The sound of birds chirping outside could be heard, marking that morning had come, as sunlight dimly illuminated a big room filled with beds, through the gaps between the curtains. All of that caused, a young girl to wake up, after another good sleep on a comfortable bed.
"... *yawn*"
The girl rubbed her sleepy eyes as she begrudgingly got up from her bed, as the peeks of sunlight illuminated her pale long black hair, which only made her clean and cute face look even more charming. That girl was Nanako, one of the many orphans that the lord, brought to the manor to work as "interns."
Nanako looked at the closed curtains absent-mindedly, before she once again remembered where she was and why, which caused her to get up from her in a jump, and then approach the curtains to open them.
"Everyone! It's mornin' already! It's time to get up, so that we can repay, Edward-sama for his kindness!"
When she said that as she opened the curtains one by one, the other kids, started complaining as they sat up with more or less tired faces. Nanako looked at her siblings, and the children from the other orphanages with a small smile as she finished opening the curtains
It had been a few days, ever since the day that she cried after Edward visited the orphanage to bring her and her siblings to the manor, but in those few days, they had gotten more than what they could've ever asked for. Clean and proper clothes, warm meals, warm rooms, and comfortable beds. Of course, in exchange they had to work hard for the lord, which they were all doing with smiles on their faces, especially Nanako.
"C'mon, everyone! Get dressed and ready, it'll almost be time for breakfast!"
Nanako said that as she helped the other children to get up and get changed, some of the kids took off their clothes on the spot, while others went into the changing rooms, where they all had been assigned individual but small wardrobes, enough for them to put a decent number of clothes inside, but nothing much else.
After seeing that everyone was changing clothes or in the process, Nanako went to the dressing room meant for girls. In there, she took off her sleeping wear, revealing a thin body that lacked in many areas, due to her lack of proper nutrition, as she changed to her work uniform, which was a basic maid uniform that lacked any form of decoration.
After changing her clothes, Nanako went to help the children who were struggling to put on their uniforms. Everyone would finish changing their clothes, right as the head maid, Camilla, opened the door to the room. Which caused everyone to stand up and bow down as they were taught to.
"... *Nods* Very good, you all sure are quick learners"
Camilla showed a small smile that fitted with her beautiful looks and even gave her an even more dignified feeling, which impressed Nanako and some of the kids.
"Now then, everyone. Please form two lines and follow me as usual"
The children obediently formed two lines and followed after Camilla without causing any trouble, since the few that did cause trouble in the past few days had been punished, just as Edward had warned them when he went to pick them up from their orphanages.
After a short walk, they arrived at another large room, this time one that was filled with simple tables and chairs, this was the refectory, another area of the manor that receive some changes to accommodate the "interns". The two lines of children were now separated with a long table in between them, while two smaller tables were set up in front of them. Camilla went behind one of the tables to man it, while the other one was manned by... Edward, much to the surprise of Nanako, when it was her turn to receive her breakfast.
"Eh?! E-Edward-sama?!"
"Oh, Good morning, Nanako-san"
"Ah! Y-Yes! G-Good mornimg, Edward-sama... Hmm, W-What're you doing here?"
"The cook broke his leg last night, and as one of the few people in the manor who knows how to handle knives, the stove, and so on... I am covering for him"
"I-I see"
Still surprised and confused, Nanako walked away so that she wouldn't cause the children behind her to wait any longer to have their first meal of the day. Even after she sat down, Nanako kept looking at Edward, as he diligently handed the children their meals, even when he looked tired, and his dark circles didn't help in making him look any brighter.
After handing breakfast to the children, Nanako saw Edward, and the head maid have a short talk, with the maid even showing a very motherly smile to Edward, before he left the room while making an annoyed face as he pressed his temples with one hand, with Nanako following him with her eyes as she ate her breakfast.
.
.
.
It was now getting close to noon, Nanako alongside the other orphan girls, was being given basic lessons about a variety of topics by Camilla, in this case, they were being taught how to write and read, the boys were also receiving lessons but from the head butler, Elliot, instead.
Then as Nanako was practicing her calligraphy, she who sat right beside a window, notice something happening outside and saw that it was Edward, as he appeared to be helping in taking care of the horses used by the soldiers alongside the captain. As she gazed at him, with some confusion in her mind, Nanako accidentally stopped moving her hands and even caused her to miss the presence of Camilla approaching her
"... Good job there, Nanako"
"?! C-Camilla-san"
"You're pretty talented from being capable of properly copying the sentence in such a short time"
"Ah... T-thanks"
"But you should do a little more on your handwriting, it still has room for improvement"
"Y-Yes!"
Nanako then went back to practicing her calligraphy as she got nervous from Camilla having caught her by surprise, as for Camilla, she looked outside of the window and saw the scene that Nanako was observing moments ago, then she sifted her sight back to Nanako who was now diligently doing her assignment. Camilla then went away from Nanako as she smiled a little.
.
.
.
It was around 4 in the afternoon, and Nanako alongside the other girls, was helping Camilla in cleaning and maintaining the mansion. Although the most they were allowed to do was moping and sweeping the sturdier places, like the floor, windows, and furniture, they still helped in hastening the process, so much so that they were almost finishing the cleaning the entire mansion, something that in the past, wouldn't have been possible.
"Nanako, have you finished there?"
"In a bit!"
"Got it, after you are finished just bring the cloth and bucket to me, and you are free to do anything of your interest"
"Yes!"
The room Nanako was almost finished cleaning was the library, and just as she had said, a few minutes afterward Nanako finished cleaning the remaining spot.
"Yosh. With this, I'll have the rest of the afternoon to play with my brothers and sisters"
*Door opening sound*
"Hm? Ah!... Camilla-san I alre-"
"Hm?"
"Eh?... E-Edward-sama?!"
"Ah, good afternoon, Nanako-san"
"Ah! Yes... Good afternoon, Edward-sama"
Nanako bowed down as she greeted Edward, just like how she was taught to do. She was feeling nervous about being close to him since he was the son of the lord.
"In any case, if you are looking for the head maid, she went to the storage room"
"Ah yes, thank you, Edward-sama"
"*Nods*"
After nodding, Edward began searching the bookshelf, as for Nanako she at first walked away, but as she approached the door, she found herself stopping and turning to look at Edward as he kept searching the bookshelf
"..."
With some uncertainty, she put down the bucket and cloth, close to the library's door but in the corridor, outside of the library. Then she walked towards Edward.
"H-hmm... E-Edward-sama, c-can I ask you a question?"
"... Sure"
Without turning to look at Nanako, Edward agreed to Nanako's request as he kept looking for a particular book.
"So... Hmm... Why... Why do you help... With the menial tasks of the manor... When you are a noble?..."
"Well, it might end up being long, but do you want to hear it?"
"... Yes..."
"... If you say so, then... Hmm... Have you noticed that there are very few servants at the manor?"
"... Now that you mention it... Yes... I have only seen Camilla-san, the Head butler... The captain, the cook... And the gardener?... ... ... Yes, I have only seen them around the mansion"
"And that is because they are the only servants who work here, aside from the soldiers who are volunteers"
"Eh?!"
"You and the others might not have noticed it, but the Harding family is not all that wealthy to afford to hire hundreds nor even dozens of servants to take care of the manor. So we were always understaffed, and that usually meant that if someone got sick or injured, we would get even more understaffed.
That is why I started helping around the manor, I know that I cannot do anything that the head servants can, but if it helped in alleviating part of their burden, I would do what I could. That is why, the one who went to pick up you and your siblings was me, it was not a hard task, but it was time-consuming. And since I am the least skilled in the manor in comparison to everyone else, I was the one who offered to do the job."
"..."
Nanako turned silent when she heard Edward's reason for helping in the manor, mostly because her words were stuck inside her because of the weird feeling she felt in her chest. And all she could do was look at Edward's back as he still kept looking at the bookshelf
"... ... ... Edward-sama?"
"Yes?" *Turns head*
"... ... ... It is nothing"
"... Okay"
Without saying anything else, Nanako walked away and left the library. After she closed the door and picked up the bucket, she saw that Camilla was standing behind the door with her back to the wall
"Good afternoon, Nanako"
"Ah! Camilla-san!"
"Were you worried about, Edward-sama?"
"Ah! No... It's not like that..."
"You see, I also heard the story that he just told you"
"You did?"
"Yes, and I can say that he didn't tell you everything"
"Eh?!"
"Fufu, come let's go throw that dirt water away"
"O-Okay"
Nanako followed Camilla, as they walked away from the library, just as Edward left the library with a book in his hands and walked in the opposite direction.
Once the two had walked far enough from the library, Camilla started talking again
"Nanako, do you know who was the one who came up with the idea for us to train you and the other orphans at the manor?"
"It was the lord, wasn't it?"
"No, it was not lord Oliver who came up with the idea"
"Eh? It wasn't him?...! T-then it was-"
"Edward-sama? Yes, it was him. He told you that he help us around the manor to alleviate some of our burdens, and this idea was the same"
"H-He proposed the idea... Because he wanted to help you and the others?"
"Yes, that what, de-... Oliver-sama told us when he discussed Edward-sama's idea with us"
"... Then... Then are you saying that... That Edward-sama... C-came up with a-an idea... T-that... that would help... help both you... and us..."
"... Yes, I do believe he did come up with an idea that would help everyone. And don't worry, just let everything out"
Just like the first time Nanako met Edward, she started crying, she didn't understand why she started crying, but Nanako knew that she had one more thing to say.
"I-I... Will do... Will do my best... T-to... To be... *hic hic*"
"Yes, I'm sure you will"
Nanako kept crying loudly for quite some time as Camilla lent her a shoulder.
Meanwhile
"?!"
Edward felt a chill running down his spine as he helped his father, Oliver, in dealing with the usual paperwork, after handing him the book he needed.
"What's wrong, son?"
"... I-It's nothing" <... Why am I feeling like there are some heavy expectations of me all of a sudden???>