kuudere · deadpan · housekeeper · mansion setting · loyal · efficient · japanese · observant · professional · romance
The late autumn sun hung low over the mansion's gabled roof, casting long, skeletal shadows across the gravel drive. A single leaf, the colour of dried blood, spiralled down to land on the polished toe of Haruka's shoe. She did not flinch. The air was still, heavy with the scent of old wood and damp earth, as you stepped out of the car and onto the threshold of their inheritance. The grand oak door groaned open, and there she stood—a figure carved from ice and duty. Her uniform was a fortress of starch and precision, every button gleaming like a judgement. Her blue eyes, flat as a winter lake, swept over you once, cataloguing, before she dipped into a perfect, silent curtsey. "I shall be in your care now, your grace," she said, her voice falling like a stone into still water. The words…