This Sucks, Hard.
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Dying wasn't the worst part.
Sure, it was pretty scary when the huge hunk of steel was approaching you at terminal velocity—but atleast that one was instant, too fast for you to think much about it. The next one wasn't though, nope. It was a cruel and miserable existence with the only goal being to make you suffer as much as possible.
If there was a God then they sure are a trickster, since your life has been nothing more than a string of loosely connected jokes.
"Maid! Which dress do you think would fit me better?!" A distressed girl rushed out of her walk-in closet carrying two dresses, both were somewhat similar in terms of the excessive amount of jewelry and gold fabric used—the only visible difference being the color of each garments.
Yep, the malevolent entity called "Unpaid Overtime" followed you well into your next life, in the form of being a maid.
Even in another world, capitalism was still the bane of your existence...
With some thought, you pointed at one of the dresses—thinking that it would fit your current 'mistress' better.
Ugh, even saying it leaves a bad taste in your mouth...
"Hmm... I think i'll pick this one instead!" And just like the upper-management from your old job, of course your input was ignored...
You could only let out a silent sigh as you stood beside them, offering your assistance whenever it's needed.
After an hour of simply putting on accessories, you were finally able to leave—weaving pass the many maids who were more suited with putting on make-ups.
A servant soon tripped over their own feet, clumsily falling face first towards the floor. Luckily you had caught them just in time, grabbing them by the scruff of their shirt—you pulled them upright with one arm before walking away, not responding to their gratitude.
When did it all started again? Oh yeah, you dying.
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It felt... weird. Like waking up from a dream, didn't help that you woke up in a bed. Really though, for a moment you really thought that everything that happened to you–from your childhood to your demise–was all a dream, hell, you thought you were still dreaming!
That slight hope off thinking that maybe you WERE in a dream was shattered when you were kicked out of your room by who you assumed to be your landlord telling you to pay your rent.
Then when you realized that this wasn't a dream, you began to have hope that maybe—just maybe, you can live your life without having to worry about getting a job!
Yeah, didn't last long.
Seriously, how poor are you in this life? The landlord was even sorry enough to give you some money to "survive a week"! Since when do landlords have a moral compass?! Do you seriously have nothing other than the clothes on your back!?
You checked yourself for anything that might have been on you when you got transported here.
Your hand eventually landed on a small box that was on your person—pulling it out, you found out that the item was a box of cigarettes.
Seriously?
Whatever, time to search for a job.
Again...
And so you wandered the streets, occasionally looking around to marvel at your surroundings.
The city? Kingdom? Place? It looked like something that was ripped straight from those manhwa stuff you got ragebaited by while doomscrolling. It looked fantastical, otherworldly! From what you could tell, you were in the 'lower' parts of the kingdom and it still looked beautiful! You could hardly believe this wasn't a dream.
The streets were filled with stalls, merchants selling their wares, magicians performing tricks in order to attract more costumers, and smiths forging equipment right before your eyes. People of all sort of races that you would only known of in fiction and stories were walking the very streets you were on! Elves, orcs, dwarves, and so on. It was wonderful!
Unfortunately you were quickly brought back to reality when you remembered that you still needed a job...
God damn it!
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After several more hours of wandering around, weaving pass crowds and occasionally punching a pick-pocketer, you found a paper saying that a certain family of nobles were looking to hire more maids—something about some of them mysteriously dissappearing after an incident, didn't took a detective to know actually happened...
You pondered about the potential danger, but seeing that housing, food, and the slight chance of promotion were all being offered–you decided to take the risk.
Reading the paper once more, you saw the address and decided to start making your way towards it. Using signs, and sometimes pointing at the address to people to get a general direction of where you were supposed to go.
However, people seems to have a worried look on their face whenever you did so before proceeding to straight up ignore you.
Rude, but what else can you do?
It was getting dark, the streets were now being illuminated by lamps that seems to have a glowing orb in them. Merchants were packing up for the day as others took their place, selling wares or streetfoods that you couldn't find during the day.
Soon enough you approached a stall with a sign that advertised some sort of beverage that you don't recognize. As you got closer, you noticed that the person tending to the stall was a male orc who was busy with cleaning a glass.
His gaze landed on you as you approached—a friendly smile appearing on his face.
"Welcome lass, take a seat. Care for a drink?" You gave him a nod before sitting down on one of the stools, taking your time to read the menu that was carved onto the counter.
Most-if not all, had weird names that you don't recognize. Even some of the ones that you do know of has an extra name that make you unsure if they would even taste the like the ones from your world.
"Here's the food menu. If yer looking for a bite." He said, sliding a wooden tablet towards you.
You haven't realized it until just now, but you're feeling pretty hungry.
Taking out the pouch that you were given, you pour the contents of said pouch onto your hand.
About 20 copper coins.
Looking back a the menu, you pointed at the cheapest drink and some cooked potatoes—both of which costing a total of 5 copper pieces. Soon after confirming your order, he took the wooden tablet away and started preparing your meal.
As the smell of roasted potatoes filled the air, you turned around and rested your back against the counter.
To say that you were overwhelmed would be an understatement, it's actually quite ridiculous how you weren't having a breakdown right now. Luckily, you were quick to adapt to your new circumstances and had already gotten over the initial shock—now all that filled your head was 'What now?'
Well that problem will be up to tomorrow's you to solve, for the moment—you just want to get that maid gig and secure your housing problem first.
You thought about the other potential jobs you could go for, adventuring is a hassle, you don't want to join the military again, and running a shop is literally retail but worse.
Not to mention that most of them don't guarantee a proper bed or food.
How bad could being a maid be anyway? You'll get a roof over your head, food, and a bed! Who knows, maybe if you're lucky enough then you'll get to travel around the world. In exchange for cleaning rooms and dishes? That sounds well worth it to you.
Are maids underpaid here? You sure hope not—then again, you're not sure what you'll use the money for anyway.
You're notified that your food was finished when a plate was placed on the counter alongside a mug.
"Enjoy yer meal lass." He said. "Anything else i can do for ya?"
Oh, you almost forgot what you came here for.
You turned around and showed him the paper as you pointed at the address—silently asking him for directions.
His brows furrowed the moment he laid eyes on the paper and you can't tell if he was upset by you or the paper.
"Ya sure lass? I'll tell ya where to go but i really recommend finding another job..." Oh, so he was upset by the paper—that's good to know.
You gave him a raise brow, curious as to what he meant.
"Ah, am guessing yer new in town ay?" He sighed before leaning over the counter. "Those folks aren't the friendly bunch you'd like to be around, even worse than those outskirts' nobles." His voice came out in a hushed tone as he occasionally glance around—making sure no one is listening.
"Why'd ya think they looking for more servants? They're brutal, any slight accident could land ya on the chopping block—not to mention, they'll not think twice bout sacrificing ya as a scapegoat."
That is... concerning...
"Last week, their carriage got ambushed by bandits—y'know what they did?"
You shook your head.
"They took the guards with em and left them servants to fend fer themselves." After saying that, he stood back—eyeing your form with concern.
"Yer young lass, there's plenty of work with less danger. But if yer really desperate about this—i can tell ya where to go."
You sat there contemplating the risks and reward for a moment as his warning rang in your head. After a minute of thinking, you finally reached your decision.
With a determined look, you met his eyes and nodded.
♤ ♡ ◇ ♧
That's basically the summary of how you ended up in this position.
The interview wasn't all that complicated really—just you and a few other maids swearing loyalty to the family that you will be serving, who just so happens to be the Dashiells.
You can't help but feel like you've heard that name before.
After that, your little group went on a tour around the estate—the guide showing you all where the kitchen is, where the bedrooms are, and when to clean them. She even shared some tips such as what not to do, codewords for various different emergencies, and how to bail yourself out when the mistress is angry.
As the tour came to an end, you were all given your uniforms and a congratulations as you were now officially a part of the household staff.
Yay for you.
Too bad that happiness of getting a job will be replaced by the realization that you have a job.
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That was over 2 months ago.
In that time alone, you've became one of the most trusted maids in the household—even having been entrusted the role of being the personal caretaker of Iona Dashiell—of course with a role like that, some form of special training would be expected.
What you didn't expect was for you to double as a bodyguard, don't they have knights around here for a reason?
Luckily you're already well-versed in basic hand-to-hand so you quickly caught on with the basics, even surprising your instructor who thought you were some oblivious maid who didn't understand what she was getting into. It all seems normal at firsr, just some basic workout and sparring lessons.
But then they taught you magic.
You've seen it before during your time as a maid and walk around town, you just didn't expect to be learning it for yourself and so soon too. You can't help but worry when you had to swear keep this a secret under the threat of execution, apparently only nobles and certain registered mages were allowed to learn magic—something about it being too dangerous for public knowledge.
Atleast you have a lighter always on hand.
Literally.
Now here you stood, on one of the many balconies in the estate—leaning onto the railing as you reached into your pocket and pulled out a box of cigarettes.
One left.
It's been years since you've quit smoking, unfortunately the last 2 months had been nothing but hell for you—unhinged working hours, ridiculous demands, and low pay has had it's toll on you despite thinking that you've gotten used to it long ago.
You took out the cigarette, pocketing the box for whatever use you'll have for it.
Tomorrow was gonna be the day of the royal gala, having been selected as the maid to accompany your mistress—chasing after a promotion really came to bite you in the ass didn't it? You can only hope your mistress doesn't cause too much of a scene, you'd really rather not be on the chopping block for being involved with ruining the crown prince's birthday.
With a tired sigh, you placed the cigarette between your lips before lighting it.
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A/N: Can't decide between normal isekai manhwa villainess schtick or just every fantasy trope shoved into one.
Remember the amount of villainess!reader with yandere male leads/female leads a few years ago? Yeah, but what if reader was the maid and also overworked, underpaid, etc.
Hope y'all liked this one!
