Free Web NovelChapter 350: Commoners and Nobles
Most commoners in the Rockwell Kingdom were fearful of nobles, and for good reason.
Aside from horror stories parents told to children to make them behave, there were also numerous real-life examples of privileged aristocrats making life hard for the peasants.
In Tess’ case, this wasn’t just some abstract tale, however; it was a lived experience.
6 years ago, her father had accidently offended a noble who was patronizing his shop.
How exactly the man was offended was still unclear, but having been slighted by ’peasant trash’, the noble lord had swiftly ordered his guards to smash up the shop, beat the owner bloody, and extract ’compensation’ from him.
Tess had only been 11 at the time, but she could still vividly remember how terrified she was that day as she huddled behind her mother together with her younger siblings.
Such an act was technically a violation of the Kingdom’s Law, but in reality, a commoner trying to challenge a noble in court was nothing short of foolishness.
Tess’ family could have filed a complaint, but since the entire conflict happened inside their shop, with no neutral witnesses of any significant influence present, it would ultimately come down to their word against that of a noble’s, and that was a lost cause.
Worse yet, even if they somehow convinced the Ministry of Law that they were in the right, Tess’ family would inevitably have further offended that noble, and there were plenty of ways he could quietly get back at them, most of which would have been even more devastating than simply smashing up their shop.
In the end, like most others in similar circumstances, Tess’ family simply had to swallow the loss and try to move on.
As a result of that incident, Tess’ father was bedridden for a month and in order to treat him, the family had to spend quite a bit on medical fees, money they didn’t have thanks to their shop being all but destroyed along with all their merchandise.
It was only thanks to Tess’ aunt, the one who owned the small apple orchard outside of Misty City, leveraging her own land that her family didn’t end up losing their business entirely and being thrown out into the streets.
All of this happened because of a few wrong words spoken to a man loosely related to a Baron, so one could imagine just how panicked Tess was feeling now having ’withheld critical information’ from a royal princess that resulted in the latter’s work being disrupted.
Tess’ head had gone blank as she profusely apologized again and again, begging for mercy and for the princess to only punish her and not harm her family.
Christina, on the other hand, was still trying to recover from this shocking turn of events.
In all honesty, she wasn’t even upset with what had happened, only curious about why it happened.
This young maid named Tess seemed to know something, so Tina had asked her about it, never having anticipated that the latter would start banging her head against the floor so hard that it bled, pleading for the lives of her loved ones.
Naturally, the rest of the kitchen staff had noticed what was happening, but while a number of them sympathized with their young colleague, all of them kept their heads down, too afraid of getting caught up in Tess’ misfortune.
Realizing the situation was rapidly spiraling out of control, Christina forced composure onto her face and declared loudly enough that everyone could hear her, "Stop."
Upon hearing this command, Tess froze, her head still pressed to the ground, and waited for the princess’ judgement.
Seeing the maid who was just a couple years older than herself shivering like a frightened baby before a vicious predator, Christina felt the urge to sigh. This vivid display was a stark reminder to the young princess that her recent interactions with the common folk of the kingdom were anything but normal.
Most of the commoners Christina had met and spoken to over the past few months had been open and friendly, chatting and laughing with her like any other girl her age.
This could partially be explained away by the fact that she had been concealing her status, but even after Christina revealed her true identity, most of the people from Redwood Town who she had gotten close to didn’t change their attitude much towards her.
Perhaps it was because Redwood Town was so far away from the big cities and centres of politics that the people were naturally more casual in their behaviour.
Perhaps it was because their Lords, Charles and Sasha, were so easy to get along with.
Perhaps it was because they had seen Christina helping out around town like an ordinary girl and even fighting to protect them.
Whatever the case, it was a fact that Christina had largely been able to let her guard down and be herself around her new friends and acquaintances.
Now that she was back in a big city, however, and walking amongst people who were used to dealing with the darker side of the kingdom’s hierarchy, Christina had to remind herself that her mere presence could inspire dread in others.
Every word she spoke, and every action she took was now under intense scrutiny, with the smallest of frowns on her face or faintest hints of displeasure in her voice being enough to cause those who served her to panic.
Adjusting her mindset, the princess assumed a dignified posture and spoke once more, "I have no reason, or intention, to punish you. Now, rise."
As if the Heavens themselves had just pardoned her, Tess felt a giant weight lift from her shoulders.
Not daring to disobey, the young maid hurried to her feet but kept her head down, still quite frightened. Princess Christina may have said she wasn’t going to punish her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t displeased and couldn’t change her mind on a whim.
Understanding what the other party was thinking, Christina merely beckoned to the maid and ordered, "Follow me."
With that said, Christina turned and walked out of the kitchen.
.....
Taking a seat in her room, Christina thought about offering Tess a chair as well, but quickly dismissed the idea.
This young maid was either going to stand, or kneel, there was no third option; after all, not every commoner was as bold as her Senior Brother.
Pushing away that amusing thought, Christina focused her attention back on the present, "Now, why don’t we start from the beginning."
"Y-Yes, Your Highness," Tess stuttered nervously.
"You said you have some experience brewing cider," Christina began, "Tell me more about that."
For the next half-hour, Tess spilled everything she knew about cider making, with Christina asking a few questions here and there.
It was an informative discussion, if not a bit one-sided.
Still, by the end of it, Christina had a better idea of what she had done wrong.
Apparently, when making cider in a sealed container, one had to ’burp’ it at least once or twice a day for the first month, or there was a risk that the container would explode.
When Christina asked why this was, Tess just shook her head, saying that neither she, nor her aunt knew the reason.
Figuring she could just ask Lucas later, Christina didn’t dwell on the subject and simply nodded along. If this was how brewers had been doing things for centuries, who was she to disagree?
As for why Tess didn’t warn her sooner that this might happen, other than the fact that she didn’t dare to question a princess, it was mainly because the process Christina had used was different from the one she had learned, causing her to be uncertain if her guess was correct.
In order to make cider, her aunt took all the small, funny shaped, or fallen apples, washed the dirt from their skins, then crushed them all into big barrels.
Once the barrels were about half-full, Tess’ aunt would stir in a handful of spices and a bit of honey before topping it up with water and sealing it.
Hearing this, Christina could understand why the maid wasn’t certain she was making cider because, in truth, she wasn’t.
Lucas had mentioned that the process of growing yeast was related to making alcohol somehow, and Christina did notice a lot of similarities now that someone had explained the later in detail to her, but in the end, her objective lay elsewhere.
Despite that, the princess felt she had lucked out.
Up until now, all Christina had to go on were the vague ideas her Senior Brother had provided. While she was confident that she could eventually figure this problem out, having someone with relevant knowledge and experience would certainly speed up the process.
Tess was just such a person, and from what Christina had observed so far, the young maid was also a diligent worker who followed instructions and kept her mouth shut.
What’s more, the young maid was a recent hire by the Manor and hadn’t been assigned any important work yet, so poaching her likely wouldn’t cause a problem.
As for her nervousness and timidity, Christina figured that such flaws could be overcome in time.
Thinking so, the princess acted decisively.
Standing up from her seat, she walked over, patted Tess on the shoulder, and declared with a big smile, "From now on, you work for me."
