Chapter 9 (2/2)
“But I’ll, uh, do my best to make up for it,” I appealed to the maids, my voice was filled with desperation.
“I’ll do my best, so can you please tolerate me for a while?”
At the same time, a maid suddenly opened her mouth.
“Do your best, you said, but will doing your best solve everything?”
“Young kids these days.”
I was speechless.
The maids threw ridicule towards me one by one.
“She’s right, does it make sense to have a young kid like you above us?”
“Even if you’re an official maid, don’t even dream about giving us orders.”
“You need to know your place.”
My lips were bleeding from the built-up frustration.
No matter how earnest I was, there’s no point if they weren’t listening. Talking to these stubborn maids was similar to talking to a wall.
But at that moment.
“Huh, it seems like everyone has a lot of free time nowadays,” a voice tinted with amusement cut through the mockery like a sharp knife.
Surprised, I turned towards the voice’s origin. At the end of my gaze stood a maid with light brown hair.
Above the maid’s bosom was a clear white crystal brooch.
(TL/N: rose crystal – maid, white crystal – senior maid, yellow crystal – court lady/head maid)
Meanwhile, the maids couldn’t hide their astonished faces. Their attitude was different from when they were dealing with me.
“Senior maid Wember!”
‘Senior maid Wember?’ my eyes widened in amazement, ‘Wasn’t she the one who brought my rose crystal brooch?’
Her voice rang once again, a hidden chill veiled within, “Didn’t Court Lady Hayden warn all of you earlier? Don’t mock others.”
“That, senior maid…”
“Well, we didn’t mean to do that…”
“That’s funny,” said Wember, as she smiled and took a step forward.
“I heard what you said to the child myself,” the senior maid ridiculed as she tilted her head, “Even though I’ve already caught you, why are you still trying to deceive me?”
The maids widened their eyes in sheer surprise.
“Have you all forgotten what the Empress had said?” the head maid questioned them.
“No, that’s not it…!”
“I’m sure that I’ve told you to treat the new maid nicely, haven’t I?”
‘…what?’ I gnashed my teeth in vexation, ‘It’s the Empress again.’
Every time she was mentioned, my mind became a mess akin to countless threads tangled within each others’ knots.
‘Why is the Empress so nice to me? Still, that doesn’t change the fact that she deceived me.’
“A servant who doesn’t obey their master’s words, aren’t they useless in the end?” Senior Maid Wember asked rhetorically. She made the biting remark, all the while smiling brightly. Even I was scared of the venom dripping from her words.
Despite the comment, words of protest resounded instead.
“But, is Senior Maid not angry?”
“What do I need to be upset about?”
“A little child who came out of nowhere acquired Her Majesty’s favor!”
So that’s what it looked like.
My chest felt stuffy as if someone substituted my heart for a rock.
For these maids, I wasn’t more than a stepping stone in their career.
I wasn’t even striving for them to like me, but even a child like me didn’t want to be on the receiving end of people’s hate.
‘This is why I prefer being alone.’
“What’s wrong with that?” Senior Maid Wember asked without hesitation.
‘…?’
Her unexpected answer surprised me. She rested her hands on her waist and spoke firmly, “So what if Her Majesty favors her?”
“Senior maid!”
“The people who reside in this palace each have their own role. You, me, and even the new maid has her role,” Wember spoke indifferently.
Yet the maids remained unconvinced.
“Role? What can a small kid like her do?”
”Right! We’re already lucky enough that she didn’t add another load of work for us!”
“How can I live with a small child like her as our superior? Can you even call her a maid?”
The maids voiced out their complaints, and the building frustration lit a raging fire inside me.
‘Are they insulting the training I had undergone now? I’m the longest maid-in-training! I know how to clean, do laundry, and even clean the fireplace!’
“Of course, you have to live with her as your superior,” Wember spoke.
“No way!”
“It doesn’t matter what you say anymore, because she’s the only one who can do what we can’t.”
Wember, who looked around at the perplexed maids, coolly asked, “Amongst us, is there anyone who can cheer up Her Majesty?”
A heavy silence fell upon the maids.
While, on the other hand, I felt as if I had swallowed a rock.
Someone who can please the Empress…
‘How can a child like me, cheer up the Empress?’