“AAARRRGGHH!” Zinnia tumbled backward, her face landing right in the dirty grass.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I hate this!” Furious, Zinnia lifted her flushed face from the grass.
Luckily, no one had seen what just happened; otherwise, Zinnia would have been better off digging her own grave right then and there.
As Zinnia was grumbling to herself, she heard the static hum of a machine begin to ring in her head.
But this time it wasn’t as loud as before, so Zinnia didn’t feel a severe headache when she heard it.
Ding!
[Land Assessment Available]
[Greenmarch Manor — Condition: Poor]
[Soil Quality: Poor]
[Soil Condition: Severely Neglected]
[Water Source: Contaminated]
[Infrastructure: Severely Damaged]
[Cautions: Many weeds appear on the land; the host must clear them before starting to farm.]
A sigh escaped Zinnia as she looked at the notification from the System; she knew the Manor was in bad shape, but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
“I’m really going to have to work hard to make this Manor livable,” Zinnia muttered softly, realizing that the situation wasn’t looking too good.
Slowly, Zinnia stood up while brushing off the simple dress she was wearing; she was thinking of changing into pants after today’s embarrassing incident.
“Damn weeds, taste my revenge for what you did to me,” Zinnia said with a wicked grin playing on her lips.
Zinnia gripped the sickle tightly in her hand, but this time she swung it slowly.
Although her speed was slow, Zinnia began to show visible progress.
[Basic Farming Action Completed.]
[Farming Proficiencies: 1]
“Whoa! What’s this?” Zinnia fell silent when she received another notification from the System.
Upon checking it, Zinnia realized that her farming skill had increased.
“So all this wasn’t in vain after all,” Zinnia said as she wiped the sweat pouring down her forehead.
After nearly an hour of Zinnia cutting through the grass, she heard a commotion outside the gate, it turned out to be Anna, who had brought about seven men with her.
“Miss, I’ve gathered some people who can work for us,” Anna said once she was near Zinnia.
Seeing that most of the men were middle-aged, Zinnia was initially hesitant to assign them such hard labor.
But she had no other choice, since they were the only ones Anna had been able to gather at the moment.
“As you know, I am Zinnia Vermillion, the daughter of Count Vermillion. So you don’t need to worry about pay; I need you to repair this Manor,” Zinnia explained firmly.
It was clear from their expressions that they weren’t too pleased with the way Zinnia spoke to them.
But Zinnia didn’t have time to dwell on that; she was used to it anyway.
“Pay them a reasonable wage,” Zinnia whispered to Anna, then ordered her to get the work started immediately.
“I understand, Miss.” Anna nodded obediently.
That entire day, Count Vermillion’s Manor was bustling with repair work.
Even Zinnia stayed until late afternoon to clean up the grounds.
.
.
.
“Miss, are you all right?” Anna was a little unsure when she saw Zinnia’s current state.
“What do you think? Do you think I’m all right?” Zinnia brushed her hair aside, then turned and glared at Anna.
Anna’s usually expressionless, emotionless face now twisted into a grimace as she saw Zinnia sprawled out on the living room sofa.
“Did you really have to push yourself that hard just to clean the front yard?” Anna didn’t understand why her young, incredibly spoiled mistress had to go through all this.
“I have to survive, Anna.” This time, Zinnia replied seriously, even looking Anna straight in the eye as she said it.
“Huh?” Anna, who had been resting her chin on the arm of the sofa, even slipped a little.
Zinnia sighed; it was hard for her to explain her situation to Anna.
Especially since Anna had no idea of the dangers lurking in this world’s original story.
Zinnia grinned to herself; it was time for her to put on a spectacular act.
“Ahh… you have to experience heartbreak to understand how I feel right now,” Zinnia said dramatically, not forgetting to shed a few crocodile tears.
This time, Anna’s expression looked more understanding.
Zinnia glanced at her out of the corner of her eye; it seemed that bringing up her heartbreak over Lionel was an effective way to deceive these people.
“I get so sad when I think about it. I’m going back to my room.” With a gloomy expression, Zinnia walked listlessly toward her room.
“Miss…” Anna looked guilty when she saw Zinnia become so listless.
Meanwhile, Zinnia chuckled to herself softly.
The Manor she was currently staying in was now much more livable; the people Anna had brought in were doing a great job.
In just one day, the Manor’s roof and several broken windows had been replaced.
It seemed it would take a little longer to repaint the Manor.
“Finally, I can sleep peacefully. I never expected Anna could clean the inside of the Manor this thoroughly,” Zinnia said as she cheerfully jumped onto her bed.
Zinnia rolled over to the edge of her queen-size bed, then reached out toward the bookshelf next to her bed.
Zinnia had placed all the volumes of the Farming Guide she’d received as a gift there; she picked up Volume I of the guide and began reading it before falling asleep.
“Hmm… It looks like it’s time for me to start plowing the land. Especially considering how poor the soil quality is at the Manor,” Zinnia muttered as she turned the pages of the book in her hand.
That night, Zinnia made sure to learn how to plow the fields; she didn’t want the embarrassing incident from that morning to happen to her again.
.
.
.
“Miss, are you sure you want to wear this outfit?” Anna stared at Zinnia in horror.
And no wonder, Zinnia wasn’t wearing a dress like she usually did; she’d chosen a casual outfit with pants and boots.
Not only that, but Zinnia’s long red hair was now tied up in a high ponytail.
“Stop bothering me, Anna. You’d better go direct the workers; I’ll be busy with my own business.” With a hoe slung over her shoulder, Zinnia gently waved her hand to shoo Anna away.
Yesterday, Zinnia managed to clear quite a bit of grass, so now half of the front yard is free of weeds.
“This soil is really hard, just like it says in the book,” Zinnia muttered as she rubbed her chin, then set down her hoe.
“I just read in the book that I’m supposed to water it first before plowing the soil. Looks like I’ll have to do that for now.”
Zinnia was grateful she’d read the Guide the System had given her; otherwise, she would have certainly embarrassed herself just like before.
Slowly, Zinnia picked up her hoe, then positioned it at a 45-degree angle before swinging it.
Then, once the blade of the hoe had penetrated the soil, Zinnia began to pry it up.
But the soil wouldn’t budge, even though Zinnia had exerted all her strength to pry up the hard ground.
“What is this? Why is it so hard?”
“Okay, let’s try again.”
Once more, Zinnia began pushing the hoe upward, applying the technique she had learned.
However, that darn soil wouldn’t budge.
Zinnia gritted her teeth and tried again.
And all she got was a notification from the System.
[Stamina: 23%]
“…”
“Really, System! I’ve only just started!”