“…That was unpleasant.”
Unlike Wilhelmina, who left the room with compliments on her lips, Helene muttered a complaint as she walked out.
The daughter of a debt-ridden nobody, daring to praise her?
It was unbearable. She shuddered in revulsion.
* * *
In my past life, I was a cram school teacher.
Not at some big institution, but a small one with about 40 students — more of an after-school care center than a serious prep school.
Think of it as a taekwondo studio where kids get dropped off until their parents finish work.
Fittingly, there was a taekwondo studio right next door.
I taught upper elementary and middle schoolers there, and among their many hobbies, reading novels was a big one.
“Memorize ‘regression to the past life and return’ — it’s important.”
“O-Okay…”
I got curious about the novel and asked, and the kid explained it to me with more seriousness than they ever showed during exams.
In that moment, I felt like the student, and they were the teacher.
Once I showed interest, they passionately explained various clichés for a full 30 minutes.
That knowledge turned out to be surprisingly useful when I reincarnated as Wilhelmina.
Or maybe not reincarnated… more like possessed? But then again, Wilhelmina is me, and Kim Hana is also me… I don’t know anymore.
Still, while it helped me adjust, it didn’t make understanding this world any easier.
If I had been a history teacher, maybe I’d have had a better grasp, but I taught math and science.
All I remembered about medieval Europe was memorizing some kings’ names for exams.
So… things like human rights, labor conditions, or culture in a fantasy world? I knew nothing.
“Child labor, 14-hour workdays, endless exploitation…”
I expected some level of injustice in a class-based society, but seeing the maids and servants work was hard to stomach.
So I began changing their working conditions little by little.
Since I was the mistress of the annex and no one from the main estate seemed to interfere, I adjusted things as I pleased.
I told them to stop assisting with my morning wash and just serve breakfast. I let them clean the bedroom hallway whenever they wanted, instead of only before dawn when I was still asleep…
“And I let the kids come into my room whenever they want, like now.”
I sat in a large rocking chair — probably once used by the former duke — watching the children gathered by the fireplace.
Huddled together for warmth, they munched on steamed potatoes.
They looked like a bunch of squirrels. It was adorable.
“To think those little ones are working to earn money…”
The oldest of the group was only ten. They were pages — young servants in training.
Most were commoners from Leighton territory, living at the estate apart from their families.
If they were of noble birth or worked under a knight, their lives would be a little easier. But these kids were stuck with all the dirty jobs.
For example, once a week they had to wash heavy tablecloths and curtains in cold water with their bare hands.
Of course, there were no rubber gloves. They’d warm their hands in hot water, then repeat the grueling process.
“And this is supposed to be one of the better places to work… How bad must the others be?”
I wanted to forbid the children from doing those tasks, but I restrained myself. Improving their comfort was one thing; interfering in their duties was overstepping.
In this era, taking away their work meant taking away their place in society.
The problem wasn’t their boss—it was the society that forced children to work in the first place.
Not doing dirty jobs meant starving to death. That was reality.
“…Big Lady’s got that sharp face again.”
“Huh?”
I noticed a child had come closer to me.
It was Mirinae, a seven-year-old page with striking reddish-brown hair.
“What is it?”
“Your face looks all sharp again.”
Did she mean I looked scary?
I touched my cheek with a finger. Now that she mentioned it, my face probably had stiffened a bit.
“It’s nothing, I’m fine. Did you finish your potatoes?”
“Yes.”
“Want more?”
“No, thank you.”
Mirinae gave a clumsy bow to show her gratitude.
But instead of returning to her friends, she lingered in front of me, hesitating.
“…Do you want to come up?”
“Can I?”
“Of course.”
She’d sat on my lap a couple of times before, so I figured that’s what she wanted.
I lifted the lap blanket and sat her on my lap, then covered her with the blanket again.
“Big Lady, are you going to stay here?”
“Mm-hmm. Looks like it.”
“Phew… good.”
It seemed the kids had assumed I’d be leaving the annex soon.
Maybe they’d overheard the attendants talking.
Kids are sharp, after all. They probably thought I’d be kicked out before long.
“Guess I should thank the emperor?”
I’d never felt patriotic about the Peon Empire, but I had to admit, I was a little grateful to the emperor.
Who knew how comforting it could be to not worry about job security?
“What are you doing today?”
“We’re going to weed the garden. Fall weeds are tougher, so you have to use a lot of strength.”
“That sounds hard.”
“There’s someone who’s really good at it, so I don’t mind. Johan’s good at pulling them.”
“Johan?”
I’d never heard that name before.
I thought I’d memorized all the pages’ names — maybe he was someone I hadn’t met yet.
I tilted my head, and Mirinae hesitated for a second before whispering:
“Johan is… an errand boy. He only gets paid by the day.”
So “daily pay” meant he was a day laborer.
“The gardener hired him. There’s a lot of work in spring and summer, but now it’s slowing down, so he was struggling. We asked him to work with us, but he didn’t want to.”
“Why not?”
Mirinae glanced up at me, then whispered:
“He’s afraid of nobles.“Ahh…”
“I told him our Big Lady isn’t like that, but… he saw the last master…”
It sounded like Johan had witnessed the previous duke’s cruelty firsthand.
The former duke wasn’t just harsh with the attendants — he was vicious to the pages too.
No wonder a child would fear nobles after that.
“Errand boys don’t get much work. In winter, unless there’s something like pulling weeds, they don’t get paid. Johan doesn’t have a mom or dad, so I’m worried.”
“Does he live alone?”
“He lives with his little sister. She’s too young to work, so Johan has to earn for both of them. But lately there’s no food, so he said they’ve been eating bark porridge.”
It was clear Mirinae was very worried about Johan.
But actually… it wasn’t just her.
The kids by the fire were stealing glances at me too.
They were reacting to the mention of Johan’s name, their eyes filled with unspoken hope.
“Is everyone close with Johan?”
“He’s strong and smart, and he’s helped us a lot. Even with things that weren’t his job.”
So he was well-liked. That explained the hopeful looks.
Come to think of it, I had been needing an errand boy of my own — someone not part of the main staff.
“…Are you sure Johan’s a good worker?”
“Yes.”Then I should meet him.
I braved the cold and stood up from my seat.
* * *
Johan didn’t trust nobles.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”
“This is why filthy commoners are hopeless!”
When Johan first started working in the garden, he witnessed a child being whipped under a tree.
A terrifying old nobleman with hair like a silver mane was lashing the child mercilessly.
There were plenty of adults around, but not one stepped in to help.
The bloodied child was dragged out of the estate by a servant.
The gardener later said the child was beaten for getting weeds on the noble’s shoes.
They had simply failed to remove a weed, and that was enough to end up covered in blood.
“Nobles are scary.”
The gardener had often urged Johan to become a page, but Johan, traumatized by what he saw, refused every time.
“If I die, Lili will be all alone…”
Even at a young age, Johan understood that life was more important than money.
“Still… I’m grateful to have work. I’ll do my best.”
There was no gardener today, but Johan began working as usual.
He put on his gloves and started digging out the tough weeds with his fingertips.
His split nails stung every time they touched the dirt, but he was used to this pain.
“Hm?
As he moved forward step by step, he suddenly noticed a woman crouching before a patch of weeds.
