‘That doesn’t mean I’m the protagonist of this world.’
Contrary to her rational judgment, deep down, she hoped the original story would unfold just as it had.
‘I have no special abilities at all.’
Unlike the usual protagonists of possession stories, she wasn’t wealthy, couldn’t control spirits, nor was she a saint with divine powers.
‘I’m nothing more than a minor extra maid.’
If she were to gather any talents she had, it would be that she was good at cleaning, skilled in bargaining, and knew a little about herbs.
‘Ah, and I might look somewhat pretty too.’
Yuzhenia wasn’t flashy, but had a pure and pretty appearance. Among the servants, quite a few were flirtatious towards her.
Having never had money to wear pretty clothes, she would probably be even more beautiful if she deliberately dressed up.
‘Anyway, I don’t know how things will turn out.’
After a brief thought, Yuzhenia decided to keep her words vague.
“Maybe I’ll just wait a little while.”
“What do you mean by that? Yuzhenia, you’re being unnecessarily philosophical.”
She gave a faint smile toward Joshua, who was gruffly scolding her.
‘But according to Joshua’s recollection in the original story, today is indeed the day she’s supposed to come… I should wait a bit longer.’
Yuzhenia thought she’d stay with the children until Aileen arrived because she felt uneasy leaving them alone.
However, Joshua didn’t seem to believe her.
“Then sit with me in the closet.”
“I’d rather not. The closet is really small and uncomfortable for me.”
As she shrugged and responded lightly, she felt Joshua’s grip on her skirt tighten slightly.
What should she do? After a moment of hesitation, Yuzhenia backed toward the opposite wall of the closet.
Pressing her back firmly against the wall, she slowly lowered herself down.
“I can’t go inside the closet, but I’ll sit here instead.”
“…Then I want to sit next to you too.”
“You’ll find it hard and uncomfortable. So sit somewhere a little softer.”
Despite her worried words, Joshua shook his head stubbornly.
“It’s fine. I can sit in places like this too.”
Joshua sat firmly by her side, as if insisting.
“It’s dirty…”
“It’s rarely been clean. Since father and mother aren’t here, everyone else tends to avoid it.”
Joshua clicked his tongue shortly, then bent his knees and hugged them with both arms.
He looked down at his toes with an unreadable expression.
‘Joshua is still too young to bear such burdens.’
Feeling pity, Yuzhenia reached out over his head.
When she gently stroked, his blue hair softly tickled between her fingers.
The boy paused momentarily but then shot her a sharp glare.
“What do you think you’re doing? Decided we’re even now that I’m fired, huh?”
“No, sir, why are you jumping to such conclusions? It’s not like that…”
Yuzhenia hesitated briefly but then, thinking it didn’t matter, spoke her mind directly.
“I just thought you were cute, so I petted you.”
Joshua’s golden eyes wavered for a moment.
“Cu-cute? Me?”
But his embarrassment was brief. He soon scoffed.
“Hah! I’m not cute! I’m past that age!”
Now he looked like the arrogant kid she knew.
Yuzhenia chuckled quietly, petted him once or twice more, then withdrew her hand.
“All right, all right, I get it.”
She pressed her lips tightly.
‘Aileen, please come quickly.’
She fervently hoped it wouldn’t be a long wait.
Taking a heavy breath, Yuzhenia stayed still.
Ding—
Some time later.
Startled awake by the unusually loud chime, Yuzhenia jolted.
‘Oh dear, look at me.’
She must have dozed off. Her heart dropped, and after brushing some hair behind her ear a few times, she hurriedly looked around.
‘Is Aileen… here yet?’
She intended to wish the twins well and entrust them to Aileen once she arrived.
But the surroundings were quiet.
No touching reunion with tears and embraces.
The oppressive silence filled Yuzhenia with unease.
“What time is it now…?”
She hoped the time she had dozed was just a fleeting moment.
But the chime from the clock tower she clearly heard in her drowsiness only made her anxiety grow.
Then, a faint voice came from beside her.
“It’s 2 o’clock.”
It was Joshua’s answer, muffled as his face was buried between his knees.
“Gasp, sir? You haven’t been sleeping?”
“…No.”
His heavily lowered voice was filled with fatigue.
‘More importantly…’
Yuzhenia held her breath and looked around again.
She listened carefully but sensed no one else’s presence besides the three of them.
She forced out her voice, as if someone was tightening a noose around her throat.
“But sir, what time did you say it was exactly?”
Joshua lifted his face from between his knees.
“The bell just struck 2 a.m.”
At that moment, Yuzhenia realized something was wrong.
“Is that… really true?”
“Why would I lie?”
Joshua replied curtly.
“You really didn’t sleep all this time?”
“Yeah, I told you.”
“Then, did anyone come by in the meantime…?”
She asked anxiously.
But Joshua immediately crushed any hope with a firm answer.
“No, no one came.”
Of course, not knowingly.
He added as if confirming beyond doubt.
“It’s just been the three of us here all along.”
Yuzhenia’s face twisted into an expression hard to describe.
‘Aileen! What on earth is going on?’
Why wasn’t she coming?
Could it be that it’s tomorrow, not today?
No, that couldn’t be.
‘Should I wait longer?’
But what if Aileen doesn’t come tomorrow either?
The day after? Four days later? A week? A month?
She couldn’t guarantee anything.
Instinctively, Yuzhenia felt that waiting any longer would be useless.
Once the flow went off track, it would be hard to get back on course no matter what she did.
‘I was uneasy when Joshua first offered to be our guardian…’
What now?
Yuzhenia roughly swept her disheveled hair up and furrowed her brow slightly.
Just then, Joshua quietly spoke.
“Yuzhenia.”
“…Yes? Sir?”
“How long are we going to stay here?”
Ah, the very thing she didn’t want him to ask, asked so directly!
Her mind flashed back to her earlier careless reply to Joshua.
〈You’ll be our guardian, right?〉
〈Y-yes, I will!〉
‘I didn’t expect it to turn out like this…’
Wanting to smack her past self but ultimately sympathizing, Yuzhenia sighed deeply.
‘First, I need to fix what I said.’
She looked seriously at Joshua and spoke.
“Sir, there’s something I need to tell you. It’s very important.”
“What is it?”
“Well… I answered hastily before, but now that I think about it, I don’t think it will work out.”
“…What?”
Joshua asked, shocked.
“What are you suddenly talking about?”
Her heart softened briefly at his expression, but she steeled herself again.
‘The duchy knights are looking for the two children.’
Besides, the death of the marquis couple was suspicious.
‘Anyone in my position wouldn’t want to take care of these kids.’
So she kept thinking she shouldn’t interfere, but her gut felt uneasy.
She was a very ordinary person. She hated attracting attention or being at the center of anything.
Therefore, she absolutely refused to try changing the original story like some other possession stories and setting dead flags.
‘Above all, if I get involved in the twins escaping from this mansion, I’ll be one step closer to death.’
And that was definitely not the ending she wanted.
‘I don’t want to be a noble figure who dies in place of the protagonist!’
In the original, the twins remembered Aileen for a long time not just because she was the only one who reached out to them.
Shortly after leaving the Careiton Marquis family, Aileen was killed by mysterious assassins targeting the twins.
‘In other words, if I become Selmia and Joshua’s guardian, I’ll be the one who dies protecting them…’
So Yuzhenia aimed to let the original story run its course and keep herself, a minor extra, far away enough to avoid being killed.
With a shameless expression, she continued harshly.
“It’s too much of a burden. I don’t think someone like me can be responsible for two precious ones’ safety. It’s also financially impossible.”
Joshua said nothing for a while, and as she noticed, she quietly stood up.
Seeing Joshua crouched like a curled-up ball made her heart ache even more.
“Sorry, sir. Then I’ll be going now…”
“Wait, Yuzhenia.”
Joshua grabbed her with a voice and expression too serious for his age.
“Yes, sir? What is it…?”
“One more thing I want to confirm. The reason you can’t be our guardian is… because you don’t have money, right?”
Wanting to end the conversation soon, Yuzhenia nodded quickly.
“…Yes. That’s the biggest reason.”
Hearing her answer, Joshua took a deep breath.
His previously downcast look was gone, replaced by a proud, almost arrogant expression as he looked at her.
“Of course, I wasn’t planning on asking for free either.”
