Maid's Duty

Erradicate the sources of my lady's frustration, eh?

I suppose I've been slacking, if the mistress of the house had to come remind me personally of this fact. I don't know how closely I have dodged disciplinary action, the Lady of Claes would only come personally to me if it was something important. If nothing else, I'll take heart in how valued I've become to the household that instead of immediate action being taken, I was given a chance to make up for my deficiency.

However, the first step was investigation and research into the matters that frustrated my lady so. 

I started by going through my lady's interests. Using the assets at my disposition, that is to say, my lady's allowance and the budget for her care, I've been making an effort to purchase and develop the many business that she has taken an interest in, as well as generally investing in a variety of people so that they can dedicate themselves to developing and researching methods and tools that would further benefit my lady.

Of course, they were all bought and invested in with my lady's name, as it was her money, and of course, they ought to be grateful to her. I had to carefully manage motivation and incentives along our properties, and luckily, I've found quite a few competent people to act as middle managers.

In many ways, I'm closer to the position of CEO than I've ever been before, by acting as my lady's secretary and right hand in all of these matters. It's been significantly more fulfilling work than I care to admit, going back to my roots like this, managing people and assets. Not trading in lives and being subject to deadly danger at every turn has a far greater appeal than engaging in one of my previous interests in the flesh.

I abhor and detest war, no matter how fun war games may be, as a senseless waste of human life and resources.

I went through all of the matters that I was handling for Katarina, one by one, and I came to the conclusion that this could not be the source of my lady's frustration, because she was receiving the scheduled deliveries of pastries at the right time and in the right quantities. 

As any compassionate young lady would, my lady experiences distress when she sees extreme poverty, and while many would usually simply avoid the slums and such, my lady is more the sort who can only get rid of her anxiety and discomfort by actually doing something. The Claes family already supported many an orphanage around its territory, and as such, I could offload my lady's support onto the existing structure.

The Butler was more than happy to coordinate with me, and he even offered his help finding people to run my lady's businesses locally as well as being the source of most of the contacts that I've used for the middle managers and messengers, and he was the one who had the idea to bring Keith in as well.

Keith!

That was an idea.

I moved through the mansion as silent as a ghost, making sure not to alert anyone to my presence. It was a rare chance, with Keith and Katarina's work, that I could have an opportunity to speak with him, but I could always count on a little brother making time for his beloved big sister...'s affairs. In many ways, Lord Keith's crush on my lady is convenient.

I banged on the door to his study and was called in, Young Master Keith sounded tired.

I stepped into the room. Though it was a bit messy, it was undoubtedly the byproduct of a man hard at work. A few minutes of tidying would get it back to pristine condition. I approved of Keith's neatness, he had learned that being sloppy and taking shortcuts at the wrong time would result in punishment.

He still carried the bruises from his lessons, after all.

Despite looking somewhat tired, Keith sobered up when he saw me, closed the ledger he was reading off of, put it aside and immediately faced me. "What did she do this time, Miss Tanya?" he asked, immediately.

I ignored that, stepping up to his desk and bowing as it was proper. "Young Master, I've been tasked with eliminating the factors that frustrate my lady."

I raised my face and saw him pale, eyes going wide. "I- I see, so you're here to-"

"I believe that you, as someone who knows my lady almost as deeply as I do, would be able to help me do so," I said.

"Oh thank god, I thought you were coming to-" Keith suddenly began coughing, and I was by his side in an instant, rubbing circles on his back. For some reason, I had a flash of memory to schmoozing my bosses when I was a salaryman, but I discarded that. Keith had more in common with Rudensdorf and Zettour than he did with my bosses in Japan, for his was the blood of nobility, and in his future I could already see a position of high power and great responsibility. 

Perhaps more Zettour than anything else. He seems the kind who would run a tight ship with dignity and poise.

"What do you mean... frustration?" Keith asked.

"That's what has stymied me," I admitted freely. "I do not quite understand what the task is," I continued, closing my eyes. Perhaps I'm a little more free with Keith than I would be with most others, but I'll chalk it up to the camaraderie that training together as an unit builds. I am not immune to the effects of my own training, after all, I wouldn't be human if I was. 

"Well if I had to guess," Keith mused, mostly recovered by now, "the only thing that really frustrates Katarina is love affairs," he pondered openly. "Seems to be the only thing she can't deal with that you can't solve for her."

"Love... affairs?" I asked, frowning.

She had a fiancé, did she not?

"Yeah. You know, Katarina - we all love her, but she has a hard time because she loves everyone, and doesn't want to make anyone sad," Keith said, sounding as if he was only half speculating, and the rest, speaking from experience. "Well, to be honest, there's a lot of problems from the law side... even if I think Katarina's heart would be big enough for us all," he chuckled, "I guess it's pretty defeatist of me but I'm not so delusional as to think I shouldn't do everything in my power to keep as much of my sister's love as I can."

I hummed.

"I see... so the source of her frustration..."

I understand now.

My lady is frustrated by love matters, because the nature of this land is such that monogamy is the norm and the law, for all but the King. My lady did not wish to be Queen, and I understood, and agreed with, her on that notion. Too much work, and work that was beyond the scope of her abilities, for her genius lay in the social battlefield and not in the administration side of things.

Since she could not be King, for that was the law of the land, and she could not settle her love affairs in a way that didn't result in broken hearts...

"I see," I nodded to myself, "then I will eliminate the source of my lady's frustration."

I left the room, and I think I heard the Young Master calling to me, but I was too busy, already lost in thought. This wouldn't be the first time I've had to deeply study the law and come up with suitable arguments.

Luckily, this time, I have the backing of a very big name noble family, and with any luck, my work will not be used as an excuse to shell civilians this time. Hopefully.

If monogamy enforced by law is the source of my lady's frustrations, then it will be eliminated.