A young mother sat alone in her sunlit room. Her chair creaked each time she moved her back in the worry of what she would do next. Her stomach was full, and her child was looking much brighter than ever before, but how long would itst?


    The mother''s mind was gued with such thoughts. Once the children all slept or while they all yed, the adults always came together to discuss the future. The kind young master of the Hall estate had given them food tost a few days, they cut down on their portions to make itst longer, but the next sowing season was already too far, one wasn''t even to mention the harvest.


    They had to get by somehow and then make enough to buy the seeds.


    The mother and her friends thought of a dozen things, but what kind of work started without any capital at all? If they had money, they would have long since used it to get food for themselves and would have never had to rely on the son of the Marquis.


    The mother sighed, her eyes glistened under the light of the sun that passed through the cracked window and brightened her dusty home.


    "Mooom! Mom!"


    The mother''s ears perked. She turned to her back and saw her childe running to the door.


    "Nina? What happened?"


    Nina smiled, sweat dripping off her hair, as she tackled her sitting mother with her arms spread wide. "Thatdy! Thedy is here again!"


    "Thedy?"


    "Yeah! She made a store!"


    "Nina, what are you talking about?"


    Nina puffed her cheeks out wide and her mother chuckled at the sight. Unamused by her mother''sughter, Nina grabbed her hand tight and started pulling her along.


    "Come and seeeee!"


    "Alright, alright dear. Don''t pull me."


    The mother sighed and got off the chair. The worries from before had all disappeared at her child''s cheerful smile and the mother dly went along with her.


    Away from her worn-out mud hut and toward the center of the vige, the mother saw a sight she hadn''t expected to see before.


    In a ce where most people got their things by asking each other for them, a shop had been set up. Avish construction on wheels, the plywood frame of the ce shined brightly amidst the trees and over the grass as the hundreds of wares on disy stole the eyes of all that came to see it.


    Lamps and rugs, kerosene and timber, from toys for the young children to y with to mattresses for the old to rx on, the cart shop seemed to have everything one would need.


    Manning the shop alone was a familiar young girl with pretty brown hair and a face that seemed to make the mother wonder just how many had been sacrificed to bring this one girl to this world.


    The smile of the girl as she handed the toys to the children that came near looked like that of an angel, she would have been mistaken for an angel with her pretty almond eyes and soft lips had it not been for the maid uniform she wore.


    "Isn''t that girl..."


    Nina smiled at her mother''s reaction and pulled her further toward the shop. They ignored the rest of the vigers staring at the shop with wonder as they walked up to the girl.


    With a pained smile, the mother looked at Lily and said, "Miss maid, you should tell him that he won''t get anything here in this vige. Setting shop here is pointless—"


    Lily pulled out a dress from the box behind her and bent toward Nina,pletely ignoring the mother. Unfortunately for her, the mother did not miss the tremble in Lily''s eyes as she leaned toward Nina and disyed the dress.


    "T-this! Little girl! I-I think it will suit you splendidly!"


    The mother''s eyes narrowed.


    "W-what say! Why don''t you take this?"


    Nina smirked at Lily''s words. She proudly puffed out her chest and ced a hand on her sides. "Sorrydy, but I don''t have money. Go and do this somewhere else, hehe!"


    The pride in Nina''s voice as she dered herself poor made her mother frown and bite her lips. What was she to do? Why was it that her child looked like she did good by refusing to get something nice? Just how badly had the child been affected by the poverty that she could do this in a heartbeat?


    "T-that..." Lily frowned, distressed, but her role wasn''t over yet. She tried to continue speaking when Nina''s mother grabbed her shoulder.


    "Miss maid, please. Stop this already. I don''t know what the young master is aiming for, but is it not clear that none of us have any money?"


    Lily shrank in front of the mother''s fierce voice.


    "Please leave this ce. If it isn''t clear then I''ll say it too. We are very grateful for the food, but no one here can buy your stuff."


    "So, you don''t have money, is it?"


    A sharp voice interjected the mother''s words. Lily breathed a sigh of relief as everyone''s attention turned to the smirking Maria that walked in from the back with a smug smile stered on her face.


    "Then, why don''t you work for us?"


    "Work...?"


    "Manualbor. You just have to work as we ask." Maria stopped in the center of the crowd and took her eyes off from Nina''s mother. Many others in the small vige had stepped out of their house after hearing themotion, and Maria''s eyes pierced through all of them one after the other, her words meant for everyone in the vige.


    "Don''t worry too much, you''ll be paid an ample daily wage. You''ll only need to work eight hours a day, and well, for the duration of the employment, we will be tending to your and your dependents'' catering. I see these as pretty good conditions."


    The vigers were stunned.


    They were having a hard time understanding what was happening here.


    This woman had just barged in and announced an employment offer to everyone. To the same people who had been doing nothing but farming and cutting and fishing for thest dozens of years in this distant ce.


    What were they even supposed to do for her?


    The dense silence was broken by the voice of Nina''s mother. She, getting a hint of what was going on, spoke out loud enough for everyone around to hear.


    "W...what will we be doing?"


    "Hm? Depends, from cooking to construction. We have a lot of things we need done."


    "T-the wage...?"


    "Let''s see... how does twelve bronze a day sound?"


    "Twelve bronze?!"


    "Oh my god! twelve bronze each day? I can buy a week''s worth of food with that!"


    "Twelve? Hey is it more than ten or less?"


    Maria''s smile deepened at the words of the vigers.


    "Time!" Suddenly, the mother spoke out loud. Everyone quietened down at her words and stared at Maria. "How long will we be working?"


    Maria smirked. "As long as it takes to turn this ce on its feet."


    An air of silence filled the ce.


    Summoning her courage, Nina''s mother clenched her fist.


    "I''ll... do it."