WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Malfoid
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ I Don't Need a Family ◈
Episode 10
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Aile, the maid personally assigned to the lady of the annex, had been sleeping sweetly with her legs stretched out.
At least until a night-duty maid, far junior to her, woke her.
It was late enough to be closer to night than morning. Dragged there half by force, Aile was deeply displeased with Vivette for summoning the sleeping maids.
Until she spotted the lady of the annex asleep behind her.
“Mi-Miss! That person is...?”
At the question from the maid beside her, a chilling smile, one she had never seen before, appeared on Vivette’s face.
“I found her clinging dangerously to the balcony railing and brought her back. If I had not, she would have fallen.”
“...”
“And so would you.”
“Miss...!”
Several maids timidly protested Vivette’s cruel words.
The old Vivette could never have said such a terrible thing. Nor would she have dared.
But their mistress was no longer an angel. Especially not toward people whose negligence had nearly killed someone.
“Who is responsible for the lady?”
‘Ah, damn it.’
Cursing inwardly, Aile slowly raised her hand alongside several other assigned maids.
The lady of the annex was not in her right mind, but she was relatively easy to care for during the day.
At night, however, she wandered the halls like a madwoman and even let out eerie laughter.
‘No matter how many times we tell her not to, she won’t listen. What else are we supposed to do? All we can do is ignore her and go to sleep.’
There were quite a few maids assigned to the lady, and taking turns on night duty would not have been impossible. But Aile did not want to.
Who would know if she went to get some sleep? No one would appreciate her for struggling all night to care for the lady anyway.
She had not thought about it for long.
Then, by chance, Miss Vivette had caught sight of the lady of the annex being neglected in the middle of the night.
‘What rotten luck.’
As she grumbled inwardly and slowly raised her hand with several other maids from the old annex, Vivette’s face twisted.
That gentle young lady who had never once shown displeasure.
“Why? Do you resent me for not letting this pass quietly?”
Had it shown on their faces? The maids shrank back at the question that struck the mark.
“I know the annex is understaffed. I know you have a much harder time than those at the main house. But you should have done your best to care for that lady, at least.”
Because...
“She is a patient.”
Someone unable to care for herself.
Someone with no choice but to depend on another person’s kindness.
Anyone who had never been sick could never understand how a sick person, whether their caregiver was their biological child or an employee, could only watch their caregiver’s mood.
‘I never wanted to tell anyone. It hurt my pride too much.’
That was why Choi Eunseo had refused almost every offer of help and said they were fine.
Because they knew their body could not live independently, they became obsessed with not relying on others as a form of self-defense.
To hide their miserable feelings, their outward manner gradually became blunt. They had turned into someone cold and somewhat cynical about everything.
‘Yes. In a situation like this, this personality is more helpful.’
If they had been even half as emotional as Vivette, their eyes would have filled with tears already.
That was why people had seen Vivette as easy to take advantage of. Both her family and most of the estate’s servants.
“Besides, you are employed here. Your job is to serve the lady. You should have done it properly.”
“...”
“Let us say the lady going out onto the balcony was an accident. But how am I supposed to overlook maids abandoning the mistress they serve on a cold floor and going off to sleep?”
‘Ah, this is starting to annoy me.’
Aile, who was something of a leader among the old annex maids, cursed inwardly.
‘She cannot say a word to the main house servants who neglected her, yet she is scolding us for no reason. It is not as though she is even close to the lady.’
Why was she taking the lady’s side instead of theirs, who had known her for so long?
Perhaps they were both being ignored, so Vivette felt some sense of kinship just because they lived under the same roof.
But she could not show such contempt. Vivette had spent her whole life reading the room, so she could sense other people’s emotions with frightening accuracy.
It would be better to target Vivette’s weakness.
‘Miss Vivette is affectionate and soft-hearted. If I shed a few tears and complain about our troubles, she’ll let this pass.’
People like her were often more moved by an abuser who knew how to act than by a silent victim.
“I-I know. We were wrong!”
She only needed to pretend to reflect and play on Vivette’s emotions.
“But we are having such a hard time too. Until just last month, we were ordinary maids. Then the lady suddenly had a carriage accident and became like that, and all at once we found ourselves caring for a sick person.”
As she spoke, she covertly watched the young lady’s expression.
“What do you mean, a carriage accident?”
It had worked halfway! She was listening. Aile continued smoothly.
“It was the day after a heavy snowfall. No matter how much we begged her not to go out because it was cold, the lady became angry and insisted that she had to leave. The lady was a strict and very frightening person.”
Aile subtly emphasized that the lady had been difficult to serve.
“Keep it short. So?”
“The carriage slipped on the frozen snowy road and overturned.”
“What?”
“Her other injuries were treated somehow, but it seems she injured her head badly. They say even healing magic cannot fix injuries to the head.”
At that point, Aile revived her sorrowful expression and sniffled a few times.
“Miss! We are terribly sad that this happened as well. But we truly do not know what to do. We have never cared for someone before! Please tell us what we should do, Miss!”
Vivette seemed to consider it for a moment. Watching her, Aile smiled inwardly.
‘Good. I may have overdone it at the end, but I think she bought it. What can she do if we say we cannot handle it?’
Vivette Ashwilt had been raised gently. She might know how to pity sick people, but she did not know the first thing about caregiving.
So she would probably muddle through by telling them not to do it again.
“What did the main house say?”
“Pardon?”
“If you cannot do it, they should assign professionals.”
“W-We asked as well, but... We were told that there would be no additional staff for the annex.”
In short, they were being ignored because it was the annex.
Aile did not care if that young lady went to the main house to protest. That much was true.
But would she really make a scene at the main house? Would she risk earning the Duke’s hatred when she had already been barred from entering it?
Just for one pathetic, sick lady?
Seeing Vivette remain silent, Aile shrugged.
‘What a nobody.’
It was only irritating that she had been woken up over something so trivial.
“I see. You must have had a difficult time too.”
Hiding her victorious smile, Aile continued in a tearful voice.
“No, the lady must have suffered far more, and we were being so immature...”
“If you lack the qualifications to care for the lady, there is a solution. You can quit.”
“...What?”
Vivette said that, then gave her a sweet smile.
“You are all dismissed. Every one of you, from that end to you.”
“Miss!”
“Nothing has happened yet, so I will not cut off your wrists. Just leave quietly. And do not expect letters of recommendation.”
Even the maids standing behind her went pale.
It was not easy to find work this good. Even being stuck in the farthest corner of the Ashwilt estate was considered better experience than working at another estate’s main house.
Aile’s fist tightened slightly.
She had thought Vivette was innocent, but she had been hiding such a vicious face? That sly little bitch...!
At last, her true feelings slipped out.
“...Do you think it will happen as you wish?”
“What did you say?”
“The annex is short on staff these days. If you send all of us away, who will care for the lady?”
“That is right! No matter how much you dislike us, you will have no choice but to keep us on for the time being!”
As Aile stepped forward, the other maids began joining in one by one.
Ever since Vivette had fallen out of favor, the main house had not wanted to spend money on the annex.
Those proud main house maids would not volunteer to come here, and Vivette, confined as she was, had no power to force them to come.
The closed-off West Wing was reluctant to transfer staff at all, and the same was true elsewhere.
It was time for that young lady to compromise with reality and learn to control her anger.
You should know as well how much of a luxury it was for the powerless to express their emotions.
‘Hmph. Even if we refuse, she will have to beg us to stay. If things go badly, she will end up looking ridiculous while caring for a senile old woman.’
The maids grew bolder, but it did not last long.
Because Vivette made this declaration.
“Oh, you need not worry about that. Lady Ashwilt will move in with me. I will care for her myself.”
“...Pardon?”
Had she heard that correctly? What was this thoughtless young lady saying?
Of course, it was obvious that she would make the other maids in the new annex do the difficult work. Still, she was bringing a senile patient into her own space.
Most noble ladies would not even want to go near such a person.
“Miss! I say this for your own sake, but you cannot possibly imagine how difficult that will be.”
“That is right! Just keep things as they are. We will do better. Please? Would that not be safer, and better for the lady too?”
They pretended to beg while subtly threatening her, but...
“Well. Whoever comes will do better than you. At the very least, they will not go to sleep while the lady they serve is awake.”
They really were going to be thrown out.
In that situation, Aile had to do something, if she and her colleagues were not to be driven out empty-handed.
“Ah, because you are so kind, Miss, you may hate us for neglecting the lady. But you will change your mind when you hear this.”
“What do you mean?”
She had one last hope.
A secret she had kept out of concern for the other servants at the estate, and from the last remaining loyalty she owed the lady she served.
“That lady used to...!”
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