Chapter 26. The Burned Room  

The people in the room, excluding the elderly couple who commuted, were the three servants.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

Ael spoke coldly, and they exchanged glances, seemingly contemplating what to do about the situation.

“Get out of the room right now. And when Father returns, confess your wrongdoing honestly…”

“Are you crazy? Do you think that man will let us off?”

“……!”

One of the servants stood up and spat on the floor.

Gone was any semblance of the politeness he sometimes showed; his attitude was now entirely rebellious, and Ael felt a pang of fear.

But she couldn’t back down now.

“I’ll say it again. Return to your places right now. Then I’ll pretend this never happened. If you refuse to listen, I’ll have no choice but to fire you.”

“Fire us? That’s a joke.”

The servant took a step toward Ael, clenching his fist, making a cracking sound.

“Do you think this is the only place we can work? Even though it’s a crappy employer, we stayed out of long familiarity, and you threaten to fire us? When the viscount returns, do you think he’ll believe you or us?”

“……”

Ael couldn’t respond to the servant’s threat. It wasn’t because she didn’t know; she knew the answer better than anyone.

While Ael was unable to answer, the maid, who had been playing with Elise’s shawl, noticed the earrings on the dressing table.

In their haste to leave, Elise and her maid hadn’t properly tidied up.

The maid slyly pocketed them. But Ael saw it.

“Give it back!”

“What? Give what back… Let go!”

Caught stealing, the maid roughly shoved Ael.

Already weakened from recent illness and poor nutrition, Ael fell back easily, like a paper doll. The lamp the servants had left on the floor toppled over.

The oil from the lamp spilled onto the carpet, quickly catching fire.

The startled servants backed away. The sudden flames spread to Elise’s clothes nearby.

“Water! Get water!”

The servants shouted in panic, rushing outside in confusion. Meanwhile, the fire spread further.

Ael got up and looked around, grabbing the blanket from Elise’s bed to smother the flames on the carpet.

“Cough!”

As the fire under the blanket died down, acrid smoke rose.

Covering her mouth and nose with her arm, Ael held the blanket firmly.

Only after confirming the fire under the carpet was completely out did Ael remove the blanket.

“Gasp… Gasp…”

In the smoky, smelly room, Ael moved to the window, gasping for the breath she had been holding.

Finally, the servants returned with buckets of water. Though it was only enough to douse the fire once.

Seeing the fire was already out, they began to retreat.

As the alcohol wore off, they realized what they had done. The maid threw down the earrings she had pocketed and the shawl she had draped over her shoulder, shouting.

“I didn’t take anything from here! And I’m quitting this place first!”

She then hurriedly turned and left. The remaining two servants looked at each other and shouted.

“You fell and started the fire, not me!”

“Yeah! And I was planning to quit this stingy place anyway! We’re going to the Ash Merchant Guild’s mansion! What was it called? Yes, Oltvea Mansion! A friend said they’d get us in!”

The servants shouted at Ael, who was covered in soot, and fled.

While they were coming up, Jenna, who had been sleeping due to exhaustion from work, woke up and came down.

Seeing the servants bump into her without apology and leave, Jenna hurried to Elise’s room, smelling the smoke.

“Miss!”

Jenna quickly checked on Ael, who was as disheveled as the room.

“I’m fine. More importantly…”

“What do you mean you’re fine!”

Jenna shone the lamp she brought on Ael’s arm.

When had she gotten hurt? There were already blisters forming from burns.

Jenna quickly led Ael out of the ruined room.

In the hallway, still lit by the dawn light, Ael looked even more pitiful.

Her entire body was smeared with soot, and the acrid smell was overwhelming. On top of that, there were burn marks everywhere.

There was no time to worry about the servants who had left. Jenna immediately took Ael to the kitchen, cleaned her wounds with fresh water, and brought her a change of clothes.

Amidst the chaos, the summer sun rose early, illuminating the horizon. By the time the first rays of morning light came over the horizon, Jenna and Ael looked at Elise’s room and sighed.

“What should we do…”

Jenna’s voice, murmuring in despair, and the state of the room made Ael’s vision darken.

Soot covered the entire room, the carpet and Elise’s clothes were clearly unusable, and even the furniture was damaged.

What would the viscount couple and Elise say when they returned and saw this?

* * *

In the morning, Ael, along with the elderly servant and maid who had come to work, cleaned up Elise’s room. They sorted and cleaned whatever could be salvaged, but there wasn’t much left.

Ael, feeling suffocated with fear, wrote another letter to the viscount.

She explained that there had been a fire and that Elise’s room had suffered significant damage. Of course, she also mentioned the servants who had quit.

A week later, unlike before, a reply came from the viscount. With trembling hands, Ael opened the letter and read it.

After a long sigh, she placed the letter on the table.

“As expected…”

The letter was filled with nothing but accusations.

It was hard to tell if it was a reply or a curse, as the viscount poured verbal abuse on Ael through his writing.

Regarding the servants’ misdeeds, he only criticized her for being unable to manage them properly.

The viscount instructed her to find a husband herself to raise money and restore Elise’s room to its original state.

He also mentioned that since the Grand Duke was very concerned about security, they would no longer respond to letters, so she shouldn’t send any more.

They would spend the summer there and return before the fall season, so she should have everything done by then.

If not, he would choose a way to recover the costs of what she had eaten and used so far, other than marriage.

After reading the last part, Ael quietly closed the letter.

* * *

Regardless, she had to do what she could.

Ael spent the entire day cleaning Elise’s room. Jenna helped as well.

The clothes in the wardrobe were less sooty but still smelled burnt.

While Ael scrubbed the soot from the windowsills and floor, Jenna took Elise’s clothes to wash them.

When Ael returned from meeting with a carpenter about repairs, she found Jenna collapsed in the laundry room.

“Jenna!”

Shocked, Ael carried Jenna to her room. The elderly maid brought a wet cloth and water, speaking sympathetically.

“Jenna said this was the only way she could help you, so she washed clothes at night too. I warned her not to overdo it and collapse, but…”

Listening to the maid, Ael held Jenna’s hand tightly.

Because of her, innocent people were suffering so much.

Ael tended to Jenna late into the night. The next day, she dressed and headed to the port.

The streets were already bustling with people coming and going from the morning. Ael stopped at the Denertum branch building of the Ash Merchant Guild.

‘They said they were looking for an ancient language teacher back then.’

But quite some time had passed, so they might have found a much better teacher by now.

‘Still, I have to ask.’

She needed to see if there was any other job she could get.

Cleaning jobs wouldn’t pay enough to repair Elise’s room. Other jobs that offered such pay wouldn’t hire someone from a family with such a bad reputation.

So her only remaining option was a job at the Ash Merchant Guild.

As Ael entered, a staff member approached her at the entrance.

“What brings you here?”

“Well, um… I was offered a position as an ancient language teacher by the branch manager before… I had to decline at the time, but I wanted to inquire if the position is still available.”

Though it wasn’t something to be ashamed of, her voice grew quieter as she wasn’t used to making such requests.

“The branch manager? I’ll pass on the message. May I have your name?”

“Ael… Frieda.”

“Understood, Ms. Aelfrieda. I’ll pass it on, but there are many meetings from the morning today, so I’m not sure when you’ll receive a response. Should we contact you at home?”

Ael hesitated for a moment before shaking her head.

“No, if it’s alright, may I wait here?”

“Of course.”

Ael was guided to the waiting room where others were seated.