Swan Grave - Chapter 7

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The next day began as usual. The maids sharing the same room changed their clothes while asking Anna where she had disappeared to all day yesterday.

“Anna, are you feeling better from the stomachache you had yesterday?”

“Mm.”

Come to think of it, that had been the excuse she gave. Anna forced an awkward smile, trying to appear nonchalant. Thankfully, the maids did not press her too much about her whereabouts. Susan, who slept in the bed next to hers, told her what had happened while she was gone.

“You were gone all day, I was worried. Especially since the master returned suddenly, everyone was on edge.”

Jo, who was pulling up the stocking on her left leg, shrugged and added, “You should have seen the clash yesterday between Madame Dova and Miss Schwartz. After the master ignored Miss Schwartz, she threw a fit, and Madame Dova took out her anger by nitpicking us.”

The conflict between Head Maid Madame Dova and Governess Rose Schwartz was nothing new. Madame Dova was the longest-serving servant in the mansion, the butler Barrett’s sister, and had overseen the Lohengrin household for eleven years in the absence of a mistress.

Rose Schwartz had been hired directly by the Marquess five years ago to educate Svanhild. It was natural for the Marquess to personally concern himself with his heir’s education, but since the one he hired was a young and beautiful woman, it was only natural that people suspected it was not purely for educational purposes.

Moreover, though no one knew what the Marquess had said to the butler, Barrett often tried to grant Rose whatever she wanted. Many whispered that she would become the next Marchioness. But the Marquess’s own attitude toward her was nothing but cold.

Still, they couldn’t treat her lightly, following his example. After all, there were persistent rumors that, on nights when the Marquess stayed at the mansion, Rose had been seen leaving his room.

On rare occasions, the Marquess even summoned Rose separately to the capital. It was said that he admired her scholarly passion and invited her to academic meetings in the capital, though such actions seemed uncharacteristic of him.

Thus, Rose occupied an ambiguous position in the Swan Grave, not merely a governess, but not quite his mistress either.

Madame Dova loathed Rose. As the loyal maid of the late Marchioness, Madame Dova saw Rose as a thorn in her side, someone scheming to steal her mistress’s place. Or perhaps it was simply a power struggle within the household.

What was certain was that for the maids, neither woman was welcome.

“Miss Schwartz thinks she’s special to the master. But no matter what, the master always goes straight to ‘that room.’ She means nothing to him.”

“Exactly. The master doesn’t so much as glance at any woman, so why Madame Dova and Miss Schwartz both fuss so much about whether our attire looks modest or not, I’ll never understand.”

Betty, a maid who had been scolded by Madame Dova a few days ago for sewing fancy lace onto her undergarments—“Who are you trying to seduce with that?”—grumbled in irritation.

Maid uniforms were hardly different from mourning clothes, so the only thing they could embellish was their undergarments. The maids would all sew lace onto them whenever they had time. Madame Dova usually overlooked it, but things changed when the Marquess was due to return.

Rose also became just as irritable.

“Be careful, Anna. Yesterday, Miss Schwartz asked where you were. I made up an excuse, but she didn’t look convinced. If you run into her today, you’ll be in for trouble.”

At Jo’s warning, Anna’s heart dropped. She feared Rose might know what had happened with the Marquess yesterday.

Betty, trimming her nails, sneered at Rose. “Who knows. She’ll probably be too busy fawning over the master to bother with Anna.”

“If the master ignores her again, she might take it out on you twice as hard.”

Rose picked on Anna and nagged her at every turn whenever they met. Since Anna’s assigned area was Svanhild’s room, they naturally ran into each other more often, but for a governess to interfere was excessive overreach. Even Madame Dova, the head maid, once scolded Rose for overstepping her bounds.

Susan then grumbled, “That woman especially loves to torment Anna.”

“She bullies everyone from the eastern continent. Susan, you’ve only been here a year, so you don’t know yet, but every maid from the eastern continent who worked here was driven out by Miss Schwartz.”

“I don’t know what grudge she has against the eastern continent.”

“Because the Marchioness was from the eastern continent.”

“What, jealousy? Does she really think she can compare herself to the Marchioness?”

The maids cackled as they gossiped about Rose, until the conversation drifted toward Rothbart.

“Well, it’s no wonder Miss Schwartz fell for the master. Honestly… he is handsome.”

“I’ll admit that. There’s a reason those rumors of him being a demon exist. With looks like that, how could there not be? If the Marquess hadn’t turned women away, every maiden in the area would have been corrupted by now.”

“Honestly, his face is worth seeing at least once in a lifetime… Come to think of it, Anna, you didn’t get to see the Marquess yesterday, did you?”

“…Yes.”

Anna answered a beat late. Memories of the previous night, which she had tried to keep hidden, came flooding back.

Though she had spent the night beneath him, Anna had not even seen that supposedly handsome face of the Marquess.

What she remembered of Rothbart were the hands that had seized her ankle and dragged her with crushing strength, the cruel words that had humiliated her, the tongue that had invaded her mouth. Before she even saw his face, she remembered herself writhing beneath him, pierced through, and nausea rose in her throat.

Unaware of Anna’s condition, Betty continued, “What a shame. This mansion strangely doesn’t have portraits. When I first saw the Marquess’s face, I was so shocked. I couldn’t take my eyes off him and stumbled backward. I wonder how you’ll react, Anna.”

“She’s always so calm. The only one who reacts like a fool is you, Betty.”

“Ugh, that’s mean! Jo, you were the one who used your apron instead of a rag to wipe the banister!”

Betty and Jo bickered, trading accusations. Then they both let out a long sigh.

“Say what you will, Miss Schwartz’s beauty is undeniable. The master looks at even such a beauty as if she were a stone. Do you think girls like us would ever catch his eye? All we can do is admire his face from a distance now and then.”

While Betty and Jo chatted, Susan noticed Anna’s pale face. Looking worriedly at her, Susan said, “Anna, you still don’t look well. Tell Madame Dova you need to rest this morning.”

“But…”

“Susan’s right. If you’re worried about your chores, I’ll do them for you. The west corridor and stairs on this floor, right? You covered for me last time I had a fever. Think of it as me paying you back.”

Betty spoke up. The three of them had shared the same room long before Anna came, and though she was quiet and unsociable, they looked out for her.

Though she didn’t show it outwardly, Anna truly was in poor shape. She was supposed to finish cleaning the mansion before the sun fully rose, but in her condition, she couldn’t manage it. She gratefully accepted Betty’s offer.

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. We help each other.”

“I’ll help too, so with the two of us, it won’t take long. Don’t worry,” Jo added.

Susan, normally in charge of the kitchen, nodded in agreement and pushed Anna back down onto the bed. Before she could resist, the back of her head hit the pillow.

“Just rest for now. We’ll bring you breakfast later.”

With that, Susan, Betty, and Jo slipped out of the room. Anna was thankful for such companions.