The household staff completely changed. The newly hired servants didn’t care in the slightest that Christiana had once been a Count’s daughter.
They had been told by Count Tenies himself, “She’s a useless creature who can’t even use magic. She’s essentially a maid in training now, and I do not consider her my daughter.” Because of this, not a single soul respected her.
Christiana’s life was turned completely upside down. Before the sky had even lightened, the maids would wake her.
“How long are you planning to sleep?! You’re not a young lady anymore! Hurry up, get into your maid outfit and get to work! Since you’re on laundry duty—the job everyone hates—if you slack off, we’ll tell the master!”
She drew water from the well and washed clothes in the freezing water. Dipping her hands into it over and over again, her fingertips swelled red, and her skin cracked, oozing blood. Even so, the pile of laundry mounted higher and higher every day.
On one such day, just as Christiana had finally finished washing a batch and was hanging it out to dry, Vicky strolled over. Pretending not to notice the laundry basket, she kicked it right over.
“Oh dear, my bad! I had no idea a laundry basket was sitting right here~”
The clothes she had only just finished washing were instantly covered in thick mud.
“I just finished washing those…”
“What? You got a problem with me? I’m the young lady of this house, and you’re just a maid now.”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“Wash them again. If you don’t clean them properly, I’m telling Father on you.”
Vicky giggled merrily as she walked away.
Christiana picked up the clothes and headed back to the washing area. The moment she submerged her hands in the water, a sharp, searing pain shot through her cracked fingertips. She instinctively pulled her hands back, only for a maid’s sharp voice to bark at her from behind.
“What are you doing? Not washed yet? What a slow, lazy creature. Knowing someone like you is a fellow maid makes me sick.”
“I… I’m sorry.”
As she endured the pain, rubbing and scrubbing the fabric, the blood oozing from her fingertips stained the laundry.
“Ah…”
Panicking, she tried desperately to rinse it out, but it wouldn’t come out easily.
Right then, Claudia, who had come over to check on things, scowled at the sight of the blood-stained laundry.
“What is the meaning of this?!”
“I am so sorry… My hands are cut…”
“Can’t you even manage your own hands properly?! No dinner for you today. Keep washing until that blood comes out!”
Claudia spared a single glance at Christiana’s hands before giving a harsh snort.
That night, Christiana was given no dinner. On her way back to the shack, a scrap of bread thrown away behind the kitchen caught her eye.
She hadn’t eaten since noon. Christiana stared at the bread for a long moment before finally picking it up and brushing off the dirt with her fingers.
She lifted the hardened bread to her mouth.
With every bite, dry crumbs caught in her throat.
Even so, driven by sheer hunger, she ate every last bite.
(…This is so miserable! I never imagined I’d end up living a life like this. Mother, I wish I could have been taken up to heaven with you…)
Tears spilled down Christiana’s cheeks.
From then on, day after day, the handmaidens and maids who hurled the cruelest words at Christiana were praised by Claudia and Vicky. Seeing this, the other servants competed to be mean to Christiana as well.
The servants deliberately increased Christiana’s workload. It was always the same routine. As soon as Christiana finished hanging up the neatly washed laundry, they would knock the entire line and clothes right onto the ground. Far from stopping them, Vicky and Claudia clapped their hands and laughed.
“Ah, how hilarious! You should be grateful just to be allowed to stay in this mansion. Be thankful you’re even given work to do. After all, you’re an embarrassing failure without even a magical crest.”
Claudia loathed Christiana to her very core.
(Because of this creature’s mother, I was forced to live in the shadows for so long. A girl who looks so much like that woman… I wish she would just disappear.)
Count Tenies did not protect her in the slightest. From the beginning, he had zero interest in a Christiana who lacked a magical crest. Thus, even when they passed each other in the corridors, he wouldn’t so much as look at her.
On the rare occasion he opened his mouth, nothing came out but harsh abuse.
“How long are you going to stand there idling?! Get to work, you magicless leech!”
To avoid crossing paths with Count Tenies, Christiana began confining herself to the shack whenever she wasn’t working.
Then, one morning, a terrible chill washed over Christiana.
Her body felt impossibly heavy, and just sitting up made her head spin. Even so, she wasn’t allowed to rest. She forced herself to the main house as usual and started the laundry. But as she moved her hands, her vision blurred, and she collapsed in front of the washbasin.
“Hey! What are you doing?! Don’t you dare slack off!”
As one of the maids shouted, the others nearby gathered around to see what was going on.
“I’m… I’m sorry…”
Christiana tried to push herself up, but there was no strength in her arms or legs.
One of the gathered maids touched Christiana’s forehead.
“Oh yikes, she has a terrible fever! It’ll be a nightmare if we catch whatever she has.”
“That’s terrible for us! Christiana is the laundry maid… doesn’t that mean we’ll have to do it instead?”
Having caught wind of the commotion, Claudia arrived at the washing area with an annoyed look on her face.
“What is all this fuss about first thing in the morning?!”
“Madam, Christiana collapsed. It seems she has quite a high fever.”
“Then just drag her back to the shack. It’s a nuisance having her collapse in a place like this. You girls can just do the laundry in her place.”
“We really have to do it after all…? Good grief, Christiana is so useless. Ah, but what about a doctor? Don’t we need to call one? Technically, she was a Count’s daughter, right?”
When the maid asked, Claudia raised her eyebrows in exasperation.
“A doctor? Why on earth would we go out of our way to call a doctor for a child like this? If her condition worsens and something happens to her, then it’s simply her time to go. She’s an eyesore—take her away!”
Claudia glared down at Christiana lying on the floor as if looking at a pile of trash.
Christiana heard their voices, but she didn’t even have the strength to respond.
In the end, she was hoisted up by the maids and carried back to the shack. The shack, which had no fireplace, was as freezing cold as the outdoors. Even under the thin blanket, the chill didn’t subside in the slightest, making her teeth chatter uncontrollably. Her throat was parched, but she didn’t even have the strength to fetch water.
(Cold… it’s so cold. This is all because I can’t use magic, isn’t it? Why am I so useless? If I had even a little bit of power, Father wouldn’t have treated me like this… It’s all because I’m completely good-for-nothing…)
When the next morning came, her fever still hadn’t broken.
Christiana curled into a ball beneath her blanket, shivering non-stop.
(Am I going to die like this?)
The thought frightened her, bringing tears to her eyes, yet part of her couldn’t help thinking that dying might be better than staying here and living such a miserable existence.