I went so far as to let loose a very out-of-character onslaught of pleading to make the maids let me eat with them. “But we do not have as much as you to eat, Madam...” Dahlia said, feeling ashamed, to which I responded with a huge smile, “Please don’t feel bad, I’m the one who asked for this.”
Onward to the servants’ dining room! I don’t mind if it’s earlier or later, so long as I’m not alone!
Now, I’ll tell you a little about the servants at the Fisalis house.
The butler, Rohtas, was at the top of the totem pole, along with the head maid, head gardener, and head cook. Below the head maid were the personal maids and the common housemaids that tended to the cleaning and laundry.
I was still unclear about this, but, since personal maids were always with their mistress, it was their job to make the beds in the private rooms. The housemaids were in charge of cleaning the rooms.
There were fifteen maids in total. The head maid—Dahlia—and Mimosa served me exclusively, and I believe Mr. Fisalis had six. Of those six, a group of three looked after Mr. Fisalis and his girlfriend, Calendula, in the cottage. The servants rotated every other day. The remaining seven were for when guests came by and for the children I guess we’d have (not via me, of course). When the maids weren’t working, they helped the housemaids with the cleaning and laundry.
It would be difficult for all of the servants to eat at once, so they were split into three groups to eat in alternating shifts. The shifts changed daily and were determined by Rohtas and Dahlia.
That’s what I heard from Dahlia.
Even though I didn’t eat what they would consider proper meals, Mr. Fisalis and Calendula did, so the servants’ meals had some pretty stellar ingredients. Things I’d never even seen at my old house. Like, they got luxury meals, too! Even the servants’ meals would wreck my digestion!
My soup was the same as what they served Mr. Fisalis (making food in large batches makes it tastier, right?) so, it was no surprise that it was outstanding. The same goes for the bread.
The salads, too: the tenderest bits might have been eaten beforehand, but what was left was nothing to complain about. And then today all of us would have scrambled eggs atop sliced bacon.
I’m really gonna enjoy eating this with the maids! Oh, this will be the best! The food will be even more delicious than it already is!
”Good morning, everyone. From now on, please treat me like one of your own. There’s no need to worry about me—please just do what you normally do.”
After I entered the servants’ quarters, I stepped into a spacious servants’ dining room beyond the kitchen and introduced myself before I sat down.
“Understood, Madam!” they all responded, standing at attention in a completely not normal way.
I guess that was to be expected, though. After all, I had just barged into their resting area right after I’d suddenly become their mistress.
“I’m sorry. I’m ruining your precious relaxation time. Please don’t pay any attention to me, and if you can, don’t call me ‘Madam.’”
Just as I began to feel rather awful, as if I had done something inexcusable, one of Mr. Fisalis’ personal maids spoke up and said in a rush, “It’s not like that at all! We’re glad to have you with us, Madam!”
“She’s right! We never thought in our wildest dreams that you would be here, so we’re just surprised, is all!”
“We’re just still tense from yesterday,” the other maids said.
When I looked at the maids, it didn’t seem as though any of them thought poorly of me, so I figured they were telling the truth.
They’re all so good-natured.
“I’m so glad to hear you say that, thank you. Let’s eat, then!”
They all nodded.
I wonder if I’ll be able to be more candid with them soon, I thought to myself.
I’d even want my kids to call me Vi, but that conversation’s never going to happen, is it?
The maids were all young, so they’d been candid with each other from the start. I knew how to hold a conversation, but they were all still older than me.
I finished breakfast and went back to my room. Nothing to do today, either.
The next thing on my schedule is lunch. How much free time can one person have? And here I finished the thank-you cards yesterday.
“Hmm, what should I do today?”
Am I gonna start lacework today!? I thought to myself, crossing my arms and assuming a tough-guy pose.
“Today I will be giving you a tour of the manor,” Dahlia said as she made my tea.
“Oh, I’m so glad! It’s such a wonderful, spacious manor!”
I’m going on a real house tour!? I’m sure my eyes were sparkling in excitement to peek around someone else’s house. I mean, it’s my house, too, but I have zero self-awareness!
This splendid manor was shaped like a backwards ‘c’ and was constructed of stone.
Dahlia went on and on about what style this was, and what style that was as she showed me every nook and cranny. This blah blah was built by the blah blah blah master, she explained, but her words were like a magic spell that rendered me utterly bored out of my mind, and I totally ignored everything she said.
I had carefully studied the history of the Fisalis family during my long engagement, but I didn’t study very much of the building’s history due to lack of interest.
Sorry, Dahlia.