Happy Days of the All-around Maid and the Duke - Chapter 1

?Don’t cry, Ririka.?

It was her grandmother who lived in the neighborhood who took Ririka’s hand, who was still very small.

At the age of five, her parents died. It was so sudden.

Ririka couldn’t keep up with the sudden farewell, and she was just crying in front of the grave.

When she was doing that, her grandmother took her hand.

?Don’t cry, Ririka.?

Rubbing her back, she said it again.

?You know, Ririka. This world is full of irrationality. You never know what will happen at any time. That’s why you have to stand on your own feet and live on your own. Don’t mess around.?

?Because of … Ugh. I don’t know what to do from now on.?

Her grandmother gently rubs Ririka’s back as her tears fall down in her face.

?Don’t worry. Grandma will raise you. You’ll have no reason to think you’re having a grandson. She may look like this, but she used to work in a castle. Cleaning, washing and cooking. If you can clean, wash and cook, you’ll be able to work in a nobleman’s house. Don’t worry. Grandma will raise you well.?

?Yes … yes.?

?Come on, stop crying. Let’s go.?

Grandma gently took Ririka’s hand and led her home.

From there, she and her grandmother began living together. She was waiting for a life that was completely different from her life until now.

?Come on, Ririca, it’s morning. Good morning.?

?… It’s still dark …?

?You’re a servant, you have to get up and work from the dark. Come on, get up and wash your face.?

When I stepped outside at what seemed more like midnight than morning, the dark, crisp air stung my cheeks. I washed my face in the cold winter water from the well and it woke me up instantly.

?Have you washed your face? Then I’ll put some wood in the fireplace. When the master wakes up, he must have a warm and comfortable room.?

I put firewood in the fireplace with my grandma. The firewood was quite heavy and large and it was hard for a five-year-old me to carry. The room is enveloped in soft light and filled with cozy warmth as I light the firewood that we have brought in.

?Okay, next, I’m going to light all the candlesticks in the house. I’ll feel depressed when the room is dark.?

The light fixtures in the house are lit. It is still dark outside even with the curtains open, but the inside of the house is now brightly lit.

?Then the next step is to make breakfast. Go get some water from the well.?

?Okay?

Ririka followed her grandmother’s instructions and moved quickly.

Moving her small body with great effort, she pulls a heavy pulley to fetch water from the well. Grandma returns to the house with two buckets and Ririka returns one bucket.

When I dipped the vegetables in the water I brought home and scrubbed the mud off, my hands turned bright red because of the coldness of the water.

?Watch carefully. Peel vegetables as thinly as possible. It is a waste to scrape off the fruit, and the skin is full of nutrients. Hold the knife like this. Be careful not to cut your hands.?

?Yes?

?The key to baking bread is to know the temperature and humidity. Then measure your portions properly. Don’t make it by weight.?

?Okay?

Grandma doesn’t buy bread from the bakery, she makes everything by hand from scratch. Ririka kneaded hard and followed her teachings.

Finally, the soup was made with fluffy, freshly baked white bread and plenty of vegetables. And a soft-boiled egg and crispy bacon.

?It’s delicious, isn’t it?

?Yeah…! It’s so delicious?

Ririka’s eyes sparkled.

?It’s amazing to be able to make something so delicious by yourself!?

?I don’t think so. A servant should be able to do this. You have to be able to cook more and more dishes.?

By the time breakfast was over, the sky had finally started to brighten up.

?All right, let’s do the laundry. Wash it with a washboard and put a lot of strength on it.?

She soaks her hands in the cutting cold water and washes the dirty stuff earnestly.

?Dry it using a pin so that it doesn’t wrinkle when you dry it.?

The laundry was caught on the strapped rope, There was no time to huff and … no time to breathe.

?Now, the next step is to clean the house. This house is small, so the cleaning will be done quickly, but it’s a different case if it’s a nobleman’s mansion. It is important to do it quickly but carefully. Let’s start with the mopping.?

Ririka swung around a mop twice her height as she cleaned. The tops of shelves, candlesticks, and windows were wiped clean with a cloth while using a stool.

?After cleaning, the next step is gardening. A servant must be able to do gardening too of course.?

The garden at grandma’s house is small but colorful with a variety of plants.

?It’s winter now, so it’s not blooming. We have to prune them for spring. If we leave them alone, the roots will rot and they will be ruined.?

The morning passes as I cut the winter-dead lawn and trim the growing hedges, which are soaking wet from the melting frost poles.

?Now, it’s time to head to the market. Follow me so we don’t get separated.?

Me and my Grandmother go into the market.

?You know, The secret to choosing good vegetables is to look at them. Vegetables that look like they’re wet are not fresh. Choose the ones that are crisp. The meat should be bright reddish. The fish should have bright eyes. You can’t just pick something at random.?

When I returned home, I prepared lunch. Once that was done, it was time for sewing.

?Mending is a basic part of being a servant. But that’s not all. There are many other things you need to be able to do, such as adjusting costumes and embroidery.?

She would then spend the entire afternoon sewing, cooking dinner, and then putting out all the candlesticks in the house and cleaning up after the fireplace.

Ririka’s life had changed completely, and there was a pile of things she needed to do that she had no time to grieve.

Cleaning, laundry, cooking, gardening, shopping, sewing.

She also went to a variety of jobs, from chopping firewood, babysitting neighborhood children, tending to horses, and caring for sick people.

She gave me all the knowledge she had, not only about work, but also about the manners and etiquette of a servant and the common sense of the nobility.

Twelve years of her fast-paced life had passed, Ririka had become a full-fledged servant, and

at the age of seventeen, she finally took a job as a live-in worker.

TL note:

Hi, I’m Shield and I hope you can find this series interesting to you and please continue to read throughout the whole series and please rate it honestly to know if I’ll need to improve my works.

I plan on uploading on Teusday 1pm UTC and Saturday 1pm UTC.

Also, if you liked this chapter, might as well visit my ko-fi.