Countess is very gentle

"Are we going to show her to the noble Countess looking like this?" Dorothy finally asked, eyeing the kid's dirty rags suspiciously.

"Of course not. Do you want the noble Countess to get infected with something? Due to her deep faith, she's very strong against curses, but she might not be able to endure such a stench. But that's your job." She said with a broad smile, throwing the little girl off her shoulder and shoving her into Dorothy's arms, who in surprise grabbed the frail body with all her strength.

"Ugh..." Daisy gasped in pain reluctantly, and Dorothy immediately loosened her grip. She didn't think the child in front of her would be so light. She didn't dare show it on her face, though, and quickly resumed her aggressive grip on her arm.

"Yes, head maid Rocus. I'll take care of her. What are the next orders?" Dorothy immediately entered the rehearsed role of a maid, to which Kate nodded happily.

"Wash her, then I'll take her to Countess. Of course, I won't forget to mention your irreplaceable help. Ah, and hurry up. We wasted some time trying to find a solution to your stupidity." She commanded calmly, then Daisy found herself behind the closed door of the small room.

It was very simple, practically all made of wood. It was kept clean as if no one lived here, but there was still dust in the air. One window must have let in more light here than the one in the attic, and the room itself felt quite cozy.

"Why do I always have to do dirty work..." Dorothy muttered under her breath, then looked at the child in front of her in silence.

The girl stood politely a few steps in front of her, never taking her eyes off her, her honey-colored eyes putting Dorothy in a strange mood.

Daisy watched the maid closely, tense and ready to attack or flee, but the maid saw a strange warmth in her eyes, as if something was pulling her inside. It made her body relax and her mind silenced. She felt in a better mood and even smiled, which made Daisy raise her eyebrows suspiciously.

The moment was short-lived because the smell of the child reached the maid's nose and all the charm was broken, her disgust returned.

She grabbed the girl's hands and threw her into the wooden tub forcibly, then immediately began dousing the cold water that was left of her morning bath.

"I can't believe I'm bathing some mongrel in my own tub. You know what an honor it is to have your own bathtub in the room? It's very rare for servants to have such a luxury. I might as well throw you in a pond in the garden and you would smell better." Complained the maid, but obediently and thoroughly wiped the child's skin, even too thoroughly causing Daisy to try to wriggle many times.

Dorothy didn't care about the child's wounds in front of her, she knew she deserved it, so she washed it very thoroughly and just made sure her wounds didn't bleed.

During this time, Daisy tried to withstand the bath because it allowed her to get rid of fleas, but she didn't want to waste an opportunity to get some information or something that might help her.

"Why no one like me?" She asked in a low voice as if she were talking to herself, frowning so that she looked very pitiful, but the maid hadn't fallen into trying to look cute.

Her hands, however, stopped for a moment as the woman heard the soft words of the child in front of her. She frowned at the thought of the question being asked by a twelve-year-old child who was as small as if she were only seven, thinking about her little sister. No child should have to think about such a question...

After a while, however, she noticed numerous small wounds on her own hands. Each of them was done as a punishment for something she did wrong. So many hard things had happened to her and no one felt sorry for her. And the girl in front of her? She didn't deserve what she had.

Dorothy started scrubbing again, with even more brevity, as if she was pissed at the child in front of her and not at those who had scarred her.

"You still have the nerve to ask? The rumors were right that you are just a damned evil that has befallen this poor house. Everyone knows what you did, and you still ask?" The maid was disgusted, the more so as she remembered that she felt relaxed for a moment with this something.

"You're a murderer. You attack anyone who comes close, and everyone injured later becomes seriously ill, you walk on all four legs like an animal, and just looking at you brings bad luck. When you were younger you even bit off your maid's four fingers, wanted to push Miss Marigold out the window, burn Countess alive and... Haaah... There's a lot more, but I'm not a priestess to mention your sins, but even I know the greatest thing is that you killed your own father!" Dorothy grew more disgusted and indignant with each word, so her wiping was even harder.

She remembered well the day the news had spread to people that the merciful Count Claritas had been murdered by his own daughter. The story was told by her father at home, who overheard it while gambling.

Maybe he was a terrible father, but even he knew that Count Claritas was a very good man, with a big heart, just and kind. The subjects who lived on his land loved him very much and always felt they were very lucky to live under such a good master. Even a man like Dorothy's father was furious and saddened for a few days, which was why Dorothy remembered it so well.

Daisy, on the other hand, would probably feel something strange if she were inside a murderer's body, and the point is that Mellie had no memories of the day of her father's death. She didn't even know which day he died, only remembers it was her fault. However, it isn't clear from her memories why. All Daisy knew was that there was nothing to indicate Mellie's guilt.

"Born with such dark hair, not even the gods love you." Dorothy said disgustedly, then suddenly froze in surprise. She shouldn't have said that.

Feeling a little guilt reborn within her, the maid frowned at the horribly reddened skin of the little girl in front of her. Her eyes saw as she presses her blue lips with all her might not to make a sound, even though she was shaking with pain.

Dorothy saw her little sister in her again. Or even... herself when she was hiding from her drunk father and running away from her agitated mother, hiding in the corner, trying to be quiet and soothing her little sister.

Dorothy was the new maid in this house. She was responsible for bringing food to Mellie for only two months, but every time she came to bring her food, the girl hid. The child who everyone called cursed evil, unloved even by the gods, looked scared from behind the cardboard boxes, not daring to approach her.

Dorothy looked at her with disgust every time, but now in front of her sat a tiny little girl, quiet and young, completely no different from the others except that she looked like the poorest orphan you meet on the roads, begging for a piece of bread. This was the second time she'd been so close to the infamous Mellie and noticed things she hadn't seen before.

Before she could think about it, she remembered her assignment and went back to work.

She reached for a towel, wiped the girl thoroughly, and looked carefully at the nest on her head. She made no comment and looked at the scissors she had been lent to decorate the flower baskets with the other maids. She watched for a moment, then turned around, dressing the girl in the same rags as before.

"What took you so long? During this time, I managed to take care of incident, instruct the chefs and check the cleanliness in three corridors! Didn't they teach you at home that time is money? Ah, yeah, haha!" As soon as they emerged from the servants' quarters, Katherine was waiting for them, speaking in a sneering voice, knowing full well Dorothy's situation at home. It's a miracle she didn't break down the door and pull Daisy out by the rags, but waited politely.

Well, Daisy didn't have much time to admire it as fat maid tugged her by rags again as if she were a straw doll and dragged her along, leaving Dorothy without a chance to answer.

Everything around Daisy began to spin in her eyes as the walls became very bright, decorated with glowing ornaments, paintings and crystals. It was full of various kinds of columns, windows from the ground to the ceiling, huge vases, huge flowers, armchairs, small tables, and all the smells mixed in her nose so much that she had to cover her mouth not to vomit.

The maids were passing the hallways, descending the stairs and walking confidently, but Daisy had stopped focusing on the surroundings after the fifth turn, only remembering that the house was huge.

Everything was white or gold here, even the floor was made of marble, which was a big difference from Dorothy's room, where everything was very simple and made of wood.

The fat maid finally stopped in front of the great door, decorated with gold rims, and the round handles shone so brightly that Daisy could see herself in them.

Katherine straightened up proudly and knocked three times.

"Master, this is head maid Katherine Rocus. Your loyal servant brought it up as ordered and dare to ask for further orders." Daisy didn't even look at the woman with the thought that she hadn't even been named a person, but just frowned at the thought of meeting a woman who was one of the most horrible people reported in stories of scaring children a few years later in novel.

"Come in." As soon as the order was given, Katherine opened the room's door without hesitation, and she did so without any problem, even though the door itself felt heavy.

She bowed deeply, dragging Daisy with her, and waited. There was such a long silence that Daisy managed to count one hundred and eighty-two golden tassels on the carpet they stood on. She wondered how the fat maid showed no sign of impatience when she had to bow so long.

"Ah, you do not need this formality. You have been working here for several years, Katherine, and you are still so hardworking and well-mannered. My heart rejoices to see that you are in good health." The woman said, as if she hadn't waited a dozen or so minutes, enjoying the sight of people bowing in front of her.

"I am unworthy of the care you show me, master. If Countess is healthy, then I am fine too. Please excuse me, I will be waiting outside if you need anything." She said respectfully, bowing again so low she almost took a beautiful ninety degrees, then left, giving Mellie one last warning look.

Daisy looked after her for a moment to make sure she was gone, then looked away to look at the famous Countess. She was curious how beautiful this woman was, since she managed to seduce many men and was the dream of even more, and yet she managed to remain single for so long.

But as soon as she turned her head, her eye was almost pierced by a thin needle held by the slender fingers of the noble Countess. Daisy froze, knowing the needle was only a few centimeters from her eye.

The woman smiled gently, and her smile could touch many hearts with the thought that a woman with such a smile is elegant and calm. The ice would melt at the sight of such a smile, and spring would come earlier. However, if they looked closely, they would surely capture dangerous sparkles in her bright blue eyes.

"I've always hated those eyes. Makes me want to pluck them out."