Saoirse Academy of Alchemy

Chapter 3: Maidservant

Chapter 3: Maidservant

I was introduced by Mr. Lowe to the head staff and left me under her care. She was a woman in her sixties with a slightly round physique, hair with streaks of gray twisted in a tight bun, and veins protruding from her wrinkled hands.

She introduced herself as Martha. When I asked what to call her, she instructed me to call her by that name with no titles attached. I found it strange at first because it sounded disrespectful to my ear. But the maidservants called her by that name.

It was already late at night when the two of us met in the drawing room. After a short introduction to each other, she told me to follow her to the maidservants' quarter.

Martha moved with ease despite being bundled up in a maidservant's uniform of a puffed gray dress with a clean white apron over it, while I scram behind her, almost tripping on the carpeted floor, she walked with deliberate steps.

We passed by countless doors, endless corridors, and empty dining halls before we reached the back of the castle. It was like trying to find the way out of a maze. The place was overwhelmingly huge that the entire Outback can fit in the academy grounds.

From the lights of the lamp post perched in every corner, the outbuilding came to view. It was a two-story structure stretched on either side, taking over most of my view. When we stepped inside the carpeted drawing room, the maidservants politely greeted Martha and only gave me a disapproving gaze.

But I didn't mind because I was too fixated on the interior of the bleak-looking building from the outside. This can't be a maidservant's quarter. It looks way more flourished than the best houses I served in town. There's a drawing room with coffee tables and couches where maidservants in home clothes hang around, the staircase spread itself before the room, and dangling from the high ceiling was an ancient-looking chandelier.

I followed Martha to the second floor where the rooms were situated. I honestly prepared myself to stay anywhere. Storage room or backrooms of the kitchen. I no longer mind as long as I can stay here. So when Martha told me I would be staying with her since there was no vacant room in the building, I was more than grateful.

"We added a bed and a few things after the principal informed me about your case."

She showed me her room wide enough to have an additional bed, a cabinet, and a desk by the curtain-covered window. Her voice was nothing but stern, but when she showed me the bed with the clean white sheets and new pillows, I wanted to hug her. When was the last time I slept in a proper bed? I can no longer remember.

Martha watched me from her bed, covered by a floral quilted blanket. She told me about the supplies room where I can get my clothes and uniform, and things such as towels and hygiene products.

"We're not strict with the use of supplies as long as you list them down for the inventory," she told me. "No outside products are allowed unless they're thoroughly inspected and approved by the academy. If you have certain medications you need, the clinic and infirmary have enough supply."

After the instructions from Martha, I headed to the supply room on the same floor for the things I needed. It's like being in a store with endless shelves of products. Different smelling soaps and shampoos, home clothes in neutral and muted colors, and maidservants' uniforms in different sizes.

I placed my supplies in a wicker basket just like what Martha suggested before heading to the shower room beside the supplies room. Three maidservants were on their way out, casting me watchful gazes, but they didn't say anything.

The shower room wafted with the smell of clean soap and fresh laundry. The white tiles shimmered and shower heads stuck out from behind frosted glass doors. Under the pelting waters of the shower head, I scrubbed my skin so hard as if scrubbing out my past.