The doctors around the city announced that we were being assaulted by a fierce epidemic. This was devastating news to those living in comfort, but ask anybody living on the streets and they would have told you that a week ago, when the bodies began appearing in the alleyways. Yuka's father passed away the day after she gave me the names. Melancholy hit her hard and left her fast. She did not want to talk about it, but she did give me one more woman that had allegedly had relations with Kaito Taro.
I had been having no luck with these names. Almost every woman I sought out was either mourning from a loss thanks to the epidemic or curtly adamant on denying my allegations. A few of them were dead before or after I met them, including the hospitalized Meiko.
That new name given to me by Yuka had been haunting me since I received it one day ago. I hadn't the courage to face her at first, but now that the cruel emptiness of my life had eaten away the majority of my days and nights, I knew that facing this woman would not kill me before the epidemic did.
The backdoor of the Kagamine's palace was just ahead. A multitude of servants were up and about at this late morning hour, hauling canvas bags full of food, harnessing disgruntled horses, sneaking in a smoke before they were dragged to their next duty. All these people working and serving one family and their guests, it was strange. However, I did not come here to be astonished. My eyes scanned the crowd until they fell upon the lady's maid with the petite frame and the pink glittering hair I had been acquainted with before. She was leaning against a wall and chatting fervently to a maid girl who was assumedly her friend. I slowly crept out of the shadows.
Gakupo told me once that if I strode confidently then no one would notice I was not supposed to be there. The old moron was wrong. As I made my way toward Teto, the other servants of the household grew quiet. They tended to pair up, exchanging a whisper or two. The hierarchy among the bottommost class seemed so trivial to me, but even footmen and maids had their pride.
When Teto laid eyes upon my familiar form, her body grew rigid as she marched straight for me, grabbed my arm, and pulled me to the door and into the servant's hall. Her face was red with fury and sharp words escaped her like the blade of a knife.
"What has gone through your incompetent head, Hidari? Showing up here in broad daylight—showing up here at all! My lady was magnanimous enough to clean you up and take you to a ball, and you repay her with threatening her reputation? Why on God's green Earth are you here?"
"I have to talk to Luka Megurine about something personal," I answered.
"Countess Megurine, you mean? What personal matters, pray tell, do you have with her?"
"I can't say. It's personal."
"If this is about Master Len, I suggest you stop right now and walk away before you get yourself into trouble."
"It's not about Len!" I snapped. "It's not like I want to be here, but a friend of mine asked a favor of me and I am not in the position to refuse. Countess Megurine has been a part of something not so flattering, and if you don't want that to get out, I suggest you lead me to wherever she is."
"Know your place, Hidari!" Teto spoke as if the wind was knocked out of her. "However…is it really a scandal?"
"A horrid one. I don't think she could survive it. Another woman fell into the same trap, and she was left ruined. She died alone in a hospital just the other day."
She let out a shaky breath. "I cannot allow my Lady's family to get involved in this. If I do bring you to her, do you promise to cleanse it from your mind and never speak of it again?"
"I promise."
"Does anyone else know of this?"
"Only one. Eventually, two. They will never talk."
"So be it. Come with me and cover that dreadfully filthy hair up with your hood. Your face is surprisingly clean. I wish you were not wearing those rags, but there is nothing to be done. Follow."
I tailed Teto as she snuck me through endless halls and rooms. Even though the number of people in the building was considerably less than the night of the party, servants and guests alike still prowled around the floors like wolves. I was the lamb, and Teto was the unenthusiastic shepherd.
Luka's room was adjacent to Rin's. When we made it to the intimidating doors, Teto whispered, "You have fifteen minutes at the maximum. I might be late coming back up here to smuggle you back out."
"Thank you. I'll keep my word," I said.
"I suspect you will. Remember that I know where you live." She turned and strode away without another word.
I straightened my spine, pulled back my shoulders, and knocked on the mahogany wood door before me. The affronted voice of a woman told me to come in. Make it quick, she said.
Her room was painted with the same extravagance as the rest of the house, but with a little extra pink strewn about. I ignored it all with the demeanor of someone who had seen a dozen castles before or just plain didn't care. I don't think I did when it came down to it. What I did care about was the Countess, laying out on pink leather, camel back sofa, facing me with a critical gaze which unflinchingly scanned my entire being. She did not speak.
"Sorry to barge in on you, Countess," I told her.
"If you were truly sorry, you would get on with it and tell me your name and business here, little girl."
I caught my tongue before it could snap back. "My name is of no importance. I am here to ask you about a man named Kaito Taro."
"How did you get in here?"
"I was let in like anyone else. Do you know a Kaito Taro?"
"We are the briefest of acquaintances."
"Really? I have a source who says otherwise."
"What are you insinuating?"
"I insinuate nothing. I just look at the sources and the evidence." I did not know why, but looking at this woman sucked the emotions right out of me and replaced them with a coldness rivaled by the dead. She is the one who was going to marry Len and yet she is lustful enough to fall into an affair with a married man! It was stupid and selfish and possibly detrimental to the reputation of not only her but the Kagamines as well. Not that I felt any duty toward the Kagamine family. Oh, this was all too weird. All these people, why did they draw out of me a well of emotion or lack thereof like they have influenced me all my life? I had felt this several times before, however, when I first met Gakupo, Miku, and Gumi. Maybe even Yuka.
"There is no evidence of anything."
"Are you positive?"
"For God's sake, stop speaking so dispassionately. You are obviously not a police officer. You have no right to interrogate me!"
"I have evidence that you and Kaito Taro have been in a promiscuous relationship. There is no use denying it."
"Pro-Promiscuous! How dare you—!"
"Luka Megurine! Do not try my patience. I have information I know you would not want to be let out. If I were you, I would not waste my time denying it."
Her face contorted in rage, Luka halfway stood up before despair seemed to have taken hold of her, and she dropped back down.
"It was only one time," she said. "Just once. Is that so bad? It's bad enough I have to be chained to that awkward imbecile Len for the rest of my life. I just wanted a little fun before there was no turning back. Will you vilify me for that?"
"I'm not going to vilify you. I just wanted to hear you say it. Thank you for your time."
"Wait! Who else knows?" she pleaded.
"A baker and a wife falling apart at the seams from the thought that her husband doesn't love her. Have a nice wedding. Goodbye."
Out in the hall, Teto was waiting for me. With every turn we made, I always expected to see Len walking down the hallway. He never was.