Entry 1 – Nera Vedova
“Ms. Nera, are you ready yet?”
“Just finishing up, Ms. Azzura. I’ll
be down soon.”
My secrets should be safe. A girl must
have her secrets after all! I shouldn’t keep Ms. Azzura waiting. She’s done so
much for me and the other girls after all. I go downstairs to see all the girls
finishing breakfast. It all smells so good especially the meat! The meat is the
most important part of a meal after all.
“Ms. Nera.”
Dang it.
“Yes, Ms. Azzura? Is there something
wrong?”
“Yes. You must remember that you can
be early, but not late. Your role as a maid is irreplaceable, therefore, you
should be punctual in everything you do. I know you’re new to all of this, but
the rules must be respected. You’ll have to go without food until lunch.”
I have to wait? But the meat looks
so good that my mouth is starting to water.
“Ms. Nera.”
“Yes, Ms. Azzura. I humbly accept
my punishment and will wait patiently until lunch to eat.”
“This is for your own good. Now, go
fulfill your duties.”
“Yes, Ms. Azzura.”
I get up from the table and begin
my tasks for the day. As the morning continues, my hungry grows as it feels
like my body is eating itself. The time is now eight o’clock and lunch is at
twelve-thirty. I have to distract myself or else I’ll go insane. Think happy
thoughts. I stumbled upon this castle while job searching. Even though I didn’t
really want to go to it, I felt drawn to it and so did my horses. Everything
after that is a blur with the maids here when they offered me a job.
They gave me this wonderful mask and a
bunch of beautiful dresses. I don’t remember what they did to my body, but I’m
limber and stronger than I’ve ever been. Being here is such a blessing that I never
expected to happen to me. This opportunity has let me connect with so many like-minded
maids like me. Some have come and gone because they broke the rules, and no
one should break the rules.
The master of this castle is strict
but fair. I’ve never seen him though I’ve heard he’s a real gentleman. His
symbol of a thorny flower is on the walls and flags in the castle. The other
men in the castle take care of their assigned area. I’ve never seen them either
though some do take over our duties when a maid is discharged from her duties.
I’m doing my best cleaning and decorating the castle so that I never leave
like they do.
Huh? What did I put under the carpet?
I wasn’t thinking about doing it and I don’t remember putting it in the sleeve
of my dress. What does it say? Hmm. Well this isn’t true. I don’t need help, to
be saved, nor am I under any kind of mind control. I’m gonna rip-! No…have to
put the letter back…come on. There!
Where did the letter go? It was
just in my hands. I was going to eat it to erase every trace of it, so I guess I
did that. That was strange. Anyways, back to cleaning. Oh? Is that the lunch
bell? I rush to the source of the noise to find that it wasn’t the lunch bell.
Instead, it was the guest bell. Oh n-yes! I’m one of the girls that get to
show our new guest around the house. While eagerly awaiting our guest, I make
sure I look proper, adjust my mask, and shake off any dust that may be on my
dress.
“You look fine, Ms. Nera. There’s
no need to fret!”
“Thank you, Ms. Gialla! I don’t
want to fail my first time doing this.”
“There’s nothing to worry about.
Just be yourself!”
“Okay!”
The door opens as a middle-aged woman
walks through it.
“Hello! Welcome to our home.” we
all say aloud.
I think we might’ve overdone it
because she looks a little creeped out.
“Welcome to our castle! We’ve been
expecting you.”
“Who are you people?”
“We’re nothing but the servants of
our master. We know that you’re looking for a profitable job and you’ve stumbled
upon the right place.”
“I don’t want to be a maid.”
“Oh, come now. The pay is good, the
work is fun, and the benefits are amazing.”
“Can I send my payment to my parents?”
“Of course! In fact, you can have your
family come here to work too.”
“Well, I am in desperate need of a
job, but I need to know more especially with…”
“I can answer any questions you
have. Thank you, Ms. Nera, for introducing our guest to us.”
“It was my pleasure, Ms. Azzura.”
The woman goes up with Ms. Azzura
as everyone goes back to their duties while some accompany Ms. Azzura.
“You did great, Ms. Nera.”
“I hope I did, Ms. Gialla.”
“We’re supposed to be working together
on the next floor.”
“That’s good. It gets so lonely
sometimes working by myself.”
“You shouldn’t feel that way. Our
master is always with us even though he may not be conscious of everything that
happens around here.”
“I guess so.”
“Did you do the thing I told you
to?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nera, did you do what I said?”
“Why are you shaking me-Gialla? I did
what you asked if that’s what you were asking.”
“Good. Someone new just arrived and
I don’t know if she’ll survive even with the things you, me, and the other
girls and guys have done. Everyone else is under control and don’t seem like
they’ll be useful.”
“It’s not their fault.”
“I know, but…but…”
“Hang in there.”
“It’s fine. Let’s just do what we
need to and try to control ourselves if something happens. Let’s do our best!”
“I…I…Yes, let’s do our best!”
“Are you okay?”
“Yup. I’m still hungry because I
haven’t eaten yet.”
“Next time you shouldn’t be late. I
don’t need to remind you about the maid that refused to eat properly.”
“You don’t need to. I don’t need to
be kept awake all night again.”
“Hahahaha, did it scare you that
much?”
“Hahaha, kind of.”
The two of us do our duties decorating
and cleaning for our guest for a little while with a bit of small talk here and
there. Can’t be distracted for too long lest we mess up our job. My hunger grows faster, especially with our new guest here. We typically eat earlier and more when
new guests arrive to celebrate their arrival. No! I shouldn’t think about that.
It’s only going to get me hungrier.
“Are you okay, Ms. Nera? Hold in
there just a bit longer.”
“I’ll try my best, Ms. Gialla.”
It isn’t too long until a bell
rings again.
“Lunch?!”
“No, that was the emergency bell,
Ms. Nera. That woman must’ve done something-I hope she’s the one.”
“Ergh. I hope so too. Were you able
to fix the decorations right for her?”
“I tried to. I don’t know if I did
that much because of how difficult it is.”
“Hmm. Let’s go in separate
directions like we’re supposed to.”
“Right! Let’s catch her so we can
see what’s her deal.”
“Yeah, let’s teach her not to mess
with us!”
Ms. Gialla and I go in different
directions to catch the trouble-making woman. She’s able to climb walls and crawl
into tight spaces while I’m invisible in the shadows. I’m very fast when I travel
between the shadows, so it’s unlikely that I’ll be seen. There she is. She’s
managed to not trip up on our tra-decorations, which is strange. I’m sure the
girls on this floor know how to properly decorate. My decorations aren’t too far
from here and where I found that letter.
Some of my decorations don’t work
like they’re supposed to because she knows to look out for them. Wait. She found
the letter! How?! She’s looking through it right now. I’m going to be in
trouble if I don’t get rid of that letter.
I hear her whisper to herself, “I’ll
help you and everyone here be free, Nera, but I won’t make any promises.”
D-don’t lose hope-and worry. You
don’t need to free me from anything. I’ve never felt freer in my entire life. There
must be a way to tear up that letter and catch her. Oh, I know!
“Help…me…”
“Nera? Is that you?”
I whisper to her while making
whimpering noises as I run circles around her in the shadows. She’s getting
nervous and off her guard. My decorations start getting to her with their
beauty and smells. Come on-calm down-and stop struggling. Ah, I know what I can
do. I put myself in front of one of my decorations and kneel while covering my
face.
“Please…help me…”’
“I’m here, but I don’t know if I can
help you.”
“Just come over here…”
The woman should be seeing me now.
“Are you okay?”
“I…I need your help.”
“What’s wrong?”
I can hear her approaching me.
“Leav-”
“Huh? What was that?”
“R..u..n..a..w..a..y..”
“What?”
“Got you, silly girl!”
My decorations have their effect on
her and she falls asleep. Good job, me! Since you’ve made such a mess of today,
I’ll have to drag you through the floors you ruined with your dirty footsteps.
I hope you learned your lesson. While taking the woman to the other girls, they
meet me halfway and dance around me.
“You did it, Ms. Nera!”
“Hooray for Ms. Nera!”
“She’s so brave and smart! I saw
the whole thing!”
“It looks like you made up for your
mistake this morning, Ms. Nera.”
“Thank you, Ms. Azzura.”
“For that, you can eat before
everyone else.”
“N-I mean thank you so much, Ms.
Azzura.”
“Come on, girls, let's prepare our brave
sister a dish worth her efforts.”
“Yes, mam!”
Oooh, I can’t wait! All our meats
are kept alive until chopped up, cooked, then served. Come on, come on,
already! Oooh, here it comes…
“Is something wrong, Ms. Nera?”
“N-no.”
S-s-stop. It smells so good…I can’t
control myself! I take off my mask so the mouth where my eyes used to be can
eat. Having two mouths makes it so much more satisfying to eat. Once everything
is gone, I attach my mask back on so I can see-and I want to throw up. I feel
so good! More! I want more!
“It’s almost lunchtime, Ms. Nera,
so I hope you’re ready to eat more.”
“I’m more than ready!”
“That’s good. A woman needs to eat.
The more you do what you did today, the more special dishes you’ll get.”
“I can’t wait for more guests to
come then.”
HahahaHAHAHAHA!
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