Currently, they were the only four within the room. At this time of the year, even the temperature in Capua wasn’t high enough to make hot tea a problem. Letti had baked something akin to cookies to serve with the tea, and had quickly brewed drinks for everyone.
Normally, making the tea and snacks for the maids’ breaks was done on a rotation, but the role was almost exclusively Letti’s when it came to the problem maids. Of course, it hadn’t been forced onto her, it was by her own choice. She’d always liked cooking, but with the comments about aiming for Vanessa’s role, she’d set about doing so with a real sense of purpose. In turn, work that required more stamina tended to go to Faye and Dolores.
Once everyone had their drinks and the small plate of snacks was in front of them, Dolores was the first to speak.
“Thanks for your help today, Elvira. You were really easy to understand,” she said, thanking her for the instruction in their new role.
The young maid from the North accepted the thanks with a smile. “You’re welcome,” she replied before shrugging. “Though I’m sure Lady Ragnhild would have told you everything in less time and more precisely.”
Just as Dolores’s thanks came from the heart, Elvira’s response wasn’t her being modest, but was instead a simple truth.
Understanding that, though, the three problem maids shuddered and shook their heads.
“I’d really rather not!”
“I’ll say it again, thank you. I’m glad you were the one teaching us.”
“Not Lady Ragnhild.”
It was an unsurprising reaction. While Ragnhild would certainly beat Elvira in terms of her ability to instruct, there was an even greater difference in how strict said instruction was. It would be one thing if Elvira was a poor teacher, but with Elvira being a skilled teacher—just not as skilled as Ragnhild—there was no reason to actively choose the latter.
Elvira couldn’t help a rueful smile at their reactions. “Lady Ragnhild is nothing more than another maid working in the inner palace now; her instruction wouldn’t be that overwhelming,” she said, covering for her coworker who was old enough to be her mother.
However, Dolores shook her long black hair. “That makes her even scarier. She never drops acting like we’re equals, or her manners, or even her tone, but still gives really precise instructions.”
It felt even more overwhelming than with Amanda, who actually spoke from a superior’s position. Ragnhild would always cushion her statements with things like “pardon me for mentioning, but...” and “I would normally refrain from mentioning it in my position, but...” or “This is merely a suggestion, but...” and the only real response any of them could give was an apologetic agreement.
While officially they may have been on equal footing, the differences in age, accomplishments, and ability made for an inevitable hierarchy. Even now, while the three problem maids and Elvira alike were equals with Ragnhild, they still added “Lady” to her name, and that was the norm. Addressing her without an honorific simply felt too abnormal.
“If anything,” Dolores said, her eyes distant, “I feel sorry for Nilda. She’s officially Lady Ragnhild’s superior.”
While treating someone who would normally be your superior as an equal was difficult, being the first maid of the annex meant that Nilda was officially ranked higher than Ragnhild. Elvira giggled as Dolores considered the heartache that must cause before casually dismissing her concerns.
“Oh? I doubt you need to worry. Lady Nilda is doing exceedingly well. While she still has much to learn about her position and how to carry it out, she is doing shockingly well with Lady Ragnhild.”
“That’s a surprise,” Dolores said, doubt evident on her face.
“Yeah, I can’t really believe she’s acting as Lady Ragnhild’s boss,” Faye agreed.
While Letti didn’t say anything, her expression made her agreement clear. Elvira moved her teacup back from her face towards the table with an elegant motion as she answered them.
“That isn’t quite what I meant. Lady Nilda is acting the same way as she always has. Always accepting Lady Ragnhild’s advice without issue and playing her role as first maid.”
“Ah, that’s what you mean,” Dolores said. Being the sharpest out of all three of them, she was the first to understand what Elvira meant.
If you were to describe Nilda in a word, it would be “naive.” She almost seemed incapable of believing anyone in the world would have ill will towards her, and was almost frightfully open when you looked at her. However, that made her get on very well with people that engaged earnestly with her.
Ragnhild was an extremely exacting instructor, but none of that harshness was out of unkindness. That meant that Nilda would get along very well with her, as she’d accept the words that were said.
Unfortunately, Nilda was not a particularly fast learner, so even with accepting and responding to the things Ragnhild pointed out, there were many occasions when her actions did not follow suit. Still, with how gifted Ragnhild was as an instructor, she could tell the difference between people who were just giving lip service but not actually putting in effort and those who were truly trying to put the advice into practice but didn’t have the skill to follow through.
Thus, while Ragnhild may have found herself exasperated as Nilda repeated the same mistakes several times, she had no animosity towards the younger girl.
“That definitely makes me think it might be Lady Ragnhild that’s in the worse position,” Letti said in her characteristic lilting voice.
Elvira smiled and simply said, “Definitely.”
The three problem maids burst into laughter.
✦ ✦ ✦
