Chapter 10
Ways.
When the door closed completely, Idil let out a long sigh without realizing it.
“Another day ended safely.”
It was a sigh mixed with tiredness and relief, but a faint smile appeared on her lips, perhaps because she finally had time to rest in her own space.
At first, she thought the room was too small, but now she found it comfortable and cozy.
She sat on the bed, massaging her swollen and red hands.
It has been ten days since she arrived here.
Her soft hands became rough within three days of starting work in the laundry room.
Even looking at her rough hands made her smile.
"If he hasn't come for me yet, it seems Count Crisis really intends to use me only as a maid."
She felt anxious whenever she saw Laszlo returning from the palace, and she worried that he might suddenly order Marsha: “Wash her and bring her to my room.”
But Laszlo seemed completely uninterested in her. It was as if he had forgotten she existed.
She couldn't be more grateful and relieved.
"It seems Count Crisis saved me."
Edel had come to this conclusion after replaying the events of the Victory Banquet in her mind several times.
Had Laszlo refused it that day, it would have been given to someone else.
She was certain that none of those who had contacted her possessed any civilized manners.
“Count Crisis even said he would use me as a servant. No one may believe it, but at least he left me some room to preserve my honor.”
If anyone later asks her what she did on Count Crisis's estate, she can claim that she was merely a maid.
Naturally, such a situation was unlikely to occur.
"Does he even know that I'm grateful?"
The dead would be furious if they heard this, but honestly, Edel was glad she had escaped the Duchy of Lancaster this way. To her, the Duchy of Lancaster had been a prison where she couldn't escape or live comfortably.
Furthermore, the Canyon family had no reason to look for her now, so, selfishly, her current situation wasn't too bad.
Naturally, working in the laundry room was not easy.
Sitting in one place for long hours doing lots of laundry with cold water made her hands, back, and knees – in fact, her whole body – hurt.
But this is better than living in constant stress. At least I can sleep well.
She felt more at ease now than when she lived under constant scrutiny, hoping not to make any mistakes.
However, the head maid was a problem.
Marsha seems to handle everything and find fault at every turn.
While the head butler's job is to make sure the maids do their jobs properly, it was annoying how many times she came into the laundry room to turn everything Idell had washed up over.
Had it not been for having to rewash what Marsha had turned upside down, Edel would not have been so physically exhausted.
'However, things improved a little after Celia spoke up. I didn't expect that.'
Three days ago, Marsha caused a stir, even hitting Idil in a fit of rage, as if determined to find something wrong with her laundry.
"What, did you wash it like that again today? Are you stupid or are you ignoring me?"
With these ridiculous claims, she hit the back of Idell's head. It wasn't as painful as a slap might have been, but it was much worse.
Edel was so stunned that she was speechless, but Celia, the head of the laundry room staff, burst out.
“Madam! Don’t you know how busy the laundry room is? If you continue like this, having an extra maid here makes no sense!”
"Busy or not, the work must be done properly!"
"Then why don't you show us how to do it? Because I don't know how to make it cleaner to teach her!"
She even brought a dirty rag and soap right in front of Marsha.
Marsha stared at Celia, gritted her teeth, and then left without saying a word.
“Thank you, Celia. But… are you sure you’ll be okay?”
“What shouldn’t be okay? And don’t worry, I didn’t do it for you.”
Celia returned to work rudely, but Idil was genuinely grateful to her.
However, contrary to Celia's assurances that everything would be fine, the quality of food provided to the laundry room maids deteriorated from the very next day. The bread was smaller, the soup had almost no ingredients, and the fruit often contained numerous blemishes.
It is clear that this was Marsha's doing.
When Idil sent an apologetic look, Celia whispered to her, chewing on an undercooked potato.
"This will only last a day or two. It's very difficult to prepare separate meals just for us. You'll see."
As she said, from today's meal, the food was the same food everyone else ate again.
Of course, during that time, Idil had to skip dinner for about two days, but she didn't tell Celia.
It wasn't as if she'd skipped more than two meals in a row; she'd only missed dinner for two days. For Idil, who was often forced to fast in order to maintain her figure, it wasn't a big deal.
“Even when the quality of the meals declined, they continued to provide us with fruit regularly…”
She remembered the “absolutely wonderful” slice of apple she had for dinner today as she rubbed her rough fingertips.
Anyway, the day ended this way.
Thanks to the maid's uniform and underwear that she recently received, which fit her, as well as the bedding, she is now more comfortable even while sleeping.
“Let’s go to sleep quickly. I need to get plenty of rest for work tomorrow.”
Believing this, she lay down, but someone knocked quietly on the door.
Idle's eyes widened involuntarily.
"Who could it be at this hour?"
A shiver ran down her spine. She wondered if Laszlo, who had been so quiet until now, had suddenly come looking for her.
There was another soft hit.
Edel stood up carefully and asked.
"Who is this?"
“Um, I’m Daisy from the next room.”
The visitor outside answered in a whisper, and almost pressed against the door.
After taking a deep breath, Idil opened the door.
Outside stood a girl wearing a loose shawl over her pajamas.
"What brought you here at this hour?"
"Ah... May I come in for a moment?"
Daisy, still whispering, stares nervously around.
Tired servants will not appreciate anyone talking in the hallway.
"Come in."
Idil was relieved that it wasn't Marsha or Mina, so she allowed Daisy to come in.
There was a chair in the room, but it was already being used as a shelf, so Daisy had to sit on the bed.
"Sorry, I can't offer you a suitable seat."
“Oh, no! It’s not a big deal….”
Daisy had beige hair and light gray-green eyes. She appeared to be about eighteen years old.
Her bright smile quickly made Idil abandon her caution.
"May I ask what brought you here?"
When Idel asked again, Daisy exclaimed, “Ah!” and took two small jars out of her pocket and placed them on the table.
“I came to give you this.”
"what are they?"
“One is hand cream, the other is painkiller. That may not be much for someone who was a nobleman, but it’s better than nothing.”
"Oh...? But why are you giving me this..."
Edel couldn't help but ask. After all, she'd exchanged very few greetings with Daisy and had never had a proper conversation.
But Daisy spoke with a look of understanding in her eyes.
“I heard that you are being harassed by Mrs. Bohen. You must be in a lot of pain, aren’t you?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Like I said, I’m in the next room.”
Edel found it difficult to understand what she was saying. Daisy added that she saw her confusion.
“The walls are thin, so I can hear everything. Every night you moan in pain.”
"What? Me?"
“Oh… you didn’t know…”
Idil really didn't know. She fainted as soon as she fell asleep.
“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t realize. I must have disturbed your peace.”
“No! I’ve been able to sleep because of my dad’s snoring ever since I was little. It’s not like that… I just wanted to give them to you.”
This feeling was unfamiliar to Idil. In the world she lived in, "giving" did not exist.
But there was no hint of deception in Daisy's clear eyes.
Idil opened the jar that Daisy had placed on the table.
The hand cream was very greasy, and the ointment had a strong mint scent.
"Can I apply this ointment to my waist or knees?"
“Yes. Waist, knees, shoulders, neck, back…anywhere. It smells bad, but it feels fresh after applying it.”
So Edel took a little of the ointment and applied it to her knee. The thick, sticky texture wasn't pleasant, but the area quickly felt cold and then warm.