Hugh let out a sound of disbelief at the sight before him.

It was a huge mansion with sprawling grounds. Land in Janiga City was limited, so even being able to have so much land that you could barely perceive the city outside its walls… that spoke of money. Especially when it’s smack dab in the middle of the Northeast district, the one with all the rich people.

This mansion was to be his home as long as he was Ruth’s aide. Yes, it was the Gawain mansion.

(When Miss Athy said their influence was no joke… I still couldn’t predict just how true that statement was.)

The time was afternoon, right after lunch hour. Ruth had sent a message to him to go to the mansion first and get used to things there. He was currently standing right outside the front door after taking in the incredible sight around him with a gaping mouth.

He shook his head to snap out of it. Now was the time to work, and he had to make a good impression.

He knocked on the door.

It immediately opened in with a loud sound, startling Hugh. There was a young lady within wearing a maid outfit and a thunderous look.

“You’re. Late.” She punctuated each syllable by pointing her finger at him.

He floundered and checked his watch. He wasn’t given any specific time to arrive, but perhaps he missed the memo?

“I’m sorry. It’s just, the mansion looked so beautiful-”

“You think by praising it you can get on my good side?” she tsked. “What an amateur.”

She continued: “You should be here immediately after your lunch hour! It’s already an hour past that. You’ve made me waste my time waiting for you when I could be doing my work.”

Hugh could almost cry. Here he was unbalanced by the new surroundings, and now he was getting scolded.

He took a deep breath and tried his best to calmly reply instead of shrinking away like a hurt animal. “I’m sorry for being late, I wasn’t aware of the time. My name is Hugh, umm…” he gestured to her to introduce herself.

“Hmph. I am Sarah, Miss Ruth’s personal maid. I am in charge of everything in this mansion, especially on Miss Ruth’s wellbeing. Don’t think of yourself as a freeloader. As long as you stay here, you will work to Miss Ruth’s benefit.

Your room is the second door to the left. It’s part of the servant’s quarters, as you should be. Put on the uniform I’ve left inside the room and come see me immediately here.”

He almost dashed to get away from her, but thought to just walk quickly. Sarah would probably take offence if he did the former.

His new room was only slightly large than his dorm room, and the simple furniture within told Hugh that it was a servant’s quarters. Putting down the luggage bag that contained his meagre inventory, Hugh quickly changed into the dress shirt, black pants, formal shoes and black apron. All in all, he looked like a newbie butler in training.

Quickly he returned to the entryway where Sarah was busy frowning at her watch, no doubt monitoring how long Hugh was taking. “Hmph. Barely passable, but look at your tie!” She fixed his crooked tie and tie clip with a rough hand. “An aide that can’t even tie a tie, how embarrassing.”

After that was simply doing chores with a dash of reprimands. He was dusting things wrongly, he wasn’t sweeping the floor properly, he wasn’t mopping in the correct direction… the scolding was endless. Finally in the evening Sarah sent him to the kitchen to eat his meal.

Sighing a small sound of relief the moment he was out of sight of her, Hugh rubbed at the tears in his eyes as a bubble of emotion within him threatened to burst. Taking deep breaths, he moved quickly to the kitchen. Perhaps due to his haste, he wasn’t prepared for whom he found inside.

There was an orc standing at the stove. A tribal orc at that.

A loud gasp escaped him due to the surprise of seeing the tribal orc. At that sound the orc turned and, seeing his expression of surprise, merely said, “Didn’t expect to see a tribal orc around did ya.”

At that reprimand, he quickly apologised: “I’m so sorry for my reaction! Um… I’m Hugh, what’s your name miss…?”

“Cut it out with that ‘miss’ thing, I’m just Billy. No problem, no problem. I’m the chef in this mansion.” She gave him a sympathetic look. “Heard Sarah bustling you around the place. Why don’t you just sit down at the island there, I’ll whip you up some food.”

He thanked her and got to his seat. As he did so, she continued talking. “Sarah might rule the mansion, but step in here and it’s my queendom. So just relax. The most I might ask is a grocery run.

I might be a tribal orc, but I was raised by human parents. Plus I got too used to living in the city to go out there and live with the tribes. Miss Ruth picked me up at my lowest point, so I’m working here to express my gratitude. Don’t worry, I’m very skilled at cooking; it’s my passion.” She placed a bowl of soup, some bread, butter and ham in front of him.

When his tongue tasted the delicious hot soup, tears started to pour down his cheeks. That clearly surprised Billy, but she gave a kind smile and patted his back. “You did good work today Hugh, but Sarah’s tough to handle. Just cry if you need to, okay?”

At that he was full blown crying and sniffling. Billy handed him a rag to wipe his tears on.

After awhile he calmed down enough to clean his face and finish his food. Washing his utensils in the sink, he then found himself rooted to the floor. The thought of going back to the place that hurt him so was a little…

Billy easily picked up on that. “You know what, it turns out I need to do a grocery run but I’ve got things here to do in my queendom. Why don’t I give the list to you, and you can just hit the greengrocers and help me buy some stuff.”

Hugh nodded eagerly. Shortly afterwards he was given the list, the money - “Don’t lose it, that’s Miss Ruth’s money.” - some directions and was shown out the kitchen exit.

Hugh ruminated as he walked to the greengrocers. Did he really want to continue being an aide if this was what it entailed? He also called Sarah some choice curse words - not out loud of course. Maybe he wasn’t cut out for this job. Perhaps he could quit and just join the Biology Club?

He tried to find the good side of things. He got to tour the mansion in a way, and it was beautiful. Especially the library; packed floor to ceiling with thousands of books and a cosy couch by the fireplace. He could stand to live here just for that. And Billy was a nice person; maybe the kitchen could be his oasis?

His thoughts were so dense that he accidentally knocked into a child. He apologised profusely and made his way to the greengrocers with a renewed focus.

Nothing went wrong with buying the groceries, but when the cashier asked for his money…

Hugh reached into the pocket he always kept his money - and found nothing. He checked his other pockets, then patted himself up and down. A slow rising of fear and panic took hold of him.

“Is something wrong sir?” the cashier asked.

“Um… I seem to have lost my wallet…!”

“Oh no, that’s terrible! Can you think of where you lost it?” she asked.

“I think it was when I bumped into that child. Maybe it fell to the floor then!”

The elf behind him let out a snort. “I don’t think you’ll find it there. There’s been a slew of pickpocketing in this area recently.”

Hugh’s heart sank. Billy had especially told him not to lose Miss Ruth’s money, and here he lost it. What a bummer way to end the day.

Promising that he would be back with money to buy the groceries, Hugh stepped out of the greengrocers with a deep feeling of being a loser and of being lost. He thought he could find a place to belong next to Ruth, but…

Yeah, maybe he’d join the Biology Club after all.

Holding tight the feeling of shame, sadness and of being lost again, a cold winter wind blew down the streets, sending him shivering. The point is, is that it made him look up - and spot a child running into an alleyway in front of him.

Maybe he could still salvage the day? Perhaps that child was the thief, or knows the thief?

He decided to find out.