It was a February day when the winter wind had not yet fully subsided. Emily Turner stepped down from the hired carriage, thoroughly tense. As she pulled her collar tight against the damp humidity and raised her head, Hazefield Manor—which she had only heard about—stood right before her.

The colorless mansion where a nobleman suffering from madness lived exuded an overwhelming sense of intimidation that made distance meaningless, even from beyond the vast garden that stretched out before it. 

In the silence so profound you could hear the sound of accumulated snow scattering, the north wind hitting the stone walls sounded like the breathing of a massive crouched beast.

Thoroughly intimidated, Emily hurriedly checked her appearance once more. She busily plucked off a couple of lint balls that had formed on her sleeves and pulled up her thick wool stockings through her skirt hem to hide her protruding knees, lest they slip down.

Now everything was ready… Emily thought.

“What about handling deer or rabbits? Plucking fur and butchering, I mean.”

But standing before the interviewer, her fingertips began trembling again. The disapproving emotion was clearly conveyed through the piercing gaze of the stern-looking head housekeeper, Mrs. Fowler.

“I haven’t done that yet. Ducks and chickens I can manage somewhat—”

“Hah.”

She had already heard three sighs during their brief conversation. Setting aside her sense of injustice, Emily opened her mouth, thinking she should correct any misunderstanding.

“Um, I heard you were looking for a general maid. Working only three days—Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.”

She had heard they needed help with errands and cleaning, so she wondered if this had been confused with a kitchen assistant interview.

“That was until last month. But we’re also short-handed in the kitchen now.”

Then came a response that might have been an answer or might have been talking to herself. The head housekeeper continued muttering with a displeased expression.

“We can’t just hire anyone randomly. What a headache.”

Though the words were unclear, Emily roughly understood. She had heard that Hazefield Manor had been recruiting staff only from the main house in the capital for the past few years.

Because of this, rumors were rampant in Tollum that the master of the mansion might have seizures upon encountering country folk. Well, to the eyes of a nobleman who faints at the sight of mice, there probably wasn’t much difference between Tollum people and mouse pups.

Anyway, this hiring opportunity was certainly extremely rare.

“We have three vacancies, but there’s no word of reinforcements from the main house. Meanwhile, if it’s a worker who comes and goes rather than a live-in…”

In the silence, she could feel the middle-aged woman’s gaze scanning her up and down. Like examining the condition of livestock.

But displeasure could always be set aside in the face of money, so Emily politely lowered her eyelids. Worrying whether her wool stocking knees had popped out again in the meantime.

“You don’t even look healthy.”

Her scrawny frame seemed to be a bigger problem than the loose stockings. Emily hastily made excuses.

“But I’m energetic. Even the parish pastor’s chimney, I’ve been cleaning since I was twelve—”

“That’s already in the letter of introduction, so no need to repeat it.”

The head housekeeper found and unfolded the letter on the mahogany table and asked.

“So why can’t you live here?”

“My mother is unwell.”

Somehow it seemed she needed to propose a compromise. Not wanting to lose this job opportunity, Emily carefully added.

“Um… if you absolutely need a live-in worker. I could go home just once a week—”

“Ah, yes. Right. That’s what it was.”

But the head housekeeper’s complexion completely changed when she discovered something in the recommendation letter.

“How is your mother unwell?”

The suddenly softened voice was puzzling. Having a sick family member surely wouldn’t be a favorable condition for employment.

“Her eyes have been… for a few years now.”

“Your father?”

“He passed away the year before last, in a mine collapse accident.”

Though she desperately hid her bitterness, the head housekeeper didn’t seem to care about her reaction. She just offered perfunctory words of comfort.

“That must be difficult. I heard the mining company keeps delaying compensation payments. So what about other family members?”

“I have a fourteen-year-old younger brother.”

“Oh my, there must be many places money needs to go.”

Emily closed her mouth and waited. What would follow after those unnecessary condolences?

“Then let’s do this. We’ll have to consider the carriage arrangements for coming and going anyway…”

The head housekeeper rolled her eyes briefly, calculating something, then laid out the working conditions.

“Work Monday through Friday each week. When you leave work, you can ride along when our servants go into town, and for coming to work, you can use Cornis’s freight wagon.”

The moment those words fell, color began returning to Emily’s pale face. Both the town’s commercial district and Cornis Trading Company that sold food ingredients were only a 30-minute walk from home, making the commute much easier.

“Then instead of three days a week, it’s five days, and adding the live-in allowance, you’ll receive 48 crowns annually.”

She could handle accumulated household chores during weekends, and her salary had doubled. Emily was dazed by this sudden fortune. It was too large an amount to legally get her hands on.

“We settle accounts four times a year, but you want weekly pay instead of monthly?”

“…Ah, yes. If it’s possible.”

“How about receiving the first three months in advance instead? Getting 12 crowns this Friday.”

Emily gradually closed her gaping mouth. With such good luck, anyone would be suspicious at least once.

Moreover, Emily was a child of Tollum. She had grown up on the streets of Tollum, where distrust and cunning flowed. 

No matter how much the pastor’s wife had instilled the virtue of obedience for eight years, Emily hadn’t abandoned her original temperament one bit. She had only improved her skill at hiding it so it wouldn’t show on the surface.

That meant Emily’s heart was currently filled with suspicion and doubt. Even now, though she covered it with a gentle smile, her mind was spinning chaotically with calculations.

“Three months’ worth?”

“Yes.”

Why would they offer such generous salary and conditions while even welcoming an employee’s unfortunate family circumstances?

“How about it?”

At the head housekeeper’s urging, Emily smiled shyly and stalled for time.

Was the master of the mansion suffering from madness even more severely than the rumors suggested?

Even so, a lowly maid would hardly ever encounter the master. Whether he was violent or suffered from other types of madness, there would be no occasion to meet him, so it would be fine.

Having finished her deliberation, Emily quietly reached a conclusion. If she missed this opportunity, all that money would fly away, and there was no reason to carry burdens that could be solved with that money just because of a madman she could greet from a distance.

“Thank you. I’ll work hard.”

Emily even added gratitude on top of the smile at her lips. Though she had suddenly become bound for at least three months, she had to appear eager until the money fell into her hands.

“Then start today, right away.”

“From today? Then I need to contact home—”

“Through a worker going to the village in the evening. Should I inform Pastor Smithson’s wife, your recommender?”

“…Yes.”

“Good. Michelle!”

The head housekeeper rang a bell, and soon a young woman who appeared to be a senior maid opened the door.

“Hired?”

“Yes. Her name is Emily, have her do exactly what Dolly used to do.”

Michelle, who appeared to be in her early thirties, had red hair and a sharp-looking demeanor. At her chin gesture signaling to follow, Emily bowed to the head housekeeper and hurriedly turned around.

Michelle showed little interest in Emily. She simply walked ahead on the corridor covered with plush carpets, rapidly pouring out words.

“Work starts at six in the morning. First clean the servants’ dining room.”

Emily followed Michelle with quick steps, listening carefully. From that somewhat tired voice, she seemed to sense a declaration that she wouldn’t explain things twice.

“After breakfast, help with kitchen dishwashing first, then—”

But she hadn’t heard much of the proper explanation yet. Michelle, who had been heading toward the central staircase, suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

Emily also stood one step behind, waiting for her words to continue. But Michelle only bowed her head toward that distant direction.

“Young master.”

Emily followed Michelle’s bowed direction with her gaze and discovered a man standing at the top of the stairs.

Though he wore simple attire of a white shirt and pants, he was undoubtedly the master of this house. Even without the title Michelle had used, she could sense the distinctive air of high-born people.

However, Emily forgot even the basic common sense that she shouldn’t stare directly at a nobleman. The moment their eyes met, time seemed to stop.

Brilliant hair that seemed made by melting precious gold, skin smooth as marble without a single freckle, transparently shining blue eyes. Even elegant features that seemed like something from a picture in a flyer.

Nothing beautiful that Emily had ever seen could compare to that tall gentleman. Since he was unlike anything else in the world, rather the massive painting hanging like a backdrop beyond his shoulders seemed to belong to his world.

Even when he slowly descended the stairs, he didn’t withdraw his gaze from Emily. Perhaps because of that, Emily couldn’t take her eyes off his dignified figure, like she was under some spell.

“Third floor, second room.”

When the statue-like gentleman opened his mouth, a baritone voice like velvet flowed out. Somehow even conveying a gentle atmosphere.

Before Emily could grasp what that noble voice implied, Michelle hurriedly bowed her head.

“Right away, I’ll clean it again.”

“How many times must I tell you?”

He descended the stairs, withdrawing his gaze from this direction. Only then did Emily’s body loosen, and she quickly bowed her head and body.

“How tiresome.”

By the time that single phrase lingered in her ears and disappeared, Emily realized that the emotion contained in that wonderful voice had been contempt.