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It was a pleasant and cloudy winter day. Perfect weather for Sakuya to take the mistress out on a stroll. This was quite rare nowadays, it seemed to her. It was almost always too warm, too sunny, too rainy…not perfect weather. But this? This was beautiful.
Sakuya had been serving her for as long as she could remember. She always thought of the day she first heard about a job posting for a maid, and at just 6 years old, she got the job in an instant. She made sure that they wouldn’t regret their decision. And so far, they haven't. She even resolved a few incidents in her time, the most recent one being the black market incident.
She cared about the mistress with all her heart, and would do anything and everything for her, to the point that people even said that she was obsessed with her. That could possibly be true, she thought, but wherever the mistress went, she followed to ensure that she was safe. But recently, something strange has been happening with her. She was sure she didn’t drink any poison, but this feeling was far from poisonous. However…she could never be certain.
Sakuya almost always felt a tug at her chest whenever she encountered Remilia. She started to feel a little twitchy whenever she spoke, whenever she walked by, did something she thought was cool…Sakuya didn’t know what this feeling was.
And that’s why she asked the mistress to take the day off for once. Remilia was quite shocked when she asked.
“I haven’t been feeling my best lately…” Sakuya looked down.
“I can see that.” Remilia grinned. “Maybe you’re feeling Ill?”
“I’m honestly not sure what I’m feeling. My plan is to see Doctor Eirin about this. I’m sure by tomorrow I shall be back in action. I’m asking to take this one day off.”
Remilia pretended to think about it. “Yes, you may take the day off. I’ll have someone else guard me today.
The Maid bowed. “Thank you, mistress. I promise you I’ll take the most of this day off.”
Remilia giggled. “No need to be so formal! Relax, go see Doctor Eirin, ok?” She suddenly floated up and whispered in her ear. “I’ll be waiting for you when you get back~”
This made Sakuya’s skin tingle. This never happened before whenever she did this…there was something going on. And now her face felt hot. She left the room to a giggling Remilia.
A fairy flew up to the mistress. “What’s wrong with Miss Sakuya?” She asked.
Remilia grinned. “I may have a hunch.”
Within record time, she actually stopped time, so yes, record time, she made it to the entrance to Eientei. She was shaking a little bit. She had never conveyed what she was feeling to anyone other than Remilia…so she felt this was gonna be a little awkward.
She knocked on the door and she was met with an answer in an instant. It was none other than Eirin herself. She must not be busy today, she thought.
“Oh! Good morning Miss Sakuya!” Eirin gave her a warm smile.
“Please, Sakuya will do.” The maid bowed.
“Come in, Come in!” The Moon Doctor ushered her in, probably because it was cold out today. Eirin led her into the clinic and sat her down.
“So, what seems to be the problem?” Eirin asked.
“Well…” Sakuya looked down. “I can’t stop thinking about the Mistress.”
“Well, that’s normal. You serve her after all, correct? Of course she’s always in her mind. You want to keep her safe from harm after all.” Eirin nodded.
“Yes, I do…but something feels different.”
“Please elaborate.” The Moon Doctor got out her notepad and pulled up her glasses.
“Every time the Mistress walks by, or speaks, or…or…well, anything about her, even the thought of her makes my heart go faster. I feel a little anxious around her whenever I feel this way…I know, it’s unprofessional…but still, I can’t get the thought of her out of my head. At this point, I’m not sure if it’s loyalty or…” Sakuya trailed off.
“I think I know exactly what your issue is.” Eirin stopped writing and smiled.
“You do?” Sakuya looked at her.
“I do…because I was in the same position as you once.”
Sakuya looked shocked. “Wait, really?”
Eirin nodded. “I was. Whenever I talked to the Lunar Princess, Kaguya, I felt really anxious, my palms started to sweat, my heart rate would increase…I had no clue what on earth I was feeling. It took me decades to figure it out. But when I did and told Kaguya, the biggest weight was lifted off my shoulders.”
“What was it you were feeling, may I ask?” Sakuya was curious. Maybe she WAS in the same position as her, who knew?
“I was in love. And when I confessed my feelings to Kaguya…I felt so much better about it. Sure, I still get a tiny bit nervous around her, but it’s nowhere near the level it was before.”
Sakuya’s heart skipped a beat. Love? She obviously knew what it was, she didn’t live under a rock. But she never really thought about what love really was. Was Eirin sure that she was feeling that way? I mean, she was the doctor after all.
“So…you’re saying I should tell the Mistress how I feel?” The Maid asked her.
“That’s the one and only cure. If you don’t it’ll haunt you until you do. So my recommendation is yes, tell Mistress Remilia how you feel! You’ll feel so much better after you do.” Eirin smiled and stood up. “Oh! And send her my regards, if you will.” Eirin walked out of the room, with Sakuya sitting there, deep in thought.
Sakuya’s heart raced as she walked back into the Mansion. She had been keeping these feelings inside for a while now, and if Eirin said it was now time to let them loose, she should with confidence. But what if the Mistress didn’t feel the same way? What if she rejected her? Then what would happen? She would feel horrible…but there was only one way to find this out.
The Maid opened the door to the Mistress’s room suddenly. Thankfully, Remilia wasn’t getting dressed or anything like that.
“Gah! I thought you were a mischievous fairy, please knock next time!” Remilia scolded her.
“My apologies, but there’s something I need to address.” Sakuya bowed. “It’s urgent.”
“Oh?” Remilia sat on her bed. “What’s going on? Are you feeling any better?”
“Yes and no.” Sakuya nodded.
“What the hell does that mean?” The Mistress crossed her arms. Clearly she wanted to know more.
“I went to Eientei to get myself checked out. The Lunar Doctor said the only cure was for me to tell how I truly feel to you.”
“Huh?” Remilia was confused. She stood from her bed and faced Sakuya. “Speak. Please, tell me what’s going on. If the Lunar Doctor said this was your cure, then speak to me.”
Sakuya took a breath. Here goes nothing.
“Lady Remilia. Every time I walk by you, every time you speak, every time you do…anything, really, my heart skips a beat, I get a little nervous, my palms start to sweat…That’s why I decided to take the day off. I was getting very stressed about how I couldn’t serve you properly with this condition. I saw The Lunar Doctor and she told me a story about how she was in the same situation as me.”
Remilia listened to her with intent. “I know that those two are lovers. Please, get to the point.” Remilia realized exactly what Sakuya was feeling before she even said it. She wanted to hear those sacred words come out of Sakuya’s own mouth.
“What I’m trying to say is…I think…no…I…” She took another breath and looked dead into her eyes. “Lady Remilia, I’m in love with you.”
As much as she expected this, this didn’t mean that Remilia was a little embarrassed. Sakuya just confessed to her, after all. She had been feeling the same way, but thought that her love for Sakuya was forbidden, and that she didn’t feel the same way about her. But…it was clear that she did.
“I…I’m at a loss for words…” Her face was red and she shook a little bit. She looked like she was going to cry.
“Did I say something wrong?” Sakuya spoke suddenly.
“It’s not that…” The Mistress twiddled her thumbs. “It’s just…those are the exact words I wanted to hear for at least…a decade now. It’s been a while since I felt the same way about you…but I never confessed to you, because I thought you did everything for me out of loyalty…but this…” Remilia giggled. “I can’t believe it…you actually feel the same way…”
Sakuya nodded. Eirin was right. She relaxed, as a huge weight off her shoulders was lifted. She closed her eyes for a moment. She could now rest peacefully tonight.
But then, she felt lips on her own, and her eyes shot open. The lips belonged to the Mistress. This made her heart beat faster than it ever had before. These were the lips she wanted to feel for a while now, and there they were, kissing. She wrapped her arms around the Mistress’s neck and kissed her back.
They broke apart, and Remilia looked right at Sakuya. She booped her nose. “I want to share more of these moments with you. And something tells me that excitement is right around the corner for us…~”
Sakuya smiled back at her. The Mistress was right. She could sense her future wasn’t going to be clouded in scarlet mist, rather a ray of sunshine.