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 it last?
The mother's mind was plagued with such thoughts. Once the children all slept or while they all played, the adults always came together to discuss the future. The kind young master of the Hall estate had given them food to last a few days, they cut down on their portions to make it last 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 child come 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. "That lady! The lady is here again!"
"The lady?"
"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's laughter, 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 gladly went along with her.
Away from her worn-out mud hut and toward the center of the village, the mother saw a sight she hadn't expected to see before.
In a place where most people got their things by asking each other for them, a shop had been set up. A lavish construction on wheels, the plywood frame of the place shined brightly amidst the trees and over the grass as the hundreds of wares on display stole the eyes of all that came to see it. Lamps and rugs, kerosene and timber, from toys for the young children to play with to mattresses for the old to relax 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 villagers 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 village. Setting shop here is pointless—"
Lily pulled out a dress from the box behind her and bent toward Nina, completely ignoring the mother. Unfortunately for her, the mother did not miss the tremble in Lily's eyes as she leaned toward Nina and displayed 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 placed a hand on her sides. "Sorry lady, but I don't have money. Go and do this somewhere else, hehe!"
The pride in Nina's voice as she declared 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 place. 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 plastered on her face.
"Then, why don't you work for us?"
"Work...?"
"Manual labor. 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 village had stepped out of their house after hearing the commotion, and Maria's eyes pierced through all of them one after the other, her words meant for everyone in the village.
"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 villagers 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 the last dozens of years in this distant place.
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 villagers.
"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 place on its feet."
An air of silence filled the place.
Summoning her courage, Nina's mother clenched her fist.
"I'll... do it."