Re: Yukimura Estate, Session 1
The five maids all work at a blistering pace to make the grand hall presentable. The two maids whose uniforms were damaged during the fight with the gray slimes each find a replacement uniform in their room. There is only one replacement uniform, for each maid, so they will have to remember to repair their uniforms in their down time.
With only a few minutes to go before the guests were scheduled to arrive, Fade the Butler appeared amongst them. No maid, no matter how perceptive, had noticed his approach. He was just suddenly there.
"The Master wishes me to convey his compliments to you all for your hard work against this unexpected intrusion to our mansion," the butler said in a voice that was too neutral to itself be praising. "Miss Shiina, the master will want to speak to you privately after the guests are taking their lunch."
(Shiina has already received her favor bonus for her actions. Zehasael, and Ayeka gain 4 favor each. Ariane gains 2 (left the spider webs up in the original guest room) and Kasumi gains 1 favor for her help with the meal.)
The maids then put away their cleaning supplies in a closet and prepare themselves to receive the guests, lining up side by side near the entrance at Fade's instruction.
A minute goes by as they simply stand there, but then, a bell chimes outside. Fade adopts a very statuesque posture and opens the door.
"Good day," he says, "Your letters of invitation, please."
The maids notice Fade take three small parchments and inspect them closely.
"Very good," he said after a small pause. "Please step inside."
Into the main hall stepped three figures. They were each garbed in rich velvet cloaks, one in blue, one in purple, and the last in a rich burgundy. Each figure also wore a mask, and it was mainly be the nature of these masks that the maids were able to discern that the middle figure, the one in the purple cloak, was a woman, for it was a female mask, made of white porcelain with glittering blue details along the eyes and across the mask's cheek. The male in blue wore a plague doctor's mask, identifiable by its long beak like nose that stuck out a foot in front of it. The figure in the burgundy cloak was large and thick, perhaps even portly. Its mask was colored completely in gold and bore the face of what must have been a jovial, cherubic-faced deity.
Between the cloaks and the masks, it was impossible to determine the identities of the guests.
"Please wait here," Fade told the three guests. "I shall inform Master Gomon of your arrival." Fade walked neatly away, past the five maids who stood across from these guests, and walked up the left side staircase and through a door on the upper landing.
Moments later the butler appeared from the doorway and held it open. Out from the door stepped Gomon, and he was holding a leash in his right hand. Attached to that leash was a collar, and wearing that collar was a woman whom four of the five maids had not seen before. The woman was wearing a leather mask that completely surrounded her head. There was a nose hole and a slit for the mouth that could normally be tied up but in this case had been left open. One could not see her eyes for there were blinders over each eye that dramatically narrowed the woman's vision and shadowed her from outside viewing.
Below her neckline, the leashed woman was wearing a leather body suit that covered everything except for her breasts and the bits between her waist and thighs. Her arms were wrapped around a bar that had been placed behind her back, with both her wrists chained to either end, forcing her posture to present her ample bust prominently in front of her. Tiny clamps with small bells attached to them had been attached to either nipple, and they tinkled merrily like a jester's cap with every movement the woman made. She appeared to have some sort of tail attached to her outfit, but it became more apparent as she came down the steps that it was likely to have been the end of some device that had been wedged up her butt. Her strides were extremely short, and this was necessarily so, because her ankles were connected together by a very short chain, forcing her to shuffle and make the bells hanging from her nipples jingle even more. It also forced her to hop down each step, to prevent her from falling. The butler stood behind the woman and caught her several times to prevent a nasty fall.
Both maids and guests looked on in stunned silence as Gomon led the pitiful woman hopping down the stairs. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, the woman resumed her shuffling gait and finally the procession made its way to stand in front of the guests.
"Honored guests," began Gomon in a gentle, yet firm tone. "Please allow me to introduce to you my latest project. This is Toy." He gestured to the woman on the leash. "Toy, kneel down."
The woman, Toy, obeyed awkwardly, her tethered ankles causing her to drop painfully down on her knees with a short thud, her body reeling to try and balance itself without the use of her arms, and then failing, she began to tip over on her side. She whimpered, but refused to call out. Gomon sighed and looked up at the butler. Fade was there in a flash and righted the woman back onto her knees. From this close up, the maids and guests could note the large number of red welts on the woman's breasts, upper thighs, and buttocks. It was likely that the body suit was covering more such marks underneath it.
"Toy, it may interest you to know, is a wealthy member of the nobility, not unlike yourselves," continued Gomon as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. "Toy plotted against me, corrupted those close to me, and intended to expose house secrets to my political enemies. Not to mention, she has with her gossiping tongue, attempted to sully my reputation. Toy, show the nice guests your loose tongue. Mmm? Come on."
A slight pull on her leash caused Toy to flinch and hastily she opened her mouth wide and stuck out her tongue as far as it could go.
"Good girl," Gomon replied, then he returned to addressing the guests. "Now, as you can see, I have taken it upon myself to correct Toy's behavior. She is learning how to keep her eyes to herself and more constructive uses for her tongue. It is a slow process, but I believe Toy and I are coming to a strong understanding. You see, I have no intention of destroying Toy. I could of course ruin her by releasing her identity, but that defeats the lesson doesn't it. My focus is rehabilitation, not destruction. The latter will come only if Toy forces my hand. You see, Toy will be free to leave my estate soon, and in the outside world she is free to call herself by her own name and account herself as the noble that she is. When we meet in public, I address her by her proper station and she, knowing what I could do to her, stays docile and amenable. Decorum is preserved."
Gomon patted Toy's head. The defeated woman was quivering, but stayed silent.
"Now. You three have come to me because you claim to have similar problems. You want certain individuals to receive the sort of training that only I can provide. I am willing to do so, but I want to make one thing clear. This is not slavery. I am not here to make someone disappear. If that was your intent, I must ask you to leave now. If not, please hand in the information I have requested to my butler."
The three guests each took from their robes a wrapped scroll of sealed parchment and handed them in turn to Fade.
"Very well." Gomon said. "I have had a lunch prepared. You will please eat at your leisure while I review your cases. Then after lunch, we will have a relaxing ride through my estate grounds while I discuss the particulars of your arrangements and of course, my fee."
Turning Gomon looked to the maids. Ayeka, Kasumi, Ariane, will you three each lead one of my guests to a separate dining area? One can take the dining room, the other the lounge, and the third can be placed in garden view room, next to the ball room. Zehasael, I've been told you've prepared something delightful for our guests, please see that they are each served and tended to. Shiina, with me please."
With that, Gomon led Toy down the side hall towards the east wing, leaving the individual maids to sort out and greet the guests, then showing them to the assigned eating areas.
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