CH 6.1

Lover (1)

After waiting for those girls to leave, Shane also left. Madam Mary maintained her composure as she seized up Anna and asked, “What’s your name?”

Anna lowered her eyes and gently said, “My name is Anna, Madam Mary.”

Seeing Anna’s well-mannered appearance, Madam Mary was satisfied, though she didn’t not outwardly express it.

Although she could not disobey Young Master Parrish’s orders, she would be more content managing someone who was obedient.

“I am the deputy housekeeper of the earl’s estate and the kitchen is under my jurisdiction. You are a newcomer, so you should learn from the veterans at the beginning. The rules of the kitchen in the earl’s estate are completely different from yours at home. You need to study hard and not be neglectful.”

She was relieved that Madam Mary did not have any special attitude towards her, she just came to work, and she didn’t want others to treat her differently because of her relationship with Young Master Parrish—it would be enough to treat her like normal.

Madam Mary arranged a “master” for Anna. She was a maid named Rebecca. In the earl estate, all ordinary female employees were called maids, and different types of jobs had different wages. A maid like Anna who worked in the kitchen could receive ten silver coins a month, which was almost twice the income of her father working as a bartender in a tavern. No wonder everyone had their eyes set on the earl estate. 

Considering that the current income of her family could cover the usual expenses, and that her own wages could be saved, Anna was very happy. When she had enough money saved, the first thing she wanted to do was to move out of Pomegranate Lane. It was too close to the slums for her liking. 

Most of the maids who worked in the kitchen did not live in the estate. Instead, they arrived early and left late for work every day. Because of the existence of the Goddess of Light, this world also has a creation myth. Each week consisted of seven days and the seventh day was a holiday. However, the maid of the estate did not get to go to church on Sunday, they could only pray a simple prayer. As such, the working hours resembled “777”*

[777 is a shorthand for a working system in China in which workers work from 7AM to 7PM for seven days a week.] 

On the first day, Anna only followed Rebecca in order to learn how to get to the kitchen after coming in through the back door of the estate, and then she was taken by Rebecca to exchange names with the four guards who would take turns guarding the back door, so that she would be able to go in and out more freely in the future.

She would officially start work on the second day. After becoming familiar with the environment, Anna headed home. She wanted to tell her family the good news as soon as possible.

When Anna returned to Pomegranate Lane, a tall young man suddenly ran up to her and shouted: “Anna, you should hurry home, someone is making trouble at your house!”

Anna’s complexion changed, and there was no time to ask more. After hurriedly thanking him, she hurried back home. At this time, Evan and Jim had just gotten to the tavern, and only her mother, Adele and Little Evan were at home!

The tall young man walked closely behind Anna and went with her.

Before Anna approached her house, she saw Lily and her mother Renee standing in front of her house, cursing loudly.

“Your Anna is really a shameless slut, using her beauty to bewitch Young Master Parrish and take away my daughter’s job! How did you raise such a shameless daughter? If the goddess is in heaven, you should go to the demon realm!” 

Lily complained with tears from the side: “That was obviously my job! Anna shamelessly took my job away!”

The mother and daughter pair cursed loudly at the door of Anna’s house. Gaea stood at the door and turned pale with anger, but she didn’t know how to swear, she could only weakly deny it: “Anna is not the kind of person you say she is…”

Anna saw this scene, her eyes flushed with anger.

This mother and daughter pair were really bullies who picked on soft targets, they dared to bully her gentle mother!

Looking around, Anna discovered a shovel someone had left on the side of the road. She lifted it and held it so that the head of the shovel faced the ground. Holding the shovel head towards her, she waved the wooden handle and smacked the mother and daughter pair.

Lily and Renee were scolding feverently, and they weren’t prepared for a sneak attack from the rear. They were hit straight on, and evaded in exclamation.

Anna stood at the door of her house with the shovel, glared at Lily and Renee, and said loudly: “Lily, you got yourself eliminated for yelling in front of Madam Mary; how could you blame me for that? The shameless one is you! You are also believers of the goddess, how dare you lie under the watchful eyes of the goddess? The goddess won’t forgive you!”

A true believer would not mention the goddess casually like Anna did, but in order to stifle Lily’s mouth, she must borrow the name of the goddess.

Of course, she didn’t believe a word of what she said. If the goddess really watched over this land, why had the demon hung up on her not been vaporized?

Lily had indeed lied to her mother about her being eliminated. She did not say that she had been eliminated tragically before she learned that Anna’s matters were arranged by Young Master Parrish. Instead, she blamed Anna for everything.

Therefore, Lily panicked for a moment when she heard Anna mentioning the goddess, and then she immediately said: “I—I didn’t lie! It was indeed you who seduced Young Master Parrish, so that he would let you work in the kitchen!”

In the end, she still felt a little guilty and did not look directly into Anna’s eyes.

Renee was more composed than Lily. She even ignored what Anna said about the goddess. She just stared at Anna and shouted angrily: “Do you know how many good things I said to get Lily’s aunt to recommend Lily? That should be Lily’s job, it was taken away by you, you bitch!”

Gaea was hidden behind Anna. She looked at Anna with some worry, and then at Renee. The anger in her chest made her clench her teeth. Just when she wanted to step forward, she was stopped by Anna.

It had been several days since Anna had come to this world, and she was very clear about Gaea’s character. Gaea was not good at this kind of verbal spat, so Anna still had to take over.

“Mama, trust me.” Anna said as she looked at Gaea. 

Gaea looked at Anna’s sky-blue eyes which inherited from her, saw the difference in strength in her eyes, nodded in a daze, and then backed away.