Anna spotted a shovel on the side of the road. She picked it up, and then swung the handle towards Lily and Renee. They were hit and quickly moved aside, crying out in surprise.

Anna stood at her own door with the shovel, glaring at Lily and Renee. She stirked back, "Lily, you got disqualified cause you yelled at Madam Mary. How can you blame me?Shame on you! You two are also followers of the Goddess; how dare you lie under her eyes? The Goddess will not forgive you!"

A true believer would never mention the Goddess so casually, but Anna needed to use the Goddess's name to shut Lily up.

Of course, she didn't believe a word of what she was saying. If the Goddess really watched over this land, then why hadn't the demon staring at her been eliminated yet?

Lily had indeed lied to her mother about her disqualification. She didn't mention that she had been eliminated before finding out about Anna's arrangement by Master Parish, instead blaming everything on Anna.

Hearing Anna invoke the Goddess, Lily was momentarily panicked but quickly retorted, "I-I didn't lie! You did seduce Master Parish, that's why he let you work in the kitchen!"

Renee, on the other hand, was much more composed. She ignored Anna's mention of the Goddess and instead glared at Anna, shouting angrily, "Do you know how much effort I put into getting Lily's aunt to recommend her? That job was supposed to be Lily's, and you stole it, you shameless girl!"

Gayle, who was standing behind Anna, looked at her daughter with concern and then at Renee, her anger causing her to clench her teeth. Just as she was about to step forward, Anna held her back.

Anna had been in this world for several days and knew Gayle's character well. Gayle was not good at confrontations like this.

"Mom, trust me," Anna said, looking at Gayle.

Gayle looked into Anna's sky-blue eyes, which inherited from her. She nodded dazedly and stepped back.

Anna still held the shovel. She looked coldly at Renee and said, "Your daughter was disqualified by Madam Mary for her own behavior. How can you blame me? If I seduced Master Parish, I'd already be his lover. Why would I need to work in the kitchen?"

Most people had similar thoughts, when Anna pointed it out, they all believed her.

They never considered that Anna might have refused the opportunity to ascend to great heights, only thinking she simply didn't have the chance.

If Anna had indeed successfully seduced Master Parish, how foolish would she be to remain a kitchen maid instead of becoming his lover?

Even Renee was at a loss for words, but she wasn't ready to give up and shouted, "How do I know what you're thinking! Maybe you have bigger ambitions and want to become Master Parish's wife!"

Renee's words made the onlookers burst into laughter. They weren't laughing at Anna's "delusional dreams" but at Renee's "wild fantasies."

Marriages between slightly wealthy commoners and the lowest-ranking baron might be possible, but a commoner like Anna and the heir to an earl? Anna must be crazy!

Anna didn't need to say anything. The onlookers laughed and mocked Renee.

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Renee, don't blame others because your daughter is a loser. "

"Yeah, hahaha, wife... have you thought about this for Lily yourself?"

"If I were the lady of the Earl's mansion, I'd choose Anna over Lily. Anna is much prettier than Lily."

"..."

Everyone chimed in, causing Renee and Lily's faces pale. At first, Renee tried to argue back, but she quickly realized that the crowd's strength in numbers was overwhelming. She was soon defeated and left in a huff, dragging Lily with her.

With Renee and Lily gone, the onlookers had no reason to stay and soon dispersed.

Anna put the shovel back. The shovel was quite heavy, and her arms were now sore.

The young man who had informed Anna hadn't left. Seeing the crowd disperse, he approached and whistled, saying, "Anna, you were amazing!"

As he spoke, he took a bunch of purple flowers from his belt behind his back and handed them to Anna. "For you!"

Anna was momentarily stunned, but the young man pushed the flowers into her hands, then ran off with a grin, turning back to wave at her and ran away.

Clutching the bouquet, Anna noted that it was clearly picked from the wild, with many of the petals already crushed. Nevertheless, it was the first bouquet she had received in this world, and she felt a bit happy.

Anna walked back with the flowers, seeing Gayle still standing at the door. Gayle's gaze briefly passed over the flowers in Anna's hand but she said nothing.

Anna looked at Gayle, cleared her throat, and smiled sweetly. "Mom, I've got good news. I got hired at the Earl's mansion!"

Gai was stunned for a moment.

"Forget what just happened, Mom. You heard this good news from me first," Anna said with a grin. "I'll be making ten silver coins a month! We'll have potato stew with lamb and white bread every day!"

"I want some too!"

Adel and Evan, who had been hiding in the house, peeked out with their eyes shining. Even Evan was drooling.

"Alright, when I get my pay, everyone will have meat!" Anna declared boldly.

Adel and Evan cheered.

At that moment, Anna truly believed that she could change her circumstances.

Although there was a demon in the Earl's mansion that she feared, things were ultimately moving in a positive direction, and she believed they would continue to get better.

The next morning, Anna walked briskly to the Earl's mansion. Her knee injury was almost healed. Work started at seven in the morning, so she needed to be up by six.

After greeting the guards at the back gate of the mansion, Anna entered and followed the route Rebecca had shown her yesterday.

The kitchen in the Earl's mansion was quite large, with over a dozen people working there. When Anna arrived, the clock showed exactly 6:55.

Anna went to find Rebecca, who was busy wrapping up from the previous night's banquet. Seeing Anna, Rebecca asked her to help.

Rebecca, only three years older than Anna, had been working here for five years and was highly trusted by Madam Mary. Her behavior was akin to Madam Mary's, always stern-faced and seemingly unapproachable, despite being only twenty years old.

"Anna, start by washing these napkins. Later, I'll teach you how to fold them into flowers," Rebecca said with a serious expression. "For the next few days, you need to master the napkin folding to my satisfaction."

Anna nodded. "Alright, Rebecca."

Rebecca demonstrated how to wash the napkins, explaining the techniques to remove stubborn stains.

Since it was her first time washing napkins, it took Anna half an hour to clean more than ten of them and hang them out to dry. Rebecca inspected her work, nodded, and said nothing. Anna knew this meant Rebecca was satisfied with her results.

As for folding the napkins into flowers, Anna found it easy. She had nimble fingers, a good memory, and excellent spatial imagination. After Rebecca demonstrated it once, Anna quickly learned the technique.

Seeing Anna's focused expression as she learned, Rebecca's gaze softened with approval.

Just as Rebecca was about to teach Anna more table etiquette, someone hurried over and shouted at the kitchen door, "Where's the new maid?"

Anna was startled. Were they looking for her?

It was a young man. Seeing no one responded, he looked around and repeated, "Who is the new maid?"

Anna then raised her hand. "It's me."

She recognized this young man. He was with Master Parish before, sitting outside the carriage. He must be Master Parish's personal servant.

What could she say? That demon obviously wasn't going to leave her alone.

Fortunately, Anna was mentally prepared.

Having accepted the demon's help, she knew she had to continue dealing with him as the price she had to pay.

The young man looked at Anna, saying, "Young Master Parish is ready to dine."