The kitchen was filled with unsliced ingredients, and the scent of spices from another section was dancing in the air, inside the room Kagayama had been assigned today. The place was massive and full of noise, even though it was separated into different areas like cutting, washing, cooking, baking, and so much more.
The wooden wall acts as a partition that separates the rooms, each with a rectangular window in the middle, allowing the servants to talk across it and deliver the food to one another.
Amid the hustle and bustle, Kagayama was cutting the vegetables slowly, unproductively. He struggles to keep his eyes open, his body seems about to collapse anytime soon, and the uniform he wears is slightly wrinkled, making his appearance even lazier. He had enough sleep—perhaps too much, but his consciousness is trying to drift away.
The sun was hiding behind the horizon, began to show itself, but his duty dragged him out of bed long before morning even began.
The vegetable he chopped came in an unpredictable shape, and sometimes the root—the inedible part, got into the bucket, troubling the servant in the next room who had to separate them.
A young female servant he met yesterday was watching him while shaking her head in disbelief. Her job is washing the ingredients in the other rooms, and she is holding a handwoven bag full of clean vegetables right now, trying to put it inside Kagayama's room through the window, but the table used to hold it was full.
It was Kagayama's fault for being too slow, making her upset, and pushing the bag forcefully—until the other bag fell from the table. She didn't seem to care about it and continued her job.
Kagayama turned his face in shock as the bag dropped beside him. But even so, his face remains sleepy as before. He sweeps the vegetables along his way, reaches the bag with his knife—kissed hands, and puts them in carefully.
He let a tired huff out of his mouth. It was his fault, he knew it, but could not do anything about it except watch the mess he created with a troubled face before standing up again, taking a bag full of ingredients, and preparing to chop them when suddenly someone opened the door.
She dressed neatly with some accessories on her clothes, the ray of sunlight catching her tied-up hair. A faint blush brushed her cheeks as she saw him. Her eyes sparkled for a second, though she tried to hide it behind a composed expression.
Kagayama was watching her carefully, still half asleep.
"...Merianth?.."
His voice was flat, confused.
Merianth lowered her head slowly, trying to stay calm. "I will become your partner, Mr. Kagayama."
There was a beat of silence between them. Then Kagayama gave a small nod and muttered, "I see," before yawning again.
Merianth watched him for a moment, then smiled faintly. For the first time, working in the kitchen didn't feel like a burden.
"Let me chop all of the ingredients for you." She said it while seeing the mess on the chopping table and his wounded hands.
"Then what should I do when you take my role?"
He put the bag beside the cutting board, reached the nearest knife, and prepared to cut the potato he had grabbed before. Kagayama almost chopped off his own hands, but fortunately, Merianth could stop it by holding the knife back after seeing his terrible cutting technique.
Her eyes closed as the gleam of protectiveness changed her surroundings drastically. The air becomes colder—dense with unspoken warning.
And yet, her smile remained. Soft and gentle..
For the first time, Kagayama widened his eyes, watching her expression carefully, not because she looked scary, but because her appearance became more captivating. He even forgot to breathe for a second as his grip on the knife was getting weaker until Merianth took over it.
She moved, replacing still—stunned Kagayama from his position while saying.
"You can bring all of those ingredients to me and take the chopped ones to the next room."
"O–okay, I'll do it."
He nodded quickly as his gaze drifted to the unchopped ingredient. Makes a step closer, takes the bag, and prepares to bring it to Merianth before he stops in shock as he watches her in silence.
She chopped so fast, even Kagayama couldn't see the knife.
It was just a few seconds after she took over, but the unchopped ingredient beside her had disappeared, and the sliced vegetables were overflowing from the bucket.
Now he had to move faster—quickly put the bag near her before carrying the full bucket to the next room—all of it just to realize that Merianth almost chopped the entire ingredient and needed more.
The servant in the next place was caught off guard when suddenly the chopping room became so fast, making them panic while trying to follow the rhythm.
Sound of the knife, striking on the cutting board, became a metronome for Kagayama, it was fast, faster than the heartbeat inside his chest. He couldn't rest for a single second, leaving him exhausted and slowly losing control.
Merianth, seeing it, let a chuckle slip from her mouth while reducing her speed.
Now there is a gap for Kagayama to rest and oversee her from behind. Merianth feels his gaze, her cheeks turning red quickly while she pretends to ignore him before increasing the speed again, forcing him to snap out of it and return to work.
He did it over and over again, until the last bucket was delivered to the next room. His leg got an anesthetic effect for a while before he finally felt the blood flow again. He sat in the chair, waving his hand as a folding fan while watching the surroundings.
This room had a better appearance now, making it pleasant to look at. Thanks to the Merianth, who solved all of the problems, including Kagayama, and even cleaned the mess he created. A spark happened all over the stuff as she wiped its surface.
She was good at the housewife job like this, making her the best candidate if someone wanted to get married, but unfortunately.
Her past has decreased her value, but strangely, it seems not to affect Kagayama at all.
His eyes were stunned at her experienced skill, the way she used the knife with confidence, and her diligence at work. It all gets 100 points from him.
The sweat ran down her face to her neck and finally got absorbed by her clothes. Her hands gently swept her face, but the brightness of her skin still radiated, as evidence of her naturally fair skin.
Kagayama takes a step closer toward her before saying.
"What's the next task for us?"
"Let's get some food first," She replied flatly before preparing to leave the room.
"O-okay," Kagayama nodded slowly as he followed her from behind.
They arrived at the dining room and sat next to each other. The other servant seems to avoid them, leaving a one-chair gap between themselves and the two
Even with this silent exile, Kagayama doesn't care at all, he just sits calmly beside Merianth as he watches the other servants talk to each other.
It made her feel a little bit happy, a smile almost formed on her lips, but she managed to stop it and kept her expression composed.
Both of them drift to silence as Kagayama tries to search for a topic, just to realize he couldn't find it. On the other side, Merianth seems quiet, not talking much like before, and her face remains cold without any expression.
Kagayama paid attention to Merianth, watching her carefully, trying to know what had happened to her.
One of the servants announced that breakfast time had come, making all of them take a plate and put the food on top of it. Kagayama takes the food in a hurry before eating it.
His stomach already protested because of the hunger he had held for a long time.
He takes a great amount of food, just to choke, struggles to swallow it, making him search for water, but he can't find it.
Luckily, Merianth comes with two glasses of water and gives one of them to Kagayama without saying anything.
She just sat on her chair elegantly while Kagayama drank the water and tried hard to swallow the food. And finally, he managed to push the food down to his stomach, which made him relieved, turned to Merianth, and said.
"Thanks for the water."
She just nodded slowly, continuing to eat her food.
He squinting his eyes in disbelief, turned his gaze to the food in front of him while speak on his mind. "Is she angry with me?"
After finishing their food, they continued working until lunchtime had passed. It was an intense task—Kagayama had to clean the entire living room with meticulous care.
And yet, something about the day felt… off.
It felt like he had been working for a whole day, even though only half had passed. The sun seemed to crawl across the sky, moving slower than he remembered.
Still, there was no rest for him. He had to search for the remaining money outside the mansion.
As Kagayama stepped through the front gate, Merianth watched him from a distance. Her gaze then shifted toward one of the mansion's upper windows, as if searching for something even she couldn't name.
She lingered there for a moment, frozen in thought, before turning her eyes forward once more.
Then, without a word, she began to walk—quietly following him, her footsteps melting into silence.