Inside Inori Castle

Well...This was quite the predicament, wasn't it?
Long, silky black locks fell around the man as he stared down at the parchment he gripped in large, smooth hands. He rarely pulled it up, his hair. In fact, the only time his hair was pulled back was when he was about to go to battle...
But that time wasn't now. Not yet, and not anytime soon, he hoped. Though this news made him feel the need to fight. Ryuko sighed softly as he set the parchment down on the desk. It was a little from the Clan Alliance. They were voicing their concerns over the fact that, of the very few sane originals left, he was the only one who hadn't married and produced an heir. They were practically demanding he do so, and were giving notice that soon, they will be arranging for eligible ladies to be sent to the castle for him to court, and choose the most suitable to be his bride. Ryuko didn't see a need in it, however. There were plenty in the clan he could name as his heir. Why did the Alliance have to insist on being so old fashioned? 'Traditions', they would call it. He'd call it stuffy old nonsense.

Why was it so necessary for him to have an heir now anyway? He wasn't going anywhere, and he certainly wasn't thinking about retiring. Still, the Alliance had their ways, he supposed. And there was no use fighting them about sending the girls here. He supposed, he could play along for now, and tell them in the end, that none of their chosen ladies were suitable for him.
A knock at his door pulled him from his thoughts, and he quickly tucked the parchment away into one of his desk drawers. No one need know of this for now. He could address the entire clan as a whole a bit later.
"You may enter." He spoke out as a carefree smile suddenly took over his face, waiting to see who would walk through his office door.

Ahhhh...it was another great evening.
It always was, for Ayane, at least. It was very rare that she had a bad night, or felt down in any way. Any day in the clan, doing her work, was another blissful day of life for her! She loved her family, the clan, and she loved serving them. Ayane was one of the best maids in the clan! Of course she wasn't the best. She had her faults. The main one being that, she was incredibly clumsy. Accident prone, really. That was her downfall. There were a number of maids who were far more graceful than she, and just as hardworking as she. So naturally, they were ranked above her. But that's okay. She didn't need to be the absolute best. She was just happy to be of any kind of help.

But, given that she was so clumsy, she was more than understanding when others were too. She had been just down around the corner, having come from the laundry room, when she heard the unmistakable sound of shattering glass. Uh oh! Sounds like someone had a little accident themselves. She was quick to round the corner and right over to help. "Let me help you." She spoke sweetly in her soft voice, a smile on her face. She had already bent down and began to carefully pick up as many pieces of glass as possible without a broom, and placed them on the tray.
She turned her kind eyes up to the young man who had dropped the glass. It was the servant who had come to the clan just two weeks ago. Kiyoshi, wasn't it? He was handsome, and tall, with dark hair and eyes to match. "I can't tell you how many dishes I've broken. Probably far too many to count."

"Well, it's always good to be careful. But there's really no harm done. No one got hurt." She took a moment to head on over to one of the utility closets and grabbed a hand broom and dust pan, along with a small bag. She came back over and swept up whatever was left of the glass shards and emptied the dust pan into the small bag. There! Now no one would potentially step on any tiny shards too small to pick up. "You'll do better and better with time. A lot of it just takes practice." She tied off the bag, and put the hand broom and dust pan away before returning to the man's side, giving him another sweet smile. "Oh Lord Ryuko would never do something like that! You really don't have to worry too much. Lord Ryuko has a lot of connections and friends. He gets stuff like that as gifts from designers. All the time. Let's deal with these dishes and broken glass, and then I'll show you something."

She gestured for them to head in the direction of the kitchen before she began to walk. "It's very nice to officially meet you, Kiyoshi. My name is Ayane." Her face lit up with so much happiness then. She was very proud to be in the clan. "I've been here almost my entire life. Mama found me when I was about three, took me in, and raised me. I started training as a maid when I was about six or seven. I was an apprentice maid for a few years, and became an official maid at thirteen." She explained. "You joined the clan about...two weeks ago, right?"

"It's really no problem for me. I quite enjoy being of assistance. Anytime you need my help, don't be afraid to ask." From what she'd heard from the other staff, Kiyoshi was a vampire. And although she would be happy to help anyone, she was even more driven to help him because of this reason. Her respect and admiration for vampires had no bounds. "It could just be nerves. You're in a new place, full of people you don't know, and you're serving a good amount of them. I know that when I'm nervous, I become extra clumsy. More than I already am in general!" She didn't usually speak this much to other people. She loved being around people, but she was so soft spoken and what have you, that she had a tendency to do more of the listening. But Kiyoshi felt different. And not just because he was new. There were a number of things that felt different about him. In a good way.

When they entered the kitchen, she took the little bag over to deposit it into the garbage bin. The area was empty at the moment, which made sense. The kitchen staff were on break right now. "You may not have interacted with many yet, but lots know about you already. Word spreads quite quickly here. We're like our own little tiny community in a way." She turned to face him with that sweet smile of hers. "I enjoy it here very much. I love everyone here. They're all family to me. And yes. Mama lives here too. Though she's too old to work now. She was head maid at one point. She was a very hard worker. And now she gets to rest and enjoy the rest of her life in comfort. We all take care of each other here." She explained. "Mm! There's lots of humans here. Blood slaves, staff, and members too. But that's not all. There's all kinds of creatures here! The clan accepts all."