"I am coming, " Anastasia answered as she walked to her wardrobe to change. Sometimes, she wondered who the bigger Hippocrates was. The Duchess, who would always put up a front of a kind and caring mother in the presence of outsiders or her father, who pretended to be ignorant of what was happening in the house.
She did not understand why the couple played the game. Although Duke Thomason was not always at home, he had his trusted aids around the house. Moreover, whenever there was a royal ball or important celebration, the Duchess would never allow her to attend, coming up with one reason or another.
Each reason was worse than the formal, but he had never questioned the Duchess. As a Duke, he was wise and intelligent. The Duchess could not easily fool him, but he seemed to become a big fool when the matter was related to her.
Anastasia also knew that her father knew she had to get up in the morning to prepare spies for her sister's bath. He had also seen her serving the guests when they had a party or social event in the house, but he had never stopped her when even a five-year-old knew that such tasks were to be left to the maid and the Duke's house did not lack maids.
Perhaps he might cover it up with the fact that she was only a mistress' daughter, but a mistress's daughter was still the daughter of a duke and should never be reduced to a maid.
"I miss you so much, Mother, " Anastasia looked at the portrait of her mother she had hiding in her wardrobe.
Knock knock
There was another banging on the door. Anastasia blinked back the tears in her eyes, changed from her night dress, and hurried out of the room.
*pah
Leah hit her on her back as soon as she stepped out.
"How can you keep me waiting? Why did you even lock the door? Have I not warned you not to lock it? " Leah questioned in an authoritative voice. She did not dare to hit Anastasia on her face; after all, the status of a maid and a mistress was clear. Even the Duchess would not be able to help her if she was charged with hitting the daughter of the Duke.
Anastasia had her head lowered; she had been beaten so many times in the past five years that a single slap became too insignificant to move her to tears. Although her head was lowered, she had no plans to answer the questions.
Leah felt her hand inching again. She hated the fact that Anastasia ignored her, but she knew her limit; the girl before her was the daughter of the duke, and even if he did not care for her, she, as a maid, would not win if Anastasia chose to complain.
"I will go prepare the spices now, " Anastasia said, walking away without waiting for Leah's response. She already noticed for a long time that Leah did not dare to beat her too carelessly.
So, if she did not have to Bow, Anastasia chose to ignore Leah.
"Humph, what are you so proud of, " Leah felt that Anastasia's straight back was an eyesore.
"You know you can fight back, right?" Anastasia met her maid and friend, Rosa.
"What is the point? " Anastasia shook her head. As the daughter of a duke, she was giving Rosa as her maid to serve her, but after her mother's death, the two become more like colleagues instead of master and servant.
There are many things that Anastasia did not understand about her family.
Her father was a duke, and given his status in the empire, he was only allowed to marry one wife and keep one mistress.
Most men of his status would take only a woman they love very much as their mistress, but in her memory, her father did not seem to fancy her mother much.
Although her mother did not suffer much, she was oppressed by the Duchess. When she was younger, she used to ask her mother to complain to her father, but she never did.
So, although she was not sure, she felt her mother was totally disappointed in her father. So, she would rather suffer than complain. This is also the reason she never went to complain to her father.
She also lied to herself once in a while that she suffered so much because the Duchess was clever and did not give her father the opportunity to find out about her wicked deed.
"My lady, you look pale. Why not rest? I will help grind and prepare the spices, " Rosa said. She noticed that Anastasia's completion did not look too bright. Although her skin never glowed in the past five years like other daughters of nobles and Dukes, she did not look sick.
"I will do it myself, " Anastasia refused. She knew that Rosa had so many things to do. Even if she did not, Leah would pick on her if she found out that she had helped her. Anastasia did not like others to suffer because of her. This was why she had stopped Rosa from attending to her(Anastasia)
"Don't worry, Miss Leah is going to check on the kitchen; she would not know, " Rosa said. She knew why Anastasia would not let her.
"No, not a chance, the walls have ears, " Anastasia refused as she quicker her paste towards the grindstone.
She walked past a few maids; they all pretended not to see her. Well, the power of a woman was in her home; since the Duchess had made it clear that friendship with her was a question of her authority, she was not surprised that many of the maids who used to bow to her respectfully would treat her as air.
A few of them even seemed to take pleasure in her misfortune. But not many of them dared to be as rude as Leah.
"Good morning, my lady, " the old maid in charge of keeping the grindstone and spies clean welcomed her with a smile.
"Good morning, " Anastasia replied before walking in to choose what was needed. The Duchess insists on having her daughter bath with different fragrant spices. It was said that it would help her have a natural, pleasant fragrance around her.
Anastasia cleared the stone and began her work. The cold wind from the window blew her dress from time to time. The entire process would take more than two hours, but Anastasia had learned to prepare some spies ahead during her free time. This way, she could reduce the time spent by half an hour. She knew that The Duchess was only trying to make things difficult for her; otherwise, she could make a week's worth on the day she did not have to go to learn with the teachers, but the Duchess refused, stating that the best result could only be gotten when the spices were freshly made.
"Let me help you, my lady, " Rosa said when she saw Anastasia moving the stone. This kind of hard work would make a lady's palm rough and unpleasant to hold.
Rosa has always felt that the Duchess planned to Ruin her lady's beauty and reputation. This was why she would give her tasks like making the spies needed for her daughter's bath, serving guests at a family celebration, and stopping her from royal balls and other important ceremonies.