Chapter 4

Today, Shichiyou Kaetsukikko was going to interview the fifty nine girls that Kain had already screened. The first was Tsukiru Shiroi. She was descended was from a rebel of the Shichiyou clan. She had red hair, but the same mercury eyes that were hidden by the mask on Kaetsukikko's face.

"Kaetsukikko-hime, it is an honour," said the girl.

"Your name is a paradox in itself. I admire your bravery to come here, even though your ancestors betrayed us long ago. I am forgiving; therefore I am here questioning you. My first question is: are you an orphan?"

"Hai," said the girl. "My parents died sometime ago. They opposed Kuran Rido."

"Are you averse to the idea that I will check your memories?"

"No, because all I have said is true. I came for I had nowhere else to go. This is the only family I have," said the girl.

Kaetsukikko's body relaxed. Her soul entered the girl's mind. There she saw...

"Hahaoya! Otokooya! Where are you?! AIH!" the girl stared horrified at the person hovering over her parents. The person's eyes were different in colour. He was dripping blood from his lips.

The scene changed. The girl was watching from a far. She saw Kuran Rido being destroyed. He was the man that had murdered her parents.

Kaetsukikko felt the emotions of the girl. They were a swirl of relief, confusion, guilt and emptiness.

Then the scene changed once more. She was standing in a field with wildflowers. The sky was blue and there was light. Kaetsukikko realized that she was standing within the depths of the girl's soul. The girl came up to her. Kaetsukikko took off her mask. She decided to trust this girl.

"Hahaoya!" cried the girl coming closer. When she noticed the mask in Kaetsukikko's hand, tears began to form in her eyes. She threw herself against Kaetsukikko. Tsukiru Shiroi decided then that she would serve this woman, 'til death do them apart. Her reasons: one Kaetsukikko resembled the mother she could not save; second Kaetsukikko radiated the same kind of sadness that she felt and third, she had felt Kaetsukikko's promise to adopt her.

"Would you like to be adopted, child?" asked Kaetsukikko.

"Yes! Please, Kaetsukikko-hime. I will never betray you. I swear on my dead mother's soul," said Tsukiru Shiroi.

"That is a little too much, Shi-chan. I can not adopt you because you see me as a shadow of your dead mother," said Kaetsukikko, as she slit open her wrist. Shiroi pressed her lips against it. Kaetsukikko spoke the words of binding. As long as her mistress did not release her, she and her descendants would serve the Shichiyou clan. "All the sins of your ancestors are washed away. The vendetta is dissolved. I decided not adopt you, but you are now bound to serve me as my lady-in-waiting. I decided it would be better if I treated you as my sister instead."

"Arigato-shimasu," Tsukiru Shiroi.

"You may wear the things that you have; you do not need to find other clothes, unless yours are beyond repair and not suitable for this post."

"Arigato," was the response.

"You need not say it so many it times. The sincerity becomes lost the more you say it," said Aido.

"Ai-kun, come here. How do you like this girl?" asked Kaetsukikko.

"She reminds me of you, and a little of myself," said Aido.

"Precisely why I decided to keep her here," said Kaetsukikko. "I want to help her move past that just the same way you and Kain have helped me."

"Wakarimasuka (I understand?) hahaoya," said Aido.

"Aido-sama," the girl said bowing at a ninety degree angle.

"Tsukiru Shiroi? I heard of you before. Long ago when my parents were still alive and yours too, they tried to make a match between us," said Aido.

"It worked out badly because…well speak of the devil and he comes…he ended up very aggressive around me, until I left. Jealous?" asked Shiroi tilting her head to the right.

"I was then, but…not now," said Kain.

"Why not?" asked Shiroi.

"We…we are…" said Kain.

"Mated," said Aido, finishing the sentence.

"It's against the vampire code to be mated to a servant," cried Shiroi.

"A lot of things we do here is illegal," said Aido, his eyes twinkled mysteriously.

In then end, none of the other girls fit the requirements and most were sent home, except for four young women, their names were Ryuko (child of dragons) Uruki (pure flexibility of mood) and Meiyu (life at last), these two were sisters, Xiao Mei (Xiao=small, Mei=beautiful) and Kwon (?) Boa (treasure?). The three of them were sisters and were deemed trust worthy enough. Once that was done, Kaetsukikko gave the three girls their first assignment. They were to dust all the rooms four hours and there were six hundred rooms in the castle. This task, said Kaetsukikko was a test of their ability to work under time constraints.

They finished with half an hour to spare. So they then went to settle down in the servant's quarters. This was on the ground level, closest to the kitchens. They need not prepare anything this night. They would have to though, within a month.

Instead of dining in the dining hall, Kaetsukikko and Aido took their blood tablets in their own rooms and settle in for bed as dawn's first light touched the castle, at six thirty. All was quiet during the day at this castle.

Meanwhile, in another part of Japan, Seiren returned to her master and mistress's home, the Kuran manor, after traveling for four hours by horse and carriage. It had been rebuilt so that Kaname and Yuki could live in a house that was suitable for their rank.

Seiren fought down the desire to send the horse and carriage back to the Queen. If she did it would not only be insolent, but it would mean that Kaname-sama would have to make more preparations to arrange transportation for her, when she was expected to back at the castle. She was about to search for Kaname-sama to tell him all that she learned, but Yuki-hime intervened, saying that she was tired and that she should rest. She went to her room. Her own family had long been destroyed and so had Ruka, Ichijou, Shiki and Rima's. So now they lived with Kaname and his wife.