Until the replacement for Rea arrived, they had to work one member short.
However, the star bearers didn’t account for that and gave them exactly the same amount of work as always.

“Barbie is crazy…” complained Ann, after making sure no one can hear them “is she actually trying to break us on purpose?”

Ann was a blond doll with an explosive temperament. Even though she was 3 years older than Mia, she lacked the maturity and refinement expected of her age, as evidenced by her thoughtless criticism of a star bearer.

“Do not fret over trivial matters” said Mia calmly, dusting an old painting, and not even bothering to look in the other doll’s direction “As long as you focus on your job and don’t think unnecessary things, everything will be fine- shadow house provides.”

That day, I was cleaning the outer surfaces of the windows in Sarah-sama’s room. Even though they are usually closed, occasionally the soot visibly dirtied them from the outside anyway. I was positive it can’t be my master’s, so it must have some other source…..

I gazed at the gray clouds surrounding the mansion. Apparently, the entire surrounding land was almost permanently covered in soot clouds produced in our foundry. It wouldn’t be weird for minuscule amounts to eventually accumulate and stain the windows…

Or perhaps...I giggled to myself...perhaps some shadow living a floor below, dissatisfied with the sloppy work of their doll, opened the window and gazed outside to get a breath of fresh air...and the soot produced by them went up, up to Sarah sama’s window staining it….

As I pondered this ridiculous scenario, I involuntarily gazed down. Coincidentally, some doll was also cleaning the windows! She had long, blonde hair and a sunny disposition. Having noticed me, she immediately laughed and waved.

What a weird kid! Her master probably had a lot of trouble with her. The soot staining scenario just got slightly more possible~

Well, anyway, I thought that it wouldn’t hurt to make a good first impression, so I smiled and waved back. Perhaps this girl is Rea’s replacement?

What was her name again...Lou?

When Mia first met Lou, she couldn’t help but feel a sting of disappointment in her chest. Short red hair, and a face that looks like it’s about to nod out at any moment...no matter how she looked at it, it wasn’t the cheerful girl from the other day!

Oh well, it was her job to show her around anyway, and Mia intended to do this job to the best of her ability. Because Mia was a good, reliable doll, and she was going to eventually become the team leader, then star bearer, and then...receive an invitation to the adult’s wing and live happily ever after!

The bruises inflicted on her back by her master still hurt, but it didn’t bother her one bit, as she endeavored to teach the newcomer the basics….ah, what is that girl doing!?

“Are you even paying attention?” inquired Mia, an overly wide, fake smile plastered to her face as she was doing her best to mask the hint of irritation she was afraid would taint her voice if she let her guard down ever so slightly.

Lou nodded but didn’t respond in any audible way beyond that.

“So, what was I talking about just now?”

“Soot coat.”

“What about soot coat?” Mia wasn’t sure if the new girl was doing it on purpose to annoy her, or did she really not pay attention until now or what, but if she failed to instruct her properly, the entire team would eventually pay the price of that incompetence.

“Soot coat” repeated Lou, and yawned. After finally realizing that she’s expected to say more than just that, she continued in a slow, monotone voice “we put this on when cleaning very sooty areas. Normally we don’t put this on. All the coats are stored together with the tools in the classroom. And if we’re confused about something, we’re supposed to read the manual.”

She was speaking in such a short and simple sentences….ah, Mia finally realized. This living isn’t trying to be difficult- she was just made inferior to Mia. Slower in the head, and unable to vocalize her thought properly…

“Hihihi, that’s right! Good job, Lou!” Having asserted the reality of the situation, she could feel her good mood return with every passing second~ “But just in case, I want you to memorize the contents of the manual…”

Lou nodded, yawned again, and followed wordlessly.

....

After finishing the tour, the time has come for the new member to meet Ann and Rosemary. The latter was already waiting in the main hall, diligently wet-wiping the floor.

“Ara, what a cute girl!” Mia could never tell whether Rosemary is positive all the time by nature, or faking it really well. The team leader approached Lou and squeezed her cheeks.

“Waaake up sleepy head~”

“Ow ow ow” Lou made some noises to the rhythm of Rosemary’s fingers pinching her face. That was amazing in it’s own right…

“By the way, where’s Ann?” inquired Mia, screening the hall for their missing member. Ann was sloppy, and far from perfect, but there is no way she would skip work! She was probably lurking somewhere nearby.

“Oh, she’s up there~” said Rosemary nonchalantly, and pointed upwards, towards one of the large wooden panels running under the ceiling.

Since soot went up, but the building wasn’t exactly open, there was always some that gathered in such an unreachable place. As long as it was just on the ceiling, it would eventually fall off, but these panels were quite troublesome and had to be cleaned manually.

Ann finally noticed them and waved back. She laughed and shouted something. Mia couldn’t quite hear what...the distance between the floor of the main hall and the ceiling was about three stories, and…

Suddenly, Ann’s leg slipped and she lost her balance. She tilted to the other side, desperately trying to regain the equilibrium, but violently jerking her torso like that didn’t do her any favors, and down she fell.

There was a loud crack as her head hit the freshly cleaned floor of the main hall, and her neck broke.

Everyone waited for a couple of seconds, seemingly paralyzed. This couldn’t be, right? Us living dolls were built to be sturdy. She would stand up any second now…

Alas, when, a puddle of blood started forming beneath her crushed skull, it became obvious to even the most slow-witted dolls such as Lou that this one isn’t getting up any time soon.

And thus, the Rosemary team was once again one member short.