Volume 1 - CH 1.12
Hell, it was unheard of for her to EVER sleep in like that before. So today was truly an unprecedented event. Or it should actually be called an earth-shattering event.
Even for Edinburgh, who was always living in the very same room as Belfast, it was her first time waking up and seeing Belfast somewhere else than in the kitchen, right in the middle of her morning routine. So even when she happened to wake up earlier today, she had no idea that Belfast was still sleeping in her bed because she naturally assumed that she was already down in the kitchen. And even when she did not see her in the kitchen, the first real though that occurred in her head was simply: maybe she’s just off to somewhere, cleaning?
At the kitchen table there were already things prepared with which the breakfast could be made, which had probably been done by the Head Maid the day before. So, even if Edinburgh was by herself, the breakfast could be splendidly completed on time, and there would be no other problems to deal with or anything that could be considered out of the ordinary in particular.
However, today was an entirely different story. Because today Belfast was still unaccounted for even after everyone else was done with their breakfast, and what was even more outrageous, she even completely ditched her most important duty of the entire morning, which was waking Her Majesty up.
At the current moment Edinburgh thought that even the world’s entire ecosystem might be in jeopardy. Because if Belfast happened to sleep in, it would not be all that improbable for snow to start falling down in the middle of spring.
[Wake up! Bel!! WAKE!!! THE!!! BLOODY!!! HELL!! UP!!! Ahahahaha!!!]
When Elizabeth finally started laughing in a sincere and happy way, Edinburgh went up to the bunk bed and called out to Belfast.
[Hey, Bel, what’s wrong? Could it be that you’re not feeling too well? Does your stomach hurt? Have you eaten something funny?]
It was at that time that Belfast’s bed suddenly started to shake and sway.
The shape underneath the sheets began to swell more and more, and before long, unable to hide the figure of the person who had been underneath it this whole time, Belfast rolled to her side and fell from under the sheets right on top of the bed.
Both Edinburgh and Elizabeth were left at a loss for words once they witnessed Belfast’s appearance.
Because Belfast, who had just so happened to wake up, was wearing her staple and traditional maid outfit.
Then, Belfast slowly turned around towards Edinburgh and Elizabeth and,
[I happened to oversleep. I am most terribly sorry about that.]
And then she made a very blunt apology just like that, as if it was the most natural thing in the entire world to do in a situation like this one.
But no matter how one would choose to look at this entire situation, it was not something where a mere and simple apology would be enough to consider the matter settled.
There was also the matter of Belfast’s gaze. Her eyes were the eyes of someone who could see their conversation partner perfectly well. It’s not that she had to squint them or try really hard to actually see the ones right in front of her. It was the direct gaze of someone who had been accustomed to the morning sunlight for at least several hours at the current moment.
Sure, her hair were in a slight disarray, but it was just that. It was a far cry from a jumbled mess that could usually be described as a “bed hair”. The reason why Belfast’s hair were like that was undoubtedly caused by her lying flat on the pillow for a while now, but aside from that they looked really neat and well-kept.
[Say, Bel? …… I don’t really want to think that it was the case here, but could it be that you were actually awake this whole time?]
Hearing what Edinburgh asked her just now, Belfast was looking seriously dumbfounded.
–––––– It was the kind of look that seemed to be asking “How? How did you figure this one out”?
The current time was more or less 9:30 am, but truth to be told, Belfast was already well awake for the past five hours or so. She performed her daily routine of opening the kitchen window, feeding the birds their beloved breadcrumbs, and preparing the ingredients for breakfast so that whoever would appear in the kitchen first would be able to make it right away without much issues.
But there was actually a reason as to why she went back to her room and continued to lay inside of her bed all this time.
–––––– It was all so that she could become as close to how her Sister was as possible. By doing so, she thought that she would be able to see something that she was unable to see all this time, that some sort of new world would open itself up before her.
In other words, this was all the result of her peculiar competitive spirit turning her mind into a very weird and peculiar direction.
But even so, Belfast was unable to comprehend what just happened here. How could Edinburgh have caught on her strategy so quickly? Especially since she made sure to emulate her sister’s behavior as perfectly as she possibly could, especially the part where she would oversleep every now and then?
[Bel, be honest. It’s just like Edi have said, isn’t that right? You were awake all this time, but you were just pretending to be asleep, correct?]
Elizabeth’s cheeks puffed up in anger when she said those words.
For a moment out there both Elizabeth and Edinburgh thought that maybe there would be some sort of a twist to this story, but unfortunately, Belfast could only nod her head silently, her expression looking really sad.
And unfortunately that fact also became an additional fuel that only made Elizabeth’s flames of anger grow even stronger, especially since she has already managed to see through Belfast’s lies quite easily.
[Both Bel and Edi! You are to report to my private quarters right this instant! Especially you, Bel! I won’t tolerate you messing with me and doing whatever you like!]
Saying that, Elizabeth stomped her tiny feet against the ground and she left the room almost as suddenly as she stormed her way in.
Edinburgh, who was left behind, was looking at Belfast and at the entrance door alternately while clearly being flustered and not knowing what to do.
[W-What’s wrong, Bel? You are acting really weird today, you know……?]
[……………]
But even in light of those words, Belfast made little to no attempt at answering that question.
But since matters have already went so far, there was no longer anything for her to lose here. So she was not going to hesitate and she would even directly address her sister about it if that’s what it would take for her to arrive at her goal.
And so, thinking that it was the only way for her to be able to properly recreate the taste of that afternoon tea, she Belfast got out of the bed in one swift motion.
And once she did that, all of a sudden she turned towards Edinburgh, the look on her face being as serious as ever.
[Nee-san, I would like to ask you for a favor, if that is alright with you.]
* * *
When both Edinburgh-Class sisters came to Queen Elizabeth’s private quarters just like they were told, the shipgirl in question was standing under the extravagant chandelier, her back turned towards the two maids. She then went forward towards her dresser and started to rummage through its contents.
[Alright, wait just a minute…… I’m pretty sure that it was somewhere in here ––––– Aha! There it is! Just what I was looking for!]
While letting out a happy shout, Elizabeth took something out of the dresser and turned her face towards Belfast and Edinburgh.
However, as soon as Elizabeth saw Belfast’s face, her expression turned really cloudy.
[Is something the matter, Your Highness?]
[Bel? Why are you wearing those glasses now?]
True to Elizabeth’s words, Belfast wore glasses on her nose, a spare ones that she happened to borrow from Edinburgh.
In order to reach her ultimate goal, Belfast thought it would be necessary for her to look at the same scenery in the same way as her sister does. But when she looked at the scenery in front of her, it was all wobbly and everything was shaking and shifting all the time, a sensation that made Belfast’s head spin.
However, she couldn’t just give up so soon, thinking that this was the world that Edinburgh was looking at every single day. So she stood her ground firmly, trying to keep her head down while trying to act in accordance with Elizabeth’s wishes.
Even for Edinburgh, who was always living in the very same room as Belfast, it was her first time waking up and seeing Belfast somewhere else than in the kitchen, right in the middle of her morning routine. So even when she happened to wake up earlier today, she had no idea that Belfast was still sleeping in her bed because she naturally assumed that she was already down in the kitchen. And even when she did not see her in the kitchen, the first real though that occurred in her head was simply: maybe she’s just off to somewhere, cleaning?
At the kitchen table there were already things prepared with which the breakfast could be made, which had probably been done by the Head Maid the day before. So, even if Edinburgh was by herself, the breakfast could be splendidly completed on time, and there would be no other problems to deal with or anything that could be considered out of the ordinary in particular.
However, today was an entirely different story. Because today Belfast was still unaccounted for even after everyone else was done with their breakfast, and what was even more outrageous, she even completely ditched her most important duty of the entire morning, which was waking Her Majesty up.
At the current moment Edinburgh thought that even the world’s entire ecosystem might be in jeopardy. Because if Belfast happened to sleep in, it would not be all that improbable for snow to start falling down in the middle of spring.
[Wake up! Bel!! WAKE!!! THE!!! BLOODY!!! HELL!! UP!!! Ahahahaha!!!]
When Elizabeth finally started laughing in a sincere and happy way, Edinburgh went up to the bunk bed and called out to Belfast.
[Hey, Bel, what’s wrong? Could it be that you’re not feeling too well? Does your stomach hurt? Have you eaten something funny?]
It was at that time that Belfast’s bed suddenly started to shake and sway.
The shape underneath the sheets began to swell more and more, and before long, unable to hide the figure of the person who had been underneath it this whole time, Belfast rolled to her side and fell from under the sheets right on top of the bed.
Both Edinburgh and Elizabeth were left at a loss for words once they witnessed Belfast’s appearance.
Because Belfast, who had just so happened to wake up, was wearing her staple and traditional maid outfit.
Then, Belfast slowly turned around towards Edinburgh and Elizabeth and,
[I happened to oversleep. I am most terribly sorry about that.]
And then she made a very blunt apology just like that, as if it was the most natural thing in the entire world to do in a situation like this one.
But no matter how one would choose to look at this entire situation, it was not something where a mere and simple apology would be enough to consider the matter settled.
There was also the matter of Belfast’s gaze. Her eyes were the eyes of someone who could see their conversation partner perfectly well. It’s not that she had to squint them or try really hard to actually see the ones right in front of her. It was the direct gaze of someone who had been accustomed to the morning sunlight for at least several hours at the current moment.
Sure, her hair were in a slight disarray, but it was just that. It was a far cry from a jumbled mess that could usually be described as a “bed hair”. The reason why Belfast’s hair were like that was undoubtedly caused by her lying flat on the pillow for a while now, but aside from that they looked really neat and well-kept.
[Say, Bel? …… I don’t really want to think that it was the case here, but could it be that you were actually awake this whole time?]
Hearing what Edinburgh asked her just now, Belfast was looking seriously dumbfounded.
–––––– It was the kind of look that seemed to be asking “How? How did you figure this one out”?
The current time was more or less 9:30 am, but truth to be told, Belfast was already well awake for the past five hours or so. She performed her daily routine of opening the kitchen window, feeding the birds their beloved breadcrumbs, and preparing the ingredients for breakfast so that whoever would appear in the kitchen first would be able to make it right away without much issues.
But there was actually a reason as to why she went back to her room and continued to lay inside of her bed all this time.
–––––– It was all so that she could become as close to how her Sister was as possible. By doing so, she thought that she would be able to see something that she was unable to see all this time, that some sort of new world would open itself up before her.
In other words, this was all the result of her peculiar competitive spirit turning her mind into a very weird and peculiar direction.
But even so, Belfast was unable to comprehend what just happened here. How could Edinburgh have caught on her strategy so quickly? Especially since she made sure to emulate her sister’s behavior as perfectly as she possibly could, especially the part where she would oversleep every now and then?
[Bel, be honest. It’s just like Edi have said, isn’t that right? You were awake all this time, but you were just pretending to be asleep, correct?]
Elizabeth’s cheeks puffed up in anger when she said those words.
For a moment out there both Elizabeth and Edinburgh thought that maybe there would be some sort of a twist to this story, but unfortunately, Belfast could only nod her head silently, her expression looking really sad.
And unfortunately that fact also became an additional fuel that only made Elizabeth’s flames of anger grow even stronger, especially since she has already managed to see through Belfast’s lies quite easily.
[Both Bel and Edi! You are to report to my private quarters right this instant! Especially you, Bel! I won’t tolerate you messing with me and doing whatever you like!]
Saying that, Elizabeth stomped her tiny feet against the ground and she left the room almost as suddenly as she stormed her way in.
Edinburgh, who was left behind, was looking at Belfast and at the entrance door alternately while clearly being flustered and not knowing what to do.
[W-What’s wrong, Bel? You are acting really weird today, you know……?]
[……………]
But even in light of those words, Belfast made little to no attempt at answering that question.
But since matters have already went so far, there was no longer anything for her to lose here. So she was not going to hesitate and she would even directly address her sister about it if that’s what it would take for her to arrive at her goal.
And so, thinking that it was the only way for her to be able to properly recreate the taste of that afternoon tea, she Belfast got out of the bed in one swift motion.
And once she did that, all of a sudden she turned towards Edinburgh, the look on her face being as serious as ever.
[Nee-san, I would like to ask you for a favor, if that is alright with you.]
* * *
When both Edinburgh-Class sisters came to Queen Elizabeth’s private quarters just like they were told, the shipgirl in question was standing under the extravagant chandelier, her back turned towards the two maids. She then went forward towards her dresser and started to rummage through its contents.
[Alright, wait just a minute…… I’m pretty sure that it was somewhere in here ––––– Aha! There it is! Just what I was looking for!]
While letting out a happy shout, Elizabeth took something out of the dresser and turned her face towards Belfast and Edinburgh.
However, as soon as Elizabeth saw Belfast’s face, her expression turned really cloudy.
[Is something the matter, Your Highness?]
[Bel? Why are you wearing those glasses now?]
True to Elizabeth’s words, Belfast wore glasses on her nose, a spare ones that she happened to borrow from Edinburgh.
In order to reach her ultimate goal, Belfast thought it would be necessary for her to look at the same scenery in the same way as her sister does. But when she looked at the scenery in front of her, it was all wobbly and everything was shaking and shifting all the time, a sensation that made Belfast’s head spin.
However, she couldn’t just give up so soon, thinking that this was the world that Edinburgh was looking at every single day. So she stood her ground firmly, trying to keep her head down while trying to act in accordance with Elizabeth’s wishes.
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