《Being Maid is Different From What I Thought》


 Chapter 0

    Every day, every time, and every hour, what I was doing was just distilling the herb so it could be made for medicine or perfume...The person who only visited my room was the between maid, Noa...She was older than me. When I saw her appearance, I thought she was three years older than me. I didn''t know her last name, and I didn''t know Noa was her first name or her last name...Yet, she was the only person who went into my room to take the medicine or the perfume. Sometimes, she brought me an order from the housekeeper to make jam.


    Her actions lately were strange; she told me to make a jam order from the housekeeper, yet she didn''t take the jam. The next week, she did it again, until... The housekeeper came into the room with two footmen. I was shocked by her appearance on the stairs below because she was the supervisor of all the maids in the household. The two footmen immediately dragged me out of the room. Confusion filled my head as the footmen in front of me.


    They dragged me out of the basement, and it was my first time to see the house floor and everything inside of it. While being dragged by them, I looked at the maids in the upstairs position who wore nice uniforms with nice garments, and the maids on the stairs below just wore any clothes from their possession. The housekeeper in front of me wore even more extravagant clothes; maybe her position was above stairs, so her seniority and her clothes would be amazing.


    After some minutes of being dragged by them, I could see the door with a lot of glass. Behind that door was the garden of the household. Slowly approaching the glass door, I could see Noa kneeling in front of someone at the front of the pavilion''s garden. With haste, they dragged me beside Noa, forcing me to kneel in front of them. I tried to peek a little at who was in front of me. It was two people; two of them were female, one of whom was standing in front of me, a little bit younger, and it seemed she was the same as my age. The other was sitting at the table while enjoying her tea; she was quite older than me...Both of them had the same hair colour: red hair, and in their pyjamas, the elegance of royalty could still be seen in how she was standing and in how she was sitting and sipping the tea. Most importantly, how their hairs were...Honestly, I didn''t know their name, and this was the first time I faced to face with someone from the royal household...


    Out of nowhere, the person who was standing in front of me shouted at me, "TREASON."


    Hearing that word, my mind could process anything for what the hell was going on in here.


    The person who was sipping her tea said, "My dear little sister, there is one who shows a puzzled expression, and the other shows a desperate expression... With that, you know who is the culprit and who is the one being manipulated."


    As I heard the conversation, I assumed both of them were siblings; the person standing in front of me was the little sister, and the person who was sipping her tea was the oldest sister.


    The little sister turned her view to her older sister and said, "Yet, my dear sister, both of them were guilty."


    "Is that so? How about you tell the person who shows a puzzled expression about how she made ''it''?"


    The little sister immediately looked at me, I avoided her gaze and looked down at the grass, I could hear her footsteps closer to me, and slowly I could see her shadow and her foot in my view.


    "Raise your head!!"


    I immediately raised my head and looked into her eyes.


    "Who is your name??"


    "I am Eileen. I am just a still room maid, my lady."


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    "Are you aware of what just happened in this household??"


    "This lowly life, don''t have any clue, my lady..."


    "You and your accomplice have made a great mistake in this household. And it''s a treason for this hou-


    "My lady, this lo-


    "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!! LISTEN TO ME IF I AM TALKING. YOU CAN SPEAK IF I TELL YOU TO SPEAK."


    "Forgiv-


    "I DON''T NEED YOUR FORGIVENESS; JUST SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!"


    I was stunned into silence.


    "Now, you have made me not in the mood to tell what happened... Cut to the chase; your jam had just killed our food taster."


    ~~


    A month ago...


    I was placed in one of the royal households, but still, I didn''t know which was the royal household. I had been assigned to work for a noble family, but I was completely clueless about their identity. It was because I was assigned to one of the below-stair maids, and it was the lowest one, Still Room Maid. My duties mainly involved preparing and maintaining the household''s herbal remedies and medicinal supplies. I mainly worked in the room called the still room. Why was I in here? Doing all of this just for one of these royal families?


    I was Eileen, which was my name in this world. When I said in this world, it meant I was brought into this world. I was born again into a small baron family. First, I thought the baron was from a noble family after reading a lot of mediaeval novels, yet after years of living in this world as the baron''s daughter of one of the manors, I felt nothing like a noble. Were all the novels about nobles lying to me?


    There was nothing extravagant in the family; even the people of the manor treated us like others. I was the first daughter of the family, yet I was the third child. I had two big brothers. The oldest inherited the manor from my father, and the other went to squire school when he was seven years old to learn how to become a knight. And I was left alone and didn''t know where to go. My parents were trying hard to find a partner for me, especially a higher noble, even if it was a count or a viscount.


    They saw me as like that¡ªa doll or puppet as a bridge between two families. Even my mother bought an expensive dress for a party at the count''s party. Yet, it was not working; there were no boys who tried to get closer to me at that party.


    At the age of 14, my parents told me that I would be sent to one of the royal families as a maidservant. First, I rejected it, but my parents said your job as a daughter had been done in this family. I was confused upon hearing that statement. I inquired as to what had been done. They casually told me that my job was to get a partner with higher nobility, and now that I was already 14, they said it was hard for a girl who was already 14 to get a partner and betrothal with someone who had higher nobility. So that was why they sent me into someone''s household of the highest nobility as a maidservant.


    I couldn''t do anything about my parents'' decision, so I went into my room. The first thing I did was stand in front of a mirror. which the mirror was a magnificent gift from my mother as a girl. The mirror was so rare in this world that only some households had mirrors because mirrors were seen as status, not just objects. In front of it, I was standing, looking at myself, curly red-haired, with blue eyes and some freckles. When I saw myself for the first time, I was amazed by my appearance and how beautiful I was compared to myself in the previous world. I walked closer to the mirror and started to touch the mirror. Was this beauty of mine really not worth it in this world?


    Time passed, and the day I departed from my parent''s home into the other household as a maidservant had arrived. First, I asked my parents if they brought clothes or attire for the maidservant. Because, from what I knew about maids in the previous world, they had uniforms for them. My mother, who helped me prepare everything, was so confused. She just told me to wear clothes that a commoner or normal person usually wears. I became more confused, and I asked her the same thing again. She just kept saying to wear those clothes, and I saw there was no dress that I usually wore if there was a party. It was just normal clothes. I was bewildered about it¡ªdid they have the uniform or not?


    On the way to the household, I was inside a small carriage, which my parents hired to transport me to the household. Inside of it, I was thinking about being a maid. Would I become a maid like every show, book, or story pictured? as a person who stayed closer to the members of the family.

 Chapter 1 : Arriving at The Servant Quarter

    After three days of the trip, I finally arrived at the front of the household at night. I was amazed at how vast the house was. Even it had a sort of tower like a castle, this was a real noble house. Yet the carriage didn''t stop at the front of the gate; it stopped at the other entrance, which was at the back of the house. At the entrance, I could see a woman standing, waiting for me. I went down from the carriage and walked to the woman. As I got closer to her, her expression stayed flat. I was standing in front of her; she was looking at me and circling me. I couldn''t help but feel a sense of unease as the woman''s circling continued. Her eyes seemed to bore into me, as if searching for something. Eventually, she broke the silence and spoke in a low, almost haunting voice, "Miss. Eileen? Is that right?"


    I didn''t know how to answer it. Was she a member of the family? or someone else? Did I need to address her as madam? From her appearance, she was quite old. While I was thinking about who she was, suddenly I felt her head in front of mine. As I tried to look up, it was right; her head was in front of mine. I could see her face closer.


    She spoke in a low voice again, "Miss. Eileen? Is it you? Or are you just someone else?"


    "For-for-forgive me; indeed, it is me; I am Miss Eileen." I lifted my skirt and did a little bow to her.


    The woman''s expression softened as she recognised me. She smiled warmly "Miss Eileen, I am the housekeeper of this house; I am Petra, and you will be working under me."


    "Another apology; how do I address you?"


    "You may address me with ma''am; if you need to address me formally, you may address me with Ms Petra or Housekeeper Petra; is that clear?"


    Ms Petra, did that mean she was still single until now? And did the housekeeper have a higher position than the maid? I thought a housekeeper was just a person who did dirty work, such as mopping the floor or anything else. I didn''t know if it had a higher position.


    ¡°Miss Eileen, is that clear?"


    I forgot to answer her, "Yes, ma''am.."


    "I hope, in the future, you will open all those ears and quickly give the answer."


    "Another ap-"


    "Stop! I don''t want another apology; just don''t do it again."


    "Yes, ma''am"


    "You may follow me; I will show you where you will take a rest after the trip."


    As I took a step after the entrance, I could only see the wall of plants, like stone walls, made of green plants. I had seen these types of plants; it was plant-like boxwood to make a knot garden. My eyes couldn''t stay away from the plants, so I was looking above all the time to see the highest point of the plant fences.


    "Is there something wrong, Miss Eileen?" Asked Ms Petra to me.


    I was surprised by her question, "No-no it''s nothing..."


    "I was just confused; why were you looking around the plants?"


    "I am just amazed; it''s my first time to see plants like this, especially tall ones like this."


    "So it''s that reason why you were looking around."


    After a few minutes of walking, I could see a building from far away. As we arrived at the outside of the building, Petra said, "This''s the third servants'' quarter, and where you will live from tonight."


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    "Third? Is there another servants'' quarter?"


    "Yes, but you will start to live in this quarter."


    I followed her inside the quarter. When we were inside the quarter, there were some people at the front of the quarter, some of them talking to each other or doing absolutely nothing. They didn''t realise our presence until Perta gave a small cough. Immediately, their eyes went to us, and with speed, they stood up in line. I was behind Perta, amazed by them, yet they were looking at me. I saw their attire wasn''t like what I imagined of being a maid, their attire seemed like me, simple dresses with simple garments.


    "Good evening, ma''am, What''s the commotion that makes you come here in this late night?" Said one of the maid¡­


    "I came here to bring you the new girl who will work here." After that, Petra looked at me as a sign I needed to introduce myself in front of them.


    I made a small gesture of introduction and introduced myself, "My name is Eileen¡­ nice to meet you all¡­" the others replied with warm smiles and welcoming nods.


    After my introduction, I saw Ms Petra look around, it seemed she was trying to find someone in the room, and she asked, "Where is Noa??"


    All the girls in the room were looking at each other as if trying to find this girl named Noa¡­Until someone from the back said, "Here! Ms Petra".


    Ms Petra looked at the voice direction, and I looked at it too. I could see a girl that seems older than me, with a short black hair. She had a confident smile on her face as she walked towards Ms. Petra.


    "Is there anything you need from me, Ms Petra?" Asked Noa with her gentle tone¡­


    "Noa, tomorrow you will be unsigned from the still room¡­"


    "Pardon, Ms Petra?"


    "From tomorrow, you will be unsigned from the still room and become this girl''s instructor, teaching her everything about the recipe, herbs, and anything in the still room. After a week, you will become a between-maid."


    Immediately, everyone in the room was whispering to each other. As if it were a big thing.


    "Keep quiet, PLEASE!!!" said Ms Petra¡­


    Within a second, everyone was quiet. I didn''t quite understand this still room and the between-maid thing. The main part was why she needed to teach me about herbal remedies or recipes. Was I not going to stay closer to the family like most of the books I knew?


    "With this, I will hand this girl to you, Noa¡­You will have the responsibility of this girl, and you may guide her to her room¡­I believe there is some space and empty room in this quarter¡­"


    "Yes, Ms Petra, there is an empty room¡­And I will take care of this girl¡­"


    As Ms. Petra tapped my shoulder and gave me a little push to walk into Noa. I walked towards Noa. With that, Ms Petra went out of the quarter without looking back and saying a word. After the door was closed by Ms Petra from outside, everyone was breath relief and backed to their own activity. They were ignoring me. Noa gave me a little tap, and gave me a gesture to follow her¡­


    I followed Noa, feeling a mix of nervousness and curiosity. As I followed behind her and walked further into the quarter, there was no conversation between us on the way. The silence between us made the atmosphere even more tense, even one time, I saw her give me a small and short glance towards me. I wondered what she was thinking, but I didn''t want to break the silence.


    Suddenly she stopped, and immediately I stopped.


    She turned back her body and said, "For now, this is your living quarter¡­ make yourself comfortable¡­And start tomorrow, you need to wake up before the sun rises." I nodded, and she walked past me, leaving me....


    I took a deep breath and stepped into my new living space, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings. As I began to unpack my belongings, I took in the surroundings of my new living space. It was small, with a bed, a desk, and a small wardrobe. I checked the bed; it was a small bed. I tried to lie down on the bed, but I couldn''t fully stretch my body; my feet would hang off the edge. And the fabric of this bed wasn''t comfortable at all. Even the bed at the manor wasn''t comfortable enough for me, and this was far worse than that. I stood up from my bed and continued to unpack my belongings. I started organising my belongings on the desk and in the wardrobe.


    After I finished organising my belongings, I laid down on the bed. There was no ceiling in front of my eyes; immediately, I could see the structure of the roof. The exposed beams and rafters gave the room a rustic charm, but it also made me feel like I was sleeping in a barn. I couldn''t help but wonder if the roof would leak during a rainstorm.


    "Am I going to live here forever? In this small and uncomfortable place? Is this really how maids live? In this small space¡­ and with such limited comfort?" I began to move around on the bed to find a comfortable position and place for me. "Even though I have lived for 14 years in this world, I have never experienced such cramped living conditions, and I missed my bed in the previous world¡­"


    Despite my concerns and being uncomfortable with the bed, my exhaustion took over, and I drifted off to sleep with my feet hanging around the edge of the bed, hoping for a better night''s rest.

 Chapter 2 : First Day

    Out of a sudden during my sleeping, I felt something rubbing my body¡­Somehow the rubbing became more intense and I jolted awake, focusing my vision¡­It was just Noa, who tried to wake me up¡­


    As I opened my eyes, Noa immediately said, "You shall get up, and wash your face¡­"


    I got up and sat at the edge of the bed, I asked, "Where can I wash my face?"


    "Behind the quarter, you will find a hand pump¡­You may use it¡­"


    "May you guide me?" I replied,


    Noa just nodded, and after she nodded, I said, "Lovely and thank you¡­"


    I stood up from the bed. Noa started to guide me to behind the quarter as I followed her through the hallway of the quarter. I could see that everyone was walking around to get ready. I saw some of them helping each other, like grooming their hair and taking turns. As I looked closer, there were not enough combs¡ªwood combs, precisely. Looking at all of that, it felt like I was the last person to get ready¡­


    When we arrived at the behind of the quarter, I could see a hand pump and a bucket of water. Noa motioned for me to wash my hands and face. I could feel the cool water refreshing my skin as I splashed it on my face¡­


    ~~~


    We went back into my room, and I tried to change my clothes¡­I opened the wardrobe¡­


    Suddenly, "May I see your clothes in your wardrobe?" Asked Noa¡­


    "Why?"


    Suddenly, Noa dashed into the front of my wardrobe and swept me¡­I found it irritating. "Hei!! What are you doing?"


    She was rummaging through my clothes without any explanation¡­She not only rummaged my clothes; she even threw some of my clothes on the floor¡­ I felt a mix of confusion and frustration as she continued to rummage through my clothes, not caring about the mess she was creating¡­


    Finally, she stopped and turned her face towards me¡­She said, "There is status among us, and norms among us¡­The clothes that are on the floor aren''t suitable for you right now, you are prohibited from wearing those clothes, and the clothes that are in the wardrobe right now are suitable for you¡­"


    "Why? Why couldn''t I wear those clothes?" As I pointed at the mess of my clothes from what she was doing¡­


    "As I said, there is status among us and norms among us¡­You are from the lowest status among the servants¡­You may wear the clothes in the wardrobe; rather, wear the clothes on the floor¡­" After she said that, she just walked into the door, and left me. As she was at the door, she said, "Remember, it is important to adhere to the rules and expectations of our status and norms among us¡­Hope you can follow these norms and our status system!!" Suddenly she took a small glance towards me and said, "Your clothes that you wear right now, don''t wear them again, and thrash them among the clothes on the floor¡­" With that, she closed the door¡­


    What were the norms and the status, she had talked about? I didn''t know there was a norm and status among maids¡­Yet, somehow I sensed Noa was more experienced in how she behaved and spoke. Calm and steady, as how I looked at her¡­However, what had she done to me, was it harassment or bullying towards me?


    ~~~~


    As we left the quarter, I looked closer at Noa. How she was walking, and compared it with others around the quarter, they were walking like common people, yet her walking seemed to have a pace of rhythm as if she had been trained in a particular style or had a natural grace. It was different than the other servants that lived in the quarter with her¡­


    The path she was guiding it, surrounded a lot of these wall plants¡­We kept walking, which made me wonder how vast this house was¡­


    After all of her path guidance, I could see a door from a distance¡­Noa opened the door, and we went into the door. As I took my first step inside, I could hear a lot of smell. The smell was overwhelming, a mix of various scents that seemed to linger in the air. I didn''t know what all of these smells were.


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    I kept following Noa, as we lingered and walked through the hallway inside. I kept seeing a lot of other servants walking around with their own tasks; some were carrying a basin of water and a basin of clothes, I guessed they would do the laundry, some were carrying sacks, and even one woman pushed the rolling barrel. The bustling activity in the hallway made it clear that this was a busy and noble household, of how many servants there were.


    I looked at Noa, who guided me to the place, and I was surprised. As I followed her, stepping down the stairs, slowly the air became heavy, and I could smell a lot of scent. Somehow the smell could be sweet, yet somehow I could smell a bad or rotten smell.


    Finally, I took my step on the ground floor of this room. I looked around, as the scents'' question had been answered, they were the scents of herbs and flowers. Shelves lined the walls, laden with jars and bottles of various shapes and sizes. I noticed there was a wooden desk and chair with some candles above it.


    Noa walked to the desk, in front of it, she took something out of her apron. In a moment, she lit the candle with fire. The flickering flame illuminated the room, casting a warm glow on the shelves filled with herbs and flowers. Somehow all the rotten smell had been gone, changed with sweet scents.


    I could see Noa waving to me, as she wanted me to get closer to her¡­ As I approached her, I saw some sheets of paper with a lot of words and drawings on the table.


    She said, "For now, you will start to work in this room¡­"


    I asked, "May I know what this room is?"


    "This is still room¡­Your main job is to make herbs, perfumes, even a jam¡­" She pointed stack of papers on the table, "These sheet papers can guide you, which flower and with the scent that is useful or dangerous to make it an herb or perfume."


    "Yet, I don''t know anything about herbs, perfumes, or anything else."


    "Ms Petra has assigned me to look over you for a week¡­So I will always be by your side for a week¡­Guide you and teach you which flowers and scents are beneficial for making herbs, perfumes, and jams."


    "What do I need to do first?"


    "Now, you need to train your nose to recognise different scents and their properties. This will be crucial in determining the right combination of flowers and scents for your creations."


    She began to take some stalks of flowers that hung from the ceiling and handed them to me. There were various flowers with different colours¡­Some of them I immediately recognised, as I already knew the flowers¡­


    She started to explain the scent in words and brought the flower to me for me to smell the scent. As I inhaled the fragrant aroma of each flower, she described its unique properties¡­ After some minutes of inhaling some of the scent, she told me to take a scent test already, which I just inhaled some of the flowers twice or maybe thrice¡­


    Out of a sudden, she took a bundle full of various flowers from all the hanging bundles with her right hand, and held it¡­


    I saw it as weird because all the stalk flowers were on the table, why did she take another bundle¡­I asked, "For what, you need another bundle?"


    She ignored it, and just said with a calm tone, "Closed your eyes!!"


    I closed my eyes as she instructed me¡­ As I closed my eyes, a scent started to kiss and touch my nose. It was a sweet scent that made me calm and relaxed, and it was a little bit fresh¡­


    "You may tell me, what is the flower?" Asked Noa¡­


    I said without hesitation, "It''s a lavender¡­"


    Yet, Noa didn''t say anything after my answer. However, immediately, another scent started to hug my nose. It had a strong woody aroma, made me remember when she explained one flower that had an aroma like pine wood¡­


    "Again, what is the flower?" Asked Noa¡­


    Woody aroma, it should be "It''s a rosemary¡­"


    Again, she didn''t say anything about whether my answer was right or not. Another scent quickly kissed my touch. The scent confused me; it had a strong citrus aroma; however, some of the flowers that Noa explained had a citrus aroma¡­I didn''t know what this flower was.


    "You may tell me the answer¡­" Asked Noa.


    I paused and was hesitant to answer¡­


    "May you tell me the answer?"


    I answered, "Lemon Balm¡­" With quick, I heard the sound of *smack*.


    Out of the blue, I didn''t know what had happened. What I knew was that I felt a pain in my cheeks¡­I opened my eyes, and as I reached up to touch my cheeks, I realised that Noa had slapped me with the bundle of flowers in her right hand. I looked at the bundle of flowers that she held. There were some stalks of flowers that had some thorns.


    "Ar-are you just slapped me with that bundle?" I asked with stammered and shocked, "Why you did do that?"


    She just stared at me and said "Like I said before, there is a norm among us¡­ and a status among us¡­So may we continue?" Her tone was so calm, yet somehow I felt her dominance, even worse as she said, "It''s not that hurt¡­May we continue? Or may I report your behaviour?"


    Surely, the slap wasn''t particularly painful, like a sting, but it was enough to catch me off guard¡­Luckily, the stalks of roses didn''t touch my skin when I was slapped.


    I found she had just bullied me and with the reason of the norm among us¡­Yet I couldn''t do anything. I quickly closed my eyes as she had instructed, feeling a mix of confusion and slight fear of the wrong answer¡­