The servant that answered the door was a young man, probably early twenties. He was all for a human and wearing a well maintained yukuta. He accepted the letter with both hands and bow. Despite not recognizing the heraldry on the seal, he did recognize the doll, so it was not difficult for him to guess that this letter was meant for Lady Akyuu.
Despite how much he did not want to let the creepy little thing in to the estate. His face did little to show it as he lead the uncanny mini monstrosity in. As he did so, he nodded at another servant who moved to take his place by the door while he delivered the message.
As he walked down the hall that approached his mistresses ‘writing office’ a quiet sigh of relief escaped his otherwise professional facade. A pitcher of was sitting alongside a vase of flowers on a table by the door; the fact that it was on the far side of the vase from the door was an unofficial signal in the Hieda household marking that the mistress was not currently hungover or drunk.
Across from the door from the table another servant sat in seiza style in wait of any needs Akyuu may have. The two servants exchanged a quick nod and smile. Despite being good friends, the demands of duty came first. The sitting servant stood, accepting the letter from the first.
Once his friend had turned to head back to his post, he turned and spoke,
“Lady Akyuu, you have a guest bearing a letter.”
The fact that the phrase was simply “guest”, and not “visitor” meant that it was a youkai not someone from the village. The fact that it was her attendant and not one of the doormen signalled that it was one that they recognized and thus likely not an immediate threat to the household.
“Send them in.” Akyuu would reply, the fact that she didn’t add “of course” to the end meant she wasn’t expecting this guest; as she sometimes neglected to inform the staff ahead of time when she was.
The servant bowed as he opened the door motioning for Shanghai to go inside.
Akyuu’s ‘writing office’ would be a fairly large room if it were empty. However it was far from empty, several ornately decorated large and deep shelves lined the walls. Shelves that held all manor of writing implements and paper. Everything from traditional calligraphy brushes and traditional rice based parchment to modern pens and 8.5″x11″ paper (gifts from Yukari) was neatly stored somewhere in these shelves.
Akyuu herself sat at a large writing desk and was currently rolling up the scroll she had been working on. She smiled as she accepted the letter from the servant.
“It’s good to see you again Shanghai. I hope Alice is doing well.”
