Entry 2 – Gialla Vespa
I have so many plans that have
failed, but I’m still not giving up.
“I will get that promotion, Ms.
Nera!”
“That’s the spirit, Ms. Gialla! Let’s
work hard today to move up the ranks!”
“Yeah!”
We head off in our separate
directions for the days work and-no! I’m not worried about some stupid promotion.
All that happens is that our rooms look better and we get more dresses. I don’t
care about material goods. I only care about serving my masters! No! I don’t
care about them! I-it’s still hard to regain control of my mind let alone my
body that barely responds to my will. I guess I wasn’t completely lying when I said
that I don’t care about material goods. I was making my own business as one
trading and selling goods to reach some arbitrary limit of wealth and possessions
I had in my mind.
This place attracts people like
that who want that even for the purest reasons and it gives them what they want
in a way. Urgh! It’s hard to concentrate with this place’s control over me.
Sometimes it’s easier to let go to blend in easier, but I need to leave my notes
for the next victim that comes in. I also need to fix my decorati-traps so that
they don’t affect anyone too much. The other girls and guys struggle with it more
than I do. Nera was unfortunate enough to get a promotion and eat the delicious-disgusting…meat
that’s changed her. The meat itself changes people and makes people less and
less able to control themselves.
When it’s in front of you, you find
yourself unable to control yourself and it’s better to do so despite how
disgusting it may be. Refusing to eat will make you starve to death within a
couple days. The meat we eat, especially the fresh and seasoned kind, is the
most potent. Since eating it, Nera hasn’t been as able or willing to help us
since. She’s such a good and loyal girl who will rise above me at this rate! I
better step up my game, so that-she doesn’t lose complete control of herself
like Azzura. She betrayed us because of all the power the master-or whatever is
controlling us and who owns this building. It got to her and she only thinks about
herself now despite acting like a caring mistress.
Ack. I hate it when my head hurts
and I start thinking things that sound silly. I’m one of the oldest members here
and I should act like it. The other girls will be depending on me to do my job the
best I can. I’m not that far away from reaching the top-I almost forgot about
that so-I should do everything I can to get it. Here’s hoping that Ms. Azzura
doesn’t mind a competing Mistress. I’ve heard that the master of the castle treats
his mistresses very well though I don’t really know how he treats the male
masters. Speaking about the mistress…
“Ms. Azzura! Is there something
that you need?”
“Yes, Ms. Gialla. I need you to
take care of something that only someone of your status and experience can take
care of. It’s going to be a lot, but I hope you can deal with it.”
“Don’t keep me in suspense. Just
tell me what I must do.” She’s coming closer to whisper it in my ear. This can’t
be good. “One of the girls tried to escape and died outside near the gardens.
Please remove her before someone sees her.”
“W-will do.”
“Hm? Is there something the matter?”
“N-no. Just a bit sad that one of
us is dead.”
“You shouldn’t let it affect you in any way. You must be strong to set an example for the other girls.”
“You’re right, Ms. Azzura. I’ll get
right to it then!”
“As you should.”
I give Azzura a smile before
heading outside. Dang it. Which girl lost it this time? The other girls and I keep
reminding them to keep pressing on and that if one girl falls behind, then the
rest of us do. It’s difficult enough to convince someone new to continuously fight
on while keeping it secret especially with the rumored consequences that are
associated with us being freed. The consequences can’t be as bad as staying until
we’re thrown out when we get too old and I’m guessing this girl couldn’t wait
to leave I don’t blame her.
Now, where can she be. She’s
supposed to be around the garden…There she is! Poor girl couldn’t handle the
stress of working here. I have to be a better and more supportive big sister to
prevent things like this happening again. It’s a good thing that no one else is
here to see this. I don’t want the other girls to get upset at this. It’s also
good that she’s hollow now that’s she dead, which makes it easier for me to
carry her inside. Thanks to my athletic abilities, I carry the girl through the
tight spaces and small tunnels. Oh! What’s that sound? It sounds like someone
else here up with me. Oh, that’s right! I forgot that Ms. Bianca is just as athletic
as I am despite her small size. She’s probably the fastest, but also the youngest
of the girls here. I hope I don’t see her-Ah!
“Ms. Bianca, w-what are you doing
here?”
“Just cleaning this space. What are
you doing?”
“Just-uh-doing something important
for Ms. Azzura.”
“Can you tell me about it?”
“I’m afraid I can’t. It’s something
that a big sister like me has to deal with.”
“Oh, alright. Well, I guess I’ll
leave you to it and get back to work.”
“Thank you. Keep up the good work
and don’t be a stranger to the other girls even though they’re older than you,
okay? If you need help, just ask one of us.”
“Okay!”
There she goes speedily off to
work. It’s a good thing the body of the girl was easy to hide. Ms. Bianca is a
good girl who does her best every day. Because of her size, she’s typically
overlooked by the other girls who sometimes forget about her. I wonder if she’s
doing what I told her to. It’s unfortunate that a little girl like Bianca got
dragged into this, but she is one of the most active and useful girls.
What am I thinking? I have to put
this girl away and go back to my duties! After taking my little short cut, I
throw the hollow doll-like body of the girl into the crusher, a giant mouth
that eats the remains and nourishes the castle. At least her death will make
things eas-har-easier for us, I mean. Ah! There goes the visitor’s bell again.
I can’t wait to see who’s visiting us now. Hopefully, it’s someone who-is nicer
than the last.
We all go near the door and give
our greeting like usual and since Ms. Nera did such a good job last time, she’s
showing our guest around the castle to give him a reason to work here before
bringing him to Ms. Azzura. Don’t fail us, Nera. While that happens, I go back
to my duties to keep me busy. Huh? Why is Ms. Azzura coming this way? I hope
nothing bad happened again.
“Is there something wrong, Ms.
Azzura?”
“No, Ms. Gialla. I’d just came by
to remind you that Ms. Nera is doing a great job showing our new guest around. At
the rate that she’s going, she could surpass you.”
“I hope not, but then again, the
person who does their best should surpass their peers.”
“Of course, but a “prank” or two
could even your power relation with her should she get ahead of you.”
“Thank you! I’ll keep that in mind.”
Ms. Azzura smiles at me then
continues walking in the other direction. “Pranks”, as they call them here, are
just traps we girls use to help ourselves move up the ranks at the cost of
the other girl moving down in rank. These pranks could be anything ranging from
an actual pie in the face type prank to messing up their decorations. This is
especially bad if it’s their decoration that failed to-trap-a rude guest. If a
girl is caught making a prank, then they are penalized for it, however,
mistresses and girls of high rank can suggest them in whispers to girls of
lower rank, so that they mix things up in the ranks of the girls to see how
hard they’ll work to get to the top.
It's a sickening thing that has
ended in the deaths of several girls because if one dies, then another can move
up in rank. I’m not going to cause trouble for Vera. I’m going to see what trouble
I can cause for Azzura. Since she knows I’m going to be doing something, she
wouldn’t mind if I’m not at her station. I go straight for her office to find
it completely empty. Her guards aren’t here for some reason. They’re usually
here to prevent the higher-ranked girls from “pranking” her. She has a bookshelf
here with various kinds of fiction and teaching books to help her be a better
mistress. Another bookshelf has the files of all the girls that are alive along
with those that are dead. There must be more here since her file isn’t here. Maybe
one of these files is a secret lever. Ah! The file on the last mistress.
The bookcase moves aside to reveal
a small room with more bookcases and a separate dress room next to it. These
files detail the punishments and rules that all maids and butlers must follow.
There are also these other files that blur my vision for some reason as I try
to look through them. Where’s the dirt on Azzura? Oh, what’s this? This seems to
be a personal diary of Azzura. Huh? Is that the alarm? Nera could be in
trouble. What am I going to do? Dang it. I quickly head out to where the alarm
sound to coming from to see…Ms. Nera has recruited another butler!
Everyone is cheering for her. This
is a big promotion for her. Not many girls can convince people to work here on
their own. Why is she doing this? Did she give up and lose control of herself?
Ah! I’ve triggered a-trap! A pie hit me in the face when I passed by a jack in the
box. Who set that for me?! These traps are only activated when certain people
pass them whether they’d be workers or guests.
Everyone is laughing at me now,
even the new girl.
“Hahahaha!”
I can’t-I can’t help but laugh too.
“Hahahaha!”
Huh? Ms. Nera is coming this way.
“It had to be done. Trust me,” she
whispers in my ear.
“What? What are you talking about?”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
She’s walking away. What’s with her?
What did she mean by that?
