My Seductive Guardian

Maid?

“You do not need to call me lord, I am not a noble. You can call me by my name, Cedric Mayhard or Mister Mayhard. Alice will help you with adjusting here.” he waved his hands and dismissed her.

As she left the room, her eyes fell on the large painting covering half of the wall and she stopped. It was her mother’s painting. Her mother had made it herself and gifted Hazel because Hazel liked meadows too much. It was made so realistic as if she was standing in the meadows.

Her eyes stung and warm liquid started to fall on her eyes.

“Hazel, Mister Mayhard did not like lazy people. You should start following me.” Alice warned with a sigh when she noticed how the girl was staring at the painting.

Alice knew most of the recently come things were from this girl’s house. But she did not know what exactly happened, and she did not have the habit of butting in the affairs of her master.

She was told to help the girl in adjusting and slowly molding her to the lifestyle of a commoner. She was not a wealthy young girl anymore. What could be better than giving her some work?

“Hazel! Are you listening?” she chided, and finally, the girl blinked and nodded. She wiped her face from her sleeves as she could not find a tissue and followed Alice.

They stopped in front of the library. Hazel looked at the vast collection of books. Once again she noticed a large number of books at the door. It was too much of a coincidence to notice all of her mother’s favorite books thrown into a heap.

“You are literate. Right?” asked Alice, ignorant of the turmoil the girl was facing. When Hazel nodded, Alice looked delighted. “That is a relief. The master had brought a room full of books last night. We did not know what to do with them since none of the maids were educated. Now that you are here, would you sort out the books and arrange them according to their content?

There is a long line of history, philosophy and romance. Just sort them out as their writer names or i do not know their title and arrange them into new racks. Would you be able to do that?” maid? He had asked for her peerage, and now he was treating her as a maid? How was it better than going to an orphanage?

Perhaps she could convince a rich commoner to take her as his wife in exchange for her title. But when she looked at the treasure of her parents, she couldn't care more. As long as she was able to live closer to her family, she felt like her parents were still there looking for her. She could not let it go.

“Hazel! Would you be able to do it or not?” Alice pressed again with a grim face this time when Hazel nodded.

“Yes, but it would take time.” Alice frowned. But when she noticed the sheer amount of books, she sighed and nodded.

“I will ask Peter to help you in organizing. Since you are sick you will not be able to move them yourself.” with that the girl waved her hands. “And I will send some food with him and warm water too. Take your time and do not tire yourself too much. You just need to boss him. Okay?” Hazel knew this was the last amount of warmth the girl could spare her. So she nodded, grateful.

With a smile, Alice left murmuring something in her heart. Hazel did not pay any attention to the maid. She sat and ran a hand on her mother’s favorite book. It was about the legend of Acrandia, the land of fairies. Her mother used to read this book to Hazel every night. She was already missing her mother.

Tears burnt her eyes again as she hugged the book and cried her heart out.

How much time had passed when the door knocked again, a young boy with freckles on his skin and red unruly hair entered the room. He was holding a tray of food and his face had a grim look.

“Like it was not enough that I was asked to run errands. Now I need to serve a crying child too.” he huffed as he walked to her. His face showed his reluctance too well, but Hazel did not pay him any attention. She was struck there too.

Frowned when she ignored him, he walked to the table and put her food there with little more force creating a harsh sound.

“You should eat it when it's warm. We have work to do.” he urged her when she finally moved. She did not look at him and sat on the chair. She started eating the meal slowly even though it tasted like sand.

The boy stood there with his head raised high. He waited for the girl to take the initiation to talk to her. But she did not. She did not even spare him a glance as if he did not exist. A deep frown grew on his lips and he kept staring at her.

When she was done, he stood straighter and looked away. Surely this time she would introduce herself and ask for his name. After all, he was told that they were going to work together for weeks.

But the girl sat down where she was before and started arranging the books.

“You have to arrange all the books in this line to the first drawer. And in the same manner I have sorted them." Then she started picking the books. His frown grew deeper and he cursed at her.

“Hey, do you think I am your servant or what? If you want the work to be done perfectly, you should do it yourself. I am leaving.” he took slow steps toward the door. Sure she would apologize this time. Right?