Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

TL: Jenn

“Tsk, too bad.”

“Huh?”

“If you work here from the beginning, you can’t put this as a work experience.”

Misa whispered to me, as if telling me a secret.

When I didn’t understand what she said, she dragged me towards her and said,

“But if you’re fine working here, just avoid the doll.”

“The doll?”

At first, I thought it was just a ghost story. I got a job as a maid in a haunted mansion or some sort of story like that. But I didn’t have goosebumps or feel anything weird here.

“Don’t you know it? It’s that illegitimate daughter.”

“……ah?”

“We call her a doll. Here, we have a higher up who hated her being called the young lady.”

I slowly got the hang of it.

The Duke of Bicester, a separate house, illegitimate child.

It was all about Chloe.

“Anyway, the moment you get involved with the doll, your life will be ruined here.”

“But why?”

At that moment, Misa looked at me as if I was stupid. Her expression was saying something like, ‘Hey, did you listen to me?’

“Everyone in the household hates the doll.”

I couldn’t answer and just opened my mouth. At the moment, Chloe’s appearance, which I saw during the day, came to my mind.

A body that was malnourished, and a disprited look as if she was ready to die at any moment.

“The Duchess especially hates her. So you should be careful. Many have tried to get involved with the doll only to be dead.”

I felt angry again.

How could she say such a thing to me?

I couldn’t say this to anyone if I saw a child being abused. Truly.

“But why would you say it to me…”

“Because I heard it from someone as soon as I came in.”

Misa shrugged her shoulders as if she had given me a favor.

A goodwill. I was very angry but I understood her intention.

Well, from her point of view, she was only teaching a newbie how to work without having to suffer.

But what about the child? What about Chloe?

“Okay, now that you understand, go wash up and sleep. There’s a lot more work to do tomorrow.”

I was pushed into a room by Misa. It was a single room with a bed and closet. Very small.

I looked at the dark room and thought,

This must be the colour of Chloe’s world.

***

On my second day, I visited Mrs. Deo and said,

“I’ll do it.”

“Do what?”

“I’ll be Lady Chloe’s exclusive maid. I heard she doesn’t have one.”

Mrs. Deo pushed up the glasses on the tip of her nose. She wore a subtle look over her glasses.

“Are you serious?”

There was no reason to be lying.

I couldn’t sleep well even though I was tired, thinking about Chloe all night. It was surprising considering the amount of work I did that day.

“Yes.”

It has been three years since I was transported into this world. But this world doesn’t feel like a novel any longer to me.

This place is real. That means, the violence against Chloe was also a reality. I couldn’t turn blind eye to that.

“She won’t welcome you.”

The Duchess seemed a bit scary. Even though we live in a separate building, she still doesn’t allow any of us to call Chloe a lady.

“Then we’ll just have to wait and see.”

“You’re insolent.”

When I shrugged my shoulders, Mrs. Deo looked displeased.

“Do I have to ask you again whether you’re serious or not?”

Yesterday, my angry weed-pulling seemed to have been firmly attached to the head maid’s heart.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have tried so hard to stop me who offered to be an exclusive maid for the doll. She’s also one of the people who condones violence against Chloe.

“No need.”

I said monotonously.

“You’ve already asked me enough questions.”

“Alright, then you are her maid from today.”

All of the servants here seemed to be controlled by her. But I didn’t know that the procedures would be this simple.

Oh well, that’s great.

I smiled slightly and asked.

“Could I go and greet her then?”

“Sure.”

I bowed my head to Mrs. Deo and headed to the most secluded room in the detached house.

I stood in front of a particularly cold door after walking in the dark hallway.

I clenched my fist until it became numb due to my nervousness. I finally mustered up my courage and knocked on the door.

“Lady?”

The answer didn’t come back. I raised my voice a little more because I thought she couldn’t hear me.

“I’m your new exclusive maid.”

But it was still quiet. I finally put my ears on the door, to hear some sort of sound, indicating that someone might be inside.

“…no sound?”

That can’t be true.

I grabbed the doorknob after feeling conflicted for a while. I came all the way here. So let’s just be bold!

“Lad…hmph!”

“Get out.”

I was hit in the face by something as soon as I opened the door. When I grabbed my tingling nose and looked down, a murky-coloured pillow was there.

Due to the shock, I could only mutter,

“So you’re really inside…”

I could see a small body lying on the bed. As if she had just covered herself with the blanket, dusts were floating everywhere.

“My name is Blea, Blea Thorpe.”

I even said my last name, but Chloe didn’t look at me. She was buried in a blanket and didn’t make a sound.

I picked up the pillow and approached the bed.

“Your name is Chloe, right?”

“……”

“Chloe Dian Bicester.”

She doesn’t even answer back. I looked around the messy room and sighed.

There was dust everywhere.

Is this really how a lady’s room should look

Iike? Even a trash can is cleaner than this.

Coming into Chloe’s room made it even clearer. No one in the separate house takes care of this girl.

“You must have been surprised, so I’ll just leave today. I’ll have cleaning up to do tomorrow.”

“I don’t need it. Get out.”

Her small voice resembled that of a nervous animal.

“This room looks like it needs cleaning.”

“Get out.”

Chloe kept repeating it like a robot.

There is nothing I could do in this situation.

I stepped back for now, promising to work harder in the future.

“I’ll wash this pillow and come back later, so take a rest.”

I turned around, emphasizing that I would come back later.

I wondered why the color of this pillow was so murky, but I thought it was because they had never washed it in the first place.

***

There has been so many work given to me since I became Chloe’s maid.

But only for me.

I expected this, but after experiencing it, it felt different.

Violence against me was given in childish forms, such as bullying and giving more work. I wasn’t even given a meal unless I was done. So I skipped two meals today.

Late at night, I was alone in the laundromat.

“Gosh, these rotten people…”

I haven’t seen Chloe for a few days because of my workload. If I tried to visit Chloe, those servants would appear and give their work to me.

Of course I did try to refuse.

However, they repeated the name ‘Mrs. Deo’ like a parrot.

“They are truly childish.”

This is why I seem to become a servant of the house, not Chloe’s maid.

Haha, am I the only maid who works here? I think so!

“Until when…”

My series of grumbles never ends, even until my work is done.

I saw my swollen hand and held the bat again.

Twack, twack. The sound of me doing the laundry made me sad.

My workload kept increasing. It’s like they’re leaving me to do all the work here.

But what’s even sadder is my relationship with Chloe.

She didn’t give me a glance even though I exerted so much effort.

So what did Chloe do while I was out here working hard?

Chloe spent most of her days by the window. It was her daily routine to look out to the window.

But I know after reading the novel. That Chloe was just pretending.

***

The bullying towards Chloe was more serious than I thought.

I didn’t expect to see this kind of thing after taking my lunch time to see her.

I looked at the tray in front of the door, as my expression changed. It was Chloe’s lunch.

A meal? Can you call this a meal? This hard thing?

She was only given a hard piece of wheat bread. And it was the size of a child’s palm, if I chewed it, all of my teeth would break.

The small bottle next to it seems to contain yogurt, but it smells a bit suspicious.

“Did they really give this for someone to eat?”

Her room was one thing, but even her meal looked like this?

I held back my cursing and lifted the tray.

“I think they gave animals more food than this.”

That’s just not right. I’ll take it to the dining room right away and then bring a new one.

While I was thinking, there was a girl right in front of me whose height only reached my eyes.

Her red eyes looked very indifferent.

It was Chloe.

“La, lady…”

I was nervous that Chloe might have heard my murmur. I didn’t mean it to her, but I’m sure it’ll hurt her.

Chloe just looked up at me. Then she went into the room and said,

“I won’t eat it.”

“Huh, wait…!”

Slam!

I looked down at the tray in my hand.

She was treated very badly even for her meals. But I understood Chloe. I also wouldn’t want to eat this kind of food.

“This is outrageous…”

Chloe’s slim body came to mind. I decided to put more weight into her body somehow.

The next thing I did was to hide in the kitchen of the dining room.

I went to see Chloe without having my lunch, so the dining room was already quiet because all of them left.

The cooking staff in the kitchen were also eating in the corner.

When they looked away, I took some bread that seemed to have just cooled down.

Oh my, this is embezzlement!

Before I left the kitchen, I even packed some boiled eggs. After that, I ran out quickly and headed to Chloe’s room.

“Lady, lady!”

I didn’t knock because of my previous experience.

I opened the door so suddenly as Chloe was surprised seeing me.

“What?”

“Please eat your lunch.”

“What do you mean? I said I wouldn’t —“

“I could only bring this, but eat it.”

I laid down the bread and eggs on the table after I dusted it off.

Chloe flinched after seeing them.

“…ho, how did you get this?”

“I swiped this when they were distributing food.”

I went into the kitchen and stole it, but I lied to her.

“Have you eaten?”

Uh, is she worried about me?

“I had enough, don’t worry.”

I replied while rubbing under my nose. Of course it was a lie.

“So, are you telling me to eat your waste?”

Turns out she wasn’t concerned about me…

It was disappointing, but I understand it. We’re not that close yet after all.

“I’ve had a hard time bringing it here. Don’t be like that and have some.”

“You should eat, where are you touching? Let go!”

“Lady, if you hit me with those thin arms, it will hurt you too.”