chuckle.
One hour later.
The room was remarkably tidy.
“...It makes such a difference just being able to see the floor.”
“Yes! The floor is the ‘standard’ of a room!”
“Standard...?”
“That’s right! When you can see the floor, you know you can walk here and use this space, right?”
“Even if the table is cluttered,
and the shelves aren't organized,
if you can see the ground, the room comes back to life.”
“So, start with just the floor. That’s enough.”
Siret nodded quietly.
“This is the floor reset.”
“So I just need to start with the floor, huh?
I think I can do that.”
The young lady’s face brightened up.
“But... what should I do about the other places...?”
A brief pause.
Tekipaki placed a hand on her chest and nodded as if she had made a decision.
“Understood. As your former personal maid—
until the day you can live on your own,
we will watch over you.”
“My... that is reassuring.”
Her voice brightened involuntarily. Just as the air in the room felt slightly lighter,
Siret adjusted her heels and said briefly,
“...I rented the place next door. I’ll be right back.”
The young lady’s eyes went wide.
“...Eh?”
Tekipaki did the same.
“...Eh?”
The two of them looked at each other and burst out laughing.
The door closed.
The apartment became a little quieter.
But light was shining into a corner of the room, just as it always did.
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