Summer 13

It had been a long time since she had worked as a maid. It had been a while since she’d worn her uniform. Senita diligently polished the staircase railing. While she had spent more time as the Prince’s playmate than doing maid work since arriving at the Summer Palace, she had spent much more of her life cleaning and doing chores. Her hands hadn’t lost their dexterity after a few weeks of rest, and she didn’t slack off. She simply did the work assigned to her. As always. As she had always done.

However, to Melissa, who was working with Senita again after some time apart, it seemed different.

“Senita, did you really clean this properly?”

Melissa asked irritably, pointing at the floor beneath the railing.

“Yes! I cleaned it along with the top part just now.”

Senita replied firmly, putting strength into her voice. She could tell Melissa was in a bad mood just by looking at her frown. Melissa wasn’t usually kind, but she didn’t usually snap at Senita for no reason. It seemed she was upset that Senita hadn’t been working with them.

“If you cleaned it, why is it still so dirty?”

“Ah…”

Is it? It looks clean to me.

“What’s with that expression?”

As Senita stammered while examining the spot Melissa had pointed out, Melissa’s eyes sharpened.

“Huh? That’s not it…”

“What? Are you saying you can’t do cleaning work anymore?”

At Melissa’s pointed jab, Senita quickly replied.

“No, I’ll clean it again!”

“Of course you will.”

Melissa clicked her tongue and shook her head. Then, she gestured with her chin at another maid cleaning the hallway downstairs and smiled with a twisted expression.

Senita pretended not to see and started cleaning from the top of the railing, going up the stairs. Her heart pounded, but she decided to ignore it. She gripped the rag tightly.

Nora insisted that she return to her original duties since she wasn’t a playmate anymore.

Gaspar, on the other hand, said it was alright for her to rest for a day. He was worried that if Senita looked tired when she was summoned the next day after having cleaned the day before, it would reflect poorly on them.

However, Nora strongly opposed this idea. She said that she couldn’t just play around. Gaspar eventually agreed with Nora that it was natural for a palace maid to clean.

He was concerned because the Empress and Prince were fond of the child. However, Nora was right. If Senita had been even slightly older, there would have been complaints among the servants.

After returning to her duties as a maid, Senita diligently cleaned, thanks to Nora’s constant reminders to not forget her place. Though being a playmate was less physically demanding, this was her original role. Besides, something else bothered her more than the hard work.

Why didn’t they call for me today?

This was all Senita could think about as she cleaned the stairs.

Did I really do something wrong this time? Are they going to fire me now?

She didn’t know what she had done wrong, so she was just frustrated.

Did they change their minds after I called the Prince by his name? Or because I accepted the dress from the Empress? Or maybe they no longer needed me because I had learned to read and wasn’t pitiful anymore.

Since she had only been told not to come without an explanation, all sorts of thoughts ran through her head.

If I had known that yesterday would be the last time I saw the prince, I would have looked at him longer. 

Delayed regret gnawed at the edges of her young, insecure heart.

Lost in thought, she silently cleaned the stairs. Before she knew it, she had reached the spot she had been cleaning before Melissa scolded her.

Did I clean it well this time?

Just as she was about to look up for confirmation, a torrent of cold water came crashing down from the sky like a waterfall.

“Kyaa!”

A scream escaped her reflexively.

What? What’s going on?

Startled by the sudden shower, Senita tried to look up. At that moment, another wave of water poured down. She finally understood the situation and quickly moved away, but her body was already soaked.

Her eyes stung. Senita coughed and wiped her eyes, which were streaming with dirty water. As she regained her senses, she saw Melissa leaning against the railing of the upper staircase through her blurry vision.

“Oh my! Sorry, I spilled the bucket.”

Then, Melissa and the other maid beside her burst into laughter.

“It was an accident! You know?”

Her voice was lighthearted.

Melissa descended the stairs with light steps. Her hand, wiping her wet hair out of her eyes, was rough. Dirty water from the rinsed rag streamed down Senita’s cheeks. A foul odor emanated from her entire body.

“Oh dear, what am I going to do? Your pretty face is all wet.”

“Sob…“

Senita bit her lip hard. Melissa frowned when she saw this.

“You’re not crying, are you? If you stay in those clothes, the water will drip, and you’ll have to clean everything again. Go change quickly and stay out of sight so you don’t offend anyone.”

Then she added, as if she had just remembered something:

“Oh! Into your maid’s uniform, you know?”

Senita’s eyes widened at Melissa’s words. Her intention was clear. She was referring to the dress that the Empress had given her and that she had worn earlier. It was the same dress that Nora had quickly taken off her the moment she saw Senita being brought back to the maid’s room by the attendant.

“What are you doing? Go! Hurry!”

Melissa snatched the rag from Senita’s hand and pushed her back. Senita stumbled and grabbed the railing to avoid falling. Her wet body felt cold and heavy. With each step she took, a damp footprint followed behind her.

“What’s this? What happened here? Melissa!”

She heard Isabella scolding from behind.

“Senita spilled it!”

She also heard Melissa falsely accuse Senita.

She wanted to turn around and deny it. But then Melissa would surely make a scene later. Besides, she doubted Isabella would believe her.

Her heart sank as she walked unsteadily. A familiar fear struck her:

I’m being hated. Again.

What should I do?

She felt nauseous. Her heart lurched as if she were on a ship caught in a storm.

Should she have been more careful, as her aunt had told her? But she had only done as she was told. She was told to obey without question, so she did. Even after returning, she hadn’t acted arrogantly and had remained quiet. But why?

Why?

She didn’t know. Even if she did know, she doubted there was anything she could do about it.

Senita went outside to use the back stairs. With each step, her wet skirt clung to her legs. An endless trail of water droplets followed her.

I should wring out my clothes first. I can’t leave watermarks all over the hallway. Someone cleans the back stairs, too. I don’t want to add to their work and hear complaints.

Senita went out to the back garden. The outside air felt especially cold against her wet body. Servants passing by, busy with their own work, offered words of rebuke and concern. Overwhelmed by all of this, Senita moved to a shaded corner of the garden.

Water gushed out as she wrung out her soaked skirt. Each time she twisted the fabric with her hands, Melissa’s face kept flashing in her mind. Anyone but a fool would know that Melissa had done it on purpose.

This was bad. Even if the Empress and Prince left and Senita returned to her duties as a maid, she didn’t think Melissa would treat her normally again anytime soon. Once someone started to hate you, they tended to find fault with everything you did. It would surely take a long time for things to go back to normal. The thought of the days ahead filled her with dread and anguish.

I wish the Prince and the Empress would take me with them when they leave. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about this. If only the Prince would take me with him and let me stay by his side…

“Hey!”

Someone suddenly shouted. Senita quickly looked up. Her heart pounded as if she had been caught having forbidden thoughts.

“Who are you? You’re all wet! What happened?”

The owner of the young voice approached and stood in front of her. He was a boy with messy brown hair, a little taller than Senita.

Senita wiped her eyes and quickly replied.

“Um, well, a bucket fell and I got splashed.”

“A bucket? Why?”

“Well, it was an a-accident…”

Just as she was about to finish her sentence, tears welled up in her eyes. Startled, Senita quickly covered her eyes with both hands. The tears streaming down her cold cheeks felt hot. The sun shining down on her was warm, yet her body trembled. She was cold. Even though it was still summer.