Francesca stood bowed in front of the head maid, ready to give her report. The tall woman was sitting by her worktable, documents laid out before her. She cast a severe glance at Francesca, then nodded to let her begin.

“Francesca, how did the young lady’s day go? Were there any complications?”

Francesca rose from her bow briskly, maintaining perfect posture.

“No madam, everything went just as usual.”

The older woman stared at her intently for a few seconds, judging silently. Eventually she turned away from Francesca back to her writing implements.

“Then you are dismissed. Return to your duties.”

Francesca offered another proper bow, then went off to ready the little lady for her bedtime. It had been a rather tiring day for the girl after all.

The next morning, Livia jumped out of her bed full of energy the instant Francesca opened the door. She ran into Francesca’s hem, wrapping her arms around the maid.

“Fran Fran! We’ll go to the park again today, won’t we? Bella said that it’s so boring to study all day, so we agreed to go again today! We will go, right?”

Francesca barely managed to supress her grimace; it was going to be one of those days again, wasn’t it?

She of course assented and patted the girl’s head reassuringly. Her gaze however was elsewhere, wondering towards the window in the room. Through it she saw blue skies, birds flittering high above, free as can be. Her mind held only one thought.

I wonder if my pension would be enough for retirement soon...