Chapter 47

This time, it's a short story from a third-person perspective.

Starting next time, we'll return to the main story, so please look forward to it.

In the dimness, the girls gathered around a small lamp, giggling. This place was the dormitory section for the servants, located at the edge of the palace. Most of the maids and ladies-in-waiting lived here.

One of them was Meina, who worked in the princess's palace.

She came from a wealthy merchant family, and because her father was one of the key figures in the commercial guild, she was treated as a lady-in-waiting.

In the Kingdom of Kouraum, female servants were divided into ranks: ladies-in-waiting, maids, servants, and laborers.

Many of the ladies-in-waiting were of noble birth, either illegitimate children, young ladies who couldn't find suitable marriages, or those from families with many siblings. Some aimed to find good matches through their service at the royal castle, others sought to become mistresses of nobles, and some hoped to meet knights.

Most maids came from ordinary families. A select few could become ladies-in-waiting based on their family's wealth and their parents' connections. Once a maid became a lady-in-waiting, she had more opportunities to interact with nobles, so parents often pushed hard to get their daughters promoted. To become a maid, one had to meet various conditions, such as coming from a family with a certain income, having an education, being healthy, and having no criminal relatives.

Servants and laborers were mostly from ordinary families but lacked education and were known for their health and hard work.

They rarely had the chance to meet nobles. Their work mainly involved cleaning and running errands. Occasionally, their diligent work would catch the eye of a lord, leading to a better position, so it wasn't all bad.

"Has anything changed for you now that you're called a lady-in-waiting, Meina?"

"Nothing at all! It's the same as when I was a maid—cleaning, preparing tea, and all that. But I do get to do a bit of paperwork now, which I didn't do as a maid."

"Wow, that's great! It sounds so cool!!"

"Really? I don't think it's that big of a deal, though."

"At first, you were complaining to the head lady-in-waiting about being assigned to the princess's palace, remember?"

"Ah, ah, ah, I forgot about that!!"

The royal castle was vast. Therefore, under the 'Head Lady-in-Waiting,' who oversaw all the ladies-in-waiting serving the king, each palace had its own chief lady-in-waiting, followed by the ladies-in-waiting and maids.

If there was a shortage of staff in any area, the chief lady-in-waiting would report it, and the Head Lady-in-Waiting would assign new personnel. The assignment was determined by documents, appearance, and the Head Lady-in-Waiting's experience. There was no room for negotiation.

The chief lady-in-waiting was responsible for training new staff.

At the time, Meina had heard that both the prince's and princess's palaces were short-staffed, and she secretly hoped to be assigned to the prince's palace.

This was because the chief lady-in-waiting in the princess's palace was rumored to be unapproachable, large, expressionless, and hardworking, which made her seem scary. Being hardworking wasn't a bad thing, but still.

She was worried that she would be harassed every day if assigned there!

So when the Head Lady-in-Waiting said, "You'll be fine in the princess's palace. Work diligently," Meina almost fainted. Now, it's a good memory, though not one she often shares.

Back then, Meina would vent to the lower-ranking ladies-in-waiting and maids in her room, calling the chief lady-in-waiting "that old hag!"

Of course, she couldn't act on her feelings openly.

"So, how is the princess's palace? I work in the outer palace, which is more interesting because there are all sorts of people. The other day, a knight on patrol even spoke to me!"

"It's mostly the outer palace, and in the end, no new staff went to the prince's palace."

"Wasn't that because the prince found the girls who approached him annoying?"

Nighttime chatter before bed was a timeless tradition among women.

Gathered around the dim lamp, the girls peeked out from the two-tiered beds, their curiosity unhidden.

"So, what's it like working with the 'Iron Lady'?"

"Don't call Lady Yuria that."

"Oh, Meina, you seem to really like her."

Meina puffed out her cheeks in dissatisfaction at the girl's surprised tone.

After all, she herself had been afraid of her boss, the "Iron Lady," so she couldn't really criticize the other girls too harshly.

But after working in the princess's palace for just a few months, Meina was satisfied enough to say that the rumors were just rumors.

"Because she teaches me my job properly. She's thorough, kind, and sometimes gives me chocolates from the Micheran confectionery as a reward for hard work. She even taught me how to make tea, something even the butler, Sebastian, gave up on."

"Wow! Micheran chocolates are said to be so expensive that they're only sold to the elite!"

"But they really are delicious. My family would buy them for special guests sometimes."

"Mine too. They're quite expensive. Do chief ladies-in-waiting get a much higher salary?"

"I'm not sure, but... she does reward me with tea and chocolates for my hard work, sometimes!"

The first time she was rewarded like that, Meina was so surprised she almost cried. It was a secret between her and Yuria.

Princess Primera, whom she served, had surprised Meina in a good way. Meina had thought the princess would be spoiled and wouldn't see her as a person because of her common background. Now, she finds her own thoughts back then a bit silly, but at the time, she was serious. After all, that was the rumor.

In reality, thanks to Yuria's efforts and Princess Primera's own hard work, the princess avoided becoming overweight and stopped trying to draw attention by being spoiled.

"I was really surprised when I was allowed to accompany the princess to the summer retreat. But when I was told that I was doing well enough to be taken out as a proper lady-in-waiting, I was moved."

"Is the 'Iron Lady' actually a good person?"

"Well, she's not exactly a good person, but she's not a bad person either. She's just unapproachable, large, doesn't wear much makeup, and is very hardworking."

"Unapproachable and large, but she does smile! She can't be smiling unnecessarily during work! And she's not as large as the rumors say, and she's very kind."

"True, directly teaching new staff is a big plus!"

The maid in charge of the outer palace said she was envious, and the other girls agreed.

The work of the outer palace's ladies-in-waiting mainly involved greeting guests and cleaning. There was no need to smile unnecessarily. In fact, doing so might get them reprimanded. So, in a way, the unapproachable chief lady-in-waiting was the right fit, the girls concluded.

"So, is the 'Iron Lady' popular with the important people?"

"Not entirely a lie. Of course, Princess Primera is the top, but the prince often visits her office, and the other day, the head of the Rizil Chamber of Commerce came. He talked to her quite a bit, so maybe Lady Yuria is involved in some business deals too!"

"Wow, that's amazing!!"

For the girls, the fact that the head of a prominent chamber of commerce would act as a personal errand runner for someone other than royalty was indeed impressive.

If Yuria were there, she could have said it wasn't true, but she wasn't.

"The prime minister also talks to her through his wife, Bianca. Apparently, she helped create the document formats for the finance officials."

"Wow, that's really impressive! And you're not afraid of her?"

"I'm not afraid at all! Even when I spill tea or break a cup, she first worries about me. Of course, she scolds me afterward, but she cares about people first, which I think shows she's a good person!"

"Wow, she's so kind..."

"Plus, she makes templates and formats for the documents I have to take to the finance officials. Following them, I learned how to write them properly. That kind of attention to detail must be why important people like her. She treats it as a normal thing, but it's really helpful."

At that time, Yuria was just thinking that having templates and formats would make it easier to train new staff. This idea came from her previous life's office work, but in this world, such things didn't exist. Without them, it was assumed that if the documents were there, people should be able to write them. This was considered inconsiderate.

Even with formats, they were just paper with frames, leaving the "writing" up to individual interpretation. Therefore, following someone's instructions didn't guarantee correctness. If the person teaching made a mistake, it would be passed on, creating a negative cycle.

As a result, the finance officials would sometimes reject documents or mark them as "unclear."

However, when Meina followed Yuria's templates and formats, things went smoothly.

For example, instead of the vague "towels (no type or size specified), multiple sheets, remarks section blank," which confused the finance officials, Meina wrote "bath towel, standard size, plain, white, 10 sheets, for replacement due to fabric damage, old ones to be given to laborers for cleaning."

Because of the clarity, the documents passed through the finance officials quickly, and any corrections were made promptly. They only needed to check the necessary items.

In other palaces, the ladies-in-waiting had to make multiple trips for corrections, but in the princess's palace, this was avoided, allowing them to focus on their work. This made their time more efficient and allowed them to finish their tasks.

The civil servants even suggested that the formats be distributed to the chief ladies-in-waiting of other palaces as a model. Yuria, of course, agreed and provided samples.

However, Yuria didn't boast about her achievements. She just thought that if these things didn't exist, she would create them to train new staff. If other palaces could use them, she was happy to share. For her, it was a practical solution to make her own life easier, but others didn't know this.

Of course, there were still some rigid people who resisted change, but many found the templates and formats useful.

Thus, the civil servants recognized Yuria von Vandied as a capable and humble professional who was willing to share her work.

Of course, there were also those who criticized her as a "workaholic," especially the wealthy merchants and noble daughters who wanted to buy things freely without the finance officials' interference.

Therefore, Yuria was unaware of the civil servants' high regard for her.

She didn't know that creating formats to streamline work was a novel idea.

She didn't know that the corrupt idea that "only low-ranking people should do the hard work" was prevalent among the royal palace's ladies-in-waiting, and that she had changed it when she became chief lady-in-waiting because she found it troublesome.

...Perhaps it was significant that the princess's palace had only one elderly lady-in-waiting and some laborers for cleaning when Yuria took over, making the transition smooth.

When Princess Primera was born, she spent her early days in the harem and moved to the princess's palace with her wet nurse. By then, Yuria was already her lady-in-waiting, and the king appointed her as the chief lady-in-waiting. The elderly lady-in-waiting retired as she wished, making the transition smooth.

...But few people knew this.

So, those who didn't know said:

They thought noble-born ladies-in-waiting were arrogant and didn't take their jobs seriously, only flattering their superiors. They were surprised to find a professional among the corrupt.

In essence, it was a story of how a few people's frustrations were released, spreading to others.

As a result, more people learned that there were proper ways to write documents, reducing the finance officials' workload and improving efficiency. This positive cycle benefited everyone, from the finance officials to the higher-ups.

And it wasn't unusual for the prime minister, who oversaw the civil servants, to recognize Yuria's contributions. At one point, he even considered promoting her to a civil servant position if Princess Primera were to marry into a noble family.

However, once he learned that Yuria was devoted to the princess, he quickly abandoned the idea. This was a known fact among those in the know.

In short, it was an example of how unrecognized achievements can lead to unexpected outcomes.