The Misunderstanding

To say that Tanya Degurechaff was a vexing existence for Katarina Claes was to say the ocean was wet, or that a mountain was big, or that the death flags were too plentiful. To put it simply, she was an entire unknown. 

When she had played the otome game that seemed to have been based off of this world, she had never seen the ice cold demon maid in it. But it made sense, after all, the game was played from the perspective of Marie, who naturally had little to no insight into the life of Katarina... not that Katarina ever made it a point to make herself sympathetic.

It was way easier to be sympathetic to Katarina now that she was in her own shoes. The council declared unanymously that trying to keep track of that was excessively confusing and had decided to table that issue for the time being.

Still...

Katarina's finger played with the dirt, making circles in the ground, pouting and trying not to pay attention. Her mother was... a demon in human flesh. But she had little time, and the attention she could pay to Katarina was limited, after all she had her own business to attend to. Even if the prim and proper Duchess Claes was disgusted at the thought of her firstborn daughter, she couldn't always be there to prevent Katarina from climbing a tree that seemed like a good challenge...

And that's where the Demon's Second In Command came in.

The everpresent, unavoidable, implacable shadow that followed Katarina everywhere. A monster.

Tanya Degurechaff, Katarina's handmaid, the one who would trace her every step. Maybe in the original timeline, Katarina's annoyance at the maid had peaked at some point and she'd thrown a tantrum big enough to have the blonde fired, and that's why Katarina'd never heard of her in the game. That'd make sense.

But still...

It seemed like the bonde never tired, never got bored and never lost her patience. Sometimes she wondered if somewhere along the line, this world had figured out a way to create automatons, because it was the only way she could explain that woman!

But no, she was growing alongside Katarina, so she was definitely a living human, but...

"Bleh!" Katarina made a mocking face, sticking her tongue out at the portrait she made of her handmaid in the ground. 

Today was one of the very few days where Katarina wasn't shadowed every second of the day by someone who seemed intent in preventing her from ever having any sort of fun or learning the skills she'd need to make her life of exile more comfortable in case of failure.

Once a week, Tanya would meet with her mother, and deliver a report of her activities as well as her academic progress, and Katarina didn't even want to think about the Demonic Maid going into Drill Sergeant mode.

Sighing, Katarina stopped playing with the dirt. At least mostly everything was going according to plan! She was making friends, and little by little, working on negating all the death flags. Plus her little book club was picking up further steam! Maybe soon she'd even be able to organize a reading date with both Mary and Sophia! Well, that was a bit far off still, since she was grounded until forever, but it was still a thought for the future!

Cheering herself up at the thought of having tea and sweet biscuits alongside some fun and interesting friends to share them with, Katarina wandered back into the mansion. The path back to her room, and where she had her emergency snacks and novels, led her past her mother's study, which actually had her stopping.

A proper villainess' grin came over her face, upon noticing that the door wasn't closed, let alone locked, and she could hear the voice of her maid coming from it. Making herself as small and silent as she could, Katarina glued herself to the door and, with great care, stuck her ear as close to the opening as she thought prudent.

"...emic progress is ahead of schedule," Tanya explained. "This concludes my weekly report."

"I see. I appreciate your excellent work, I can't imagine handling that girl has become any easier. Most rambunctious children calm down with age, Katarina seems to grow more energetic and problematic every year."

"I agree," Tanya responded. "Perhaps it might be time to start the young lady in exercises to help her work off her excess energy?"

Katarina's jaw almost fell. That demon! And even worse, that hum from her mother was one of agreement and approval! Her mother, who would go into apocalyptic rages at the thought of Tanya doing anything remotely unladylike, approving of something as boorish as exercise!?

"It will certainly ensure she continues to fit into her dresses, despite her sweet tooth," Katarina's mother spoke, her tone amused.

Katarina opened her mouth but then covered it, lest she protest that she wasn't fat and give herself away.

"Very well. See to it, I will leave my daughter's health in your capable hands, if you need any help, please don't hesitate. The meal program you came up with has done wonders for me, perhaps it might help Katarina as well," the demon mother spoke.

"It would be my pleasure and privilege," the demon maid responded.

"Now..."

The tone of the conversation changed, all of a sudden. It was as if the good cheer and, for lack of a better term, amicable air vanished in an instant. Katarina had heard her mother described as a terrifying lady more than once. A woman who could move through court like a graceful and elegant swan, yet strike with the venomous fangs of a viper unexpectedly and suddenly. 

Katarina resisted the urge to gulp at the sudden heavy atmosphere.

"Regarding the other matter... we've found them," Duchess Claes, for at this moment she was not Katarina's demon disciplinarian mother, but instead, one of the most fearsome ladies in the Sorcier Kingdom, spoke plainly and without ado.

Katarina frowned. Who? Was Tanya looking for someone?

"Before we continue... I really must ask, what youre relationship with these people was. It's not every day the Duchy of Claes moves its resources to locate criminals. I've trusted you this far, but if you are not willing to trust me, then..."

"No, not at all," Tanya responded. "It is not a matter of distrust, rather, I wished not to tarnish my own image by association. You see... those people are my mother and father."

"Oh..." Duchess Claes seemed to stop for a moment. "You seem to have much to speak about. Do so, I will listen."

And so Tanya spoke. And she wove the tale of her life, before she had joined the Claes household...

Katarina could only listen up to a certain point, running away when she could not bear the weight of her demon maid's story.

It was strange, wasn't it?

How a single story can make someone change their perceptions so quickly and completely.

Tanya finished brushing her hair, and Katarina looked down at her lap, even as her uniformed maid fluffed the pillows up for her, just the way she liked them. Yeah... just the way she liked them fluffed up. Katarina looked around her room. Everything was... everything was exactly how she wanted it to be. Clean, spotless even, orderly, but definitely lived in.

She reflected now, on how she always had stationery ready to write when she wished to send a letter. How her inkwell was always full. How she always had new and well cut pens... how it seemed like even when she forgot to mark them, her books always were bookmarked exactly where she stopped reading.

"All done," her maid said. "Good night, my lady," Tanya said, standing up, bowing to Katarina, stuffing the brush in her apron. 

Tanya's hand was about to move away, but Katarina moved, for once, faster than her, catching it.

"Tanya," Katarina said, looking down at her lap.

"Is something bothering you, my lady?" the maid asked, her even, almost monotonic delivery that was usually a point of contention, a reminder that this woman was an obstacle, and yet...

And yet now that she understood it, now that she had a reason for it, now that Tanya was no longer just the demonic maid, but- 

"I'm sorry," Katarina said, simply. "I- I'm sorry, I was- I was peeping in on your conversation with mother," she said.

"Ah."

Ah. Yes... 

"I see..." Tanya responded. 

Katarina used all of her strength to pull the maid down. She wanted, no, needed a hug. Despite being so close in age as to be indistinguishable, Tanya had been put through so much stuff... having to look after her own parents... 

All that time Katarina had thought she was having it the worst, that the ice eyed demon was trying to make her suffer under her mother's orders... and all along, all she'd been trying to do was to simply look after her, to prevent her from suffering like her parents had made her suffer..! She even took on the brunt of her mother's scrutiny so that Katarina could have what little freedom she had, kept intact!

Katarina's cries and tears came easily, she was an emotional girl by nature, and she held nothing back, holding onto her maid with a strong grip, unable to speak due to her own sorrow, but still wishing to convey what support she could. 

After all... even if Katarina felt smothered and constricted by her strict mother, it was certainly far better than being sold for food, or made to beg on the streets, or made to pickpocket... And who knows what other horrible things Tanya had been made to do, that Katarina couldn't stomach hearing about when she ran away... To be used so horribly by one's own parents! This was even worse than what she would have done to Keith without her memories! 

And Tanya had endured it without a complaint, or even bringing it up unless prodded! Maybe her maid really was a demon, but that was only because she had been raised in hell!

Even then, Tanya seemed to be trying to soothe her. And Katarina thought her an enemy! How cruel she had been! She had to fix this!

Each of the members of the Inner Council were talking about how they could make it up to her, but for the time being, the mustachio'd head of the council banged an imaginary gavel on an imaginary desk, and demanded that what little they could do, they would do!

And so Katarina clamped down on her maid, and prevented her from leaving her room that night, forcing the servant who usually slept in her quarters to spend the night on the fluffy and comfy bed that she had prepared.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to Katarina, a different set of thoughts were going through Tanya's head.

As for herself, Tanya thought that her mistress was feeling worried that Tanya was going to leave forever, just because she would be taking a week off to go visit her parents. 

And so, Tanya awkwardly patted her mistress head and back, unable to leave her surprisingly strong grip, and even when the mistress happened by, Tanya's silent plea for assistance was ignored.

With an impish smile, the duchess closed the door to Katarina's room, and set about heading towards the master bedroom.

As Tanya settled, she realized that her lady was still, ultimately, a child, no matter how much of an angel she could be. It wasn't so bad. At least if she was getting possessive over her due to something this silly, it would mean she'd want to keep Tanya in her employ for longer, right?

Still... her grip was quite impressive, and Tanya wasn't sure if she'd even have a hand come morning...