“What are you talking about? How could we possibly feel slighted over something like this when we owe so much to Edel?”
“That’s right. It’s thanks to Edel that we’ve even managed to get warm water.”
At those words, Marsha’s expression shifted instantly.
“What is that supposed to mean? Warm water? And what’s this about it being thanks to Edel…?”
“Oh, Head Housekeeper, didn’t you know? When Edel collapsed, the Count came down to the laundry room.”
Salia’s smile deepened.
“He was surprised to see us doing laundry in cold water in the middle of winter, so he ordered a heating facility to be installed in the laundry room so we can use hot water starting today.”
A male servant sitting across from Salia, who had been silently tearing into a piece of bread, nodded in agreement.
“The Count gave Benjamin and me the order yesterday. He told us to build the stove in the laundry room and repair the one in the servants’ bathhouse first thing after breakfast.”
The other maids nearby asked with wide, surprised eyes.
“Even in the bathhouse?”
“Really? Does that mean we can use hot water when we wash up, too?”
Even while chewing his bread, the servant nodded vigorously. Benjamin, who was sitting next to him, took over the explanation.
“Of course. He even told us to stack a huge pile of firewood next to the laundry room and the bathhouse. He said to make sure the wood never runs out until the weather warms up.”
“Wow!”
At Benjamin’s words, the servants’ table erupted into loud, joyful cheers.
Having suffered through the bitter cold where the water would freeze, the realization that they could finally wash up comfortably with hot water was nothing short of a miracle.
However, amidst the celebration, Marsha’s face fluctuated between red and pale.
“Everyone, be quiet!”
When she shrieked, everyone was startled, but they looked at her as if they couldn’t understand why she was acting this way.
“I haven’t heard a word about this! Don’t you dare move until I confirm it with the Count again. Do you understand?”
Marsha was displaying a level of arrogance that defied expectations. Edel looked straight at the agitated woman and spoke.
“The Count gave the order himself; how can you tell them not to start work until you verify it? Are you implying that the Countess’s orders should take precedence over the Count’s?”
Naturally, Marsha’s eyes flared as if they were spitting fire.
Even so, Edel felt no fear. She had never been afraid of a mere head housekeeper to begin with, and everyone sitting around her agreed with her statement.
Even Marco, a man of few words, couldn’t hold back today.
“We finally get to wash with warm water, yet you don’t seem very happy about it? I suppose you prefer washing in cold water, Head Housekeeper?”
“Th-that’s ridiculous! It’s just that since I hadn’t heard anything about it, I thought there might be some misunderstanding.”
“What misunderstanding…”
Someone muttered quietly at Marsha’s excuse, and everyone cast the same sidelong glance at her.
Feeling cornered, Marsha tried to change the atmosphere by barking at Edel.
“Anyway, Edel! From today, your duties in the kitchen will be washing dishes, cleaning vegetables, and prepping ingredients. If I see any spoiled vegetables because of you, I won’t let it slide, so keep your wits about you!”
“I look forward to working with you, Chef.”
Edel bowed only to the cook, which made Marsha’s expression turn even sourer.
* * *
Though Edel had been “promoted” to a kitchen maid, the fact that she had to soak her hands in cold water hadn’t changed at all. There was no way they would let her use hot water to wash vegetables.
Furthermore, since her start time had been pushed up, she was now waking up at 5:30.
She would head to the kitchen in the dead of night, light the oil lamp, stoke the embers in the stove, and take out the ingredients prepared the previous day; the day had effectively begun.
‘Since there’s nothing more to prep for breakfast, I should wash the ingredients for lunch in advance.’
The previous maid had waited until after breakfast to prep lunch, but since Edel was still clumsy with the work, she had to be more diligent.
When Arturo, the cook, arrived, she would help him prepare breakfast for the staff, and once the meal was over, she would go back to washing and prepping more ingredients.
‘After that, it’s time to serve Lynnia’s breakfast-lunch combo, and then it’s time for the staff’s lunch. I haven’t a moment to breathe.’
After finishing the dishes from those meals and washing the ingredients for dinner, she was given a short break, but at 5 o’clock, she had to jump right back into dinner prep.
‘The kitchen is just as exhausting as the laundry room. On top of that, all the equipment is ancient. The workflow is inefficient, too.’
And above all else… it was filthy.
Edel tried to avert her eyes from places that clearly looked like they were infested with mice. With her current schedule, she lacked the stamina to tackle cleaning the kitchen, too.
Even now, after washing all the vegetables for lunch, her hands were so frozen she could barely hold a knife.
“Hoo… hoo…”
As she rubbed her frozen hands together and tried to warm them with her breath, her fingertips felt tingly, much like when she had experienced frostbite on her feet.
She wished she could warm her hands by the stove, but if she did, Marsha’s watchdog would surely start an argument.
‘It’s already this late. Should I prep at least a little bit?’
Edel flexed her hands a few times before picking up a small knife and starting to peel the potatoes.
After soaking the peeled potatoes in water, she had to peel onions, tearing up all the while, and then slice open a large pumpkin to scoop out the innards and shave off the thick rind.
“Ahem! Don’t slack off and do it properly!”
While Edel was in the middle of peeling potatoes, Lola, another kitchen maid, started nagging her the moment she arrived.
Lola, who obeyed Marsha, watched Edel’s every move and picked fights with her every day, as if she had received orders to do so. This was exactly why Edel couldn’t warm her hands by the stove.
Lola even tried to intentionally sabotage Edel’s work, but after getting a severe scolding from Arturo for it, she had been keeping a low profile.
Of course, Edel, having abandoned the path of the “good” maid, was no longer submissive to her.
“Lola, perhaps you should be the one to do your job properly? You didn’t wash the cauldron yesterday.”
“I-I could have just forgotten! Where did you put that cauldron?”
“Where would I put it? It’s right where you left it.”
At those words, Lola glared with eyes wide and shrieked.
“If you knew the cauldron wasn’t washed, you should have washed it yourself instead of leaving it there!”
“Lola, don’t slack off and do your work properly. That is your job, after all.”
“Wh-what did you say?”
“Why are you surprised? That’s what you say to me every single day since I started working here.”
Edel smiled gently and went back to peeling potatoes.
“Arturo will be here any minute. If I were you, I’d wash that cauldron quickly.”
Lola gritted her teeth at Edel but ran over to the cauldron.
Arturo had a short temper and was easily agitated, and if he found out Lola hadn’t cleaned the cauldron the day before, he would surely throw the utensils she had washed onto the floor and start hurling insults.
‘What on earth possessed her to think I would do it for her?’
Edel didn’t understand Lola’s shameless way of thinking. Did she really believe that if she just shrieked, the other person would be intimidated into submission?
A moment later, Arturo entered the kitchen, frowning as always, and the moment he saw Lola washing the cauldron, he began to roar and curse at her.
Listening to the bizarre variety of profanities, Edel felt like her ears were being soiled. But what was more distressing than her ears was her nose.
‘Count Krissus really should hire a new cook if he can help it. Profanity aside, the fact that a person who prepares food smokes tobacco should be grounds for dismissal.’
She always knew when Arturo was approaching by the stench of stale tobacco.
When he cooked while reeking of smoke, she couldn’t help but grimace. He didn’t even wash the yellow stains off his fingers caused by the tobacco.
Ever since she learned that, she felt nauseous every time she ate food he had prepared.
“Edel! Are the breakfast ingredients all ready?”
“Yes, Chef.”
Edel moved the ingredients she had prepped the day before in front of him, and only then did he calm down slightly.
The cook was still visibly agitated, but he began his work. She took a knife out of the drawer.
* * *
“Ugh, my legs…”
3:30 PM.
After finishing the lunch dishes and prepping the ingredients for dinner, Edel sat on the stairs connecting the kitchen to the pantry loft to finally catch her breath.
She had been on her feet the entire time, so her waist and legs ached terribly; a groan of “ugh” escaped her lips automatically as she sat on the steps.
‘Should I close my eyes for a moment?’
Having woken up at the crack of dawn and moving busily ever since, exhaustion came washing over her.
Lola rarely came by this staircase, so she wouldn’t be caught.
Edel leaned her hunched body against the wall of the staircase and closed her eyes. Just as sleep was quickly overtaking her, someone entered the kitchen.
‘Is it Lola?’
Edel, whose eyes flew open at the *clack-clack* sound of a woman’s footsteps, strained her ears in tension.