Beneath the Surviving Princess's Joyful Facade - Chapter 47

Water dripped from her wet hair. When Miesa tried to rub her eyes with soapy hands, Gella intervened, wiping her eyes and bursting out in frustration.

“How could he even think of touching you after everything that happened? Is he even a human?”

Miesa sneezed repeatedly, trying to ease the awkward situation.

“Are you cold? I’ll add more warm water,” Gella said, frowning but swiftly washing Miesa’s body.

“How could he touch someone who doesn’t know anything?” Gella muttered, her hands busy.

As the seemingly endless bath neared its end, Gella, drying Miesa, suddenly froze, her mouth agape. She counted on her trembling fingers and mumbled in a daze, “Oh my, wait a minute. What is this…”

When they returned to the bedroom after the bath, the maids were changing the bedding.

“Sorry, we’re not quite finished yet,” the senior maid apologized with a friendly smile.

Behind the senior maid, a new maid looked at Miesa with curiosity. Seeing the unfamiliar face, Miesa opened her mouth wide in a silent, rectangular smile as a welcoming gesture.

“Oh dear,” the new maid muttered, turning her head away. Proudly, Miesa scrunched her nose and jumped onto the bed.

“The young madam seems to be in a good mood after her bath,” the senior maid observed.

“Oh, dear. Your hair isn’t fully dry yet,” Gella said, hurrying over, climbing onto the bed, and carefully wrapping Miesa’s hair in a towel.

The senior maid, trying to make the sheet look neat and tidy, gave up when the young madam rolled around on the bed. “Fortunately, we started with the bed. Only a bit of tidying up left. Should we come back later?” she asked Gella.

“No, no, please continue. By the way, do you know who is in charge of washing the young madam’s clothes?” Gella inquired.

“Dia and Lena take turns. They also clean the bathroom and collect the laundry on their way out,” the senior maid answered.

“Was it the same when she used the second-floor bedroom before moving to the third floor?” Gella asked.

“Yes, it was,” the senior maid confirmed.

After a few more confirmations, Gella requested, “I need to run to the laundry room for a moment. Could you look after the young madam?”

“Us? You want us to look after her?” the new maid, Ully, asked, flustered.

“Did something get into her clothes? Don’t worry, Gella. We’ll take care of her,” the senior maid assured.

“Thank you. By the way, she falls asleep quickly if you read her a book. Any book will do,” Gella instructed, hurrying out of the room.

“Ully, can you read?” the senior maid asked with a sigh.

“I can read a few letters, but these difficult books? I can’t even make out the titles,” Ully admitted.

“No choice then. Let’s just chat. Reading or talking, it’s all the same sound to her,” the senior maid suggested.

Relieved, Ully exaggeratedly sighed and asked, “So, what happened to her? Do you know?”

“The young madam? She’s had several brushes with death. Just recently, there was another close call.”

“Oh, I see,” Ully responded.

Lying face down, Miesa mulled over the senior maid’s words. It was surprising to her that her entire tumultuous life could be summed up in such a brief statement.

“But what if something big happens again? Aren’t we in danger too?” Ully asked anxiously.

“Well, it’s not like we haven’t thought about it…” the senior maid trailed off before continuing, “but it’s not up to us. We just do our job.”

However, Ully seemed to have a different perspective. “Maybe I should look for another job. I didn’t know this place was so dangerous.”

“Really?” the senior maid responded nonchalantly. “Then you should leave. When are you going to tell the head maid?”

“Not right away…,” Ully hesitated. “It’s not like I get paid weekly. I need to collect my monthly salary first.”

“Just ask them to calculate your days worked. They’ll do it for you,” the senior maid suggested.

Ully didn’t reply to this. Miesa wondered why the maid didn’t just quit immediately if she felt so unsafe. If she were in Ully’s shoes, she’d run away to save her life without hesitation.

“If you’re going to complain and still want the money, you can’t have it both ways,” the senior maid added gruffly. “Whether something happens here or the entire Cladis region collapses because of the Cladnier family, it’s all the same. But you’re from the capital, so if you want to leave, just leave.”

Miesa felt a strange discomfort. Until just now, she thought running away was the right thing for the maid to do, but hearing this made her feel uneasy.

“Please don’t say it like that…,” Ully said, hesitating. “Actually, I had to borrow three months’ pay in advance to pay off my brother’s debts. So, I need to work hard.”

Miesa instantly understood. But Ully’s story seemed more like an attempt to elicit sympathy.

“My brother is so addicted to gambling that he used up all the family’s money. We even went into debt because we didn’t have enough to eat,” Ully continued.

The senior maid, however, didn’t seem as understanding as Miesa. With a voice as cold as ice, she cut in, “So you’ll be here until October. Just stay quiet and don’t cause any trouble until then.”

“Well, let’s see. I guess I’ll stick around…,” Ully responded, her attempt to gain sympathy failing.

Seeing that her story wasn’t working, Ully tried a different approach. “The young madam’s situation is quite pitiful, isn’t it?” she said, trying to sound empathetic.

The new maid, Ully, who had earlier frowned at the sight of Miesa, now suddenly seemed to have a change of heart. Miesa perked up her ears, curious about the change.

“And the young master too. Such a handsome man, I’m sure he’s had many marriage proposals. The heir to such a respected lord must have had a hard time too, right?” Ully’s voice was soft and conspiratorial.

The senior maid sighed deeply, revealing a bit of her true feelings. “Well, I’ve known the young master since he was a child. It used to break my heart.”

Miesa was impressed by Ully’s skillful manipulation. She realized that pretending to agree with someone could reveal their true feelings.

“Yes, it must have been heartbreaking,” Ully said, her voice gaining more confidence.

“My roommate, Manil, said the same thing. She recently ran an errand to another house and heard people clicking their tongues about how tough it must be to take care of the young lady. She was so embarrassed and upset.”

“Manil?”

“Yes. Apparently, there was a marriage proposal between our young master and the young lady of House Crispin. Manil saw the young lady from a distance and said she was stunning!”

“That girl is causing trouble with her useless chatter. And you new maids, do you think you’re assigned rooms together just to gossip?” The senior maid’s tone started to rise.

“I was just listening. It was all Manil’s talk,” Ully replied, her voice defensive.

“This is why people from the capital are no good. They don’t do their work.”

“When did I not work? I’ve done everything you asked,” Ully retorted, clearly feeling wronged.

Miesa listened quietly. Hearing this endless bickering, she realized there was a lot to learn.

“If you go to the estate, you’ll see everyone has been there for over ten years. The head maid doesn’t need to nag them because as soon as they wake up—”

“Oh, please,” Ully interrupted.

Miesa thought to herself, ‘That’s not how you should speak.’ Initially, the new maid was deferential, but she quickly lost respect for the senior maid.

“What’s with your attitude?” the senior maid snapped.

“No, I was reflecting on it. You say I didn’t work when I did, and you say my attitude is bad when I’m just standing here quietly. I don’t understand. Should I kneel down?”

The tables turned so quickly that Miesa found the situation thrilling and amusing.

“What’s going on here?” Gella entered briskly, stopping short when she saw the two maids glaring at each other.

“She’s been saying strange things, so I’m going to tell the head maid,” the senior maid said.

“Just admit you don’t like me because I’m from the capital,” Ully shot back.

“Oh dear…” Gella muttered to herself. “I’d rather take a few lashes than be scolded by the head maid.”

Miesa remembered the face of the head maid she had seen in the corridor a few times. She was a frail-looking old woman who didn’t seem to have the energy to shout, much less be as terrifying as they said.

“Thanks anyway. I found what I was looking for,” Gella said casually. She waved off the two maids, urging them to leave.

“Oh, we didn’t get to tidy the young lord’s desk.”

“It’s always spotless. There’s nothing to clean there,”

“…Well, we’ll be going then.”