Chapter 34

In the frontier of Sutrena, the lives of the townspeople had drastically improved a short while ago.

The most notable change was the food situation.

This was largely thanks to the new lord and his wife, who had been exiled from the Royal Capital.

Marilyn, who had been hired as a maid at their estate, took a moment to look around the town while out on an errand to buy supplies.

In the past, a dark, heavy atmosphere had always hung over this area.

The damage from magical beasts, heavy taxation, the tyranny of the lord… the people had done nothing but endure an endless cycle of hardship.

Marilyn had been no different.

Clutching her young child in a dilapidated shack that barely qualified as a wooden house, she had worked every night as a tavern waitress for measly wages—until she was finally fired.

The tavern owner, who was always overly familiar with her, had grown furious when she refused to succumb to his advances and kicked her out of the shop.

Her husband had vanished, leaving her to live a life of extreme poverty with her child.

It was in the midst of that desperation, grasping at straws, that she attended the interview for the “Maid Recruitment at the Lord’s Manor.”

She had left her child in the care of a former coworker from the tavern and headed out, fully aware that her circumstances put her at an overwhelming disadvantage. And yet…

“I can’t believe I passed.”

Furthermore, she was permitted to live at the estate with her child without having to pay any rent.

During her breaks, she was even allowed to spend time with her little one.

Currently, she was in the middle of learning the ropes of her maid duties while seeking guidance from the head maid, Kelly.

The first tasks Marilyn had been assigned were purchasing ingredients, assisting the cook, Meiza, and acting as a server during meals.

She worked as hard as she could every single day. If she were kicked out of this place, she would have nowhere left to go.

Even so, she couldn’t help but wonder why she had been hired. There had been candidates who were younger and didn’t have children to care for.

Her colleague, Lori, seemed to have the same question. She was also married with children and had previously left the workforce to focus on her family.

Lori said, “Perhaps they took us in because we had nowhere else to go…?” Hearing her words, she started to feel the same way.

As she went about her shopping, the shopkeepers greeted her warmly.

“Oh, if it isn’t the new maid. Is the work treating you alright? The other girls say it’s fine, but with everything that happened with the previous lord, we’ve been worried…”

It was strange; she was asked the same thing everywhere she went.

Because of that, she made sure to always answer with a smile.

“I’m doing great. Both the Master and the Madam are kind, and the head maid is a very fair person. The pay is good, too—I don’t think I could find a better workplace than this.”

Later on, being a servant at the lord’s manor would become a highly coveted occupation, but that is a story for another time.