Chapter 11

Chapter 11

I put down the pen and pulled the employment contract toward me.

“Just a moment. Before I sign, I’d like to look over the contract more carefully.”

The steward shook his head, apparently offended that a mere maid would re-examine a contract at all.

“Now see here! This is the venerable Francis Grand Ducal House. What reason would we have to swindle our own employees? Let’s wrap this up quickly. I’m a busy man. Miss Gretchen, I still have to report to the Lord later!”

“Oh. I didn’t realize you were that busy.”

“Yes, I am. So…”

“But I feel better checking for myself. It’ll only be a moment. Huh? There’s a strange special clause written here in tiny print. What’s that?”

“What special clause?”

The steward answered curtly, as if it were a bother.

I tapped one of the clauses with my finger.

“Here. It’s written in tiny print. Jessica, who works here, told me room and board were provided free, but under clause 7 it says, ‘Room and board not included; a set cost will be deducted from wages.’”

Muttering, “That can’t be right,” the steward took the contract that had been set out for me. As he read down the page, his eyes widened slightly.

Then he hurriedly pulled a new contract out of the right-hand drawer. I could only guess that the contract had been the wrong one.

“That was the contract from before the revision. This is the latest employment contract.”

Handing me the new contract, the steward hastily added,

“Please forget what you just saw. Miss Gretchen, that was the contract we used when the Francis family’s finances were precarious. It isn’t so now.”

“But I’ve already seen it. How could I forget? Sir, did you really mean to have me sign the contract right away without reviewing it, after all that?”

When I said it in an aggrieved tone, the steward looked embarrassed.

“My apologies, Miss Gretchen. If there is anything you’d like to ask, please ask me anything.”

“Really? Anything?”

“Yes. Please ask me anything.”

Perhaps to make up for his earlier blunder, the steward unfolded his arms. The steward, who had been looking down at me haughtily, sat down at the desk in front of me. At last our eyes were level. This was exactly what I’d wanted.

“I will answer in as much detail as I possibly can. I staked the Francis name on this and made a mistake, so I will make amends.”

“Oh, honestly…”

When I deliberately dragged my reply out like someone in a sulk, the steward went so far as to swap his glasses for a stronger pair.

“Ask me everything, Miss Gretchen.”

“Well, since you yourself said to ask anything, I suppose I have no choice.”

I covered my mouth with the contract and grinned.

＊＊＊

Marie, who had been waiting outside, came dashing over the moment I stepped out of the steward’s office.

“Why did signing one thing take an hour?”

“I had a lot of questions about the contract, so it ran late. Marie, what about you?”

“Oh. I was waiting for you. The Head Maid told me to hand over your uniform. She said to go find Zelda. She’ll tell you what work you’re to do.”

“Is that so? Then I’d better go. Thanks for the uniform.”

Even after handing over the uniform, Marie kept stealing glances at me.

She seemed to want to say something, but it must have been hard to bring up, because she only watched my face.

“Marie, is there something you want to tell me?”

“Um. Well. Actually, I saw it. What happened… in the dining hall.”

“Ah.”

We quietly recalled the scene in the dining hall.

I’d resolved to forget it, but how could I? The servants’ reactions, like something out of a horror movie, had been truly shocking.

“It’s strange.”

“Right? It’s strange.”

As if she’d been waiting for it, Marie chimed in on my grumbling.

“Marie, did you… sign the contract?”

“Yes…”

I’d assumed that anyone who had seen what happened in the dining hall would never sign, so this was unexpected. Marie was tender-hearted, but she was just as timid.

“Do you really want to work for the Francis household? You have experience, so everyone would be fighting to hire you…”

She even had a letter of recommendation from a marquise. I had my reasons for being here, but Marie had no need to be.

But Marie gave an innocent smile and shook her head.

“I know this mansion is strange too, but I have a family I have to support.”

After hesitating, Marie frankly confided her circumstances.

“As you know, a maid’s wages are all about the same. They said the pay here is higher, room and board are provided, and the work isn’t hard… I just couldn’t turn it down.”

“It must have been hard on you all this time, Marie.”

To comfort her, I took her hand and pressed down on the back of it firmly. Marie smiled faintly.

“It’s okay, though. You’re here too. And the conditions aren’t bad. I’m trying to look on the bright side. Apart from it being a little scary, it isn’t a bad place, is it?”

“That’s true.”

“No matter how hard things get, I think we’ll get through it. I may be timid, but now that I’ve made up my mind to work in this mansion, I’m going to find my courage!”

“Um, Marie…”

I wavered over whether to say it, then carefully opened my mouth.

“Sorry to ruin the moving moment, but…”

“Hm?”

“We’re at a dead end. Are we really going the right way?”

“Oh my, you’re right!”

We’d gone straight down the corridor and turned, only to face a wall. Marie muttered that this couldn’t be, and touched the wall.

“I definitely came this way yesterday. How odd.”

Marie tilted her head. But how could a wall suddenly appear where there’d been a perfectly good path as recently as yesterday? We had clearly just taken a wrong turn.

No one was passing by. What to do? Going back and asking for directions seemed to be the only real option.

This mansion was needlessly huge. It had looked so pretty from afar. Its practicality was the worst.

“Let’s go back quickly and ask.”

I turned on my heel to head back down the corridor we’d come from, but Marie, as if she’d remembered something, hurriedly caught hold of my collar.

“That’s right! Gretchen, my roommate gave me a map as a gift. She said new maids often get lost because the mansion is so big.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Could you take out the apron of your uniform for a second?”

“Why my apron?”

“The aprons all look alike, so I accidentally put it in your pocket. I’ll find the map and give it right back.”

Oh, with any luck, we might find the way in one go.

I waited for Marie to take the map out of the pocket.

But Marie, rummaging through the pocket, froze on the spot.

What’s with her? Did she lose the map? I called to Marie, who stood stiff with her hand in the pocket.

“Marie, what’s wrong? Did you lose it?”

“In the pocket… there’s something.”

“In the pocket?”

“Not the map. There’s something else in there.”

A live bug? I poked the bulging pocket where Marie’s hand was.

“Marie, pull your hand out. I’ll take it out. I’m good at catching bugs.”

“Th-that’s not the p-problem. Gretchen, it’s n-not a bug, I don’t think it’s a bug.”

If it wasn’t a bug, what had she touched to be so terrified? Now I was dying to know what was inside Marie’s apron pocket.

Marie began to tremble all over, like someone being electrocuted, as if she’d touched something strange.

‘What on earth is in there…’

But calming Marie came before satisfying my curiosity. I did my best to soothe her.

“Um, Marie, calm down first and slowly pull your hand out.”

Since Marie showed no sign of pulling her hand out, I slowly took hold of her arm and drew it out.

“It’s a toy, right? I, I might have gotten it wrong. B-but when I touched it, the feel of it…”

“I’ll check. It’s surely nothing.”

Calming Marie’s fears, I thrust my hand into the white apron pocket.

The first thing I felt was the texture of a crumpled map. And deeper in…

‘What is this?’

Something hard and foreign brushed the tips of my fingernails. The object wasn’t big.

I furrowed my brow.

It wasn’t a bug, and it didn’t seem to be alive, either. I had no idea what it was.

‘At this rate, this will never get settled.’

They say to strike while the iron is hot. Without hesitation, I pulled the unidentified object out of the apron pocket. Marie and I froze at the same instant, like twins.

What I’d pulled out was…

“…”

A single human finger, cleanly severed.

“Oh… Mother…”

The moment she spotted the finger, Marie collapsed face-first onto the floor.

“Marie!”

Not even five minutes had passed since we’d vowed to find our courage together.

The instant she saw the finger, Marie fainted dead away.