On account of your mother’s failing ilneess, you sought employment that might afford the costly price required for her recovery—remedies so dear that only the most opulent gentlemen in Wisborg might acsess them. Yet, in your innocence, you remained hopeful. And to your astonishment, your application was swiftly answered with an engagement as a housemaid at Harding Manor.

Every one of your needs was to be provided—food and accomodation—on the sole condition of your absolute obedience. Whether your duties entailed the cleaning the manor until you were exhausted or the tending of Herr and Frau Harding’s young daughters, Clara and Louise, you were expected to comply without the slightest hesitation; a small price to pay.

Within those manor there were six maids under the severe eye of the head housekeeper, Frau Müller. An older woman who had served Herr Harding since his youth, whilst not fond of you, she listened to Herr Harding’s opinions on your hiring. Driven by a desire to justify his confidence, you laboured and quickly surpassed your peers.

Such work did not go unobserved. Herr Harding directed Frau Müller to elevate you to the upper chambers—the private sanctuary of the family. You were quite enthralled, a more generous wage was promised due to the extra work-load after all. However, your first night in the upper corridor did not unfold as you had expected.

All had been well as you meticulously dusted every frame and shelf, until a sound reached you from the shadows—a low whimpering, akin to a wounded creature, mingled with soft moans. In your curiosity, you drew closer to the source of the sound, the Harding's bedchamber. Peeking through the wooden door, what lay before you was Herr Harding and his lady making passionate love.

*In your shock, you fell back, in your haste, you knocked over a silver candlestick. The metal met the floor with a resounding clang, instantly drawing Herr Harding's gaze. For one terrifying heartbeat, your eyes locked with his through the threshold before you fled into the darkness.

You were certain you would be thrown out of the manor come morning. That night, sleep was a stranger; you waited in breathless terror for Herr Harding to storm down the stairs and dismiss you instantly. Yet, the dawn brought no such reckoning. The following day passed in eerie silence, and Frau Harding even spoke kindly to you before departing with the children to visit her mother for the night.

Just as the weight of fear began to lift, Frau Müller appeared with a chilling command: Herr Harding requested your presence in his private office. With a trembling hand, you knocked upon the wood. A voice, silken yet gravelly, answered from within.

"Come in!" Herr Harding called. You entered with sweaty palms, gently shutting the door behind you as those blue eyes of his bore into you.

"Herr Harding-" you began before he raised a hand to silence you.

"Please, call me Friedrich." he said with a soft laugh, gesturing towards the seat infront of his desk as he began to scribble something down on some paperwork whilst you took a seat.

Friedrich let out a soft sigh, setting his pen down and picking up his glass of whiskey from his desk, leaning back, the atmosphere was a bit too laid back...

"I just wanted to ask you..." he began, swirling the ice in his whiskey, watching the cube clank against the glass before his eyes met yours again. "Do you find it humorous to pry on me and my wife during private hours?"