PuiPui:Volume1 Chapter4

Chapter 4: The Day of Sierra’s Absence

The next 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 bloom, was starkly empty. Currently in the middle of English reading class…The girl who stood up from her seat started reading, her voice resonating like an incantation throughout the quiet classroom.

Until just the day before yesterday, he wasn't even aware of Sierra Zadou's existence…And yet, now, the classroom without her felt like it was missing its color, seeming as if time had stopped and the world was in grayscale.

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 myself in English class.”

Yuuya laughed then pinched Jin’s collar.

“You dried your clothes by the window last 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 much about looking good.”

“Ah, no. This wasn’t my doing…”

“Using the dorm’s Laundromat, they end up all wrinkled, you know. I’d like to wash mine by hand too, but…If my hands get too rough, I won’t be able to play the guitar anymore.”

“I see. So handwashing…makes your hands rough, huh.”

Jin looked down at his shirt. 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 something quite mean…he thought 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 omelette too...

“Yuuya. Have you ever, hurt someone’s feelings saying something you shouldn’t have?”

Jin hung his head as he questioned Yuuya.

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

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

“Well, they said they’d never forgive me as long as they lived, so I guess not?”

“They must have been really pissed off…”

Jin let his shoulders slump. Replying trivially, Yuuya tilted his head to the side, completely clueless as to why Jin was acting 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 time for afternoon tea, there came a knocking at her door.

“Excuse me, Lady Sierra. I’ve brought 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-fashioned furnace.

“I am surely being a nuisance, but as my lady has yet to eat anything all morning, I was worried 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 warms the body, and it is even gargled to prevent catching a cold.”

Opening the Samovar’s tap and pouring 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 might call it a negligee, it was magnificently 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 warm steam, her pallid face began to take on a reddish tinge. Nikolai adjusted his monocle while maintaining a poker face.

“Because you have been closing yourself up in your room, the master is starting to worry.”

“Mm. I don’t feel like seeing Papa’s face at the moment.”

Sierra was feeling a considerable amount of bitterness against her father. If only she hadn’t been born into this lineage as a Genie of the Lamp, then she wouldn’t be suffering like this.

It would have been fine even if they didn’t have money so long as they could live together happily as a family. But, without money, their family was going to fall apart. At this rate, she couldn’t be the Genie of the Lamp. She was going to end up losing it all, the money as well as her family…And just losing Jin was already enough to hurt her this badly.

Sierra clutched her chest tightly with both arms. Since the moment she had woken up, she had felt a stabbing 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 monocle. Then, without faltering, he responded firmly.

“I would not, my lady. The Pavlov family has been a lineage of servants for generations. Before, we even served the royal Romanov family of Russia. Among the serving families, ours is among the most prestigious. 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 remain and go to any lengths to restore it to its former glory!”

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 something happened?”

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

“Before, I heard that someone placed an insect in my lady’s shoe rack, but…Could something else have happened after that?”

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

“Then…Jin Araki. Could it be something involving a classmate by that name?”

Hearing Nikolai casually speak that name, Sierra was taken aback, her face turning suddenly red.

“W…where did that come from?!”

“The other day, while taking that young girl named Aika Kasumi to the Sakura dorm…I apologize, but I overheard my lady Sierra speak such a name.

“Ah.”

Sierra quickly closed her mouth. It seems I was somehow on target, Nikolai thought, and while maintaining his distance from Sierra, started speaking in 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 maybe because she was a kind girl who worried about you so much after the incident with the insect in your shoebox…but my lady was unusually open with her feelings during that conversation.”

“W, what do you mean by saying ‘unusually’?!”

“Along with my father, I have served in this house from a young age. I know my lady well, about as early as her birth. My lady always goes to such extreme lengths to present herself well, matching other people’s expectations without fail and consistently conducting herself with the utmost elegance. However, such a perfect human being 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 talk freely with him. She had certainly gotten angry; however, for Sierra who had never been able to express her anger to anyone else, it was refreshing. For the first time she had been able to openly show her feelings like a normal person. But, now she and Jin were on permanent non-speaking terms.

Unable to watch Sierra curl up seemingly in pain, Nikolai placed a gentle hand upon and kindly caressed her shoulder.

“If you would like, please call upon me anytime for advice. I would like to be my lady’s pillar of strength.”

“Thank you for the offer, Nikolai, but it’s fine. That is, if I were to lay bare all my feelings, I would end up losing my protective shell. Then if I was hurt a second time, I doubt I would be able to stand back up again.”

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

“It is much preferable to being hurt.”

“I heard my lady say something to that girl named Aika. That, in your class, there is someone ignoring you…That there is a boy who simply reads books all the time without acknowledging your existence. And that, as you have never encountered such a boy before, it was weighing on your mind. About that, is there a problem?”

“W, well, that’s..just,”

Momentarily taken aback, Sierra hung her head. Really, she would have never considered the possibility that Aika would be Jin’s childhood friend. Fortunately, it seemed like Aika wasn’t treating what Sierra had said with too much significance 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 me, or maybe there is something about me he hates even though I have never done anything to him…such behavior as his would surely make a girl 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 might, Nikolai continued on.

“To be interested in mere archaeology books rather than my lady Sierra, this boy’s ideal girl is probably something outrageous 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’t mind if it was someone like Aika who would basically shrug it off afterwards…But she didn’t want to needlessly trouble Nikolai, who would 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 me. If you need anything else, please call for me right away.”

Reluctantly, Nikolai bowed and moved the cart out of the room. Right outside, he found Mary the head maid waiting. She had her arms crossed and looked a bit angry.

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

“Ahh…my apologies, Miss Savant. Thank you.”

He gave a small bow of his head, then just as he was passing 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 simply accidental. I was by no means trying to intrude on your territory, Miss Savant.”

“Let me give you a piece of advice…Of course, I am sure that, with your pedigree as part of a serving lineage 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 are merely serving staff. A master and a servant are of decidedly different levels, a difference that cannot be overcome. A romantic relationship 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.

"Oh my. So even Mister Pavlov gets angry, I see. Showing emotion so openly is unbecoming of a servant. Handed down through the generations from my ancestors who served the royal families of England, 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 simply impossible. Thinking that at this rate, he'd be further criticized, Nikolai hastily made his escape. Watching him go, Mary released her ice-like expression and gave a mild laugh.

'Such an easy boy to tease. I’ll make him realize that Russian servants are no match for England, 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 magnificently, her apron dress fluttered as she turned. So then, facing the battlegrounds where her next job awaited her, she walked heroically forward.