From Areum’s perspective, it was far stranger that there seemed to be not a single person with black hair here. But she intentionally kept that to herself. There was no need for her to say things that would only make people dislike her. Areum walked lightly towards where her sneakers were as her bare feet splashed up water. She wiped most of the water off her feet and then took out her socks and pushed her feet into her shoes. Solenn spoke again as she watched Areum fold up her school uniform.

“Come to think of it, I thought those clothes were strange from the moment I saw you.”

Yes. When I first saw the hunters, I thought that the clothes that they were wearing were strange, too. Solenn stared as Areum swallowed her sarcastic remark and tried to slyly turn it into a smile.

“Where is it that you’re from?”

There was nothing Areum could say in response to that, despite Solenn’s gaze. It wasn’t that she was intentionally withholding the information, but it seemed pointless to say, “I’m a student at Shinseong Girl’s High School,” or that she hailed from Northern Jeolla Province, or even that she was Korean.

If her predictions were correct, it seemed she had likely fallen into some place not on Earth. It was a world full of unfamiliar languages and scenery. Add to that there were vampires and that one had to draw water through a pump even at an aristocratic manor belonging to a Duke. There was no way that this was Earth. What made it all the more surreal was the fact that the language she was hearing for the first time in her life was coming out of her own mouth completely naturally. It isn’t even worth the effort saying, “slave market,” “horse carriage,” or “candle” in Korean. If someone were to tell her that wizards and dragons existed here, she wouldn’t hesitate to believe it.

This was her predicament: whatever she would say about where she was from or where she had lived would only serve to incur suspicion. So, Areum merely smiled. Solenn finally looked away from Areum, who was smiling embarrassedly.

“… I suppose it isn’t any of my business.”

After looking the now prepped Areum up and down, she opened the door and left the bathhouse. They retraced their steps down the way they came, crossing a short stone path. She then opened a side door, after which she opened one of the doors facing the desolate wooden hallway. Areum stole a glance inside the door over Solenn’s shoulder.

In the small, dark room, two single beds big enough only lie completely straight on were nestled against opposite walls of the room. Each bed had a thin blanket and a flat pillow neatly placed at its head. In the middle of the wall that the head of Areum’s bed faced, was a palm-sized mirror without any decorations. That was all there was. No closet or side table, not even a chair. It was a desolate setup without a single window.

Pointing to the bed on the left, Solenn spoke.

“That one will be yours. Get some rest.”

Realizing that Solenn was about to leave, Areum quickly asked her something.

“In this?”

Areum pointed to the maid’s outfit that she was wearing. Solenn was wearing an outfit exactly the same as Areum, so she figured they were the uniform here. If she were to sleep in these clothes, they would surely get wrinkled. Would it be okay to go to work in wrinkled clothes? It was odd. Not to mention that it was clear they’d be uncomfortable to sleep in. That said, she couldn’t just wear the blood-plastered school uniform to bed.

Solenn responded.

“You don’t have anything suitable to sleep in.”

After saying her piece, Solenn picked up the candle and stepped into the hallway. The yellow aura of the light illuminated her feet as they walked, gradually growing distant.

Areum set foot into the dark room. She couldn’t just stand at the door forever. Once she closed the door, the room became pitch black. Groping the air in front of her, she made it to the bed, then took off her sneakers and crawled into it. Unsure of where to put the school uniform she was still clinging to, she decided to place it in a corner near her head. She spread the blanket and fluffed her pillow. Her hesitant efforts in the darkness were even more sluggish because of her skirt wrapping itself around her legs.

She laid where she was, for she had been told to sleep. And there was nothing else for her to do.

There was no mattress on the bed. At best, it seemed as though they had laid out a thick bed of hay, on top of which was a thin mat. Its lumpy and unpleasant feeling stuck to her back. On top of that, the blanket smelled musty and damp. All that had happened since the day she had been struck by a car flashed before her eyes—the nights spent curled up in a cell after being hunted in the woods, the furtive glances of masked people at the auction house, the bumpy carriage ride, and the teeth that sank into her arm. She had gone through all that and was now lying in a bed somewhere within a house where a vampire lived.

Areum was a bit shaken up upon realizing that this smelly, uncomfortable bed was in fact the best bed she had experienced since coming to this place. Little by little she bent her body and folded herself up, until finally she curled herself into a ball. The irregular sobbing breaths slipping out between her pursed lips resounded throughout the dark room. Unable to hold it in any longer, the words Mommy, mommy wrenched their way out from between her teeth. She was bawling.

Everything had gone as she had wished. She had avoided the bad endings of becoming a human lab subject or a plaything. And there was little chance that she would die by having her blood drained by the vampire. She’d be able to live so long as she ingratiated herself by whatever means necessary while working beneath that monster. Because for some reason, he wouldn’t strangle her to death for rubbing him the wrong way. He seemed to not cross that final line, Areum thought to herself, head still spinning.

“Isn’t it enough that I’m alive? Aren’t I lucky to have gotten through the night without dying?” Areum asked herself, trying her best to comfort herself, but her tears showed no will to stop. The last few days’ worth of despair that had been repressed within her without shedding a tear washed over her.

Survival isn’t the end-all-be-all for humans. There is a last line of defense that they desire to uphold, and happiness that they wish to pursue.

No matter how inwardly unyielding she was, what she had done in the stone dungeon was no different than a dog. She had barked, as if ready to lick his boots, and undone her buttons. Her self-respect had been wrinkled and balled up into a mess. If she only could, she wanted to rip off the very lips which had smiled as she tried to charm the man.

What was worse, she realized, was the fact that as long as she worked under the vampire, she would have to keep doing those things. That realization made Areum profoundly miserable.

***

Just around the time that Areum was falling asleep after staining her pillow with tears, Solenn was arriving at the room of the mansion’s caretaker, Philip Laurent.

Philip normally went to bed late at night. Even if he were to try to retire early, he couldn’t help but stay up, taking care of all the trivial little things that needed tending to around the manor. From recording and ordering any groceries or other necessities, to maintaining and repairing the mansion, sorting out the wages of workers, keeping tabs on sorts of human resources issues, and the management of and reporting on special requests from the main castle--if he didn’t take care of things immediately, they’d pile up and become a royal pain. All these things and more, he took care of from his desk which faced the window.

Within less than 5 years of working at the manor, Philip’s brown hair, which had been fine up until taking a job at the manor, was now greyer than it was brown. Though everyone who lent him an ear to complain told him that he was at the age to start going grey, Philip himself could not accept that. For starters, he was only 50 years old—no older, no younger. Both his father and his grandfather had kept their brown hair until they each passed away. And so, it was clear that the reason for his greying hair was his working environment.

That day alone he had already had his hands full. Especially once he remembered almost passing out after reading the itemized receipt that Logan Lamont had brought him, he gnashed his teeth.

When Philip Laurent, who had the luxury of being able to light a candle on both side of him while looking at his ledger, heard the two quick knocks at the door, he rapidly blew out one of the candles. He wrapped himself halfheartedly in the robe hanging beside him and answered the door to find Solenn waiting there.

“Oh, Solenn. Is there some sort of emergency?”

Welcoming her inside, he took the lantern Solenn had been holding.

“A new maid has been brought in.”

“This is the first time I’m hearing of this.”

Philip did not conceal his annoyance when he responded. Though Solenn may be the head maid, for her to hire a maid without going through him, the caretaker, first was something that should never happen. Besides, they already had all the maids they needed at the moment; unless one had died.

“Lord Millard decided himself.”

“What?”

“Lord Millard was the one who brought her in. He says to put her to work starting tomorrow.”

The two of them walked side by side into Philip’s study.

Philip took a registry off the bookshelf and brought it to his desk. Solenn pulled up a round wooden stool and sat beside him. Both they and the candlelight were reflected in the window. While Solenn stared listlessly at the smooth glass surface, Philip opened the registry to a page with [Maids] written on it. Solenn Burke, Rachel Donna, Marin Alay. Each time he turned a page, he glanced at the personal information recorded beneath each name. The sundry details of each maid’s date of birth, place of origin, education level, religion, family relations, and address were scrawled in a unique script that only Philip Laurent could decipher.

“And you didn’t bring her along?”

Philip pushed his glasses up as he spoke. His tone somewhat softened. At last, Solenn turned to gaze to the registry open in front of Philip.

“She needed to rest.”

“Mmhmm…”

He reacted as if she had just said something ridiculous. Solenn Burke was a woman who had endured more than a decade in Duke Travis’ manor. Philip, who had studied her all the while, knew better than anyone how little mercy she had for others. She was not the type of person not to bring an unregistered new maid to the caretaker for the mere reason of her having to rest.

“I learned her name, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Fine, fine. What’s her name?”

“Areum Yun. First name Areum, last name Yun.”

“What a strange name…”

Philip dipped his pen in ink and began to write out the strange sounds, but then forgot the name and had to ask Solenn to repeat it. Areum. Had she come from some desert tribe? The family name “Yun” was one he had never heard before.

“Place of origin?”

“Ask her yourself tomorrow.”

“Age, then?”

“Ask her yourself as well.”

“If you don’t know anything about her, why did you come at all?”

Philip spoke without being able to conceal how absurd he found Solenn’s behavior.

“Why couldn’t you have just brought her with you tomorrow?”

“We need to put in an order for something.”

“Can’t that wait ’til tomorrow as well?”

“It’s urgent.”

“Hmph…”

Philip once again let out a begrudging sigh and took a small page of loose-leaf out of his desk drawer.

“Don’t we have spares of most everything? There should be a few extra maid’s uniforms lying around somewhere.”

“It’s something else. Please find a coif before noon tomorrow. I haven’t been able to find one, and perhaps we never restocked since we do not wear them.”

“Hm, that’s a bit early.”

“The new girl needs to wear it. Please, just find one, even if it means asking other manors if they have a spare we can borrow. There is no way that I will let her loose in the manor with that hair of hers.”

Solenn’s tone was resolute. Philip had an ominous feeling about this.

“She couldn’t possibly be…”

Philip’s words trailed off. Solenn stared at him, waiting for him to finish.

“What I mean is, today Lamont came to me saying that he was going to buy a slave and asked me to cough up 200,000 gold. I couldn’t believe it, so I asked him what kind of slave he could possibly be buying to need to have that much on hand, and he said something or other about a vampire. He gave me a receipt and what was left, saying that he had won an auction, but don’t tell me that he used that to get a maid.”

“So, you know.”

“My god. Is she really a vampire?”

Philip’s chest pounded in terror. Two vampires in the damn mansion? I can’t stand this. I’ll have to quit. Fortunately, Solenn’s response put his heart back at ease.

“No.”

“Then why was she put on the auction block as a vampire?”

“I don’t know. Most likely because her hair is black.”

It was one shock after another for Philip. Did she just say there was a human with black hair?”

“Are you sure it’s not a vampire?”

When he asked for the second time, Solenn shook her head.

“Yes. Nothing about her appearance says she’s a vampire and she herself says she isn’t. So please, find a coif for her. If she’s left to run around the manor with her black hair, it will become an unspeakable headache in many respects.”

“Mhm, I concur. I’ll set out to find one once the sun’s up.”

“That’s all I came to tell you. I’ll be off now.”

Solenn rose. She looked at the now extinguished lantern she had set on the desk, then picked it up nonchalantly. Philip promptly grabbed her before she could leave.

“Wait a second, where should I place her? Cleaning and laundry are both spoken for. Has her place been decided?”

“Lord Millard said to place her in his direct attendance.”

“Even though he has you?”

“Yes. I’ll come again tomorrow. Please leave the coif in my room as soon as you find one.”

“I’ll be sure to do that. Good night, then.”

Letting Philip show her out, Solenn then left for her room. She walked the dark path without an ounce of hesitation, as if carrying the lantern on her way, there had only been a force of habit. She did not fear the dark, but instead, it made her through as if to mock it. For she knew this path she had walked countless times like the back of her hand, and could make her way down it looking only at the trees and the rocks, and the faint silhouette of the building.