"Is His Lordship gone, then?" Aubrey who was taking out a basket full of linen asked. I nodded. "Well, are you not lucky, then? But, I guess working too much at your age should not be good."
It seemed that every time the Earl leaves for the Emperor's Council, Lothar takes over his job to govern the city. Ever since the Earl left three days ago, Lothar is seldom in the house and I am left with nothing to do.
As she puts the basket down, she sighed and said, "Would you mind helping me, then? You see, I have been doing the laundry of the Earl's family for six years but washing all of these is not an easy feat." She got back in and came out with another basket. "I would be very pleased if you help me, then."
Aubrey opens the nearby faucet and the water gushed out to the pail. "I could grant you a favor, then."
She is desperate for my help. Being the only laundry maid in the house is definitely difficult but she is not trying to sugarcoat to ask for help. And, I am not that self-absorbed not to provide it.
"I am helping if I am not doing anything else." She smiled as I replied. "What am I to do?"
"Fill this pail and those two basins, first." I walked to the faucet while Aubrey went back in. The third basket came out with her. I would not be surprised if there is a fourth one.
As the pail and the basin filled, she took them away and later the last basin. She puts some sort of detergent into the basin and bubbles appeared.
"Hand me one linen after another." I nodded and gave her linen. She started to wash it.
I was reading a book on my bed after I ate my lunch. However a while after the fourteenth bell rang, Raine found me and told me to walk around. If you do not have work, then find one, she said. I cannot read all the time, and if I do at night, I end up sleeping over it. It is inconvenient to be a servant.
As Aubrey finished washing all the linen, I helped her hang them. Afterward, she took the pail, basins, and baskets in. I wipe my hands on my skirt and she comes out.
"What would the favor be, then?" Why does she end most of her statements with "then"?
I had thought about it this entire time. My basic needs: food and books are met. The seventeenth bell rang. "Information."
She laughed. "You are certainly strange. I thought you were going to ask for food or toys. Those are essential for kids like you, you know. What information would it be, then?"
"The estate and the country. And maybe, history too."
"That is huge, then. I do not know everything of this house and Leovia. You see, I was only here for a decade and six years ago I was hired to work here." She paused. " I can only tell you what I know. And, I am not that intelligent."
I nodded. I used to ask Elva about my family, Thaedora, and the world before. I was not allowed to leave so I only know things I have read. It seemed that everything is not written in books. "The Earl's family, first."
"Alright. Let us take a walk." Aubrey begins to walk and I follow her. "We have Earl Rudolf Kershaw, the head of the family. You might have heard he is part of the Emperor's Council and that he is the noble who governs this city, Leoville. As a senator, he is one of the biggest officials who is anticipated to be elected in the next Triumviri."
We stood under the shade of a tree as the clouds dispersed. "We are certainly getting into politics, then. Triumviri, three people are elected by the Emperor's Council to compete for the throne whenever the current Emperor is nearing the end of his term or the Emperor is dead. You can certainly ask tons of questions of what I said but let us have one question per day, shall we?" I nodded. "Then, we have Lady Emellia Kershaw, the Earl's wife and Lothar's mother."
She continued. "She is a scholar of Era Vulgaris*. However, after giving birth to Elouise nine years ago, she went ill until now." She looked at me. "I should head back now. We can continue tomorrow."
Aubrey went back to the door and disappeared. I walked to the dirty kitchen. Berta was cleaning the dishes. As I entered the kitchen, I found Baldwin and Milonia cooking while Martina is preparing a cheesecake.
I had met Martina the day before Giselle's second visit. She had arrived from the market and prepared our food.
"Have you seen, Olivier?" Baldwin, the cook, asked.
"No."
"I see. Could you help us?"
I assisted Baldwin in cooking. However, something was strange. The food they prepared was more than the Earl's family could eat. Martina even baked another raspberry cake.
As the eighteenth bell rang, I arrived in Lothar's chamber and served his supper. The raspberry cake and four more dishes that we had prepared were not served in any of the trays for the Earl's family. They even disappeared in the kitchen while I was preparing Lothar's supper. I wonder where they went.
After Lothar's meal, I went back to the kitchen. Baldwin, Milonia, Martina, Raine, Lossiana, Berta, Petra, and Euclio with Olivier facing the raspberry cake stared at me as I entered.
"You are late, Talia," Raine said.
"You even arrived at the right moment," Olivier laughed.
Berta approached me taking the cart while Petra grabbed me to stand beside her. What is going on?
"I will do it again." Olivier closed his eyes. A few moments later, he opened his eyes and smiled. "Shall we eat?"
Baldwin passed plates to everyone as two women I had seen before and three men I never saw before entered joining the feast. Milonia puts portions of each food on our plates and Olivier slicing the cake. Everyone starts to eat.
One of the two women stood at my left, asking, "Why are you not eating, lass?" I took a bite from my fowl leg. "Do you not know today is Olivier's coming of age?"
I can see now. He did tell me about it but never told me when it is going to be.
"We only prepared a plain cake for him last year and not everyone here was around but I was there, you know." Petra added. "Other servants will come later as they finish their work. I bet you only knew half of the servants. Right. Leina, introduce yourself to Talia."
Leina stretched her hand, saying, "I am Leina Pantera, the nursemaid." I nodded. She noticed I was not interested in taking her hand and put it down. "We usually celebrate everyone's birthdays. The nobles have parties or balls for it so we figured we should also have one no matter how small it is."
"So, when is your birthday, Talia?" Petra asked. "We could also celebrate it."
"What is a birthday?" As soon as they heard my words, they looked surprised. Was my question strange?
Petra's face looked even gentler. "I see. It is the day you were born, Talia. That is your birthday."
I see. The word does make sense. I thought it was something else. "On the fifteenth day before the Kalends on December."
"That is still a long way to go. We should be able to prepare it, then."
As I finished my share, Lenia walked to Martina's side and Emery and Aquila arrived. Following them were Aubrey with a woman and three men.
"Hey," I looked and found Olivier handing as a slice of cake. I took the cake. "Eat that. I have finished my share. I did tell you that Pops will give me something, right?" I nodded. "Well, I got my first suit and long hat this morning. I tried wearing it today, but when Pops saw me on it this afternoon, he scolded me. Are suits meant for display only? They are supposed to be worn, are they?"
"Did he not told you to only wear it on certain occasions?"
"He did but nobles wear them everyday, do they?"
"Well, it is not supposed to be worn everyday. What noblemen wear are not suits." I finished the slice of cake. "Even I only saw Lothar with a suit once."
He hushed me and whispered. "Did I not tell you not to say His Lordship's name so lightly especially when other servants might hear you?" He grabbed my hand and pulled me while I quickly placed the plate on the table. Seeing Berta in the dirty kitchen, he dragged me outside. "I hope no one heard you."
"Why?"
"I already told you." He looked at his sides and back. "Listen, Talia. Most of the servants here are, indeed, nice but they will only be nice to you as long as you are acting as you are expected. I favor the Earl's family but there are some things I cannot agree with adults." He started to walk. "Follow me. You should not trust these folks. I am not saying you should trust me, though. I do not know what might be the case in Thaedora, but here in Leovia, if you are a servant, you are also devoted to your master."
He looked back and turned to me. "Whatever your master believes is something you worship and honor. The Earl has no mercy for those who disrespect him and his family. I am only here for five years but in those years several servants were replaced. Some went missing and some died in the mercy of the Emperor."
"The Earl provides us shelter, food, and even little salary. He expects us to at least return something equal. Well, I think what we return to them is something greater." He paused. "What we return to them is our life. That is how being a servant in Leovia is."
"I see."
"I was from Thaedora, you see, in a province called Millan. It was taken by Leovia when I was eight years old. Pops saw me wandering aimlessly in hunger and had taken me in. Months later, he took a job as a cook here and made me accompany him." He paused. "I grew up in slums so Pops had to teach me how to serve the nobles. That was when he also told me the same, but unlike you, I am obedient to Pops."
"You are a noble, are you? Were you not taught of etiquette?" He asked.
"I was taught." But, everything of them disappeared. Nothing remained. But maybe, something remained, that is me.
"We should go back." He started to walk back and I follow him. "Regardless, you should avoid it. If you cannot do it, then do not do it. It is barely fine if you do not address him. You also do not call us with our names so I guess that would be fine, at least."
As we came back to the kitchen, only Baldwin, Martina, Petra, Raine, and Berta remained cleaning the mess. "Are they already gone?" Olivier asked.
"You should have not returned already. Were you not on a date?" Berta said.
"It was not something like that," Olivier pouted.
"Even though, you dragged Talia with you out?" Petra added.
"We only talked a bit."
"Do not be hasty on being adult, son." Baldwin pats his head. "But I am good with Talia, you know."
Olivier growled. "I said it is not like that. Adults are certainly annoying." He left to the next door.
They laughed. "He is still a kid no matter how you look at it." Baldwin looked at me, smiling. "I actually do not mind it."
Whatever they were talking about, I ignored it. I helped them clean up the kitchen and assisted Berta in washing the dishes. After I had put the dishes in the closet, I walked to the quarters and lied down on my bed.
"Talia, you have not taken a bath yesterday, right?" Lossiana asked. "Why do you not join Raine and Aquila tonight? The others will follow you afterward."
I took my waistcoat and bodice and opened the drawer to get my towel. Afterward, I went to the bathroom. There, I saw Raine and Aquila washing their body.
Servants in Kershaw House can bathe once on three separate days every week because we can only use the leftover water of the Earl's family. Everyone is scheduled to bathe on certain days. However, not only do we bathe on these days but also we have our share of water. Using more makes other servants unable to bathe so it is forbidden. The share of water we have is only half full of water in a pail. Thus, we only wash our faces, armpits, genitals, and feet with soap.
After having my bath, I wore my undergarments and went back to my bed to sleep.
Note:
*Era Vulgaris - refer to Era in the Auxiliary Volume.