A Day in the Life of an Evergarden Maid (1)
“Nnnngh… ha! Whew. Still alive another day.”
A young girl pushed herself upright from under a thin scrap of blanket, stretching with a murmur.
“Haa… Morning air’s always so fresh. I love it.”
She rolled her arms high overhead, bounced lightly on her knees to loosen up, then threw open the cracked window and drew in a deep breath of the morning breeze, smiling bright.
It was still too early to truly call it morning—the sun had yet to rise, a dark veil still blanketed the manor, and the twin moons hung stubbornly in the sky—but for everyone who worked at Evergarden Manor, this was morning.
“Already morning? Seriously?”
“Ugh, freezing…”
“I only blinked once…”
“Sisters! Get up!”
“Bennet… the only people in the whole world who like mornings as much as you are the noble lords and you.”
The crisp morning wind raced into every corner of the room, and the shapes that had been wriggling under their blankets like caterpillars began to groan and stir one by one.
They were the women who served as attendants—maids—at Evergarden Manor.
Nobles had countless ways to flaunt their wealth: vast territories, precious metals, lavish gowns. But the greatest boast of all was people. More precisely: how many people one could afford to employ.
The more servants you commanded, the straighter you could stand among your peers. Even the famously dim-witted head of House Evergarden, foolish as he was, still wanted that recognition.
The result was that an entire wing of the Evergarden manor had been converted into servants’ quarters—and even that wasn’t enough. They packed at least four to a room, just to show off the sheer number of staff.
“How are you this lively every single day? Aren’t you tired?”
“I used to be a shepherd before I came here. Working here is better, if you think about it. We get meals!”
“…Ah.”
Faced with Bennet’s matter-of-fact reply to the other maid’s complaint about endless hard labor, the woman could only conclude that she and this girl were fundamentally different creatures.
Extreme hardiness. That was Bennet.
“Ah, I’ll head out first! I’m on water duty today!”
“Sure. Take care.”
“Bye, Bennet… zzz—”
Not content with throwing open the window and waking the others, Bennet had already changed and was scurrying out of the dormitory.
She was on the roster to draw water for breakfast cooking, so she had to hurry.
“Whoa… everyone’s already here?”
By the time she finished a hasty tidy-up, grabbed a bucket, and reached the well, she found the other water-duty maids already lining up one after another.
“Morning, Bennet. You’re on water today?”
“Henry! Hi! Sleep well?”
The maids waiting their turn always used these few minutes for a little chatter.
“I’m worried—hands dropped off so suddenly.”
“Right? It used to be packed. People are already leaving one by one.”
Bennet took her place at the very end of the line and caught up with her peer Henry on the latest manor gossip.
“Why do you think they’re doing this all of a sudden? Last time they even had us haul all those expensive valuables into the warehouse.”
“Bennet, you didn’t hear? They’re selling everything.”
“What? Really? How much would that bring in?”
“Well… enough that even if you filled this whole well area with people like us, you still couldn’t buy a single tiny brooch, I bet…”
“Hah… that’s insane!”
“But why sell it all of a sudden? And now they’re telling people to leave the manor too.”
“Yeah…”
The two maids found themselves remembering Freya’s words from two days earlier, when she had gathered everyone in the central hall.
Out of nowhere, while they were working, Freya had summoned every employee in the manor and spoken.
She was grateful for all the hard work they had done for the family, but finances had grown tight and she had no choice but to reduce staff. Instead of simply dismissing them, however, she would write letters of recommendation so they could find positions in other noble households.
The assembled servants had tilted their heads, wondering if they had misheard.
What shocked them more than the sudden possibility of losing their jobs was that Freya had said the word “grateful.”
In all their years at Evergarden Manor they had heard plenty of curses, but never once a word of praise. The reaction was only natural.
After that Freya had announced the list of those she had selected, then added that anyone else who wished to leave could speak up at any time and receive a recommendation letter.
“Looks like even people who weren’t called are leaving in droves.”
“Of course… who wouldn’t after everything we’ve put up with? I’ve still got the cane marks from when I made a mistake in front of the young lady last time.”
“Me too…”
“So of course lots of people want out of this miserable place.”
“Henry, what about you?”
“I can’t go. My family’s here.”
Many of them simply could not leave the territory. They stayed on, working through gritted teeth, forced to pass up the chance to escape the hated manor. Henry was one of them.
“I see… heehee.”
“What? Happy I’m staying?”
“Yep! I’d be sad if someone my age disappeared.”
“…Well, still. Lately… haven’t the masters changed a bit?”
“Ah… you’re right! They really have!”
The conversation naturally drifted to the members of House Evergarden themselves.
“How do I put it…?”
“Kinder…?”
“Yes! Kinder! The other night at dinner I accidentally spilled a little sauce on the table when I set the dishes down, and no one said a word!”
“Same—I made a mistake combing the young lady’s hair and she just let it go.”
In the past the slightest error had brought bellowed orders and violence disguised as discipline. Lately, though, word had spread that the beatings had simply stopped.
Just then—
“Hm? What are you all doing gathered here?”
“Uh… hiiik?! L-Lord of the house!!”
“““We greet the lord of the house!!!!”””
A new figure appeared at the well. The maids who had been chatting in little clusters went pale and bowed their heads low.
The newcomer was none other than Darian Evergarden—master of the manor and count of the realm.
“Whoa, no need to be that stiff. Just stopped by for a drink after morning exercise. At ease, at ease.”
“Uh…”
Darian waved a hand and strode forward while dozens of maids kept their heads down. Bennet risked a peek and got a clear look at him.
His jet-black hair was plastered sideways with sweat. Those red eyes that looked ready to blaze were gleaming. A straight nose and sharp jawline.
And—astonishingly—Darian had stripped to the waist, a single scrap of cloth for wiping sweat slung over one shoulder. Bennet and the other maids barely managed to swallow the gasps that nearly burst out.
Broad shoulders, chiseled muscle, and a clear six-pack.
A physique that would not lose to any knight-order man.
“Ah, do I have to wait at the back if I want some?”
“N-no, my lord!! Um… if it isn’t too forward, this is water I just pumped up…”
“Oh? Thanks! No cup, though.”
“I’ll fetch one right away!”
“Nah, I’ll just drink it.”
“…Pardon? W-wait?!”
“—Pwah! Whoa! Super cold! Must be groundwater, huh?”
Darian, looking thoroughly thirsty, took the bucket from the dazed maid standing right in front of him and guzzled straight from it without a cup, then grinned as if thoroughly refreshed.
“Ah… uh…”
“Thanks. You all work hard this early. Well then—”
“Y-yes…”
The maid took back the now-empty bucket with a blank expression while Darian turned and left the well. The maids stared after his retreating back.
“Wow… waaah…”
“What was that?”
The moment Darian was completely out of sight the maids erupted in whispers.
Nobles who needed help even to change clothes routinely showed their bare bodies to servants. That was ordinary.
But the sight of sweat-slick muscle pumping from early-morning exercise—and the fact that the owner of those muscles was their own master—
The fact that the Darian who used to groan with hangovers even in the morning had gone out to exercise—
And the fact that a noble so different from them had casually gulped water straight from a bucket—
All of it mixed together until the maids felt a dizzying gap between the Darian they had always known and the man they had just seen.
And yet—
“D-did you see…? The water running down from His Lordship’s chin, along his collarbone, over those solid abs…”
“Annie, you’re drooling.”
“I… I’ve never seen His Lordship smile before…”
“Wow. He’s actually gorgeous…”
“So wild, like a wolf…”
“Was His Lordship’s body always that solid…?”
“I’d give anything to be held just once…”
All Darian had done was follow his modern-day morning workout routine, and—since he was a man now—strip his shirt off (it felt surprisingly comfortable) and cadge a drink of water.
But to girls in the full bloom of youth, the sight had been far too stimulating.
The firm body, the defined muscle, the handsome face.
The maids forgot entirely that he was their master and began praising him, desperately trying to burn the image deep into their minds.
Meanwhile Darian himself was simply marveling at how different this world’s water tasted from modern bottled water, scratching his belly in pure contentment.