†††
“MARIN, make me a cup of tea.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Once I started interacting with her, I saw that Lady Selena wasn’t nearly as frightening as the rumors made her out to be. There were times she scared me, of course, but that was only when there was some threat to her. It was like how animals use their self-preservation instincts. Though, it may be rude to make such a comparison to a noble lady. But really…
Tiegel shot me a look that said, “What is it?” I responded with a smile that said, “Nothing,” and focused on preparing the tea.
I was more frightened of the mysterious young man, Tiegel, than my lady. He seemed to be a former slave the lady picked up somewhere. It felt like he was always walking around with a blade drawn. Metaphorically, of course. He didn’t actually carry a drawn blade all the time.
The other maids thought he was amazing. They had the luxury of saying, “The burn scars are unfortunate, but he’s still gorgeous even with them.” Yes, he was attractive, but I had no desire to become closer to him.
“Marin, have you learned anything interesting?” asked Lady Selena.
“I discovered Lady Rosemary will be hosting a tea party. What would you like to do?” I asked.
“I won’t do anything.”
“Nothing, my lady?”
“No.”
While the Violette family had adopted Rosemary, Lady Selena was the true daughter of the house. Any normal noble girl would be angry if Rosemary tried to push her aside and take her place by hosting a tea party in the mansion.
I was certain they would all think things like, “What does she think she’s doing?”, “Impudent commoner,” or even, “She thinks she’s a noble now,” but I never got the impression Lady Selena thought those sorts of things. She seemed not to care at all. So long as they didn’t turn their weapons on her, she seemed to think as much of other people as she did of stones by the side of the road.
Even with that, I think she’s a good mistress because she doesn’t demand that I do anything unreasonable.
If it had been Lady Selena who had given me that order, not Lady Rosemary, would Lady Selena have abandoned me in the same way? There’s no point in thinking about it, is there? I have a vague feeling Lady Selena would never tell me to do something like that in the first place. She doesn’t care enough about others. I also don’t think she sees others as necessary, even me.
No, I should stop all this unnecessary ruminating. I’m nothing more than a maidservant. It’s not my place to try and understand everything about my mistress.
“Excuse me,” I said. I cleaned up the tea tray after Lady Selena finished and exited the room.
✦ ✦ ✦
†††
“OH, look. The traitor.”
It wasn’t always just understanding coworkers in the hallways.
“What a horrible person, trying to blame Lady Rosemary for what she did.”
“Poor Lady Rosemary.”
Rosemary’s maidservants said horrible things about me, loud enough so I could hear, hid things from me, or generally interfered with my work. I didn’t know if they did it to curry favor with her or if they honestly felt that way. They were like children.
“It boils my blood how she walks around like she did nothing wrong.”
“The nerve.”
“She should just resign right now.”
Harassing me was like a pastime for these women who didn’t think the misfortune that befell me could befall them as well.
There is a quote by one famous playwright: “He jests at scars that never felt a wound.”
Truer words have never been spoken.
They look at me and laugh. They call me a fool. But, once they stop laughing, they’ll come crawling. I know because I used to be where they are now.
✦ ✦ ✦
†††
“I was just following Lady Rosemary’s orders!”
“Don’t lie! You did that all on your own. I don’t know anything about it.”
“But! Lady Rosemary, how could you?”
“You decided to do it, and now you’re trying to blame it on me because you messed up? It’s because you don’t like me because I used to be a commoner!”
“That’s not true! I just—”
“I don’t want to hear it. Everyone hates me. Everyone thinks they can do whatever they want to me because I used to be a commoner.”
One by one, Lady Rosemary’s maids and servants were punished for attempting to harm Lady Selena. Their numbers dwindled since some were removed from service.
In the beginning, the other servants thought the maids were doing these things on their own, though even they started to think it odd when it kept happening.
The problem was that the person in charge of our employment was the sheltered, air-headed wife of the duke. She liked Lady Rosemary, so we servants were at risk of losing our jobs if we insulted her.
The reverse of that meant that anyone who earned Lady Rosemary’s favor could gain great status in the home and get away with almost anything. That meant many servants still attended to Lady Rosemary, trying to drag each other down to get Lady Rosemary to like them the best.
They neglected their duties as they set traps for their competition. And they call themselves the servants of a duke? Any other house would immediately send them to pack their bags.
✦ ✦ ✦
†††
“MARIN, make me a cup of tea.”
“Yes, Lady Selena.”
Compared to that, working for Lady Selena is peaceful. She values the quality of my work and effort and never looks at things with a bias. The only place in the Violette home where one can focus entirely on one’s duties as a maidservant is under Lady Selena.
That’s why I’m glad I came to work as her dedicated maidservant. I put myself to work, feeling grateful toward her.