"This house is called the staff house and it will be the place where all of my employees will be living from now on. You need to apply to live there and conform to the rules set, of course, it is not compulsory as some of you can still live with your families," Alayna explained as she looked at the excited and confused expression of her staff.
"This is really great!"
"Can we see inside?"
Although most of them didn’t really need to stay in the staff house, they were curious to see what the place looks like. Maybe in the future, they can live here if it is possible.
"Sure, let’s go inside," Alayna couldn’t wait to show them around so she urged them to follow her and enter the house the well.
Elena’s heart finally calmed down as she looked at the house. She was worried that this place will be dangerous for her but to think that it was just a staff house, she finally got to know what her boss has been up to.
She remembered the time when Alayna told her that once the staff housing was available, she will be moving out. And to think that the time for her to move out was upon her, she was a bit upset, she had gotten used to seeing her boss all day and it was going to be hard to not do that from now on.
But the second she saw the familiar T.V all the sadness vanished as this means that she can still enjoy watching her dramas as usual. Alayna introduced every single place and finally, it was the bedrooms.
"As you see, there are only three bedrooms and two people will share one room. In the future, there will be more but for now, this can do. This ...." Alayna found it her duty to explain in detail to her employees as this black technology wasn’t familiar to them.
She was also very patient with them and answered all the questions they had.
"Elena will be moving out today after we return, so if anyone wants to see her, you can come to this side. And if anyone of you wants to stay here, don’t forget to come to me and we will talk about it," Alayna encouraged them with a smile.
Elena nodded her head to show that she understands, "thank you for taking care of me all these months."
"That’s my job, you are welcome," Alayna said as she looked at Elena with a smile.
The tour to the staff house concluded and everyone returned to their respective homes. Elena returned to Alayna’s house and she began to pack her belongings.
She had bought a few things with her money so she spent some time packing. Alayna was very generous and she drove Elena to the staff house as she didn’t want the other to go there on foot.
"Elena, remember to commit the rules to your memory and if one-day others join you, show them. I don’t want any trouble to occur. Also, you will be busying your own food, and rent and utilities are...…."
Elena never thought that after living for free for so many months she will end up paying her rent and utilities but she was glad when she heard the amount as it wasn’t much.
Alayna explained some of the things to her before she left. Elena looked at the house and sighed, "to think that I will be living by myself from now on, it’s going to be very lonely."
There wasn’t time to think about much so Elena looked at the rooms and chose one to live in. She wanted the top bed, so she claimed it and packed her clothes in the wardrobe, and claimed her side as well.
As the house didn’t have any food, Elena had to go out to Draak to buy some. It was very expensive to rely on the shop’s food, she couldn’t afford it.
"Although this place isn’t like Alayna’s house, it is still comfortable and I can deal with it. I hope that I can get a roommate as soon as possible," she lamented as she folded her clothes and placed them in the wardrobe.
When she was done, she took one of the pamphlets that Alayna spoke about and took it to the living room. She sat on one of the brown chocolate sofas and began to read about the house rules.
"I can live with this and it sounds very fair," she said with a nod of her head after finishing reading.
Elena didn’t have much to do in the house, so she returned to the bedroom where she sat on the chair and took out all the money that she currently has.
Elena was currently in three stokvel groups, she was getting a salary of 3 silver coins which was quite a lot compared to other employees from other places, especially in the place where she was.
As she didn’t need to buy food or pay rent, all of her money was used to buy delicacies. Alayna didn’t give her the shop’s delicacies so she was forced to buy them.
Her monthly salary wasn’t enough and this is where the stokvel groups help. She joined one group which contributes 1 silver coin per month and there are eight in the group. For this group, she already received her share and she spent some of the money to buy some snacks that last a bit longer than others, biscuits.
Of course, she didn’t use it all as that will be very foolish of her. The remaining two groups she contributes 500 copper coins each and in one of the groups, they are more than ten as some people contribute some money to reach the 500 copper coins mark.
This was something that Alayna told everyone as not everyone can afford to contribute a lot of money. Of course, other people were having their own stokvel groups of fewer amounts and with Alayna not minding other people using her ideas in their own home villages, towns, or cities, the idea has spread widely.
This left her with 1 silver coin every month and it was this left-over money that she either saves or buys some clothes and jewelry for herself. As a girl, she has to take care of herself. She didn’t want to lose her touch just because she was now poor than before.
She took out her pouch from the small purse and spread her silver coins on the desk.
"Compared to others, I am a very rich person," she comforted herself as she looked at the 6 silver coins on the desk.
With this money, Elena was supposed to buy food that can last her one month and pay for the rent and utilities. The rent and utilities amounted to 1 silver coin in total which is a third of her salary.
This was considered a lot in places like these but when she thought of how people will pay a lot of silver coins to stay at an inn, it was very cheap in the end.
She set aside 1 silver coin and looked at the five remaining coins, "I guess I have to go and see what I can buy with the money."
She also removed the 2 silver coins for the monthly contributions and left after locking the house. She placed the key card in her pocket and looked around to check if there was anyone around.
After scanning around and not finding anyone, Elena flew away and the distance that was supposed to take her over fifty minutes was reduced to around ten minutes.
As she couldn’t be seen flying around and arousing suspicion, she naturally began to walk on foot as soon as she was about to reach the main road.
The second she came out of the forest; she was lucky enough to come across a cow carriage going to Draak and the driver of the carriage was someone she had seen before.
So, she easily got a lift but as a good person and someone who didn’t want to take advantage of the poor, she naturally paid 2 copper coins for transport.
When she reached the town, without losing focus, she made her way to the market where she began to buy what she needed. As she used to come with Alayna most of the time, the sellers already knew her and they sold her the vegetables, meat, and others at discounts.
She was very happy about this and bought a lot more. With a fridge at home, it was easier to store meat and other fresh produce. She also bought a few clothes to add to her wardrobe as they were still lacking.
She spent a total of 1 silver and 789 copper coins. Her heart ached a bit but when she thought of how she won’t be buying anything for the whole month again, she was at peace.
After buying everything that she needed she found another carriage leaving town and heading for *** village which one has to pass by the Dark Forest to go.
She found a carriage that was about to get full and paid her fare. Thirty minutes later the carriage took off and after being thrown up and down and sideways, she finally was dropped at the road leading into the forest.
Holding her carrier bags, she began to walk inside and after making sure that there was no one around, she flew back to her current home.
While singing a certain drama cover song, Elena busied herself to put the food in the pantry and the meat and vegetables in the fridge. Looking at the food in the house, she was finally at ease.
She sincerely hoped that in the future her life will be easier and she doesn’t have to fork out a lot of money for groceries again. She was crying so hard for a roommate and wanted one as soon as possible.
Updated from freewёbnoνel.com.