Chapter 84: New Job
The next day Valens woke up and came across a peculiar, but not in the least undelightful, sight in the main hall. Placed atop the wooden table was a plate with two sausages steaming hot, a perfectly cooked egg tucked neatly between them. On the side were some beans and lettuce, with a singular glass of water waiting beside it.
“Morning, Mr. Kosthal!” Selin peeked out of the kitchen with a wide smile, likely since she heard the loud creak of Valens’s door. “I’ve prepared a simple breakfast for you. It is, after all, your first day of your new job, isn’t it?”
“Breakfast?” Valens said, and licked the taste of the word lingering on the roof of his mouth. Breakfast. Such an odd thing to become a stranger to, but here he was, staring almost teary-eyed at the plate.
“Thanks…” he muttered as he poured himself over the chair, taking in the rich smell of his breakfast. They did buy a few things along with the clothes the other day, but he didn’t expect to see them so soon before him. “I feel like crying right now…”
“Ah!” Selin flung the cloth out of the kitchen’s door, stumbling out into the hallway, came floundering in haste to the table, stood there horrified at Valens’s face. “Is it…” she paused to catch her breath. “Is it something I did?”
“Something you— Oh, no!” Valens smiled at her. “It’s just… It’s good to be reminded that I can still have a normal breakfast after all those things. Makes you appreciate the whole journey, no doubt.”
“I’m terribly sorry if it’s not up to your standards. I haven’t had the time to learn much about cooking other than the occasional peeks I’d get from Mrs. Pritchard’s work. She… is the best cook I’ve ever had the chance to meet. I’m obviously a far cry from her ways—“
“Selin.”
“— and I have only myself to blame for that. The work was hectic in the Countess’ house. Such a grand place, it was. It would take me sometimes an hour or two to find the boys whenever we played hide and seek, and the kitchen wasn’t somewhere I was welcomed as the hierarchy demanded a lowly Nursemaid like me—“
“Selin!” Valens leaned closer and held Selin’s hand, forcing her to blink down at him. When she did, Valens offered her a kind smile. “It’s glorious, this breakfast. Perhaps the best meal I’ll eat in these last few weeks. I was trying to compliment you, but it seems I used rather crude words to do it.”
“Oh!” Selin’s eyes glinted, then slowly her cheeks reddened as she lowered her chin. It was then that it dawned on Valens that he was still holding the woman’s hand.
“My apologies,” he said, removing his hand. He then cleared his throat. “I appreciate the work you did, but let me remind you once again that you’re not here as a maid. Circumstances will have us stay here for some time, but under no conditions should you see yourself as someone below me.”