A light knock was heard outside the young lady's door. By then, she was already wide awake. Dawn had not yet broken, and it was still dark outside. Descending from the bed, the girl walked towards the door with light footsteps.
"Hello! I am Emelia. Marion had me come fetch you." A petite girl with chocolate brown hair and purple eyes said as she waved her hand at the red hair girl. "Are you ready?" Emelia inquired as the red-haired girl responded with a nod. Stepping out of her room and closing the wooden door shut, she followed Emelia with slow but steady footsteps.
"Where are we off to?" The girl questioned Emelia in a soft voice.
"We are off to the kitchen this morning." Emelia spun her head around to respond to the girl. "We will be preparing breakfast for all the servants this morning." Emelia continued to explain to the girl.
"Is that your duty every morning? What is the head cook like?" The red-haired girl continued her inquiries.
"I am on cooking duty every morning. Cooking duty is my main task throughout the day. Although, I do clean and occasionally tend to the garden. Cinthia used to be responsible for cleaning duties. However, she disappeared recently which is why Marion scouted you to come here and complete cleaning duties as her replacement." Emelia responded to the girl as she began to quicken her pace. "Enough with the questions. Make haste now, will you? Lillian will not be happy if we were not punctual. "Emelia continued to say, as the girl quickened her pace to catch up to her.
Finally, the two women reached the cooking room. As they entered, Lillian was already in the cooking room preparing the vegetables. There were batches of vegetables in metal bowls that had already been cleaned and cut. Meanwhile, Lillian continued to wash the remaining vegetables.
"Emelia, please cut up the onions and carrots. And you, new girl, you can prepare the potatoes and mushrooms. Be sure to clean them well before cutting them up. You know how to do it, right?" Lillian said as she pointed to the girl to give her instructions. The girl responded to Lillian's question with a nod.
"Do you not speak? I asked if you understood." Lillian said in a harsh tone, openly displaying her impatience towards the new girl.
"Yes, ma'am. I understand." The red-haired girl responded loud and clear as she hoped she would not be scolded on her first day.
"What is your name?" Lillian asked the girl.
"Pardon?" The girl inquired as she did not clearly hear the question the first time around.
"Your name. What is your name? I do not suppose you expect me to call you 'new girl' from here on out do you?" The elder woman asked the younger with an obvious hint of sarcasm.
"I-I do not have one madam." The girl responded with embarrassment. This was a common question she has been getting around here, and every time the question is asked, she is not capable of giving a definite answer to the question.
"Just Lillian is fine. We do not do honorifics around here unless it is the master we are talking to. He will fix your no name problem when he gets back. You just continue your duties as normal." Lillian responded to the young girl in a pragmatic tone and brought her head down to continue washing the peppers in her hand.
The women in the cooking room carried along with their tasks with no conversations except for the few times Lillian came to the two girls to give them instructions. From what the girl has learned, the servants ate soup every morning with bread, porridge with chicken during midday, and stew at night.
After the items were prepared, all the cut and cleaned vegetables were transferred to the servant's quarters. Deep within the servant's quarters, there was a cooking room and dining room. Once the vegetables were transported, Lillian tossed them into a large pot of water, where she continuously added spices to the pot as it came to a boil.
"Emelia, why could we not have prepared the vegetables here in this cooking room?" The red-haired girl asked Emelia in a low whisper. She was unsure as to why there was a need to prepare all the vegetables in the main cooking room just to have it transported to the servant's quarters for cooking. Was this not a waste of time? The girl thought.
"The master has banned knives in the servant's quarters long ago." Emelia replied while she stirred the soup pot as Lillian had stepped out back to the main cooking room to retrieve a spice that she had forgotten. Looking at the red-haired girl beside her, Emelia continued in a low whisper, "I heard that it was because a servant had chosen to take his own life with one of the knives stored in this very cooking room." Emelia said with her hands crossing her neck in a slicing motion while sticking her tongue out between her teeth. She continued to say, "Since then, the master no longer allowed knives in here."
Hearing this, the girl gasped with shock. How could someone take away his own life in such a horrifying way. From what she has observed so far, the servants in the mansion seemed to be content with their life. Who would be so miserable here that they would have to put themself to rest, the girl thought.
Leaning into the girl's ear, Emelia whispered, "Rumor has it, the man did not take his own life. Rather, it was the master who killed him." Emelia said with a sly smile, causing a shiver to run down the young girl's spine. The two women were so focused on their conversation that they had not heard the footsteps outside the room that came to a halt and overheard their conversation.
"Emelia! Your mouth truly is good for nothing but eating and talking, is it?" Lillian said in a stern voice with a raised brow.
"Sorry." Emelia said with a hint of fear. "Please do not tell the master." She continued with a pout and plea.
"You have better watch yourself and not run your mouth next time." Lillian snickered, as she sprinkled in the nutmeg powder that she had retrieved from the main cooking room. Just like that, the room turned quiet again.
Soon after, the soup came to a boil. Within minutes, the servants from the manor all came together and began lining up as if it was clock work. Each servant grabbed their own bowl as Lillian and the red-haired girl filled each bowl with a portion of the freshly cooked soup. Meanwhile, Emelia was in charge of serving bread and fruits. Once all the servants were served, the three ladies each grabbed their own bowl and had their fill.
Breakfast and lunch came and went quicker than imagined. Dusk crept up within the walls of the manor as the ladies continued on with cleaning the cooking room after the servants had their fill of supper. As their cleaning came close to an end and night had fallen, clacks of shoes against the marble floor could be heard outside of the cooking room.
"New girl," Marion said as she walked in through the door, "you are on cleaning duty tonight." She continued after getting the red-haired girl's attention.
"Yes ma'am. What must I do?" The red-haired girl replied as she quickly made her way to Marion.
Handing the girl a bucket of soapy water, a rag, and a duster Marion responded, "You'll be cleaning the master's room tonight." The young girl's doe-like eyes widened in nervousness.
Sensing the young girl's worries, Marion replied, "Worry not. The master will not be home tonight. Else, I would not have you clean his room." Her response caused the young girl to breathe out a sigh of relief.
Taking the cleaning supplies, the young girl made her way to the west wing where the master's bedroom rests. The girl took slow and steady steps as she made her way to the master's bedroom, making sure she took in everything that was in sight. She realized that although the atmosphere leading up to the master's room is dull and dark, it was still adorned with the finest gold and silver. A breathtaking sight for someone like her who had never possessed an item of the slightest value.
As she reached the door of the master's room, the young girl slowly cracked the door open, and carefully closed the door shut behind her. Switching on the lights to the room, the woman's eyes widened in fear as she was graced with a sight of horror which caused her body to tremble. A man laid on the bed with his stomach slashed, his white dress shirt soaked in blood with beads of sweat dripping from his forehead.
The young woman gasped, shaking her head in disbelief of what she was seeing. She dropped her bucket of soapy water and duster in panic. Before she had the chance to run out and scream for help, she found herself pinned against the door, with her feet hanging above the wooden floor, as rough hands choked her slim neck and leaving her gasping for air.
"P-please. Don't."