Chapter 38
“…Explain it to me again, properly this time. I just don’t get it. So, you’re saying the maid who was mistreated by a noble is being punished? Did I hear that right?”
Idel awkwardly smiled and nodded. Even she felt uncomfortable explaining this unfair situation to Laszlo, as if she were defending those wicked nobles.
“Usually, it’s said that the maid must have acted improperly to deserve such treatment. Regardless of whether that’s true or not. By punishing the maid, they believe it saves face.”
“Am I stupid? Why can’t I understand anything you’re saying? How does that save face?”
“If it’s not made out to be the maid’s fault, then it’s seen as a direct challenge to the authority and status of the noble, like what’s happening to you right now, Count.”
Laszlo finally understood.
Now he realized why Terry and Angelo had insisted, “That woman seduced us.”
“So, punishing that innocent woman was the way to keep us all safe, huh? Just get rid of her and call it a day.”
Laszlo’s expression went from shock to utter disbelief. After a moment, he scoffed and shook his head.
“Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m just a lowly mercenary. I don’t know anything about ‘noble customs.’ So, starting tomorrow, just go back to work in the kitchen.”
Idel felt confident that Laszlo, the former mercenary, was far more sensible and generous than most nobles she knew.
With that in mind, she gathered the courage to make a request.
“Thank you for your lenient decision, Count. But may I ask something else?”
“Hmm?”
“The laundry work is tough not just for me but also for Celia and Laila. The laundry room is in such poor condition. Could you allow us to use plenty of hot water, at least during winter?”
“What?”
Laszlo’s face showed sudden confusion.
“What do you mean? You’re doing laundry in cold water in this freezing weather? Are you saying the head maid didn’t just assign that to you for one day?”
“Yes… Not just in the laundry room. The servants’ bathhouse is the same. In this winter cold, no one can bathe properly, so we just wipe ourselves down with wet towels.”
Laszlo couldn’t hide his shock. He was even more astonished than when he heard about the nobles’ customs earlier.
Idel also sensed something strange.
“Did you not give these orders, Count?”
“Are you crazy? Who would make people bathe and do laundry in cold water in the dead of winter?”
“Then did you give orders for hot water to be used?”
“To be precise, I didn’t issue orders about hot water. But I did say to buy whatever was needed! Is that something I need to specifically command?”
“To use hot water, we need firewood, which costs money. So, we can’t use it without the master’s permission.”
Laszlo’s face turned red.
“I didn’t even think of that…”
“Didn’t the head maid consult you?”
“Not at all.”
An awkward silence hung between them.
Then, as Laszlo rubbed his temples in thought, he suddenly asked Idel, “Does the laundry room have a stove?”
“There’s a small one. We use it to heat a large pot of water in the morning, but that’s only for dissolving soap or soaking heavily soiled laundry.”
“And in the servants’ bathhouse?”
“A stove? I think there was one built when this mansion was constructed, but it hasn’t been used in years, so it’s in bad shape.”
Nodding, Laszlo called a servant over without further explanation.
He ordered the two hurriedly summoned servants, “Tomorrow, after breakfast, go build a proper stove in the laundry room. Once that’s done, repair the bathhouse stove too. If needed, bring someone else to help.”
“Yes, Count.”
“And make sure there’s plenty of firewood in the laundry room and bathhouse until summer. Understood?”
“Uh… Can we use that firewood for our baths too?”
“Why else would I stock it there?”
The servants’ faces brightened at Laszlo’s reply.
A cold winter bath wasn’t just torture for the maids but also for the male servants.
“Thank you, Count! We’ll make sure it’s done tomorrow without delay!”
With hearty voices, they thanked him and left.
Seeing this, Laszlo felt even more despondent.
“I must have been the worst master. Bathing in freezing water… that’s something you’d only do in a torture chamber!”
“Thank you for granting my request, Count.”
“No, thank you. I almost didn’t realize until all the servants quit.”
He smiled, though clearly embarrassed.
Idel wasn’t sure if it was a strange thought, but she found it a little cute.
‘Who would’ve thought the Mercenary King could look cute?’
Because of that, Idel smiled too, hoping it would make him feel less embarrassed.
“Well then… I’ll take my leave now. Once again, thank you for your generous decision, Count.”
Idel bowed politely and quietly left his room. She did find it a bit odd that Laszlo kept staring at her until the door closed, but she didn’t think much of it.
* * *
“Ah, here comes the honored guest. Welcome, ‘His Majesty’s gift.’”
On Idel’s first day assigned to the kitchen, Masha, who was already seated at the breakfast table, sneered the moment she saw her. Clearly, she had not reflected at all and still believed that her public humiliation and wage cut were all Idel’s fault.
In the past, Idel might have meekly apologized, bowing her head, saying, ‘I’m sorry for being absent for so long.’ But this time, she didn’t respond at all.
‘I’ve done my part, Madam Bohén. I won’t just quietly endure anymore.’
Idel decided to give up on the idea of living quietly, as if she didn’t exist. It was a conclusion she reached after much thought last night.
‘If staying silent won’t make them leave me in peace, then I might as well fight to secure my own peace.’
More than anything, she could no longer tolerate Masha’s malicious behavior. Not just for herself, but for everyone in the household, including Laszlo.
‘I’m the only servant here who doesn’t have to worry about a letter of recommendation. If someone’s going to expose the head maid’s misdeeds and stop her, it has to be me.’
Idel had decided to start uncovering the head maid’s corruption.
Her resolve was driven by the conversation she had with Laszlo the previous night regarding the use of hot water.
It was understandable that Laszlo hadn’t issued specific orders about hot water. No one had told him he needed to.
But Masha was different.
As the head maid, the representative of the servants, and the only one who could speak directly with the master, she should have asked.
In fact, Laszlo had said, “Buy whatever you need, as much as you want,” which practically meant that he had already permitted the use of hot water.
So why had Masha forbidden the servants from heating water?
‘I’ll need to check the ledgers, but there’s a good chance Masha’s been skimming money from the firewood costs.’
If Masha had also been washing with cold water, Idel might have believed she was simply following orders or trying to save money for the household.
But the night before, Idel had heard something shocking while asking Daisy about the water usage.
“They act like they don’t, but Madam Bohén and Mina both wash with hot water. You can tell in February. They’re the only ones who are clean.”
“If they’ve been heating water, wouldn’t everyone have noticed? Why hasn’t anyone complained?”
“Madam Bohén must feel guilty because she never heats the water in front of us. She uses the private bathroom in her room and heats it there, I think.”
Idel couldn’t keep her mouth from dropping open.
‘She really thinks she’s a noble.’
A head maid, a servant, living in a room with a private bathroom and drawing a line between herself and the other servants—it was infuriating.
The more Idel thought about it, the angrier she became.
‘She heats the water for herself while making the other servants wipe down with cold water? She doesn’t even dip her hand in cold water, but she forces the others to do laundry all day in it?’
Images of Celia and Laila’s red, swollen hands, Daisy saying she had to work up the courage just to wash her hair, and the other maids preparing cold water the night before for their morning wash all flooded Idel’s mind, making her feel sick.
That was why she decided she wouldn’t be overly polite to the head maid anymore. In fact, she was determined to expose Masha’s corruption.
Unaware of Idel’s thoughts, Masha’s face twitched with anger when Idel ignored her.
“Ah, His Majesty’s gift is living the good life. Pretending to be a little sick, and the Count promotes you to kitchen maid. Poor Celia and Laila, don’t you think?”
She tried to sow discord between Idel and the laundry maids.
But Celia and Laila, unfazed, shook their heads.
