What sin did that little one commit to end up here? Would she hold up against the cold shoulders she would face at Heitzrind? And what was the master thinking, bringing that child here?

Her body was tired, but once a thought took hold, it had no end.

The moment she opened her eyes, she searched for a few pieces of clothing Adele might wear. A few garments her daughters wore as children were still tucked away.

The seams were worn with age and the styles were nothing like what was fashionable now, but they were several times better than the drab grey dress the girl arrived in the day before.

After roughly mending the worn spots and adding ribbon and lace from scrap fabric, they looked considerably better.

She hadn’t noticed in the chaos of the day before, but Adele clearly arrived at the manor empty-handed.

There was nothing worth bringing, it seemed.

With that bitter thought, Bailey pressed her lips together, gathered the mended clothes, and made her way to Adele’s room.

“Good morning.”

Adele smiled faintly, doing her best to hide her swollen eyes behind her hair.

Her reply was much more careful than the day before. She understood well enough what was said to her.

“The sun is already high. You must see to your own affairs.”

Adele gave a vigorous nod and quickly poured the washwater Bailey brought into the basin. She washed herself clean with soap, then straightened the bed she slept in.

Bailey thought the girl had more capable hands than expected.

Adele diligently smoothed the bedsheets and folded the blanket with her small hands.

“Well done. I’ll bring breakfast in a moment, so wait a little. Take that off and change into this. That dress is fit for cleaning chimneys.”

Adele asked with a worried look whether she really had to clean chimneys too, and Bailey answered with a smile.

“That was a joke. No one here will make you do such a thing. What I mean is, throw away what you wore yesterday.”

“I couldn’t help it. Everyone at the charity school wore clothes like that.”

Adele fumbled through her words, her face going red.

Even she had to admit the dress was truly unsightly.

The place was a school in name only, no different from an orphanage, and everything there was in short supply. The clothes Adele wore already passed through several other children before reaching her.

When Bailey left to fetch breakfast, Adele quickly changed into the clothes she brought.

They were nothing compared to the fine dresses she once wore, but they were far better than the charity school clothes.

A cute ribbon was sewn along the hem of the red dress, and when she pulled the green sash at the waist taut and tied it, it looked much nicer.

Looking in the mirror above the basin, she thought it suited her quite well.

Adele grinned at her reflection.

Today would be a much better day than yesterday.

Norman paced anxiously back and forth along the first-floor parlor corridor.

Since dawn, the sound of a fierce argument between the duke and duchess rang through Heitzrind manor.

Some of the servants commuted from their own homes, so not many heard the early morning quarrel.

Besides, minor disputes between the duke and duchess were nothing new, so in a sense, it was hardly remarkable.

But Norman, who worked at Heitzrind for many years and rose to the position of head butler, sensed this argument was different from the usual.

Norman understood well why the duchess was so furious.

In nearly twenty years of marriage, there was only ever one reason they fought.

Rene von Eduard.

Once the beautiful daughter of the Eduard count family, who flourished in the Erwin Empire.

When the previous count’s investments failed, everything vanished from the Eduard family except for Eduard manor itself. And the hollow count title, too, disappeared after the Wirt Constitution.

It was perhaps only natural that the previous Duke of Clausen fiercely opposed his son’s marriage to Rene von Eduard.

The problem, however, was that no one anticipated the current Duke of Clausen would cling to his old love with such unwavering devotion and longing.

That was the tragedy of this beautiful Heitzrind manor.

Norman spotted Bailey coming out of the room where Adele was staying and quietly gestured for her to come over.

Bailey was just returning from delivering breakfast to the poor little mouse of a young lady.

Small for her age, the girl needed to eat more.

She was probably small to begin with, but during those few months at the charity school, she surely ate even less than she should have.

Fatty sausage, fresh gooseberry jam made that year, thickly buttered toast, and warm milk sweetened with honey made up Adele’s breakfast.

It was quite a generous amount for a morning meal, but Adele steadily finished every bit. Whether she ate it all because she was hungry, or because she was trying to make a good impression, Bailey couldn’t say.

Either way, Bailey cleared the empty dishes hoping the scrawny little mouse had a full stomach.

She thought she ought to tidy up those gnawed-looking locks of hair today.

Bailey was thinking about where she left her sharp dressmaking scissors when she spotted Norman gesturing to her.

“How is Miss Adele getting on?”

“She seems to be settling in well. I just came back from bringing her breakfast.”

“Good. I’d like you to look after her. Be careful to keep her out of the mistress’s sight as much as possible.”

“Don’t worry. She’s not a child without sense.”

“Baden is such a common surname that I never imagined it could be that Baden.”

“Neither did I. Is the mistress all right?”

Norman’s expression turned bitter.

Bailey was a woman of few words, so it was safe to speak. She was someone who kept watch over Heitzrind alongside him for many years.

“How could anyone know what goes on inside the mistress’s heart. But the master has given orders to enroll Miss Adele in the Mainz Girls’ School starting the new term in September. While she is at school, and during the time she spends at home, please make sure she does nothing to irritate the mistress.”

Bailey nodded and took her leave.

The Mainz Girls’ School.

In a way, it was probably the most fitting place for Adele right now.

It was a school that middle-class girls typically attended. There were also exclusive boarding schools for daughters of the upper class, but the tuition was no small sum.

Of course, the Clausen ducal family carried wealth accumulated over generations and their current business was going well, so that tuition would be little more than pocket change. But the mistress would not want a single coin of the ducal family’s money spent on that girl.

It occurred to Bailey that some kind of unspoken arrangement and concession may have passed between the duke and duchess.

Even as times changed, daughters of the upper class tended to build their refinement as noblewomen and their cultivation as ladies through private tutoring, while those of the middle class gained knowledge through schooling.

After graduating, most typically married someone of a similar station.

Some, however, earned their living as accountants, secretaries, typists at businesses, or, for those with stronger academic ability, as private tutors for upper-class families or teachers at primary schools.

For Adele as she was now, with no parents or relatives to fall back on and no telling when the duchess’s hostility might drive her out, it was better to equip her with some skill and ability and prepare her to make her way in the world.

Bailey set aside her various thoughts, tucked her sharp scissors into her apron pocket, and picked up an old newspaper.

Whatever else was true, those mouse-bitten locks of hair needed tidying.

“Do you like it?”

Fine golden hair, snipped away with a soft snip-snip, fell in a shower onto the newspaper spread out below.

Bailey asked the small young lady sitting quietly before her.

Trying to even out the uneven lengths left the hair considerably shorter than expected. But the curly, fine-textured hair suited even a short bob quite well.

The day was fine and the sunlight came in strong, lending Adele’s golden hair an added sheen.

The deep green eyes in the mirror widened and sparkled.

“Thank you. You have a real talent for this.”

Adele genuinely liked what she saw in the mirror.

During her time at the charity school, she wanted to trim her own hair, but the school did not easily allow students to handle scissors or bladed objects.

It was a precaution against any accidents that might occur.

Bailey smiled and pinned a ribbon she prepared in advance into Adele’s hair.

The ribbon was made of satin in the same shade of green as Adele’s eyes, and it suited her hair beautifully.

Adele was pleased. She was happy to have an accessory to adorn herself with after so long, but more than that, she felt the affection she starved for over the past few months slowly beginning to fill, little by little.