On a certain day, about three weeks after the Spring Ball Raid, the Luthorburg family was enjoying a post-dinner tea time when Luciana said some words that would change everything.
“Melody, I want to try wearing a maid uniform.”
To Luciana, the maid who wore the a simple black dress under the same white apron and cap always appeared elegant and refined despite the simple wardrobe.
The clothes themselves did not stand out, and yet Luciana could not help but stare, and, since that first day, that first fateful meeting, Luciana had always wanted to try on that same uniform.
Well, to put it simply, it was like how fans would dress like their idols.
And yet, Melody, wearing her ever tender smile, mercilessly quashed that yearning.
“You may not.”
Luciana’s earnest desire crashed into firm denial and fell to pieces.
Her eyes widened in amazement; she never could have imagined that Melody, of all people, would refuse her.
“B-but why..?”
“A maid’s clothes are an exclusive uniform for the all-important role of serving their master. Just as knights require their armor, noble ladies require their dresses, and kings require their crowns, even if my lady desires it, I cannot allow one who is not a maid to wear the uniform. Please give up on this request.”
Melody gave a polite bow to close out her resolution, and Luciana could think of no argument to convince her.
The one who broke the standstill was the head of the household, Hughes Luthorburg.
“Is that right? Then Luciana, the answer should be simple.”
“What do you mean, father?”
“Luciana, you wish to wear a maid uniform. Is that correct?”
“Yes, but…”
“Then, simply become one, become a maid.”
“…Huh?”
Luciana seemed to blank out, unable to process the words she just heard. Did she hear that right? Become a maid?
“How about you try being a maid for just tomorrow, Luciana? Then you will get to wear a maid uniform.”
Hughes wore a huge smile evidently proud of his ingenius plan, but Luciana could only stare back in bewilderment as though questioning the soundness of her father’s mind.
But to add on to her shock, her mother Marianna also agreed with the plan.
“What a wonderful idea, Hughes. I would love to see Luciana all dressed up as a maid. I am sure she would look simply adorable.”
“Of course she will, Marianna. No matter what she wears, our daughter will always be perfectly cute.”
“Oh Hughes, you are such a doting parent, fufufu.”
“I could say the same about you.”
The husband and wife duo gave each other loving smiles, creating a sickeningly-sweet atmosphere. Luciana simply did not know what to think at this point.
“And so that’s how it will be, Melody; starting tomorrow, for just one day, Luciana will be helping you as a fellow maid, so would you lend her a uniform to wear?”
“You would like her to try being a maid? I have no objections to that. I shall do as you asked.”
(Why are things moving along so quickly?! I can barely follow along with what’s going on!)
“Fufufu, I’m quite looking forward to Luciana as our maid. How about you, Hughes?”
“I am looking forward to tomorrow as well, Marianna.”
(Uh, I just… wanted to try on the uniform for fun, but… oh well.)
Seeing her parents so excited left Luciana feeling confused, but Melody’s hopeful expression was enough to motivate her, even if just a little.
And thus the curtains rose on Luciana’s one-day maid experience.
“It is time to wake up, my lady.”
“Good, morning Melody… Ah, it’s still so early…”
Luciana rose from her bed with a loud yawn; she was very clearly still sleepy…
The current time was five-thirty in the morning, an hour early enough that the sun had yet to rise.
“There are many chores that we must get done before the master and madam wake up.”
“Oh I see…”
Due to their financial status, Luciana had helped with chores back in the Luthorburg territory, but waking up this early to do them was a first for her.
“Now then, my lady, I have prepared some of your morning tea. Please have some before we get to work.”
A small tea set sat upon the cart Melody pushed into the room; she picked up a teapot and carefully filled a cup for Luciana to enjoy.
“Thank you for the tea, Melody.”
It was an elegant experience one could only enjoy in the quiet hours of dawn: the ‘Early Morning Tea”.
Enjoying a warm tea having freshly woken like this was an antiquated but still enjoyable custom from England.
And this custom had quickly become a part of Luciana’s daily routine ever since she hired Melody.
The tea she drank was usually milk tea; the leaves used in brewing produced a flavor stronger than the usual black tea, making it a better choice for those just waking up. The addition of milk softened the sharpness and gave a milder flavor to the drink, and Luciana preferred this over the usual straight black tea.
But it seemed that today’s milk tea was also a little different from the usual.
“Today’s tea is tastier than usual. It is a little… stronger? Or is that richer?”
“Yes, that is correct. Today’s morning tea is called ‘Royal Milk Tea’.”
“Oh? That’s a fancy name. The usual tea is still good, but I think I like this one more.”
“Thank you for your kind words.”
Despite being called “royal milk tea”, the drink itself was actually of Japanese origin meant to evoke the aesthetic of the old British Empire. In English, it was better known as “stewed tea”.
And while making regular milk tea was as simple as adding milk to black tea, royal milk tea required a different process.
First, the water and milk should be heated in separate pans; just before the water comes to a boil, the tea leaves are added to steep but the water should be kept from boiling. The milk is then added, and the finished drink should be strained into a warm teapot for serving. The key point here is to stop the water from boiling during steeping; should that happen, the tea would become much too bitter, so controlling the temperature was most important.
“Hmm. Melody, I know you said the taste of tea would change depending on how it is brewed, but I didn’t know there were different ways of making milk tea, too.
“If you would prefer it, shall I make this your preferred tea from now on?”
“Let’s see… It would be better if I enjoyed it only once in a while. A luxurious tea like this would lose its charm if I drink it too often.”
By now Luciana was fully awake, and she smiled pleasantly at Melody.
“Understood. Now let us get you changed so we can get started with our tasks.”
“Ah, that’s right!”
Luciana’s face lit with excitement; she would finally be wearing a maid uniform! But…
“Huh..? These clothes, they look a little different compared to yours, Melody…”
Melody had taken out a floral-patterened dress; it looked to be of slightly lower quality compared to Melody’s usual outfit.
“My lady shall be handling the everyday chores as a housemaid today. This particular uniform is specifically for morning housekeeping duties.”
Maid duties usually fell under one of two main categories: “housekeeping” and “cooking”. Cooking was self-explanatory, but housekeeping ranged from laundry work to attending to the master’s needs in addition to general cleaning.
Because cooking and cleaning were both troublesome, it was actually quite common for rich merchants and well-off middle-class families to hire maids to handle the chores; in particular, they would pick out housemaids to handle general cleaning.
“A housemaid, is it… Are the uniforms different between morning and afternoon?”
“We will mostly be cleaning the house in the morning, so these clothes will become dirty, and you will be able to change into the clean clothes later.”
“Oh, so that’s how it is. Wait, but Melody, aren’t you still wearing your usual outfit?”
“That is correct. I should not be wearing my work clothes in front of my lady, so this time, I will continue wearing the same uniform as usual.”
While a housemaid’s primary role was in managing the cleaning, there was another important role they served.
After completing their morning cleaning duties, a housemaid took on the responsibilities as their master’s “attendant”. In this role, the housemaid was responsible for serving the morning tea as well as preparing water for their master to drink and to wash, including drawing hot water for a bath. With these two sets of responsibilities in mind, a housemaid’s morning tasks were quite numerous in total.
It would be unacceptable for a housemaid to wear dirty clothes while serving their master, which was why they should have two uniforms available: one for cleaning and one for attending.
“The uniform you will be wearing is made from a cheaper fabric I purchased from a tailor in the capital. I have also prepared a matching apron and cap to go with it.”
The outfit Melody handed over was very simply made, resembling a commoner’s outfit that prioritized ease of washing over appearance. The apron and cap were also different from Melody’s own, and both looked rough in design; the cloth was brown instead of white, perhaps to hide stains, while the material… was probably linen.
“This doesn’t look very cute…”
“It will look cute once my lady puts it on. Now, it is time to get you changed. Please allow me to assist.”
Melody held out her hands, intending to help her change clothes, but Luciana slowly shook her head to refuse.
“Thank you Melody, but today I will have to change by myself. I am a maid today, after all.”
“You… are right, I understand. Then I shall be off to my room to get changed. Once you have changed, please wait here until I return.”
Once Melody left the room, Luciana quickly changes into the clothes for cleaning. Since she used to change on her own in the Luthorburg territory, Luciana had little trouble putting on the uniform.
Luciana was checking her appearance in the mirror when Melody returned.
“Oh my. It was just as I thought, the uniform suits my lady quite well.”
“I-is that so? Thanks…”
Melody seemed to be enjoyingi herself, but Luciana could only give a cautious smile; Luciana was unsure if she should be happy hearing a cleaning uniform suited her.
But seeing as Melody was as lovely as ever despite wearing the same clothes, Luciana took her maid’s words as a compliment.
“Now then, my lady, although it will only be today, starting from now you shall be a maid of this house. During this time, we shall be fellow maids, so I will be addressing you as “Miss Luciana” instead of “my lady.” With that said, Miss Luciana, please strive to become the best maid you can be.”
“Understood, Miss Melody! I will do my best!”
“Very good. Then let us get to work.”
The time was six o’clock, and Luciana’s maid experience had finally begun.
“We shall be waking the master at eight o’clock. We have from now until then to complete our morning tasks.”
“What exactly will we be doing?”
“First, we shall start by tidying up the master’s living space.”
It was a fundamental rule for a maid to remain unseen while doing the cleaning; to that end, it was paramount that a housemaid finish their tasks before the master woke up.
And so there were quite a few rooms that required quick cleaning: the dining room for breakfast, the reading room, the parlor, and any other locations the master may use in the morning.
“Then, once the indoor cleaning is done, we shall sweep the front yard before preparing breakfast and tea for when the master wakes.”
“We will… be doing all of that now? In the two hours between now and eight o’clock?”
“That is correct.”
“…”
Luciana had no reply.
“…Is something the matter, Miss Luciana?”
“Do you do this every day, Me– Miss Melody?”
“Hm? Why yes, of course.”
Melody tilted her head with slight confusion, as though she did not understand the question, and Luciana forced herself not to grimace from the answer…. Are you for real right now, Miss Melody?
In any case, they would first start in the dining room. The two drew back the curtains and opened the windows as they began cleaning.
“Miss Melody, what is it that you are carrying?”
Melody was holding a wooden box by its handle.
“This is my housemaid box. I use it as a storage space for my cleaning tools. Everything we will need for our morning tasks is in here, so feel free to take what you need from it, Miss Luciana.”
Melody seemed a little happier than usual as she proudly presented her box.
“Oh I see. So where do we begin? Will you be teaching me how to clean?”
“Of course. Let us start with the fireplace.”
“The fireplace?! Do we really need to do anything there?”
“It can get quite cold in the morning even though it is already spring, so by lighting the fireplace, we can warm up the dining room in time for breakfast.”
Luciana had never given it prior thought, but she realized now that the dining room had always been warm during breakfast. Once again, Melody’s careful thoughtfulness had shown up to surprise her.
“Now let us get started.”
First they checked for residual soot and fuel; a large enough build-up could catch fire. Next, they used brushes the sweep away the loose ashes and dust on the fireplace itself. Finally, they would carefully polished the fireplace all over; this was the most troublestome step as the different parts making up the fireplace each required different cleaning methods and items. Thankfully, everything was inside Melody’s box as she said, and the cleaning proceeded quite smoothly under her careful supervision.
The grate was more troublesome in particular; since it held the coals and wood fuel, it accumulated much more debris, and each segment required individual cleaning and polishing. Overall it was a very time-consuming chore..
With the fireplace cleaned, they could start a fire and begin warming the room. From here they would begin cleaning the room itself; rooms with fireplaces would require a more thorough dusting because of the residual dust and soot from cleaning the fireplace.
“Miss Luciana, I have finished with cleaning every room other than the dining room.”
Melody left cleaning the dining room to Luciana and went to handle the other rooms, but she returned to discover Luciana on the ground, on all floors and gasping for breath.
“Are you all right, Miss Luciana?!”
“I also… just finished… cleaning… the dining room…”
“How about we take a short break?”
Melody sat Luciana down on a nearby chair, giving her a moment to catch her breath. The clock above the fireplace was pointing to the seven; it had taken Luciana a whole hour just to clean the dining room.
“I’m sorry, Miss Melody. I wasn’t helpful at all…”
They still had numerous chores to finish, and yet half of their available time was already gone; despite doubling their worker count, the cleaning had become far less efficient.
Having gotten used to the taste of success recently, Luciana found herself in overwhelmed upon discovering she could barely handle this one task.
But Melody simply giggled at the downcast Luciana.
“Fufufu, oh Miss Luciana, this is your first day as a trainee maid, after all. Not to be mean, but being able to only do this much was within my expectations.”
“Ugh…”
Though Luciana suspected Melody already predicted this, it still stung to hear it confirmed.
And then Melody began explaining.
“But what’s most important for a trainee is having a sincere heart. How well and how fast you work will improve with time and experience, but the truly difficult tasks will test your character. And when it comes to character… I sincerely believe Miss Luciana would make a wonderful maid.”
Melody carefully looked over the room; while results were quite unsatisfactory, she could tell Luciana had genuinely devoted herself to the cleaning, and having that mindset deserved a passing grade.
“A-are you sure?”
“Do you think I would lie about something if it involves maids, Miss Luciana?”
“That… is true. Miss Melody would never lie or make a compromise where maid work is involved.”
Color returned to Luciana’s cheeks; Melody’s encouragement seemed to have uplifted her.
“Although we will fall further behind if you are already this dirty.”
“Huh? Oh, I see.”
Ash and soot from the fireplace had covered Luciana’s uniform in dark spots, and if she continued working like this, she would only spread a further mess instead of cleaning.
“Do you have a change of clothes available, Miss Melody?”
“I do, and normally we would get you changed, but since we do not have much time today, we shall do this instead. No matter the time, panic not and be cleansed, Emergency Laundering.”
“Huh? Kya?!”
Light flowed out from Melody’s hand and quickly covered an unsuspected Luciana in gentle motes. After a moment, each sphere burst like a soap bubble, and Luciana emerged, her dress now as clean as it had been when she first put it on.
“Wow, how amazing… Thank you.”
This was magic Melody developed in case of emergencies where her master’s clothes became soiled during an outing, but it was proving to be far more effective than conventional laundry specialists.
“We shall be going outside for the next task.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Having finished cleaning the interior of the mansion, they would next handle the front exterior of the mansion. As the face of the residence, this would be what visitors saw first, so it was of absolute importance to keep the area tidy and clean; after all, no self-respecting noble would want to greet their guests with an unclean front.
And of course, this was an important area for showing off “the maids that work for this House”.
“Miss Me-Melody, m-may I put on some he-heavier clothing? It is a little c-cold…”
“You may not. Please bear with it.”
Any maid working in front of the mansion represented the household in all but name; for them to even consider wearing anything but a uniform was a disgrace to the role.
What mattered most as a maid was not functionality… it was aesthetics. Trading functionality for aesthetics was their creed, and such an insignificant chill meant nothing in the face of Melody’s blazing passion.
And so Luciana went about cleaning per Melody’s instructions, starting with the door and polishing the brass knob and knocker before moving on to the mail slot and keyhole.
Next she swept up the dust and dirt from the stairs leading to the entrance and drew some water from the well. With the water and a chunk of pumice, she then began polishing the stairs. It was all rather simple-sounding, but everything was actually quite laborious overall.
“The water is cold, this wind is cold, my thighs hurt, my back hurts, everything just hurts, and the water is cold…”
“Miss Luciana, why are you repeating your words?! Please get it together! We are almost finished!”
With Melody cheering her on, Luciana was able to finish cleaning her area, and with that, their morning housekeeping duties have ended.
Now all that remained was preparing breakfast and serving early morning tea to Hughes and Marianna.
“Here is some hot water to warm you up, Miss Luciana.”
“Ah, ahh… Thank you, Me– Miss Melody.”
They had returned to the kitchen when, seeing Luciana had suffered quite badly from the cold, Melody offered her a warm drink to relax with.
Normally, they should not relax like this while working, but Melody allowed it because Luciana was simply a young noble lady trying out being a maid… The responsibilities of a maid were truly neverending.
The stove was already alight when they arrived in the warm kitchen. Now basking in the heat and finished from the hot water, Luciana let out a relieved sigh.
As a side note, one of Melody’s clones had already been preparing breakfast; since she would be supervising Luciana all day, Melody left the kitchen duties to this clone.
The clock in the kitchen showed the time was a quarter to eight; they had cut it close but still managed to finish the chores in time.
“Is your body feeling better now, Miss Luciana?”
“Yep, I’m all better now. Thank you for looking out for me.”
“It was nothing at all. In fact, our pace may have been too fast, so it is my fault. This was your first day as a maid, and I may have unintentionally pushed you a little too hard. I must apologize.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. Because we worked so hard, I understand even better just how hard you have to work every day, Miss Melody. I think today has been a good lesson for us both.”
“…That is very kind of you to say.”
The two turned to face each other, giggling.
“And now, we are finally at the moment you have been waiting for, Miss Luciana.”
“‘What I have been waiting for’? Does that mean…”
“Without further ado, let us get you changed.”
Suddenly in Melody’s hands was a familiar black dress: the maid uniform Luciana had wished to wear.
“Oh, hurray! It’s finally time to wear it!”
Luciana held the clothes in hand, her eyes sparkling; this was the uniform she wanted, the one for attendant duties!
“Fufufu… Will you need help with changing?”
“Not at all! I’m still a maid for the day, after all. I’ll go and get changed right away!”
Luciana quickly left for her room and returned after a few short minutes wearing her new uniform.
“Oh my, Miss Luciana, that uniform suits you very well.”
“D-do you think so? Ehehe… Thanks…”
Luciana gave an embarassed giggle, her cheeks blushing. She appeared more bashful than usual, carefully twirling with her fingers a braid hanging to her shoulder.
“Oh, and it seems you braided your hair as well?”
“Um, yeah… But it was a little hard to tie it like yours, so…”
“It looks very cute nonetheless.”
“Oh, stop, it’s a little embarassing…”
Luciana buried her face in her hands to hide her shyness. This was, after all, the first time she tied her hair up in a braid, so while she was ecstatic to receive praise, Luciana was also unused to receiving such compliment in the first place.
“Fufufu… And now I got to see a new side to Miss Luciana’s lovely appearance. Today has been a truly wonderful day of nothing but good things since the morning.”
Luciana, her face still in her hands, suddenly looked up in response to Melody’s words.
“‘Nothing but good things’..? But what about the chores? Haven’t I been causing a lot of trouble for you?”
“No, not at all. The truth is, I was looking forward to this since last night.”
“Looking forward to what?”
Luciana could hardly understand what Melody was felling, after all, all Luciana had done was unreasonably demand a maid uniform to wear the previous night and then cause Melody to waste time having to supervise her as they went about completing morning chores. In fact, Luciana was the reason why Melody needed a clone to assist in finishing breakfast preparations on time.
In retrospect, Melody had spent so much of her time this morning simply watching over Luciana, so what could she have been possibly looking forward to?
But in complete contrast to Luciana’s confusion, Melody simply replies in delight as her cheeks reddened.
“Why, because even if only for a day, I would get to work alongside a coworker! There is no way I would not be happy about it. I was so excited to be instructing someone for the first time about maid duties. And best of all, it was my lady who would be with me. How could I not enjoy this?”
Though Melody originally chose to be an all-works maid because she wanted to handle every chore herself, this and that matter were two different situations.
What she wished for was to experience working alongside a coworker.
Under regular circumstances, a household employed a head maid with various employees under her: the housemaids, the parlor maids, the nursemaids, the chef, the kitchen maids, the scullery maids, and all the other mansion workers.
And today was the day Melody experienced a part of that, and the experience filled her with more joy than she expected.
That was why this current Melody is full of gratitude for Luciana.
“The day has just begun, but I still wanted to thank you for everything, my lady… oh, that is not right. Rather, thank you so much, Miss Luciana.”
“…?!”
(Wha-wha-what’s with this maid of mine?! She’s just way too cute!!)
Her smile shone like that of a bashful, lovestruck maiden; there was a loveliness and charm to Melody that could even transcend the gender barrier, as though she were the heroine of a story. Luciana, despite sharing the same gender, was too starstruck and quickly turned to look away from the alluring visage before her.
In this one day, Luciana had blushed with embarassment far more than ever before.
“Um, Miss Luciana, is something wrong?”
“Huh..? Oh, uh, no, nothing’s wrong, no need to worry.”
Luciana desperately tried to hide her embarassment by waving her arms about her in panic. Try as she might to calm herself, the heat in her cheeks simply would not go away.. and that was when it happened.
“The tea for master and madam is ready to serve.”
Melody’s clone wheeled in the cart holding everything for the Luthorburg couple’s early morning tea.
“Well, looks like it is time for early morning tea, Miss Luciana. But before we get started –“
“Understood! I will bring this to them right away!”
“Um… before you do that, there is something…”
“I’ll be fine! I just have to do what you do for me every morning!”
“No, that is not what I mean… Huh? Miss Luciana?! Please wait a moment! You mustn’t..!”
Perhaps she was doing her best to hide her embarassment, but Luciana simply did not heed Melody’s warning as she took the cart and hurried over to the master bedroom like a rabbit sensing danger.
Meanwhile, Melody was slow in reacting to Luciana’s sudden flight, and while magic may have been enough to stop Luciana, Melody was not quite calm enough to consider her options.
Instead, she panickedly chased after Luciana.
“My lady, please wait! You must not go any further! Please listen to what I am saying! Before you enter the bedroom, you must knock, and then –“
But it was far too late; Melody could hear the sound of Luciana knocking on a door just ahead of her.
“Father, mother, please excuse my intrusion!”
“– you must wait for the response before entering, otherwise –“
“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!”
The volume behind the girl’s scream seemed to send tremors across the mansion.
“Wha..?! Lu-Luciana?! Why did you enter before I could ans–“
“Fa-father and mother are.. ahh… What are you two doing this early in the day?! Wait, father, no, don’t just get up! Noooo, stay awaaaaay!”
Bonk!
The satisfying sound of a harisen making impact followed Luciana’s cries, but… from where exactly did she pull it out from?
“Aaaaaaaaugh!”
“Hughes, oh nooo!”
Melody finally arrived at the master bedroom, but, seeing the carnage before her, she could only slump her shoulders in resignation.
“I was too slow…”
There was an unspoken rule regarding entering the master bedroom: after knocking on the door but before entering the bedroom in the morning, one should not to enter before the couple inside indicated to do so.
This was because the Luthorburg couple was, well, still very intimate; they have been married for fifteen years, and yet their passion was still like that of newlyweds.
It was a mystery why Luciana was still an only child, but it was good that the Luthorburg couple were still so intimate. Even so, none of this was appropriate for an innocent, fifteen-year-old maiden to see.
And unfortunately, this eight o’clock morning call marked the abrupt end of Luciana’s one-day maid experience.
“How am I supposed to go on after seeing something like that?!”
It had simply become too awkward for her to continue being a maid.
Several days later…
“Melody, from now on, please don’t wash my clothes together with father’s.”
“Lu-Luciana?!”
It would take some time before their father-daughter relationship returned to normal.
Headcanon TL 
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