Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
The sound of footsteps echoed in the hallway leading to the guest room.
Then, the sound stopped in front of a grease lamp shaped like a lily.
The blonde-haired girl then took a match from her skirt pocket, lit the grease lamp and carried it to another room to light the other lamps.
"Ms Abigail," a maid called out from behind her.
She turned slowly after hearing her name being called.
"Oh, Debi, why?" she asked, as if she didn't want to talk.
"Erm, it's nothing," Debi replied, then walked away, leaving Abigail stiff with confusion.
Then she walked back from room to room to turn on the lights.
Suddenly, when she arrived in the hallway at the end of the mansion, she stopped after hearing a voice from behind the wall.
"Master is getting weirder, isn't he?" the voice said.
"I don't know what to say." replied another voice as if there was more than one person behind the wall.
"He's getting more and more hot-tempered."
"He never used to touch anything to hit people."
"That's right."
"He also never asked for fish to be served as the main dish."
"Well, that's not important, but think about it. Mr White has never stayed home for more than three days. Ms Hazel would tell him all the schedules he had to do every morning, but now, Ms Hazel would bring breakfast to the master's room and leave." said another girl. Her voice was hoarse, husky and fluent.
"I know that."
"All this started after he didn't attend a meeting with the royal family, and suddenly he wanted to move."
Their conversation continued until the sound of an iron bucket falling from a high position startled them all.
"Who's there?" they asked.
But Abigail just stood silently behind the wall. She was standing stiffly.
"Let's go," said one of the girls among them, inviting the others to disperse.
"Let's go," they replied.
Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
The sound of their footsteps walking up the stairs.
Abigail then peeked into the room after the sound of their footsteps had faded into the distance, and then she resumed lighting the lamps around the room.
As she was about to light the last grease lamp, she stopped and turned her head towards the entrance to the room.
"Debi?" she guessed.
"M-Ms Abigail," she said hesitantly after a moment of silence.
"Aren't you going back to your room? Aren't your work already finished?" she asked, pretending she hadn't heard anything even though she knew Debi didn't want her to come here earlier.
"Y-yes, but I still have other work to do," Debi replied.
"Oh, is that so?"
"Yes. I'll go first," then Debi hurriedly took a step to climb the stairs at the edge of the room.
It was only four meters away from where Abigail was standing.
"Okay," Abigail replied as she watched Debi climb the stairs.
A moment later, Abigail was silent again. Her eyes just stared blankly at the grease lamp that was still not lit in front of her.
Then, her eyes looked out the window in the room.
"The snow seems to be getting heavier as winter season already passed a week ago," she said to herself as she looked at the snowfall rapidly.
...
...
...
...
...
...
As dawn broke, it was a cold day to get out of a warm bed.
Abigail opened her eyes with difficulty and saw that her roommate, Ms Gina, was already awake and dressed in her maid's uniform.
"Are you still sleepy?" Gina asked after she had finished tying her hair into a neat bun.
"A little," she replied, still lying in bed with the covers pulled up to her neck.
Wrapped up.
"Do you want Ms Hazel to come and spot-check you?" she said, knowing full well the work ethic when it came to Ms Hazel.
"I know," she replied softly, not really caring about Ms Gina's warning and still lying down, enjoying the soft comfort of her bed.
Suddenly, there was a commotion from upstairs.
Ms Gina and Abigail looked at each other, wondering what the noise was about and assuming it must be the Crown Prince.
"I WANT HOT COFFEE!" his voice could be heard shouting.
SMASH!
The sound of breaking glass was heard a moment later.
"We will lose a fortune if he stays here much longer," Gina said disgustingly.
"Don't talk like that; He's a Prince, and we are just servants. Master has allowed him to stay on the estate even though..." Abigail began before stopping herself from saying something she shouldn't.
She had, of course, been there the day the deaths had occurred after they had arrived. They were seeing the face of their Master, whom they had never seen before.
To most of the other servants who had been there that day, they thought their Master was a scary, horrible-tempered man.
Nonetheless, in Abigail's eyes, the Mr White she had seen that day was a man who stood up for those under his care. A man who did not care if his reputation went up or down and someone they could trust to do as he said he would.
Not everyone understood his actions, though, even if it was apparent.
"Ms Abigail?" the voice broke into Abigail's thoughts, and she stuttered in reply.
"Sorry," she apologises.
"Anyway, I'm going to start work. I need to check outside. It isn't good, as it snowed heavily last night. The paths must be blocked." she explained before leaving the room.
"Yes," Abigail responded, watching as the door to her room slowly closed.
Then, she began to muse by herself.
Thinking.
Mr White, whom she knew, was an obedient person. But he was also a very odd person to her. He was as if he had no soul.
When she looked at his eyes a few times when they bumped into each other in the hallway of their old house, it was grey. There was no light in it.
"Huh, rather than me thinking about things that are none of my business, I better shower and get ready to do some work," Abigail said while exhaling.
...
...
...
...
...
...
Tap!
Tap!
Tap!
The footsteps of the servant's shoes in the kitchen began to move vastly faster because it was midday. It was occupied sending food to the Prince, who wanted more than the owner of the house himself.
Abigail entered the kitchen carefully so as not to bump into the culinary who brought food out to be served on the table in the dining area.
"Mrs Etta, my food," she said as soon as she arrived at the servant dining area.
The servant dining area was large enough for forty-eight people to sit inside simultaneously, with eight wooden dining tables that could fit six people to sit.
"Today's beef soup and hot mushroom bread," said Mrs Etta, the woman who was called the Head Chef.
"Two breads," added Abigail, smiling.
"Coming up." Mrs Etta smiles back.
It sounded like there was a voice coming from the end of the dining area, and Abigail, with her high curiosity at that time, tried to eavesdrop while she waited for Mrs Etta to prepare her food.
"Poor Ms Abigail,"she heard.
"She's the same as Ms Hazel, but only Ms Hazel is the one the Master brings with her or asks for anything," they added.
"Ms Hazel must have brainwashed the Master."
"That crazy woman."
Clang!
Suddenly, a loud noise came from Mrs Etta.
Abigail, who was surprised, looked up and saw Mrs Etta holding an iron soup spoon in her hand.
"Enough, enough of gossiping. Do you want me to report it to Mr White?" she said firmly with a clear, round tone.
The iron spoon swung in front of them, pointing right at them.
"This is my first warning; after this, I will not serve you food. Cook for yourself or hunt outside to eat," she continued.
My eyes, which had been looking at Mrs Etta, slowly shifted from her face to her spoon in the direction of those who had spoken earlier.
They were surprised to see me.
"S-sorry," they apologised in unison.
"It's okay..." Abigail replied with an unclear tone as she was confused herself.
She does recognise them.
They are the same maid who was talking at the staircase space yesterday.
Rose, Sky, and Ms Gina. Her roommate.
After that, the whole lunch break was awkward and silent, as if they were forced to be there in the same space.
I wish I had never heard of it. She thought.
Ring!
Ring!
Ring!
They were all confused.
"Mr White ringing the bell three times. I believe he wants a meeting with us," explains Mrs Etta, who is still waiting for the other servant to come to the dining area to take their lunch.
Abigail then remembered that on their second day on the estate, Mr White told them a few ways to communicate with all the servants.
He introduces us to a bell.
If it rang two times, it was a guest, and only four people were given the authority to ring them: Mrs Etta, Ms Hazel, Mr Larson and Mr White himself.
If the bell rang five times, it was a danger.