Chapter 4
If the story went as I remembered it, I should already be dead.
‘Thankfully, I’m still alive.’
As soon as Lilith fell into a deep sleep, Ivna returned. She looked at Lilith, sleeping peacefully in my arms, with even more curious eyes.
“Bring Lady Lilith here in your arms. I’ll show you the bedroom.”
“Yes, Head Maid.”
I stood up while holding Lilith in my arms. I wobbled a bit from sitting too long, but Ivna didn’t even offer a hand.
“Um, Head Maid…”
“The other girls are waiting, so hurry.”
I was thinking about asking her to help me carry Lilith on my back because it was hard to walk while holding her…
‘But I can’t even say anything.’
Ivna stood far away as if I were something dirty, just urging me to hurry.
‘At least Lilith is smaller than other kids her age.’
If she were the size of an average five-year-old, I wouldn’t have been able to lift her. As I thought about it, I suddenly remembered why Lilith was smaller than others her age, and my mood soured.
“Lay the young lady down gently on the bed.”
“Yes.”
In the end, I carried Lilith to the bedroom by myself. Ivna didn’t even glance at me the entire time and only showed the way.
‘She didn’t even want to get close to Lilith.’
More accurately, she didn’t want to get near Lilith, not me. After I covered Lilith with a blanket, I was finally able to go to the room where the other maids were waiting.
‘Huh? There are fewer maids now.’
As I entered the room, I looked around at the maids. More than half were gone compared to earlier.
“Some of the girls left, saying they couldn’t work here.”
Ivna explained as if she had read my mind.
‘I knew it.’
It made sense. After what happened earlier, it would be hard for anyone to want to stay. And the faces of the remaining girls didn’t look very good either.
“What about you? What will you do?”
“I…”
Ivna’s sharp gaze pierced me. I walked toward an empty spot and spoke.
“I came here to serve the young lady. I won’t go back.”
It’s not like I could return anyway. My parents had already taken several years’ worth of my wages in advance. It must be the same for the five girls who stayed. We were basically sold—or abandoned—to this place. Even if we tried to go back, we’d only be thrown out again.
‘They sent us here knowing we might die.’
Because they must’ve known who Lilith was.
“From now on, you all will be responsible for Lady Lilith and this annex building.”
She began to explain what we needed to do from now on, things to be careful about when serving Lilith, and what must never be done.
“You may use the empty servant rooms as your own bedrooms. For meals, you’ll need to bring them from the main house at the set times.”
“At the set times…?”
One of the maids asked, sounding confused, and Ivna paused.
“There’s no cook in the annexe, so you’ll have to bring food from the main house.”
“Oh…”
“Also, the finances of this annexe are managed separately from the main house, so you’ll have to live within that budget.”
I frowned slightly at her words.
‘Managed separately?’
That meant we could only live with the money given to the annexe. I didn’t know how much that was, but I had a bad feeling.
“There’s also a certain amount you have to pay to the main house every month, so look into that.”
She added that the previous maids probably left some records, so we should check them.
‘I hope it’s enough for growing kids…’
I was starting to feel more and more anxious. Since our wages had already gone to our parents, we could only rely on the annexe’s funds.
“And lastly, don’t come to the main house for unnecessary things. Understood?”
“Yes, Head Maid.”
“…Yes.”
I nodded and pretended to agree casually.
‘So, other than meals, don’t come unless you have to?’
The main house was a good distance away, so I didn’t want to go there often either. Though I’d have to go for meals, like it or not. One small relief was that since there were fewer maids now, I might be able to use a room by myself.
“Ivna-nim, you’ll help us too, right?”
As Ivna finished speaking, one of the maids asked carefully, as if hoping for confirmation. But contrary to the girl’s hopes, Ivna firmly shook her head.
“I’m only in charge of your training today. I’m the head maid of the main house.”
At those words, the maids’ faces instantly turned pale.
“Then… you mean we’ll be on our own here?”
“Yes, while taking good care of Lady Lilith.”
“W-what…!”
The girls all started murmuring in shock. Even I almost laughed in disbelief. Unless one of the maids was an adult, all of us were around ten years old. And the girl we had to care for was only five. Leaving everything to a bunch of kids like this—especially when the girl’s powers could go out of control at any time—was insane.
“If you’re not happy with this, you can go back too. What will you do?”
At her words, no one said anything. Ivna probably knew we had no place to return to. She added a few more things after that, but no one was really listening anymore.
“Well, do your best from now on. I’ll be cheering for you—from afar.”
With that, Ivna walked past the still-shocked girls. She seemed like she was about to leave but then suddenly stopped next to me.
“What’s your name?”
“Chloe Hern, Ivna-nim.”
“…I’ll remember it, Chloe.”
With those last words, Ivna left the room. Soon, only the young maids were left in the quiet room. I looked around at the sitting girls. There were five of them—not including me, six in total.
‘This is overwhelming…’
We still didn’t know much. The future felt far away and uncertain.
“What do we do now…”
Three of the girls huddled together and murmured. They seemed to know each other from before.
“Should we start by introducing ourselves?”
The girl who had taken charge earlier spoke first. She had brown hair and green eyes. She had been closest to Lilith and had taken the most damage.
‘I thought she’d gone back.’
Maybe she had no way to leave. She was still here. I had been worried since she had coughed up blood, but luckily it didn’t seem serious.
“I’m Verdi. I’m twelve. I think I’m the oldest here.”
Maid Verdi gave a small smile as she spoke.
“I’ve done similar work before, so if there’s anything you don’t know, ask me.”
Everyone turned their eyes toward her.
“I’m Anne. Ten years old.”
The next to speak was the girl sitting close to Verdi. She had short hair down to her shoulders.
“I’m Chloe. I’m ten too.”
I waited until last because I didn’t want to speak but then stood up.
“I know how to clean, but I’m not good at anything else.”
I smiled awkwardly and sat down. I could feel the others’ gazes on me. Probably because of what happened with Lilith. The remaining girls were the three who seemed to be friends. They hesitated a bit before speaking.
“I’m Meria.”
“I’m Christy.”
“I’m Mas. We’re all nine years old.”
The girl with reddish-brown hair was Meria, the one with glasses was Christy, and the one with short-cut hair was Mas. After all the introductions, Verdi spoke again.
“Since we’ll be running the annexe together from now on, let’s do our best.”
“Please take care of me.”
“I don’t know how helpful I’ll be…”
Everyone responded to Verdi with a word or two. Only Anne just nodded slightly without saying anything.
“Then first…”
“W-wait! Shouldn’t we choose a head maid or something?”
Mas interrupted Verdi. Everyone looked at each other, but no one stepped up.
