When Ginny returned home, she noticed a faint silhouette that was pacing outside her house, at one glance she realized who it was and her already worse mood took a turn for the worse. Really, can her day get any worse than this? As she walked towards her house the figure of the woman who was pacing up and down the small hill where her shack was located started to get clearer.
Maybe the woman sensed her gaze because a second later she looked up and then curled one finger as she called Ginny to come close to her. Ginny pressed her lips in a thin line as she silently clenched her fists and then walked over to the woman as quickly as she could, it was better for her to send this woman away as soon as possible or she might die of high blood pressure.
This woman was none other than her landlady—— Mrs Kellington, though she only rented out a small shack to Ginny, whose roof wasn't even thatched properly, but for very justifiable reasons she acted like she has done a great favour on Ginny and why wouldn't she? No one in the entire wasteland was willing to rent their house to Ginny and her father, only Mrs Kellington was willing to hand over her broken shack and for her, that was already good enough to bully Ginny as per her wishes.
Mrs Kellington must have thought that she was walking rather slowly because she let out an annoyed hiss before starting in her direction, which didn't make much difference given that Mrs Kellington was a short, plump woman whose weight far exceeded that of a walrus. Every time she walked she would walk with a limp and to make things even worse she worked as a maid in the mansion of Duke Terranova, that only served as another reminder to ignite her arrogance to another degree.
" You late." snapped Mrs Kellington with a thick accent, it was like listening to a woman who was storing a good degree of phlegm in her throat and hadn't bothered about clearing it for years. " Three days ago, your rent payday, you give no money—— now I kick you out, pack bags and go out."
And what was even fantastic —— she didn't even speak the native language of the Empire and listening to her scolding was like listening to a live comedy show.
" You no manners, I gave you place to stay … you show no gratitude——" Ginny didn't bother herself by listening to Mrs Kellington, it was the same thing over and over again. About how she should be grateful to her because she gave her a place to stay and how she should pay advance rent instead of waiting for her to come and ask for it.
She simply took out her pouch from her bag and handed it to Mrs Kellington, who snatched it from her hands like she was worried that Ginny would take it away from her if she was a second late.
Untying the string of the pouch, Mrs Kellington counted the coins that Ginny has earned after long hours at work and only stopped when she ascertain that it was a total of ten gold coins in the pouch.
Ginny knew that ten coins for a broken shack like this were nothing but a ripoff. However, she did not have a choice—— this was the best she could manage at the moment, though she was talented in singing and dancing, she didn't dare to show off her skills in front of men. As a siren, she would never dare to underestimate her powers—— never again.
Mrs Kellington put the pouch in her dirty apron that she always wore and huffed. "Next month, ten coins —— on time," she raised one finger as she warned Ginny, however, Ginny didn't listen to her instead all her attention was on Mrs Smellington—— No, Mrs Kellington's chin, where her big black lump of a mole has grown another three hair making it look like a freaky moustache.
" Are you listening to me?" snapped Mrs Kellington with a whip-like snap in her voice, as her pug face twisted in a scowl. " No delay next month or I kick you and that cursed freak out, understand?"
Ginny nodded even though she would have loved slapping the heck out of Mrs Smellington, she couldn't because she was no longer the daughter of a count but of a refugee who was trying to survive in this wilderness where the Emperor has thrown him.
Seeing her nod obediently, Mrs Kellington snorted haughtily before turning around and walking away as she played with the pouch of gold. However, she was still muttering about how ungrateful Ginny was being to her despite all the kindness that she has shown her.
Mood sour, Ginny turned around and walked back inside the shack. As she opened the lock and pushed the door open she heaved a sigh of relief when she saw that her father was sleeping soundly, if he had heard Mrs Smellington, he would only feel even more guilty for leaving everything to her. Ginny didn't want him to be upset, after all, this wasn't his fault anyway.
She hung the cloth bag she was carrying on the nail that was poking out of the wall and walked towards the kitchen, as she picked up the earthen jar next to the stove she realized that she didn't have much rice left and even the vegetables that she always kept in stock were a lot less. She was so busy these days and took too many shifts to make up for the missing rent that she seemed to have forgotten to stock up on the ration.
Sighing, she stood up. Looks like she has to go to sleep empty stomach tonight though it wasn't a big deal for her but she was in a mood to eat something warm.
" Wake up, Ginny!" She slapped her cheeks with her hands, feeling a sharp sting on her face. She was no longer Lady Harlow but just Ginevra. There was nothing left of the Harlow family and if she didn't stop daydreaming then maybe what was left wouldn't be left either… she needed to focus her attention on her father and take proper care of him. She clenched her fists and pumped herself—— Yes, that's right, no matter how hard it was, she will surely get her father treated!