Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Olivia returned home. She washed her hands in the kitchen and went inside.

Her mother sat in a rocking chair in the corner of the living room, humming a tune. Her thin hands were busy sewing. It was a hat for a newborn.

Olivia set down her bag and hat. She approached her quietly.

“Mom.”

The woman hadn’t heard the door or the approaching footsteps. She kept her eyes fixed on her sewing. Only when Olivia spoke right beside her did she turn, a gentle smile on her face.

“You’re home? Such a tomboy. You’ve been running around outside so much your face is burnt to a crisp. What if you scare the baby and make them cry?”

Her mother set her sewing in her lap. She brushed Olivia’s hair back with a tender touch, then stroked her own flat stomach.

Olivia gave a sheepish smile. She sat down beside her mother and looked at her stomach.

“It’s fine. I’ll pale out again once winter comes. Besides, if I play with the baby, they’ll get just as tanned. They won’t be able to make fun of me.”

Her mother laughed aloud, charmed by the joke. She glanced out the window.

“I hope your father comes home early today. He leaves at the crack of dawn and doesn’t get back until long after dark. I can barely remember the last time I saw his face…”

“It’s harvest season. Dad’s just busy. You know how hard he works.”

“I just worry he’ll push himself too hard and collapse. He looks sturdy enough, but he’s surprisingly fragile.”

“Mom, really. Dad would be so hurt if he heard you say that!”

Olivia laughed brightly and stood up. She announced she was going to make lunch and turned away. Her mother smiled, nodded, and went back to her sewing. Olivia’s smile slowly faded as she headed for the kitchen, leaving the humming behind.

Her father had died two years ago. He had been taking on extra work, worried about the expenses a new baby would bring. A rope securing a high stack of lumber had snapped, and he was crushed beneath it.

The sudden, tragic news had broken her mother. Her legs had given out. She had stumbled and fallen hard on her stomach. The impact triggered premature labor, and Olivia’s sibling was stillborn.

Perhaps it was the guilt of losing her husband so senselessly and failing to protect her baby. But whatever the cause, her mother’s mind had shattered.

Sometimes she was as innocent as a child. Sometimes she seemed perfectly normal, though her memory was full of holes. Sometimes she sat completely vacant, unresponsive as a corpse. And sometimes, if Olivia stepped out of her sight for even a second, she would scream and wail.

The villagers called her crazy. Olivia knew her mother was unwell, but she accepted all of it.

Her father had once taught her that everyone had a different capacity for grief and pain.

Olivia figured her mother simply couldn’t bear any more. She had lived a long life, weathering countless storms. Even during the funeral for her father and the baby—which Olivia had to arrange herself while her mother was bedridden—the village women had wept, saying no mother could ever survive the grief of outliving her child.

Olivia was grieving too. But she was the only one left to protect her mother, so she steeled herself.

People praised Olivia endlessly for being such a devoted daughter. Behind her back, though, they gossiped that the two of them were doomed to a miserable end.

However, she didn’t care. The villagers might offer a little help here and there, but at the end of the day, they were outsiders. Anyone could stand at a distance and run their mouth. But if she actually took their words to heart, she was the only one who had to live with the fallout. Olivia knew that much.

In a tiny rural village, everyone being in everyone else’s business was both a blessing and a curse. Her father had originally studied in a large city before his family’s fortunes fell and he settled in Maresa. He had made sure to teach his young daughter that lesson early on.

He had been a wise, loving father. That was why Olivia could so fully understand and accept her mother’s crushing grief.

Olivia quickly shook off the sudden wave of sorrow and started making lunch.

Her mother had skipped dinner the night before because of a fever, but her appetite must have returned this morning. The pot was completely empty. She had even washed the dishes.

These little everyday things were proof that her mother was slowly, steadily getting better. Smiling to herself, Olivia pulled eggs, flour, leftover vegetables, and smoked ham from the cupboard.

She had to work hard until evening, so she needed a hearty lunch.

Olivia mixed the flour into a dough and baked it into thin flatbreads. She chopped the vegetables, mixed them into the eggs, and fried up a thick omelet. She layered the omelet and smoked ham between the flatbreads to make sandwiches, then poured glasses of milk she had kept in a cool spot.

Money was tight, but they didn’t owe anyone a dime. Because of that, Olivia always made sure they ate well. Her mother’s health was frail, and Olivia herself worked as hard as a grown man. If they skimped on food, their bodies would break down, and the medicine would end up costing far more anyway.

She arranged the mouthwatering sandwiches and cups of milk on a wooden tray and carried the food out carefully.

Olivia polished off her lunch, took a thirty-minute nap to recharge, and headed back out.

Aside from the sudden arrival of the Master of the Villa, October in Maresa passed as smoothly and busily as any other year.

Time flew by. Soon, it was the first of November. Olivia was heading home in high spirits, her arms full of bread she’d been given alongside her wages for her hard work. She spotted Merlin waving from over a low stone wall and jogged over.

“Merlin!”

“Hey, Olivia. It’s been a while.”

It really had been. Usually, no matter how much their schedules clashed, they ran into each other at least twice a week. This time, it had been almost a month.

On top of that, Merlin looked noticeably haggard. Olivia tilted her head, concerned.

“Have you been sick? You’ve lost so much weight in your cheeks. And your eyes are all sunken in…”

Between the weight loss and her pale complexion, she clearly wasn’t sleeping either.

Merlin offered a weak smile at the genuine concern. She glanced around. Once she was sure the garden was empty, she dropped her voice to a whisper.

“Remember what I told you? About the master coming?”

Olivia held her breath and nodded.

“I saw dozens of carriages parked out front. What in the world was in all of them?”

“Food, furniture, just… a bit of everything. Anyway, ever since the master arrived, we haven’t had a second to breathe. You don’t see anyone slacking off in the garden anymore, do you?”

“The master must be pretty demanding.”

“…Yeah.”

Merlin gave a bitter smile and left it at that.

Usually, people didn’t just blurt out their inner thoughts like that. It reminded Merlin that no matter how mature Olivia acted, she was still just a kid. Thank god Olivia wasn’t the type to go gossiping, or things could have gotten very ugly.

“Demanding” was far too light a word for their master. But Merlin couldn’t exactly tell an outsider that. She let out a sigh and changed the subject.

“That’s just how it is when you work for someone else. Don’t you get nervous when your boss is watching you?”

“I actually get excited. I always hope they’ll see how hard I’m working and pay me a little extra!”

And it worked. Her diligence had earned her a few extra coins on more than one occasion. The bread she’d gotten today was proof of that.

Merlin let out a snort of laughter at the innocent, sunny response. She lightly pinched Olivia’s cheek.

Olivia was skinny, but she wasn’t malnourished. She just burned off every ounce of fat by constantly moving. Her cheeks, however, still held a bit of baby fat. They were rough and sunburnt, but soft to the touch.

Merlin found a strange sense of comfort in the girl’s bright smile. Then, remembering something, she dropped her hand.

“Oh, I almost forgot. You’re free starting in December, right? The butler said he’s going to hire you for errands again this year.”

Olivia’s eyes lit up.