How dare they!....(Cecil)

H-how dare they...!" Dressed in a frilly black and white maid outfit Jasmine was standing across the street from Maid in Heaven, glaring at the cafe! If you could even call it that! Any maid cafe worth their salt would have thrown all their money at recruiting an employee as perfect as Jasmine believed she was! F-fine...! She guessed they were just unable to see her brilliance! Yes yes! Or perhaps they wanted to play fair and not destroy the competition entirely!

"Yes that must be it...! They must want to avoid the competition being totally out placed!" It was all well and good for that to be the truth, or more accurately the delusion, Jasmine held in her heart but it left one matter unresolved: She needed money and that meant a job. Jasmine's issue was she was honestly supposed to be groomed by her parents into taking over the family company but that never happened and then she got kidnapped. All of that had resulted in Jasmine having very little employability despite her wonderful education! So there Jasmine was, scowling at Maid in Heaven in a frilly maid outfit.

...what-
What was he-
This was why he stayed out of Suzie Q.

Right now, Cecil's headphones hung around his neck as he looked between Maid in Heaven, and the short maid that was currently standing across from the building glaring and yelling. It was really, really hard to ignore.
He'd been stuck there utterly bewildered ever since the first outraged cry pierced his headphones, alerting him to the furious and tiny girl that now stood in his path as he attempted to make his way out of the district.
Christ, she looked about the same height as Kendra...and just as strong willed.
What the hell was he supposed to do? It was hardly like he could...

Goddammit, he promised Tomomi he'd stop this. Alright...just do as he did with Nadia, and pretend he didn't have the stupid pile of issues he did.
In, out...
Starting tentatively and evening out his pace, he forced himself to approach, shutting out the voice of his mind that foretold inevitable failure. He could do this...he could do this. "Uh...what's wrong?"

...well it was better than before, so that was something.

Someone approached her. SOMEONE. APPROACHED. HER. SOMEONE APPROACHED HER WITHOUT PERMISSION?! Oh the impudent cur....! No Jasmine....you weren't queen yet....you had to be nice. Being nice to one's future subjects, both now and in the future, was a good way to get them on your side! If they liked you they'd be more willing to accept your natural right to rule them! And they'd be more willing to work under your command if you were on their good side! Baby steps Jasmine baby steps.

Still, despite that reasoning it did rankle Jasmine ever so slightly to be so casually approached by this total nobody as if they were equals! The sheer audacity was insulting...! Not that being beneath Jasmine was a bad thing one should be begrudged for! It was pretty hard to reach the level of perfection after all. Plus Jasmine was the kind of ruler who believed a ruler should improve the quality of her subjects as much as possible! That way they would be able to work at greater efficiency and perform their given tasks better! Oh right...Jasmine had to respond to this peasant didn't she?

"Well...those fools in Maid in Heaven wouldn't give me a job! Don't they want to succeed?! I can admire wanting to give your rivals a chance but I needed the job....!" At this point Jasmine was merely putting on a front and metaphorically puffing her chest out to try and protect her wounded pride.

...Cecil was starting to wonder just what he'd gotten himself into. It was fairly apparent that she wasn't happy about her application being rejected, but some of the things she seemed to be coming up with were...strange, to say the least.
He had no idea what was going through her head right now, but he hoped this wasn't anything more than her trying to cope with things.
Otherwise...well, there was probably a problem here.

"It's not like this is the only place you could get a job, right?" There we go, steer things onto something more productive..."There's probably other places willing to hire you. You were certainly dedicated enough to, uh...wear the uniform to the interview. I don't think most people would be willing to walk through the streets in an outfit like that." Let alone for fun...he really didn't get the appeal of maids. For what was essentially just a servant, there was a strange fanaticism over the outfit and the concept. He really doubted they'd be so enthusiastic about the actual thing instead of the crazy concoction people had turned them into in more modern times.

"That isn't the point! There may be other places someone as perfect as myself could get a job at but Maid in Heaven would be the most suitable!" Of course Jasmine could get a job anywhere else! She was utterly perfect in every way! She succeed at everything she tried to do!....Totally ignoring how she was rejected by Maid in Heaven...that didn't count! Man the peasants of this city were so stupid....! To pass up on Jasmine's OBVIOUS superiority!

"Yes, of course I'd wear the work uniform to the interview! Everything I wear looks good on me! I am the cutest maid you'll ever meet!" She put her hands on her hips, puffed her chest out and smiled smugly. Jasmine did genuinely believe she was actually THAT wonderful. Sadly, all her smugness and arrogance didn't solve the most pressing issue: she was still unemployed and in serious need of money. Damn the Queen's regime STEALING THAT WHICH DID NOT BELONG TO THEM.

"I..." That one gave him pause. "Why? Why there of all places? It's...it's literally a place just meant to extort money out of people wrapped up in a fetish I personally really don't get. I tried to find out why people go to these places once, and uh...well, you don't go to these places because they're remotely fairly priced, or because the stuff you get from them's particularly good, from what I found." They'd listed some of those prices...
No. Just...no.
"...seriously, what's the big deal about that place? About maids, or any of this?"

He almost groaned as she started to show off about it all. It was becoming more and more apparent just why she failed to get hired in the first place if this was how she acted during the interview. He didn't care what she looked like. He wasn't interested, not showing a hint of attraction or flustering in his expression, nor did his eyes even flicker over her form to take her in. Right now, all he knew for sure is that it was no wonder she was confident enough to walk through the streets like that. "Sure...not that I intend on meeting many maids anyway...."

"...You dare presume to question my reasons peasant?" Now Jasmine was even angrier than she had been before. This unwashed peasant had just marched up to her, without asking permission or showing the courtesies that were due, and now he was daring to question the reasoning of his once and future ruler? Not only was he questioning her choice Cecil was even question it in such a moronic fashion! Disgusting.

"Because you uneducated simpleton Maid in Heaven is a prosperous place that has a rather impressive treasury. Such things are mine by right." That was the other reason Cecil's question irked her show. He was exactly correct that Maid in Heaven used the fetishes of the people to entertain and accrue money but that was the nature of its business! And no, Jasmine didn't know for sure how large the maid cafe's treasury was; she just believed it simply had to be.

The fact Cecil seemingly failed to understand the appeal of sex and fetishes marked him as a peasant yet to attain the heights of understanding Jasmine had reached! Sex was one of mankind's oldest pleasures and vices. Entire wars, dynasties, empires and kingdoms were founded on it (with just as many if not more either destroyed or caused by it) so for Cecil to not realise just how intrinsic fetishes were to his own species....well it made him seem like an unrefined peasant! Oh well...Jasmine knew she would have her work cut out for her ensuring her subjects were suitable to be ruled.

...was - was this girl for real? "...I'm seriously being called a peasant by a someone dressed as a serving girl who seems to think she's a 13th century noble. Please...please tell me you didn't talk to like this to whoever was handling hiring in there? Because if you want to lose a job, that's definitely how you do it." He lets out a long sigh, bringing up a hand to squeeze at his temples. "You realise insulting people and yelling at buildings doesn't do anything but make you look bad, right?"
Something strikes him, and he winces. "Oh god, this probably isn't even the first time you've done this, is it..." He takes his hand from his face to look at her with a disbelieving expression. "Is this even the first place you tried? A maid cafe is hardly the first thing people think of when they're looking at places with a lot of money, and from what you said, the only reason you seem to think this place is appropriate in the first place is because of how much money the place makes."
And is willing to pay her, for that matter.

"Of course not fool! Do not judge how I acted in an interview based on my conversing with you!" Cecil was an idiot. Yes, assume Jasmine acted in the same manner during the interview as she was with him. It's not like they were totally different situations with totally different expectations or social norms or anything. Heavens no. That wasn't possible. Idiots who assumed when they knew nothing had no right to speak!

"Given the amount of customers I've seen visit here and the prices they value their products at? It is blatantly obvious they are financially well off!" As far as Jasmine was concerned the only factors worth considering when it came to finding employment were could they pay her and could she travel their efficiently. The answer to both of those, at least in regards to Maid in Heaven, was yes! So the cafe had no reason to deny her! She could do the job perfectly and was willing to do the work! Her logic was indestructible.

"Hmp. You peasants may not believe a maid cafe a suitable first stop for work but that is why you're peasants! Do not worry though!" Jasmine placed one hand to her heart and extended the other towards Cecil as if offering him a dance at a high end ball.

"I will help you! A peasant you may be but even the lowliest of us can achieve greatness within their stations with a little bit of guidance from one above them!" Jasmine really did believe herself to be superior to Cecil didn't she? Oh well...perhaps this was her way of making friends with people? She thought Cecil was a stupid uneducated moronic peasant yes but she didn't blame him for that! Nor was she angry at him! Just ever so slightly perturbed!

There was palpable relief in the sigh that came after she said she didn't talk to the interviewer like that. Probably offensive, but if you were being honest, the bar had not been set high by this girl during the time they'd spoken.
Honestly, you could probably trip over it.

...he wasn't sure what to make of things at this point. Did he think of a maid cafe as somewhere someone might try first for employment? Well, yeah. As had been said, they were profitable enough, and a lot of people probably wouldn't have thought it massively difficult to find work there as long as they were willing to partake in the things that made it an attraction.
No - it was just that he expected her to try and shoot for somewhere way out of her league first in search of riches.
And get shot down in the process.
...this conversation hadn't demonstrated she had best anchoring in reality either.

And the last nail in the coffin was that she thought that people like him
No
No.
He was trying to stop that.
God, this whole situation was ridiculous.
"And...what does such help entail?"
He was willing to go along with it for now, though. You picked up a lot of perspective for what was truly terrible to handle after a few minutes with Rui.

"Oh? You are interested in being a suitable subject? Good good! All great subjects should strive to be the best resource they can! In return I shall be equally amazing! Although I already am! So such improvements on my part are impossible!" Of course...what exactly did Jasmine have in mind of how to help Cecil? Well. She considered the following traits important in her subjects: loyalty, dedication, hard work and most importantly? Integrity! One needed to have integrity! To never dare consider betraying their lord! It was a symbiotic relationship between servant and master.

"Well....! I'm going to teach you the most important values for my subjects! Loyalty! Dedication and integrity! As for how I shall teach you these....well! I will simply give you orders! My orders will improve everything for everyone! So you simply need to follow them and trust in your ruler!" It may seem like Jasmine was utterly out of her mind, intentionally over blowing everything as part of some scheme to see less dangerous than her rhetoric implied but honestly? Jasmine genuinely and completely believed in herself! Her rejection dented her pride but that was not her fault!

More like I'm humouring you...
He looked around for any sign of cameras in the area - some indication that this was a practical joke being filmed for the amusement of later audiences.
He found none.
How did a person genuinely end up like this?

...you know what? This was harmless. And she could probably do with the distraction. It'd be fine.
Resisting the urge to grin, he folded his arms before and behind him in classic butler fashion and took a bow. "Very well. And who is it that I shall be attending to today, if I may ask?"



...something had definitely changed recently if this was how he was responding to this situation.

"You have the pleasure of serving Jasmine Russell! Heiress of the Russell corporation!" Sadly, despite her claim that she was heiress to her parent's company Jasmine couldn't really....prove it. Plus her parent's company while still around? Was no where near as big, successful or profitable it used to be. The young supposed heiress had been struggling immensely to actually find any information on what happened to the company her parent's built but it had to exist, it was her birth right after all.

"As for today's tasks....hmm! I have no other interviews today so you shall have the honour of accompanying me to lunch! Make a worthwhile suggestion noble peasant!" It may not have been obvious to Cecil but this command was done not only to satisfy Jasmine's own wants. The second reason was that it would, hopefully, cultivate good tastes and appreciation for fine foods in Cecil. After all, any food Jasmine liked was by virtue of her approval the greatest food in the world!

...you would have figured an heiress of all things wouldn't be in dire need of a job, let alone at a maid cafe of all places.
Then again, he hardly know what to make of this girl anyway. Either she was completely delusional (as opposed to egotistical and partially delusional), or the heiress thing hadn't actually been really working out for her.
Cecil simply nods, suppressing a roll of his eyes. Heiress or not, she had far too much of an ego for her own good.
And before he could realise it, Cecil found himself plotting to keep her out of the trouble that she'd inevitably attract.

Cecil shakes his head. "I'm afraid I have little familiarity of the area's establishments, other than a few street vendors of more...pedestrian, taste. Satisfactory for what they do in terms of meeting my own needs, but naught I would expect you to make patronage of."
Your move, Jasmine.

"Bahahahah! That sounds wonderful! Why, do you think that I'd have something against experiencing life as the peasantry would? I will rule you all eventually! I dare say that means I should develop an understanding of your lives!" Had Cecil been planning to deter Jasmine from following his suggestions he would be sorely mistaken! The idea of experiencing life as the peasants do interested Jasmine greatly; it was always good to know how your working class lived life!

"Now let's go! You have the privilege of being my guide for the day!" Jasmine's smile was large, wide and beaming almost bright enough to be impossible to look at. She stood confidently, hands on her hips waiting eagerly for Cecil to lead the way! How could he not been jumping at the bit to accompany Jasmine to lunch? She was the greatest person in the entire world! None could ever come close to her perfection!