Chapter 24
'This is annoying… It's not like I can take a break just because I'm sick…'
The fact that the laundry room was still inadequate was one thing, but Marsha would never allow her to take sick leave.
Idil sighed and sat down.
“First, I’ll go to work, have a quick lunch, and then ask Mr. Marco to bring me some medicine. They should at least allow me to take my medicine.”
About a month ago, I met Daisy's father, Mr. Marco Moulton, who asked her to let him know if she needed anything from outside.
Although she preferred not to rely on others, as a prisoner she could not leave the palace freely, so this time she had to ask for his help.
Feeling grateful that at least someone was there to ask for the medicine, Edel lifted her heavy, sweaty body.
During breakfast, Celia and Lila immediately noticed that Idil was not well.
"Are you feeling unwell? You don't look well..."
“I think I have a cold. If I take some medicine and get a good night’s sleep, I’ll be fine.”
“Don’t take colds lightly. They can turn into pneumonia if you’re not careful. There isn’t much laundry going on these days, so take it easy.”
“Celia…”
Idell was about to thank them when Marsha appeared with her “bodyguards”.
As soon as she saw Idell, Marsha smiled knowingly. It didn't bode well.
“Hmm! Now that I think about it, it’s already been more than a month since the start of the new year. Soon it will be March.”
Everyone stopped eating and looked at her curiously. There was still more than a month and a half until March.
But Marsha ignored their puzzled looks and carried on.
“When March comes, we have to do the spring cleaning of the palace. It will be messy if we wait until then. Won’t it?”
"Well, I think…"
One of them reluctantly answered, but the servants remained skeptical. It was a routine task every year, and the Crises family didn't undertake any major renovations to the house simply because the seasons changed.
However, Marsha pretended to be lost in thought for a moment, then looked at Celia as if she had made a decision.
“Celia!”
"Yes…?"
"Today, wash all the curtains to welcome spring."
"What? Suddenly? We still have a long way to go until March!"
Celia frowned deeply, but Marsha looked much happier.
“Whether you do it today or in a month, it’s something that needs to be done anyway. It’s best to do it in advance. The weather looks nice today and tomorrow, so they need to dry well.”
“But with the laundry already piling up…”
“That’s why I gave you more hands in the laundry room, right? You and Lila take care of today’s laundry, and let the new girl look after the curtains.”
Then Celia and Lila looked at Idyll. They understood what Marsha was aiming for.
“Idel!”
"Yes, ma'am."
“You can handle it, can’t you? It’s been almost three months since you started learning the job. If you can’t manage this, you’ll be stupid, won’t you?”
Marsha must have known at a glance that Edel was ill. Otherwise, there would have been no reason to assign a task almost two months prior.
“Here is my plan to get the medicine.”
Edel realized she wouldn't have enough time to ask Marco for help. Even if she skipped lunch and focused solely on the laundry, finishing everything that day would be impossible.
"I will do my best."
"It's not enough to do your best. You have to finish it. And!"
Marsha spoke sternly, barely suppressing a smile.
“You know that curtains should be washed in cold water, right? I say this because you may be careless about using hot water since you grew up being spoiled.”
“Madam! What are you saying? It’s very cold…!”
Celia protested on her behalf, but Marsha also gave her a sharp look.
"Celia, have you ever washed curtains with hot water before?"
"Well, that's because we never wash the curtains in the middle of winter!"
"Whether it's winter or summer! If you're using so much hot water, how do you expect us to cover the cost of firewood?"
Marsha then mocked the young maids, saying they were too comfortable and lacked common sense. She muttered to herself as if she weren't speaking to anyone in particular.
“Why should I give extra firewood for nothing? Maybe if they did something worthwhile.”
Then she continued eating as if nothing had happened, suggesting that bribes might make things easier.
Idil tore her bread without saying a word. But the fever she had felt since dawn was getting worse.
'That's okay. Perhaps putting my hands in cold water will help reduce the fever…'
With this desperate thought, she forced the coarse bread into her dry mouth. She couldn't afford to miss meals when she was already feeling unwell.
Simply moving the spring blinds from the storage room to the laundry room was a daunting task, which made Edel feel anxious.
"I'll go out first. Take your time."
After she finished her meal quickly, she tied her hair up and wrapped it tightly with a headscarf.
“Let’s go together, Idyll.”
“That’s fine. I know where the spring blinds are stored.”
"You may know where, but not how many there are, do you? There are seventy-five bundles, seventy-five!"
This means there are seventy-five bags containing pairs of curtains for each side of the windows, which means 150 curtains that Edel had to wash today.
Celia and Lila hastily stuffed the remaining food into their mouths and followed Idil to the storeroom on the first floor.
"That wretched woman. She's awful."
Celia cursed Marsha as soon as she was out of earshot.
Lila said, "Do you know? To become Madame Bohin's 'servant,' you have to pay 100 ringgit every month. Our monthly salary is only 1000 ringgit!"
"An honor?"
“Exactly, ‘greetings’! That’s the word.”
While Lila marveled at the new word she had learned, Celia was still gritting her teeth.
"Is she a murderer? Extorting money from people who work in the same house?"
“Mrs. Bohen is obsessed with money. She’s earned so much here that she’s bought a decent house in Durham Street.”
“Ha! I thought that with all her talk about money, she might have a house in the Carrera area, but it’s only in the Balich area?”
The Carrera district was where the wealthy general public lived, while the Palicchi district housed the middle class.
Although Celia scoffed that it wasn't the Carrera district, it was unrealistic to think even a high-ranking nobleman's maid would live there. They usually bought a house in a nice part of Baltic. If it was on Durham Street, that would have been perfect.
Moreover, if you bought it with the money you earned here, it would be even more impressive.
“The Count Crisis family has only been around for about three and a half years.”
When that idea occurred to her, Edel found something strange.
"You saved enough to buy a house in just three and a half years?"
Even if it is in a public area, buying a nice house still requires a large amount of money.
'The house on Durham Street will cost around 300,000 Ringgit, which is a reasonable price. The head maid's salary will be, at most, 4,000 Ringgit…'
Even if the maid saved her entire salary without spending a single penny, it would only be 168,000 ringgit. Even with the servants' bonuses, it wouldn't exceed the head maid's salary.
The only remaining assumption that Edel can think of is one.
'Could it be embezzlement...?'
It was not uncommon for household workers to embezzle money from nobles and run away.
Especially the hosts, who were often aware of the family's cash flow.
But if the Count's housemaid is embezzling money, that will be a funny thing for the Crisis family.
'If a head maid is embezzling, it means the financial management is in chaos…'
The unfortunate thing is that, given the current situation of the Crisis family, this suspicion seems plausible.
Lost in these thoughts, they arrived at the warehouse. The walls were stacked high with identical bags.
"Were you planning to move all of this yourself, Edel?"
Celia asked with a laugh. It was a daunting task even for the three of them.
Edel decided to focus on the task at hand.
'That's right, it's not my place to interfere in Ms. Bohin's affairs.'
Marsha's family or her husband's family were probably wealthy. It was only natural for me to think so.
'I must have unconsciously come to hate Mrs. Boehm. For thinking about embezzlement immediately.'
Idil scolded herself as she carried the bags onto the trolley.
I stopped thinking about Marsha and pushed the trolley into the laundry room.
The seventy-five curtain bags were more exhausting than she had anticipated, and left her no room for other thoughts.
Once they arrived at the laundry room, they began filling the large basins with water. The largest basins could accommodate about six medium-sized curtains at a time, so to wash all 150 curtains that day…
“Even just filling and emptying the tanks will be a huge task.”
Having dried soap would make the task easier, but the laundry room only contains solid soap.