BCHA CH 02

Chapter 2 

The western mansion where Father and I lived was meant to give the Marquis some privacy—or so they said. In truth, it was more like a quiet exile.

At least Grandmother and Father’s brothers didn’t barge in unannounced, which meant no one ever found out about those twins.

Every servant in the west wing pretended to serve us loyally, but all of them kept just enough distance to switch sides the moment Grandmother’s mood shifted.

And among those two-faced snakes, the worst of them all was—my nanny, Reina.

A deceitful, opportunistic woman.

When I was fifteen, right after Father died, those twins—who had been lurking in the shadows—left our mansion and returned to wherever they’d come from.

After that, everything fell apart like a perfectly written tragedy.

Father’s elder brother became the new Marquis not long after his death. And three years later—when I turned eighteen—the twins came storming into the estate, using their stay at the western mansion as an excuse to attack the family.

I never knew exactly why or how they came to live with us in the first place, but they accused the Reize Marquisate of mistreating them and demanded retribution.

And somehow, every bit of blame landed squarely on me.

I had no idea why I was being punished for things I didn’t even remember doing. All I knew was that as a child, I had supposedly bullied those twins—and because Father had brought them into our home, I was the one who had to pay the price.

I screamed that it wasn’t true, begged that I was innocent—but no one listened.
And the one person who could have defended me—Nanny Reina—instead testified against me.

The same woman who had raised me since birth stood by their side, claiming that I had “tormented” the twins.

I’ll never forget that betrayal.

Whether she did it to curry favor with the twins, or to side with my grandmother who hated me—I never found out.

But this time, I wasn’t going to let things go her way.

Reina, of course, had no clue about my true thoughts. She smiled sweetly and said, “My lady, it makes me so happy to know you like me this much.”

“Oh, of course,” I replied, masking my disgust with the most polite smile I could manage.

“I’m glad. You seem to be in such a good mood today. I wish you’d always wake up this cheerful.”

“Huh?”

“You usually wake up grumpy every morning. Do you know how awkward that makes things for me?” she said, wrinkling her nose like it was funny.

For a moment, I almost snapped.

Awkward? Really?

Just hearing that word made my teeth grind.

In my last life, I’d thought this kind of behavior was normal for nannies. But looking back—everything about her was wrong.

What kind of nanny complains to her charge about being “awkward”?
She’d often mock me, saying I was “only half a noble” whenever I threw a tantrum, always sneaking in little insults right to my face.

Back then, I didn’t think much of it. I’d grown up being treated like that, so I thought that’s just how things were.

It wasn’t until her betrayal that I realized how twisted she truly was.

But not this time. I was back—and I wasn’t going to let her act like that again.

“Now then, shall we go wash up?” she said brightly.

Before I could even answer, Reina scooped me up and carried me toward the bath.

I straightened my back and locked eyes with her.
“Nanny—”

“Ah, no excuses today,” she cut me off before I could finish.
“You have to bathe today. An eight-year-old lady can’t keep refusing baths and lying in bed all day. That’s unbecoming of a noble!”

“That’s not what I meant—”

“You’ve seen those filthy beggars on the streets, haven’t you? That’s what you’ll become if you keep being lazy!”

Beggars? Oh, that did it. My irritation spiked.

“No! That’s not what I meant! I just wanted to ask what day it is today!”

Only when I shouted did she finally pause, letting out a long sigh before plopping me—rather roughly—into the empty bathtub.

“You could’ve just asked nicely. Why do you have to yell all the time?”

“What?”

“I swear, this is why I hate children,” she muttered.

She said it quietly, but loud enough for me to hear.

Unbelievable. What kind of nanny says that out loud?

My lips twitched in disbelief.
“What did you just say?”

“Nothing,” she said quickly. “Anyway—it’s one week until your eighth birthday. So sit still and let’s get this done.”

Then she turned on the water. Not warm, not prepared—just cold water splashing into the tub.

Normally, she should’ve filled it with warm water first and let me ease in, but Reina couldn’t be bothered anymore.

If even the nanny acted like this, I could only imagine how lazy the maids had become.

In my past life, I didn’t complain. I’d never had luxuries like this before, so I tolerated it.

But once you’ve tasted comfort, you notice every slight.

Ugh. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became—though for a different reason now.

Still, I couldn’t explode just yet. I needed to stay focused.

“My birthday is in a week?” I asked quietly.

“Yes,” she replied.

My vision went dark for a moment.

“You mean… today’s that day?”

“Yes. Why do you keep asking? Did you forget overnight?”

Oh, great. I wanted to thank God for giving me another chance—but I take it back.

Of all days, why this one?

A week before my birthday was the day Father brought those twins home.

I clapped both hands over my mouth in shock.
“Oh, no…”

“Are you that excited?” Reina asked in confusion.

Disappointed and horrified, I couldn’t even answer properly.

“Uh… yeah. Sure.”

She didn’t care. Like always, she heard what she wanted to hear.
“Well then, let’s hurry and get ready,” she said.

I shot her a narrow look.

“All right?”

“…Yeah.”

“You’ll be late for breakfast if you keep stalling,” she added.

I wanted to say more—but I swallowed my words. It wasn’t time yet.

“Okay!”

“You’re being suspiciously obedient today,” she said, eyeing me warily.

I gave her my brightest, most innocent smile.
Let her be suspicious—it wouldn’t help her. She’d never guess what I was planning.

Reina finished scrubbing me down carelessly, not even bothering to wash my hair because she’d done it “last night.”

***

After changing into one of the endless, overly fancy dresses in my closet, I slipped out of my room and ran straight toward the mansion’s front hall instead of the dining room.

“My lady! Breakfast is this way!” Reina called, clearly irritated, grabbing my shoulders.

“Is Father in the dining room?” I asked.

“Of course he is.”

“No, he’s not.”

She blinked. “What?”

“He’s not there.”

“But the Marquis always arrives first to wait for you.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“He’ll be there today too. Stop making trouble and go eat.”

Reina sighed dramatically, like I was exhausting her.

“No. He’s not in the dining room,” I insisted.

“My lady, how could you possibly know that?” she scoffed.

I shook my head, looking her dead in the eye.

How? Because I’ve already lived through this once before.

I glared at her as she rolled her eyes.
In the past, I’d never noticed how she constantly dismissed me, constantly undermined my words.

Back then, I’d been blinded by the luxury of being a noble’s daughter. I had everything I’d ever wanted—so I ignored the rot underneath.

Maybe I’d been naïve. Or maybe just stupid.

“Come along now,” she said impatiently. “A noble lady mustn’t be late for breakfast.”

“Nanny,” I asked sweetly, “are you my mother?”

“What?”

“Then why do you boss me around like one? Even Father doesn’t order me around that much.”

For the first time, she froze.

She looked startled—but that expression vanished almost immediately, replaced by something cold and sharp.