Chapter 1

It’s early for the royal palace servants.

In a small but clean dormitory, Elma abruptly woke up from her bed, where you could hear the chickens roar.

There’s still time before the sunrise.

It’s pretty dim for those who aren’t used to waking up at this time, but today should be her first day to serve, yet she’s already prepared for the day.

She puts on her arms through the maid outfit and wears a clean apron, long black socks, and polished leather shoes.

Her black hair covering her shoulders was wrapped in a dumpling-ish shape and covered by a head groom called Brim.

Looking into the small mirror that was provided, Elma tilted her head for a while, and eventually, she took out a set of props from the only bag she brought to the castle.

She carefully paints, draws a polite expression, wears her thick glasses into her face, and looks into the mirror again.

There, you could see a mediocre girl who was neither beautiful nor ugly.

Her skin is smooth, suitable for fifteen, but it lacks redness and looks rather dull.

The presence of eyeglasses magnifies her eyes, and it is difficult to tell what color they are, and her thin lips are pale as if there isn’t any blood at all.

Her clothes have a clean vibe, but the size doesn’t fit her, and her overall impression is exceptionally dull.

But despite that, when she stared at her unsophisticated figure,

“Alright!”

She nodded in satisfaction.

That voice of hers is stunningly beautiful.

She then tidied her bed and looked out the window casually.

The dormitory is located on the highest floor of a four-story building.

This is only a royal palace built by the best of the building techniques of the Kingdom of Luden, and even the maid’s dormitory is allowed to build a high-rise building here.

The view from a high place, which is unusual to commoners, was a pride for the daughters who wanted to join a royal palace. Still, until yesterday they were only the lowest-ranked people … … She just turned her tired and displayed a chilly gaze expression.

“Seems like I’ll have to go up and down from here every day…”

Rather than a murmur of a nuisance, it is made up of a purely fed-up tone.

Looking like a dead fish from the back of her glasses, she says, “I want to go home ….” She was looking at the ground for a while before she sighed again as if she had given up all hope and left the window.

As she was about to leave the dormitory, the wooden door opened before Elma’s hand reached it.

She raised her face silently, looking at a figure that coming closer.

That person also wore a maid outfit, as Elma said as soon as she saw her.

“Oh, dear! It’s a shabby black rat. ”

A neatly tied blonde with a pair of attractive young grass-like colored eyes. She’s fairly a pretty girl.

I wonder if she’s the same year as Elma or perhaps a year higher.

Elma calmly inspects the situation and concludes that she seems to be a senior. About that the black rat, it seems to be a way to ridicule the poor Elma who has black hair, but since a possibility that she might be referring to a black rat in the room, which is an undeniable fact too, she quickly sweeps her eyes to the floor to make sure of it.

Right after that, the girl in front of her raised her eyebrow as if she were mocking Elma.

“Goodness, don’t you realize it?

I’m talking to you, Miss Elma, without a surname. Let me tell you, no matter how experienced you’re, after serving Viscount Gratz, you will know you’re nothing but just Elma. Not to mention, you’re the only maid in this royal palace who doesn’t even have a surname. ”

She smirked like a cat and placed her hand on her waist as she finishes her sentences.

“You can call me Irene. Daughter of the Baron Noiman. I’m the Manager for the Eastern Wing of Lady’s Attendant Dormitory. I’m here to say assign you, newcomers, your respective task. ”

“Understood.”

The West Wing of Lady’s Attendant Dormitory consists of elderly, married, and widows living in it, and the East Wing is where all unmarried children under the age of 18 live. Besides that, there are representatives placed on each floor.

Apparently, Irene is the representative of the fourth floor for the Eastern Wing. In other words, she is the head of the floor.

As a baron’s daughter, she seems to have a decent amount of influence, and her speech is obviously high-flying, and her intention to pick on a newcomer is the elephant in the room.

But, well, to enjoy some drama this early in the morning was somewhat refreshing, so Elma nodded gracefully without showing any intention to refute.

However, it seems that Irene didn’t like her response.

She blinked her long eyelashes, inspecting at Elma’s entire body, and snorted.

“Tsk, what an unfriendly person. Not only your face, but your expression is also boring. To become a Lady Attendant in the royal palace is the most difficult and soar upon for bride training position, but if there is a person like you, our level would be lowered. ”

“Understood.”

“Well, whatever. Guess that’s the reason why we’re here to train. Do you understand? From today, whatever I say, you’ll get it all done. ”

“Understood.”

To Irene, Elma sticks out like a sore thumb as she had only answered everything in one word, “Understood”, as if she was numb to it.

“Here, Miss Black Rat. This is your task for today. ”

On the fine paper that seems to be a supply item, letters are written until that there is almost no spacing left.

As Elma stared at it, Irene pulled up the edge of her lips.

“You… can you even read?

I will read it aloud only once. I won’t say it twice, so please remember it. First, go to the chicken hut before the sixth bells ring. ”

Irene quickly glances through all of the works.

If you are a lowly person who does not have a surname, you surely will not be able to read. In that case, that amount of information’s definitely one would be overwhelmed.

What’s more, for a newcomer who doesn’t even know the ins and outs of the royal palace, such as handing over eggs, putting them in the stables, caring for the eastern garden, delivering letters to the Knights, and preparing tea for the princess. This is just too harsh for newcomers.

“After having dinner in the dining room at the end of the kitchen, cleaning the cathedral, organizing the returned books in the library, and then…”

“Uhm…”

“By the way, whatever you do, there’s punishment for being late. There are punishments such as forbidden you from having your meals up to three times, but at that point, consider your reputation trashed. Next, after the library…”

“Uhm…”

“Speak, you’re annoying. You must be thinking, isn’t this bullying? Don’t think you have Lady Gratz backing you up and Prince Lucas’s direct order to pardon you. Everyone here is a meritocracy; we don’t allow anyone to be pampered. Understanding that this is not about imposing on you all the work, it’s just your “normal” amount of work, understand? ”

Obviously, a lie.

Elma’s eyebrows frowned slightly.

“Is it…normal for a newcomer to serve tea for the Former Empress Consort Lady Juliana right away? ”

“Lady Juliana is a woman who has served as an Empress consort until last month.

She left the inner palace after the demise of the king to live a retired life in a royal palace’s cathedral, which the main reason why Elma can be here.

Even if she wasn’t the empress consorts anymore, she might be too noble for a newcomer to serve her tea.

As Elma tilted her head, Irene swam her gaze in an easy-to-understand expression.

“Well, it may be a little unusual, but….what’s special for a Lady Attendant to brew and serve tea? After all, a Lady Attendant brews tea is the way to earn her husband’s heart. This…is really natural, I guess. Don’t you think so?”

“I see…”

“Ye…yeah, that’s right. To begin with, you haven’t decided on who to serve yet, so it’s a coincidence that’s the person you are going to serve happened to be a little difficult to serve…Pardon me if I must say so, it’s totally natural to serve a noble person. Whether the one you serve is a noble person or a lowly person, if you are ordered to do so, you will do it quietly. And that’s what a Lady Attendant should do, Uhm, of course, I mean that is what it takes to be a Lady Attendant.

“So that’s normal, huh….”

Irene’s argument was nothing more than painful and confusing, but Elma suddenly looked up and then nodded quietly.

“I understood.”

“Well, I’m honestly sorry to make you serve tea to Formal Empress Consort Lady Juliana, but….wait, what?”

For once, Irene, who inevitably repeated words, stopped and listened back.

And, Elma repeated it in a plain manner.

“I said, I understood.”

“Are…Are you serious?

“Yes. You said this is normal…right? “

“Normal… A-ah, of course, it’s If I must add on, it’s really pretty normal to do so.”

Despite being surprised, Irene told herself inwardly.

It is quite normal for a maid to brew tea, and newcomers will follow the instructions of their seniors. Of course, that’s the way.

However, the skill level of brewing tea requested by Formal Empress Consort Lady Juliana is unusually high, and many maids have been dismissed because she does not like the way tea is brewed, so in the first place, it should be done by her. Besides, the fact that Elma’s work is also considered quite a bit unusual…Well, just a bit only. It may be a little special, but it’s not unusual.

Watching the expressionless newcomer’s Irene begins to calm herself down with the utterly broken logic.

“Where are you going!?”

“I don’t seem to have much time, so I decided to start immediately. Just asking if I could finish the work that was written perfectly; it doesn’t matter if the work order is slightly different. ”

“Hmm … that’s one big mouth you got there without the memo.”

“Ah… I memorized everything on it, so feel free to throw away the memo. Or you can even reuse it on the back.”

Irene was bizarre.

“What….?”

But, Elma just nodded and walked straight into the hallway where the sunlight began to penetrate in.

“The atmosphere is clear in the morning, isn’t it?” Is this what the Unbound World’s air tastes like? ”

“Unbound…?”Irene’s made an expression as if a pigeon who’s been shot by a peashooter.