The soot removal room was as unpleasant as ever, though, without a shadow of doubt, it was efficient at removing even the tiniest particles of soot from their clothes, bodies, hair…
Next, they put their clothes in the baskets for faceless dolls to deal with, and into the bubbly water they went~

The bath was designed in such a way that the living dolls using it didn’t have to think about anything at all. All they had to do is walk, or swim, through the lengthy bubbly corridor of water, and by the time they reach the endpoint, all dirt would naturally come of them. The design of it was truly ingenious, and Mia couldn’t help but marvel at how advanced Shadows House technology was.

Not to mention the effect on the morale such washing had! Although incomparable to the effects of the coffee, just being soaked in the warm liquid felt like one’s worries just faded away for that instant.

“Is this the same as for cleaning?” inquired Emilico, ever inquisitive, as she played with foam.

“Nah, that’s a special soap for dolls only~”

“After the great cleaning, I was scared to take bath…”

“...? What? Why?”

“I wondered if water would steep into my insides and break me….”

Ahaha! That girl’s imagination was second to none!
The living dolls weren’t just some dolls. They were special dolls, made from the highest quality materials, and had life breathed into them by the one who leads shadows house, the shadows’s house king, living dolls creator, the great creator-sama. There is no way some water could just break them...it took far more than that to destroy a living doll!

Like for example, falling off a high…

Mia shook her head vigorously, dispelling the unnecessary thought that stealthy nested in her mind. Let’s change the subject!

“By the way Emilico, you don’t know many words, do you?”

“Yes...while studying there are many signs I can’t read…” she put her head down pensively as if it was her fault. Poor girl! It’s not your fault you were made defective and assigned to an inferior master! Unlike Mia, who…

“I could read a lot of signs from the time I was born! In other words, I was excellent from birth...Sarah-sama was very pleased I would be her face…” I said, pride swelling within my chest. That’s right, Mia wouldn’t brag like that before her junior, but I could~ After all I was Sarah-sama’s face, and it was my right to take pride in that fact.

Speaking of which...there was something I wanted to confirm…

“What about you, Emilico? Is your shadow master ok with you…?”

“Uuuu….Kate-sama often gets mad at me….”

Figured as much!
After they reached the end of the water corridor, the time has come for showers. The water was cold, and it’s pressure was high- again, they were ingeniously designed in such a way that the living dolls didn’t have to do anything but to turn them on- but I decided not to inform Emilico of that. Let’s see how she takes that!

...as expected, her reaction to being hit in the face with such a strong stream of water was nothing short of hilarious. I laughed.

...I laughed?...not Mia?...

Before I could ponder that disturbing thought further, a splash of water hit Mia straight in the face. Emilico was vigorously shaking her head like some kind of dog, getting the water of her and straight at me!
...just like earlier today…

“A bit of payback!” she laughed mischievously, and Mia once again laughed with her.

Suddenly, a shadow of pain and concern flashed through her face, and her laughter abruptly ceased.
What now? Well, nevermind, all is well that ends well.

Having finished their washing, Mia and Emilico were patiently waiting in the grooming room for the fresh change of clothes to arrive. Faceless dolls were running around, measuring other dolls, cutting their hair in accordance to their master’s hairstyle, weighting them, in some cases even applying makeup...Fortunately, Mia’s hair and outwards appearance was a perfect imitation of Sarah-sama, so she could spend this time chatting idly.

“It was nice washing, right? If the status of your shadow master goes up, you can expect even better things to come!”

Emilico nodded enthusiastically, sipping every word that came out of Mia’s mouth with the usual diligence. Mia felt a sting of sorrow, as she was well aware that this doll most likely wouldn’t pass the debut- alas, until the moment of discarding came, she resolved herself to be the best senior she could for this cheerful, blonde girl.

Suddenly, Lou arrived. And behind her, was…

“Rosemary!!” exclaimed Emilico cheerfully, and ran to hug her team leader. Then barraged her with all kinds of questions.

‘What’s soot sickness’, ‘what’s a clinger’, ‘is it true you drink a lot of water’....Rosemary had her hands full with answering the questions, but she didn’t seem to mind...in fact, it seemed she was somewhat flattered to have her junior rely on her that much, a feeling Mia was somewhat familiar with.

“What a shame, I wanted to show you how a proper squad leader behaves…” she put her hand on her cheek and exclaimed in a manner no different than the little mimic Mia showed Emilico earlier that day “Ara ara, I showed you something embarrassing~”

This was met with a lot of laughter, although poor Rosemary couldn’t possibly know the reason for it.

As I came back to my room, it finally dawned on me why Emilico looked at me with such sad eyes back during shower time....
That’s right...I sometimes forgot, but the effects of Sarah-sama’s discipline were not completely invisible…

I gritted my teeth. I didn’t need anyone’s pity, especially of such a defective product, soon to be discarded, as that blondie! I didn’t ask for it!

Yet this was somewhat curious. Supposedly...no, undoubtedly...and without doubt, understandably...Kate treated her doll even more harshly than Sarah-sama...then why weren’t there any bruises visible on Emilico’s pristine, white skin?

Did that good for nothing, Mia, fail to notice? Or did Kate use some other, elaborate, and uncommon method of punishment?
This had to be it. But what could it be? Perhaps strangling, perhaps poison? Perhaps she used tiny sharp needless?

All kinds of creative methods of torture came up to my mind, as I laid down in my coffin, trying to fall asleep. I imagined Emilico bitting on a piece of cloth, just as I did, holding in pain, trying not to scream, trying not to cry...and that feeling of calm satisfaction got rid of previous anxiety. Soon, I was sleeping soundly...