Chapter 011. The New Parlour Maid
In the evening, after a long and exhausting day’s schedule.
Hanna, who had been restlessly pacing the room, rushed toward Deborah the moment she dragged her tired body through the door, her face brimming with curiosity about why Mrs. Charlotte had suddenly taken her away during lunch.
Pulling Deborah by the arm and sitting her on the bed, Hanna urged her to spill the details, prompting Deborah to let out a shallow sigh.
When Deborah explained that she had been offered to step away from her current duties for a while to take on parlour maid tasks, Hanna’s eyes widened, and she covered her mouth with her hand.
After standing frozen for a moment, she suddenly shouted loudly.
“Is that for real?!”
Deborah quietly nodded.
“Good heavens…”
Hanna stared at Deborah in disbelief, as if she couldn’t comprehend it.
“It goes without saying, but you said yes, right?”
“I did say I’d do it… but seeing your reaction, I’m starting to think I might have answered wrong…”
Deborah’s head had already been spinning all afternoon, and Hanna’s dramatic reaction made her worry that this matter would cause a much bigger stir than she had anticipated.
At that, Hanna suddenly snapped at Deborah.
“What are you talking about? Who in their right mind would turn down such a great offer?! The other five must have jumped at the chance, right?!”
Right? As if she had seen it herself, Hannah pressed on, and Deborah, keeping her mouth shut, nodded.
“See! Unless you’re a fool, no one would pass up such a good opportunity. Putting aside the chance to wear a frilly, fancy maid uniform, your salary will go up right away.”
Squinting her eyes, Hanna gave Deborah a knowing look, as if urging her to confess everything.
“…They said they’d raise our annual salary by five pounds each.”
“Five pounds!”
Hanna’s voice was so loud it could probably be heard in the hallway outside the attic, and Deborah quickly shushed her, placing a finger to her lips.
“That’s an incredibly generous offer. Wow…”
Muttering “Five pounds…” repeatedly, Hanna shook her head in disbelief.
Then, as if noticing something odd, she tilted her head.
“But… if it’s six people, doesn’t that mean they’re practically replacing all the main parlour maids who serve in front of guests? What’s going to happen to the ones already there?”
Deborah’s expression grew even heavier, as if to say, <You’re only thinking of that now?>
“That’s exactly what one of the others asked. Why they’re hiring six new people when there are already parlour maids.”
“…Yeah, at first, they must’ve been thrilled, thinking it was a great opportunity… but anyone who’s been a maid in a grand mansion for a while would find it suspicious. So what did Mrs. Charlotte say to that?”
“She didn’t go into details, just said it was an order from the Cheister family’s young lady.”
Hearing Debora’s words, Hanna’s eyes rolled suspiciously for a moment before she let out an “Aha—” and nodded, as if piecing together the context.
Puzzled by her cryptic reaction, Deborah tilted her head.
“Everyone had the same reaction as you to Mrs. Charlotte’s words… Why is that?”
“You haven’t been here long, so you wouldn’t know, but Miss Cecilia is a notorious party enthusiast.”
“I’ve heard a bit about that from the other maids.”
“Oh, then this’ll be quicker. Like you heard, during the spring and early summer when she stays in Elfengrin, she throws tea parties, balls, and banquets almost every other day—like someone obsessed with parties.”
“……”
“You’ll see for yourself later, but Miss Cecilia is an incredible beauty. When she stands side by side with the duke, it’s like they radiate a terrifying light around them.”
As if recalling a scene from the past, Hanna’s expression seemed to drift dreamily to some enchanting moment.
“…Hanna?”
Calling her softly to snap her out of it, Hanna let out an “Ah” and returned to reality.
“Ahem— The problem is that her standard of beauty applies not only to herself but also strictly to others. Especially when it comes to the Cheister family’s parlour maids, who are presented in front of people.”
With Hanna’s detailed explanation, Deborah began to vaguely understand the series of events that had unfolded that afternoon.
“When Rosie and Celina suddenly quit, thinking about the remaining parlour maids… their faces don’t exactly meet her standards.”
Nodding as she recalled each of their faces, Hanna continued.
Then, suddenly, as if struck by a worrying thought, her gaze, which had been wandering in the air, shot to Deborah’s face like lightning.
“Come to think of it… all the current parlour maids are part of Ludmilla’s clique…”
Even without hearing the rest of her half-finished sentence, Deborah somehow knew what Hanna was worried about.
Ludmilla had already treated Deborah like a thorn in her side from the start, and after the recent incident in the servants’ hall, she had completely marked her.
Even Ludmilla couldn’t possibly harass all six of the newly appointed parlour maids, so it was obvious as day that she would likely single out Deborah as her target.
Recalling Ludmilla’s venomous expression as she issued her threats, Deborah’s anxious face darkened further.
“…There’s no way to back out now, is there?”
Looking at Deborah’s deeply gloomy expression, Hannah shook her head with an equally darkened face.
* * *
“Phew…”
A long sigh escaped Deborah’s lips involuntarily after an unexpectedly grueling schedule.
At dawn, the gazes directed at the six new parlour maids gathered in the servants’ hall were, as expected, far from kind.
Ludmilla and the existing parlour maids glared at the six with ferocious eyes, as if they wanted to devour them, while the other maids’ expressions were filled with envy and jealousy.
Enduring the morning roll call under those piercing stares, the group was then met with an incredibly rigorous training session.
The new parlour maids, who would have to serve at Miss Cecilia’s tea party starting tomorrow, were subjected to strict and intensive training under Mrs. Charlotte’s supervision.
The morning’s training focused on the basic protocols parlour maids needed to master, given their frequent interactions with guests.
From greeting guests at the entrance to handling tea parties, banquets, balls, and more, they were taught the appropriate behaviors for each situation, as well as the actions to avoid.
In the afternoon, they were told they’d need to memorize the ranks, detailed personal information, and peculiarities of the visitors to Elfengrin, which already made Deborah’s head throb.
When lunchtime arrived and everyone headed to the servants’ hall, Deborah, recalling the sharp glares from the roll call, felt like food wouldn’t go down her throat.
In the end, she gave up on eating and chose to rest in the ‘servants’ garden’ at the back of the mansion, heading up the stairs to the first floor.
She hesitated for a moment, remembering that the stairs from the basement to the first floor passed by Duke Cheister’s study, but since it was lunchtime, she figured she wouldn’t run into the duke.
Fortunately, since the ‘study incident,’ Deborah hadn’t encountered Duke Cheister again.
This was partly because Deborah had been more cautious, but also because the tasks and schedules of a housemaid, who typically worked out of sight within the mansion, were arranged that way.
Reaching the first floor, Deborah poked her head out to check her surroundings.
Seeing no one in the corridor, contrary to her worries, she let out a sigh of relief and stepped forward lightly.
Just as Deborah, holding her breath, was about to pass the study,
*Click—*
The sound of the study door opening made her shoulders flinch sharply.
“Huh? Deborah!”
The face she came face-to-face with was Robin, Duke Cheister’s aide, whom she had met before.
Spotting Deborah, Robin approached her eagerly, his face full of warmth.
“What brings you here?”
“…I was just passing through on my way to the servants’ garden…”
“Oh, have you already finished lunch?”
“No, I’m not feeling well…”
Unable to admit that she had skipped lunch because of the harsh glares, Deborah gave the easiest excuse.
“You’re not feeling well? Oh no… Have you taken any medicine?”
Anxious about being in front of Duke Cheister’s study, she had chosen a quick answer to move on, but seeing Robin’s reaction, it seemed she had chosen the wrong one.
Fearing he’d run off to fetch medicine if she said she hadn’t, Deborah quickly nodded.
“Well then, Robin, it was nice to see you. I’ll be going…”
*Click.*
As Deborah nodded and hurriedly added a farewell to leave, the study door behind Robin opened.
‘Oh…’
A deep sigh escaped her heart involuntarily.
As her eyes met the tall man stepping out of the door, Deborah froze in place.
Raymond von Cheister.
Despite her prayers to never catch his eye again, here she was, face-to-face with him once more.
The moment Duke Cheister’s blue eyes landed on her face, Deborah felt like crying.
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By Anna 💓
