Chapter 002. Deborah’s Arrival at Elfengrin
Deborah’s morning began quite early.
Perhaps it was the same not only for Deborah but for most of the servants employed at “Elfengrin,” the main residence of the Cheister Ducal Family.
Rising at dawn, Deborah diligently put on the maid’s uniform for the morning and glanced around the attic bedroom on the third floor.
Last evening, her roommate Hanna, who had grumbled about having to wake up even earlier than usual, was already gone, leaving her bed empty.
The bedroom assigned to Deborah was a small room shared by two, located at the very end of the third-floor attic, where the bedrooms of lower-ranking female maids were typically situated.
Deborah, who had suffered emotionally due to her initially prickly housemaid roommate, was fortunate to soon have a new roommate, “Hanna Welcy,” with whom she could live comfortably.
Despite her rather boisterous personality, the kind-hearted country girl Hanna became a good friend to Deborah, who had been alone without a single close companion even a month after arriving at Elfengrin.
Seeing Hanna’s empty bed, Deborah hurriedly tidied her own.
There was still some time before the morning roll call, but she had to hurry.
Mrs. Charlotte, the housekeeper in charge of Elfengrin’s female servants, was a woman with a strict sense of time.
She did not tolerate failing to complete tasks within the allotted time or rushing in an unseemly manner due to lack of preparation.
Deborah, too, had been harshly scolded for being late to the morning roll call after being exhausted by the grueling schedule when she first arrived, and ever since, she made sure never to be late again.
Having finished tidying her bed, Deborah finally opened the door and stepped out.
In the hallway, maids were already hurrying toward the servants’ hall in the basement.
Deborah quickly joined them.
* * *
Over a hundred female servants gathered in the servants’ hall in the basement.
Unlike typical noble families that employed dozens or even just a few servants, a top-tier family like the Cheister Ducal Family had around 300 servants residing permanently in the estate.
Of those, more than half were female servants, excluding the high-ranking male servants.
As a result, female servants were further divided into different groups based on their roles.
Upper-rank maids, such as ladies’ maids or nurse maids, frequently interacted with their employers, and while a small number of housemaids were included in this group, they were very few.
Other roles, such as kitchen maids who worked in the kitchen, dairy maids who made dairy products, laundry maids who worked in the laundry room, and the majority of housemaids, were considered lower-rank maids.
At first glance, the female servants gathered in the hall might seem to be standing haphazardly, but upon closer inspection, it was clear they were arranged in order of “rank” from the front row backward.
As a housemaid who had only recently arrived at Elfengrin, Deborah stood at the very back among the lower-rank maids, looking at Mrs. Charlotte standing at the front.
Dressed impeccably in a crisply ironed black dress, Mrs. Charlotte stood at the head of the servants’ hall, confirming that all the female servants had gathered before finally speaking.
“As you know, in a fortnight, the members of the Cheister Ducal Family will return to this ‘Elfengrin.’”
Her resolute voice echoed through the hall, drawing everyone’s attention.
A week ago, a letter from the aide Robin had arrived, announcing that the Cheister Ducal Family, who moved residences seasonally, would return to Elfengrin between spring and early summer after completing their winter travels, as they always did.
Because of this, Elfengrin had been like a battlefield for the past week.
They had embarked on a massive spring cleaning to prepare for the arrival of the family.
“However, when I inspected yesterday afternoon, it was an absolute mess.”
The fastidious Mrs. Charlotte threw out sharp words, scanning the crowd with stern eyes.
“Dust behind the curtains in the main entrance hall was in poor condition, the library floor on the first floor was supposed to be polished to a mirror shine but wasn’t, and the bedding in the guest rooms was also in poor condition—.”
As Mrs. Charlotte slowly turned her gaze toward the housemaids responsible for each task, the maids who were singled out flinched.
“Don’t think you have plenty of time with a fortnight left, but rather engrave in your minds that only a fortnight remains. The family has been known to arrive early without warning, so take extra care.”
At her sharp remarks and warnings, the female servants swallowed hard, their faces tense.
Clap—
Having finished her instructions, Mrs. Charlotte raised her hands and clapped.
“Now, that concludes today’s roll call. I expect you all to carry out your assigned duties perfectly. Move along.”
With her concise words, the female servants, their faces heavy, began to file out of the servants’ hall.
* * *
“Deborah!”
Among the maids streaming out like the receding tide, Hanna’s face lit up with joy upon spotting Deborah.
“Hanna! You said you couldn’t attend the roll call—what happened?”
Even though they saw each other every day, they were delighted, and as typical young women their age, they grabbed each other’s hands, beaming with excitement.
“Well, Ludmilla forgot to include soap in the purchase request she sent to Mrs. Charlotte, can you believe it? So the curtain washing, which was supposed to be done this morning, got pushed to the afternoon.”
Imagining Ludmilla’s distress upon realizing her mistake while facing a mountain of laundry and the gathering laundry maids, Deborah couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy.
“Thanks to that, Jenna went off on her, saying Ludmilla would be the one to get an earful from Mrs. Charlotte. You should’ve seen Ludmilla’s face—she looked like she was about to die.”
Giggling as if it served her right, Hanna made Deborah frown and laugh, saying she was incorrigible.
Ludmilla, an upper-rank ladies’ maid, was a woman with a nasty personality.
She only kept maids who flattered and fawned over her by her side, while looking down on and bullying those who didn’t, revealing her thoroughly unpleasant nature.
Because of this, she was the one person even the usually kind-hearted Hanna, who rarely disliked anyone, couldn’t stand.
“So, I’ve been told to help with tasks inside the estate until the afternoon—what are you doing this morning, Deborah?”
“I have to dust the portrait frames hanging on the walls by the staircases on each floor before breakfast.”
There were still so many tasks left that a single day felt insufficient, but she had to finish that job before breakfast to avoid delays with the next tasks.
“What? The portraits on the walls by the staircases?”
Hanna, who was afraid of heights, grimaced, wondering why it had to be that task of all things.
Seeing her expression, a gentle smile spread across Deborah’s lips.
“Just hold the ladder for me. I’ll climb up and do the dusting.”
She had already been dreading climbing the shaky old wooden ladder alone to dust the numerous frames for an hour or two, so this worked out perfectly.
At those words, Hanna’s face finally brightened.
“Alright, I’ll hold it nice and tight.”
Patting her chest confidently, Hanna’s antics deepened Deborah’s smile.
* * *
“No matter how I think about it, God is unfair.”
Engrossed in dusting at the top of the ladder, Deborah paused and looked down at the sudden remark.
“What do you mean, God is unfair?”
The unexpected comment filled Deborah’s expression with curiosity.
“I’m talking about our Duke.”
Pointing at the spot she had just been dusting, Hanna drew Deborah’s gaze back to the portrait.
“…The Duke?”
“Yeah, doesn’t it seem like he’s received every single blessing from God?”
Right? Tilting her head slightly as if seeking agreement, Hanna’s words fixed Deborah’s gaze on the beautiful face in the portrait.
—Raymond von Cheister.
The eighth Duke of the Cheister Family, a prestigious noble lineage in the Kingdom of Ruvake.
Centuries ago, the Cheister Family produced the heroic brothers Jason and Jade, who not only stood at the forefront to repel the surprise attack by the barbarian Cruisen but also led the long, grueling war to victory.
The Cheister Family, the bloodline of heroes who saved Ruvake from the crisis of defeat, held a significance to the people of Ruvake that went beyond mere nobility.
It was said that the only person even the king dared not treat lightly was the head of the Cheister Family.
As the current head of such an illustrious family, Raymond was a man born into the world holding dazzling wealth and honor from the moment of his birth.
But Hanna’s earlier comment about “God being unfair” wasn’t just about that.
The young Duke Cheister in the portrait was depicted wearing a white military uniform with a blue baldric draped diagonally across it.
With radiant golden hair and clear turquoise eyes that captivated onlookers, the man was strikingly handsome, even in a mere portrait.
Born as the heir to the most prestigious family and blessed with an appearance that could be called divine.
That’s why Hanna said of Duke Raymond, “God is unfair.”
“Deborah, why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t you think so too?”
Hanna asked again, addressing Deborah, who was staring blankly at the portrait.
Deborah replied quietly, her gaze still fixed on the face in the portrait—
“No… I think so too. …God really is unfair.”
Right? I knew you’d agree, Hanna muttered, satisfied with the response, but her words no longer reached Deborah’s ears.
For a moment, Deborah’s heart began to pound fiercely, caught in the illusion that the man’s gaze in the painting was looking directly at her.
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By Anna 💓
