A Sea of Stars- Kiyoyachi

Her Grace And the Clumsy Astronomer

I don't own the art above (obviously lol), credits to the artist.

Nobody's POV:

Upon arrival, the scent of roses was thick and the tiles on the ground were almost a maroon color, they were immaculate, lacking in any signs of erosion or even petals from the rose garden.

These servants were good at their jobs, that was for sure. With a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, Yachi knocked on the large wooden doors. Her hands were tired as were her legs which were struggling to hold her up with all of the sitting they'd been up to, not to mention the fact that they'd already begun to shake from how nervous she was.

But she tried her best to keep her chin up and forget about the bothersome thoughts swarming her mind. There she dawdled, waiting for the creak of the large Woden doors that were to signal when she could finally look up and enter the manor.

With her bag in tow, she took another step forward, and with all of her might gave the door another harsh knock. A small sigh escaped her as she bit her bottom lip.

Yaichi was a lot of things, but patient was not one of them. But because her desire to please the duchess transcended her burning impatience she waited passively and rocked herself up and down with the balls of her feet.

The moment she looked away from the doors was also the moment that they swung open and she was met with another face, this time a woman with long black hair and thickly lensed glasses peeked out from behind the door.

Her posture was perfect and she had a very straitlaced look to her. In her hair rested a rose, either freshly picked or well preserved. She wore a vermillion ballgown that hugged her curves and was laced with a golden fabric that covered the dress in an intricate spiderweb design.

Yachi was dazed, she stood there with a point-blank expression for a moment, she was undoubtedly staring. After coming to her senses, she quickly redirected her gaze and offered an awkward chuckle.

"Apologies, your grace" she bowed apologetically, face flushed. The woman chuckled, her voice was soft.

"There's no need for that, come in." She grinned, gesturing to the large living quarters behind her. Yachi followed suit, she was awestruck at the absolute elegance of the manor's interior, bookshelves lined the walls as far as the eye could see and flowers made of plaster decorated the walls lavishly.

"Wow..." she trailed off, her eyes were fixated on a humongous portrait that hung high on the wall behind her, the woman smiled.

"Is the portrait to your liking?" She asked jokingly. Yachi nodded so hard that her neck hurt a bit.

"Absolutely your grace, you look beautiful in it!" She chirped. The woman blushed a little bit as she directed her gaze elsewhere.

"Thank you, please call me Kiyoko." The lady's cheeks were also flushed red now, it was a cute look on her. Yachi waved her hands around frantically in response, she didn't mean to embarrass the woman.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude-" Kiyoko shook her head, almost annoyed by the amount of formality.

"You can be informal with me now, we're going to be staying in the same estate for a while." Yachi nodded again, she promised herself she would try not to disobey her grace anymore seeing as she thought she'd butchered her first impression.

"Yes...Kiyoko?" The duchess nodded, now bearing a gentler, kinder expression. Her hair was brushed neatly and it laid on her shoulder elegantly. There was maybe one stray hair but besides that there was nothing, no imperfections that Yachi could see at least.

"That's better." She laughed. "Now then, you've brought your tools with you right? I'd love to help you set them up!" She chirped. Yachi smiled at her.

"Do as you please your grace, the suitcase is heavy th-" Kiyoko had already begun to carry the suitcase up the stairs, without using its wheels no less.

Yachi's mouth hung open. She could barely roll the suitcase so then how on earth did Kiyoko manage to carry it all the way up the stairs without failure.

"D-do you need help?" Yachi stuttered, bewildered.

"Nonsense, you must be wearied." Kiyoko opened the door to an ornate room with an elegant bow window and a full queen bed. The bed sported a large canopy studded in pearls. There was also a nightstand and vanity with diamond knobs.

"H-huh???! Are these my quarters???!" Yachi was having a hard time processing all of the information thrown at her this past couple of days. Not only was the duchess beautiful, but she had also offered up her home's master bedroom to Yachi so she would have the means to set up her materials.

"Yes. Are they to your liking?" Kiyoko set the suitcase down carefully. Yachi was at a loss for words.

"O-of course your gr- Kiyoko" Kiyoko smiled.

"I'm glad." she paused "Well then, I'll leave you to it..." Kiyoko closed the door behind her and took a deep breath.

She could hardly contain her fervor.

_____

I'm so sorry for the late chapter you guys, I got the prologue out and then became absolutely swamped by assignments and work (ugh) that aside, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! And though I can't promise a consistent update schedule, rest assured that at the very least, there will be chapters every month from here on out.

(phew)

Word count: 930