“Since you are going to be working here now, you ought to know…” Tala paused, her face revealing her misgivings as she continued in a barely audible voice, “…They say the lady moving in today is a witch.”
Rose listened without so much as batting an eyelash, though she was shaken on the inside. She hadn’t expected Harij to expose her as a witch to his servants aside from Safina, who had already discovered it for himself.
Can I—should I—truly stay with him as a “witch”?
No matter how many times she told herself he hadn’t invited her into his home as a noblewoman, she couldn’t shake the anxiety mounting in her. Her apprehensions entirely had to do with her own wishy-washiness about the whole thing, but she still didn’t know what position she should take in this mansion.
Even Rose had reservations about pulverizing animal livers in a long, dusty, dragging robe while claiming to be the lord of the mansion’s intended fiancée.
She probably wouldn’t start brewing potions in the middle of the living room, especially since she didn’t bring any pots or equipment with her because she couldn’t carry everything. But Rose was deeply moved by Harij’s open-mindedness about her being a witch in his house when she came there with every intention of attempting to be relatively human.
“His Lordship chose her, so she should be a fine lady… But don’t go making her angry or getting on her bad side, lassie. If you do, she might turn you into a frog with a swish of her wand.”
Only the great witches of the past could use such powerful magic, but Rose nodded along with her anyway. Tala laughed with relief after sharing her apprehensions with a kindred spirit.
As expected, the woman seemed frightened of witches, but she trusted Harij more than her innate fears.
Tala was about to leave the room when she seemed to notice Rose still standing there with the clothes in her hands, and she spun on her for one last scolding. “Don’t just stand there, for crying out loud! And why do you look like nothing but skin and bones, child? Did your previous master not feed you much?”
Tala closed the space between them and squished Rose’s cheeks between her hands. She turned Rose’s face right and left to get a better look at her.
“I can see why the girls would be jealous of you with a face like this.”
Tala pulled Rose’s dress down in one fell yank. Rose, who hadn’t had someone undress her in ages, stood erect without even uttering a surprised squeak.
“Good thing the wife of your previous master is a nice lady. She sent an astounding letter of recommendation for you. Even Mr. Safina, the head butler, decided to let you work here without an interview. Work hard, lassie. His Lordship will likely keep you even after the maid who left returns, if your work merits it.”
Tala swiftly dressed Rose as she merely stood there like a mannequin.
“You seem to have been hired as Her Ladyship’s exclusive maid, but as I said earlier, we’re running on a skeleton staff. As such, you will do all the work—lighting the furnace, keeping the fire going, cleaning, washing, cooking, shopping—the works.”
It seemed to take less than a few seconds before she was tying the ribbon at Rose’s neck. She patted her twice on the chest as if to signal she was free to move again.
“His Lordship gives us servants the day after the Starlight Festival off and a present every year—you can’t find a master as good as him anywhere else in the world. Not to mention he’s as handsome as they come. Do your best—but also try not to fall in love with him!”
Rose stood up straight and tall under Tala’s sharp glare. Answering either “Okay” or “No” were both out of the question.
At last, Tala left the room. Rose placed the luggage she brought from the hermitage on the floor and followed her. Tala gave a brief explanation of all the rooms as they walked through the hallways.
“This is the linen closet, and if you turn the corner over there, there’s a bathroom. I already prepared Her Ladyship’s room yesterday. Therefore today you will be helping me in the kitchen. Can you make trippa alla romana?” Tala turned toward her.
Rose could only shake her head. If she could make such extravagant dishes, her meals wouldn’t have consisted of just lettuce all these years.
“Then, how about acqua pazza?”
Rose shook her head even harder.
“Surely you are capable of making a vegetable quiche…” Tala seemed to realize the futility of her question before she finished it—Rose had given her yet another firm shake.
“I can twist a chicken’s neck.”
“We aren’t killing any chickens for dinner. The green pheasant, which will be our main dish for tonight, is already marinating in herbs. Since you can’t cook, go clean the foyer.”
They arrived there just as Tala finished telling her that.
“…Oh? This is the entrance?” Rose pointed at the beautifully carved door.
There was a staircase nearby, so the light spilling from the atrium ceiling softly illuminated the entrance hall. Gorgeous flowers decorated porcelain vases, and a bench and candle stands lined the wall.
“That it is… Don’t tell me you thought the door you came in through was the main entrance? That was the servants’ entrance.”
Rose refrained from admitting that was exactly what she’d thought and opened the real front door to begin cleaning. She pushed the heavy door open with all her strength, and her effort was rewarded with a view of the stunning mansion frontage.
Now she understood the difference between the two entrances—the main was breathtaking in all its glory, so much so that the servants’ entrance looked drab in comparison. Rose, however, maintained her cool veneer as she took in the landscaping before her.
Every bush was flawlessly pruned to the exact same roundness and shape. The colorful flowers must have been meticulously selected and trimmed by the gardener to always be in full bloom.
“All right, use these to clean the place up until it’s sparkling.” Tala pulled a bucket and straw scrubbing brush from somewhere and pressed them into Rose’s hands.
Accepting the tools, Rose fetched water from the specified well and thoroughly scrubbed the entrance. She made acquaintance with the rest of the servants while she was crouched and wiping up the floor.
She had met one of the footmen once before—he was the man who had carried Harij to her hermitage after he accidentally consumed the love potion. He probably didn’t know the Witch’s face, as she had had her hood pulled low over her features at the time. Who could blame him for not realizing that the humble maid scrubbing the entrance until she was drenched in sweat was actually the Witch his lord was smitten with?
Two of the footmen cheerfully greeted her and casually invited her out, saying, “Want to join us in town for drinks next time?”
Once they finished their quick chat, Rose returned diligently to her work.
But when Tala took a brief break from cooking to check on her, she made an X with her hands. “That won’t do, lassie. It’s not sparkling. Watch me. This is how you do it.”
She snatched the brush from Rose, got on her knees, and began scrubbing the floor. The loud sound of bristles scraping over the hard surface spoke volumes about how much pressure and strength Tala put into it.
“That’s the right way to do it. You can do the same thing, right? After you finish— Ouch, ouch, ouch…” After standing up, Tala moaned and placed a hand on her hip.
“What’s wrong?”
“My lower back has been aching a lot lately. Everyone succumbs to the ailments of aging eventually.”
Standing up too quick seemed to have made her pain worse. Rose took the brush from Tala, who was too stiff with pain to move, and guided her by the hand over to the staircase, where Rose helped her sit on the steps.
“Oh no, I can’t sit in the middle of the room,” she protested.
“Why not?”
“Are you honestly asking me that? Servants aren’t even supposed to walk in the middle of the stairs. How could you not know?” Tala marveled at Rose. Apparently, this was general knowledge that the maid who was recommended to the Azm mansion would have known.
“No one is around right now,” Rose responded unapologetically. “And if they do show up, I will take responsibility for it.”
“…Thank you. Sitting down for a bit will make me feel better, so get back to work, lassie.” Tala waved Rose away, embarrassed to be looked after by a younger maid.
Her back seems to hurt a lot. Maybe I should fetch a compress from home. As Rose was pondering how to help Tala, she heard a raucous shout.
“…She wasn’t at home?!”
“She left a note saying she was heading here early, but she has not arrived yet, Your Lordship… I was about to consult with the guards at the station.”
Those were Harij’s and Safina’s voices. They could be clearly heard from outside because Rose had left the door open to clean.
Harij sounded terribly upset and panicked.
Rose dropped her arm from Tala’s shoulder and rose to her feet. “…I forgot.” She rushed to the foyer and poked her head outside.
“What did her note say?!” Harij was angrily questioning Safina as they walked toward the entrance when he just so happened to look in Rose’s direction.
Her eyes locked with his so perfectly it almost seemed to make a sound.
He stopped dead in his tracks. His stunned expression was visible from a distance.
“Oh, Your Lordship! Welcome home.” Tala appeared behind Rose. She bowed to Harij without showing a single sign of her back pain. “I apologize for leaving the door open. We were cleaning the foyer… Go on, dear. His Lordship is home. Greet him.”
“I will be in your care starting today.” Rose lightly bowed her head at Tala’s insistence.
Harij fell completely silent, his large palm covering his face. He was likely trying to understand what he was seeing right now.