She Worked As A Palace Maid To Raise Her Younger Sisters… Then They Pretended They Never Knew Her!

Chapter 2

The palace of Eldoria was a world of contrasts. Above, crystal chandeliers illuminated ballrooms where nobles danced in silk and velvet. Below, in the narrow servant passages, women like Clara scrubbed, polished, and carried until their bodies screamed for rest.

Before dawn broke each morning, Clara hauled heavy buckets of water from the palace wells, her shoulders aching under their weight. She scrubbed long stretches of white marble until they reflected the chandeliers overhead like mirrors. She knelt for hours cleaning soot from grand fireplaces, washed muddy footprints from servant passages, polished brass railings until her arms trembled, and carried baskets overflowing with dirty linens to the palace laundry. By the time noble families gathered for breakfast around tables covered with roasted meats, fresh fruit, and warm loaves of bread, Clara had already been working for four hours. She rarely finished before the moon appeared over the palace towers.