She spread her fingers and vigorously shook them in front of Verche’s face.

“Excuse me. Do you know how many fingers this is?”

“……. ”

“Judging by the looks, you don’t seem like a noble. Your attire seems to be from a poor neighborhood. Hey, by any chance, do you have some illness? Are you the crazy girl who’s said to be in every neighborhood?”

The maid pushed Verche’s shoulder with the end of the duster she held in her hand, as if touching it directly would be dirty.

“I don’t even know her name. Isn’t it amusing?”

The maids who were shouting behind Verche, avoiding the swaying body, laughed gleefully, seeming to enjoy the situation.

Verche, with her exhausted strength, managed to avoid falling and stopped.

“Yo-you don’t understand what I’m saying.”

A cold chill emanated from her face raised abruptly.

As Verche, who was stumbling in her words like a fool, changed her atmosphere in an instant, the maid’s face, who was taunting just a moment ago, froze.

She was still the same dirty and small woman as before, but suddenly an eerie feeling of fear came over her.

The petite woman seemed to emit an enormous pressure, making her feel like a giant for an instant.

“What the hell. Wh-why. What will you do if you keep staring like that? Why is such a person here?”

“My, my name, why should you know it?”

“What, what, what did you say?”

As the maid’s face turned red, Verche slowly pointed with her hand towards the direction of the door where Merc had entered.

“I-it’s, the lord’s, order for me, to bathe. B-before I get scolded.”

The maids, all with pale faces, simply pursed their lips, looking at Verche.

Verche, who had finished speaking, bowed deeply towards the floor. Only the young maid at the back was struggling with what to do.

“Ha.”

Verche, breathing in deeply with her chest puffed up, managed to avoid falling and slowly headed towards the bathroom, pointing with her hand.

“O-okay?”

After finishing her words, Verche bowed deeply towards the floor, and then the maids breathed a sigh of relief.

Although she looked like an insignificant woman, why couldn’t she say anything?

“Phew, weird.”

“Hmm.”

The maids looked at each other’s expressions here and there, as if glancing at each other, and casually brushed off their clothes or giggled towards the door.

“Laila. Shouldn’t we go to the bathroom now? His Excellency is waiting, right?”

“Yeah. We might be late if we keep this up.”

The maid shook her clothes as if she felt disgusted.

“Since we don’t have time, let’s just stop here. Hey, you. Don’t dirty the floor and follow me properly. Got it?”

The maids, raising their chins haughtily, walked out.

Verche took a deep breath, swelling her chest, and soon followed the maids.

The inside of the majestic castle, incomparable to the house, began to reveal itself little by little.

Verche clenched her cold fingertips painfully.

The maid led Verche into the bathroom filled with thick steam.

In the center, there was a wooden tub large enough for two people to sit facing each other, and next to it were various items, including a small chair.

For her, all of this was a strange and amazing sight she had never seen before.

The other maids had disappeared even before arriving at the bathroom, leaving only the youngest maid with her.
“Then, before getting into the bathtub, let’s wash off the dirt first.”

Everyone remembers her face when she was making a pitiful expression alone while everyone was laughing at her.

“Would you like to sit here? Yes, that’s right. Just stay still. Since I’ll take care of it for you.”

The young maid sat calmly and removed grass and leaves from Verche’s body, asking carefully.

“But why aren’t you talking? Can’t you speak well?”

As she was about to answer, her gaze suddenly reached the bathtub.

Inside was a bathtub made of fine marble, filled with clean water. Bright red rose petals floated on the surface, and above them rose pure white steam.

‘It’s unbelievable.’

It was the first time she had seen such a large amount of water since she was born.

Rose petals and steam were also new to her.

Everything she saw was so fascinating that it was overwhelming.

“Oh! My name is Lea. Feel free to call me. You don’t have to tell me your name, so don’t feel pressured.”

While captivated by the bathtub, Lea nodded her head.

Lea, like tearing off rags, began to undress Verche’s clothes.

The mud-stained fabrics disappeared, revealing the pure white skin to the air.

“Wow, your skin is really pale. My goodness. I’ve never seen a body like this since I was born. How can this happen? It’s like a snowflake.”

Surprised by the admiring voice, Verche quickly blinked and turned her head towards Lea.

“People in the north have thick and rough skin. They’re also dark in color. Oh! Are you from another country?”

“An, another country?”

“Yeah, right? That’s it! Is that why you stutter when speaking? Ahh, I see. Now I understand. Actually, when I was in the capital, I saw quite a few foreigners. That’s why I have an eye for them. But did you know? Compared to other foreigners, you speak really well.”