CHAPTER 03
Seeing her fellow maid turn deathly pale, another maid sensed something was wrong and quickly stepped forward.
“It seems there’s been a mistake. I’ll make a new dish right away.”
“No. Go get the head maid.”
“Pardon?”
“Don’t bother remaking the food. Just bring me the head maid.”
Startled, the maid nodded and rushed out, dragging her fellow maid along as if fleeing.
Soon, the head maid entered.
“I was told you summoned me.”
With a strict expression already showing signs of irritation, the head maid looked at Seraphine.
Her eyes said it all—how long had it even been since this girl came back looking like a wreck, and already causing trouble again?
Seraphine looked her straight in the eyes and spoke firmly.
“The maids assigned to me seem unfit to serve in a duke’s household. A maid’s duty is to serve her master properly. How were they trained?”
“I’m not sure what you’re referring to.”
Just as expected, the head maid feigned ignorance, pretending not to know anything.
‘So, they’re all in on this.’
There was no way the maid who had gone to summon the head maid hadn’t said anything.
Even if she had left out her own wrongdoings, the spoiled food in front of Seraphine should have made it obvious.
But the head maid ignored all the signs.
“I’m deeply disappointed. Can you not see this?”
Seraphine pushed the spoiled food toward her. The head maid simply stared at it.
“It seems there was some kind of mistake. I’ll make sure to give the chef a strict warning so this never happens again.”
“A mistake, you say?”
Seraphine’s face stiffened like someone who had just heard a terrible joke.
She stood up and raised the spoiled soup high.
And then—
“M-my lady!”
She dumped it on the head maid.
The soup, thick with ingredients, dripped slowly. A rotten stench began to rise from the maid’s head.
“What is the meaning of this?!”
“Where is that sewage smell coming from?”
Seraphine repeated exactly what the maids had whispered behind her back while she was walking through the mansion.
Surely the head maid, who had been nearby, had heard those malicious whispers too.
Meeting Seraphine’s scornful gaze, the head maid flinched reflexively.
“Did you mistake me for a trash can? How unfortunate, if that was the case.”
“This… this is no mistake! You dumped food on me, right in front of my eyes! How can you call this a misunderstanding?”
The head maid, clearly humiliated, raised her voice.
“I can’t let this slide. I’ll report this to Duke Rubia.”
“So you do know I did it on purpose. Then tell me—how could anyone believe that the maids served this food by accident?”
Seraphine waved the empty bowl in front of the head maid.
“It stinks.”
Spoiled food had a stench that couldn’t be ignored.
There was no way any maid would mistakenly serve it to their lady.
“You said you’ll report to my father, didn’t you? That worries me. You people who can’t even smell properly might end up serving this garbage to him too.”
“…”
“Well, since both of us seem to have business with Father, why don’t we go see him right now—with you looking like that?”
Only then did the head maid realize.
The Seraphine standing before her wasn’t just a bratty noble girl who only knew how to scream.
“M-my lady…”
Her voice trembled.
But Seraphine still looked at her coldly.
“How many years have you worked in this household?”
The head maid had no intention of leaving the Rubia family.
Because the situation was not in her favor, she replied submissively.
“This is my third year.”
“Doesn’t seem like this is your first job, though. Total experience?”
“It’s been nearly twenty years.”
“Twenty years isn’t a short time. That’s a respectable career anywhere.”
“…”
“But your skills are lacking, considering your experience. You won’t avoid punishment for what happened today. And that includes you, for managing those maids.”
Until now, Seraphine had only held the maids directly at fault accountable.
Those girls had clearly done it for quick cash, so firing them was no big deal.
But the head maid was different.
She had worked hard to secure her position.
With the duchess having passed away early, there was no mistress in the house.
Under Duke Rubia’s neglect, the head maid had slowly built her own power. She wouldn’t want to lose it now.
“I don’t plan to tell my father about today’s events.”
“…Really?”
The head maid was surprised by the unexpected response.
Before she could even ask why, her face lit up.
“Instead, fire all the staff. The maids who gossiped about me today, the chef who made this garbage. And naturally, those girls from earlier.”
It was a firm command.
“Train the new maids properly, so they can serve me.”
With that, Seraphine waved a valuable jeweled brooch toward the head maid.
“If you handle this well, I’ll give you this.”
Seeing the greed flare up in the head maid’s eyes—already forgetting her shame—Seraphine chuckled quietly.
Then she tucked the brooch back into her pocket.
“But only if you satisfy me.”
Right now, Seraphine was the picture of a perfect noblewoman.
From her tone, to her gaze, to her gestures—everything.
The head maid, having never seen her like this before, bowed politely and swallowed hard.
The young lady has changed.
*
The changes came quietly—and quickly. All the maids who had looked down on Seraphine were expelled.
According to the head maid, they were thrown out with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Not even a severance pay.
Seraphine said nothing about the head maid’s unilateral decision.
Getting rid of maids who had openly disrespected her wasn’t much of an issue.
The real problem lay elsewhere.
She wasn’t waking up.
Days had passed, and yet every time she woke, she was still Lady Seraphine of House Rubia.
She had hoped—just maybe—she would awaken as the Princess of the Kingdom of Tilmun again.
She couldn’t shake the feeling that this might all be a dream.
But that hope had been thoroughly crushed.
Cough, cough.
“My lady, are you feeling unwell?”
At the slightest cough, a newly assigned maid rushed to check on her.
Whether it was the brooch or sheer fear, the head maid had done her job.
After confirming the respectful behavior of the new maids, Seraphine secretly handed the head maid another expensive piece of jewelry—besides the brooch.
“It’s just fatigue. No need to worry too much.”
She had developed chills after spending half a day locked in a cell, soaked to the bone.
She thought she’d recover quickly, but it wasn’t improving.
With a trained, calm expression, Seraphine shook her head and looked away.
The maid, following her gaze, asked hesitantly:
“Are you really going to get rid of all this?”
“Yes.”
Seraphine was currently clearing out the original owner’s wardrobe.
It was filled with clothes so lavish and gaudy that just looking at them felt blinding.
“These are all expensive… Won’t you regret it later?”
“No matter how costly, if the clothes draw more attention than the person, they’re worthless.”
She replied firmly and began sorting them out.
As time passed, memories of the body’s original owner started returning.
And with them, a guess as to why she had ended up in this body.
The guard had said that jumping into the fountain wouldn’t kill anyone.
But this wasn’t just a cry for attention.
She took poison and truly meant to die.
She believed that would finally bring her peace.
Why the fountain?
Because in noble and royal families, a baptism ceremony is held at the fountain on the hundredth day after birth.
The ceremony purifies one’s sins, blesses one’s future life, and grants a name.
So the original owner chose to die there—hoping to be reborn.
Anyone in their right mind would know that was foolish. But the girl suffered from depression.
She had grown up hearing she wouldn’t live long because of a rare disease she was born with.
Perhaps because of that, she was prickly and sensitive.
She demanded everything she wanted and couldn’t rest unless everyone looked at her.
Her engagement to the crown prince was likely arranged just to appease her, since she wouldn’t live long anyway.
And she knew it.
The atmosphere around her made it clear that no one would care if she died.
That only made her more desperate for attention, crying out for someone to look at her, even if just once more.
She didn’t want to be forgotten after death.
Her love for flashy clothes was another cry for attention.
Wearing beautiful clothes in hopes someone might glance her way. Spending money recklessly, hoping her father might finally say something to her.
She didn’t even realize she was burying herself under all that materialism.
But I’m not her.
The family and fiancé the girl had been so obsessed with meant nothing to Seraphine.
She had no intention of pretending to be the original and trying to get along with them.
Normally, people feared those in power.
But the servants had either ignored or retaliated against her—because the Duke of Rubia had completely abandoned her.
In the body’s memories, the duke always had his back turned to her.
The only love her father ever gave was money.
There was no reason to win the favor of someone like that.
Seraphine pressed her lips into a tight line.
Then she suddenly gasped, having discovered something—
