5
Ellie had an old dream. A memory from when her parents were still alive. Her mother, holding her infant youngest sibling in her arms, said to Ellie:
‘When mother isn’t around, Ellie has to protect her siblings. Understand?’
‘Yes.’
Young Ellie nodded her head seriously. Marcus, Matthew, Amy—her adorable siblings. She thought that her mother would never be gone forever, but if she left the house briefly, of course Ellie would have to take care of her siblings.
They were a poor but happy family. Despite their difficult circumstances, the Brewer couple didn’t make their children work in the fields like other families. Instead, they sent them to a charity school in the neighboring village. They ignored others’ meddling comments about whether it was necessary to educate a girl. Thanks to learning her letters, Ellie was able to dream new dreams.
But happiness didn’t last long. Before even the next year had passed, they died in a carriage accident on the same day.
‘Waaah, Mommyy…!’
‘Big sister, does this mean we’ll never see Mom and Dad again?’
On the day of the funeral, which they barely managed to hold with the help of the villagers. Even her younger brothers, who had been pretending to be mature all along, rolled on the dirt floor crying. Hearing her brothers’ cries, her young sister, who didn’t understand anything, also burst into tears.
Ellie didn’t cry until the end. Watching the wooden coffins being covered with soil, she made a vow. That no matter what, she would protect her siblings.
“Wake up.”
An unfamiliar voice interrupted Ellie’s deep sleep. The fatigue from her journey couldn’t have dissipated after just one night. She squirmed and burrowed deeper into her blanket.
“Amy… let your sister sleep a little longer…”
At her sleepy complaint, Daniel snorted in exasperation. He had barely slept all night because of her, yet here she was, sleeping peacefully and talking in her sleep.
He couldn’t bring himself to touch her body. Instead, Daniel grabbed the bedpost rather than Ellie’s shoulder and shook it hard.
“Wha-what?”
Ellie shot up like a spring at the earthquake-like vibration. But what she saw wasn’t a collapsing roof, but the face of a beautiful person looking at her with disdain.
Daniel had already put on his blue morning uniform. Ellie belatedly remembered where she was and scratched her head. Right, she’d gotten a job.
“Sorry, I was just so tired…”
Ellie sighed deeply. While noble gentlemen might only open their eyes close to noon, servants’ days begin very early. Naturally, dawn had not yet broken outside the window.
She had been so tired that she fell asleep without even washing, but no employer would consider such circumstances. Daniel maintained an unforgiving attitude.
“I’m only waking you up today. From tomorrow on, I’ll leave you be whether you get scolded or not, so handle it yourself.”
“I understand…”
Ellie sluggishly pushed aside her blanket and lowered her feet to the floor. The faint dawn light coming through the window penetrated her thin nightgown. Daniel frowned and sharply turned his head away.
“We’re late, so change your clothes quickly.”
He left the room as soon as he finished speaking. Left alone, Ellie blinked her heavy eyelids. Did they really need to change clothes separately every time like this? It’s not like looking would wear anything out.
Well, after a few days, he’d probably give up on this practice out of inconvenience. Ellie rose from her bed and stretched broadly.
“Mmmpaaah…!”
She hadn’t even had a chance to unpack yet. As Ellie tried to pull out her suitcase that she had temporarily shoved under the bed, she suddenly noticed a round wooden tub at her feet.
Clean water and a fluffy new towel. It was obviously washing water prepared for her. Ellie’s jaw dropped wide. Who would prepare warm water for her? This was something she had never experienced before.
When she dipped her hand in slightly, she could still feel the lingering warmth. A wave of emotion washed over her. Diana might have a prickly manner of speaking, but she had a warm heart after all.
Daniel simply didn’t want to see Ellie wandering around the room in what appeared to be a nearly see-through nightgown, but she had no way of knowing his true intentions. The thought of having made a good friend filled her with warmth.
Ellie lightly washed her face, hands, and feet with the lukewarm water. Then she rummaged through her suitcase and pulled out the least wrinkled morning dress. A pink dress with small floral patterns. This too was clothing she had received from the Baron’s house.
He could have just paid proper wages rather than giving things like this. But that was all in the past now. She was now a maid in a Count’s mansion, and would be receiving more than double the wages!
As she was putting on a light morning apron over it, Daniel returned to the room. Seeing the bright pink dress, he frowned again.
“You’re going to wear that?”
“Huh, is something wrong?”
Ellie raised her arms and looked herself over. Although it wasn’t a new outfit, it wasn’t torn or faded.
Most employers allow more flexible attire in the morning instead of heavy black dresses. But in reality, this has little to do with actual “flexibility.” Naturally, one must meet the high standards of the house owner, and also not offend the eyes of the housekeeper or other maids.
In that sense, Ellie’s outfit was an absolute failure. Daniel shook his head firmly.
“Such loud colors aren’t acceptable here. Don’t you have anything in light green or… blue?”
“Hmm…”
Ellie tried to recall the few clothes she had brought with her. Even if they varied slightly in color, they weren’t much different from what she was wearing now.
In the morning, all maids gather in the hall to receive instructions. There was no time to waste. Daniel quickly bent down and lifted her suitcase back onto the bed.
“This won’t do. Take everything out.”
As soon as Ellie opened the bag, Daniel began rummaging through the clothes. Colorful fabrics were tossed about in his hands.
“Don’t you have anything besides these terrible things?”
“But they’re all nice…”
Ellie’s voice trailed off. From young girls to elderly women, all the village women had envied her. They said she always wore nice clothes because she worked in a nobleman’s house.
Daniel’s fingertips caught a particularly soft fabric. When he pulled it out, it turned out to be none other than Ellie’s underwear. Daniel roughly tossed the piece of cloth away as if burned and closed the bag again.
“Ha, forget it. Then I’ll give you my… no, wait a moment.”
“Huh, what?”
Daniel, who had been flustered on his own, abruptly left the room. Bewildered, Ellie reopened the bag and roughly arranged the disheveled clothes.
Daniel quickly returned carrying a rectangular basket.
“Move that aside.”
Ellie pushed her suitcase to the side. Daniel flipped the basket over, and a pile of clothes spilled onto the bed.
“Pick something from these.”
Ellie’s eyes grew round. Dresses of various colors. It was completely baffling. Where had he gotten all these clothes so early in the morning?
“Whose are these?”
“They belonged to maids who ran away.”
Daniel replied nonchalantly. It was common for maids leaving the mansion to leave their uniforms behind. Especially as ship fares to foreign countries became cheaper, there was a sharp increase in the number of women quitting their maid jobs to leave.
Such left-behind clothes were usually shared among the other maids. The fact that these remained meant that they were of such poor quality that no one wanted them. But Ellie’s eyes widened as she admired the clothes.
“Wow, they left these behind?”
“Well, in some cases, they died and couldn’t take them.”
At Daniel’s casually thrown joke, Ellie’s face turned pale. The sky-blue dress she was holding dropped to the floor with a thud.
“R-really?”
“Be quiet and hurry up and choose.”
At Daniel’s scolding, Ellie began rummaging through the clothes again. Her previous joyful expression had completely vanished. With a woeful face, she examined each garment carefully as if looking for bloodstains.
Daniel inwardly snickered. Even if they really had belonged to someone who died, such stains wouldn’t remain, would they?
After much difficulty, Ellie changed into a light yellow dress. By then, time was already getting tight. The two hurriedly descended to the basement via the back staircase.
Even while rushing down the stairs, Ellie kept glancing at Daniel. By the time they reached the first floor, she couldn’t contain her curiosity any longer.
“Is that… a fashion trend?”
“What?”
“That thing around your neck.”
Ellie pointed to her own neck. Daniel touched his neck. He felt the short neckerchief he had tied there.
As far as Ellie could remember, Daniel had worn different patterned scarves throughout the previous day as well. And not just Daniel, but several other maids also wore similar scarves around their necks.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
