Episode 2

The soft sensation brushing against my skin, a plushness I had never experienced before, and a fresh fragrance instead of a shabby, stale smell.

Ah, this is so nice. So nice I feel like my brain is going to melt.

It was enough to make me happily accept the reality that it was morning and I would soon have to get up. But only for a moment, because a reasonable question flashed through my mind.

‘But why is there a bed in my house?’

The instant that thought occurred to me, my eyes flew open and I sprang upright.

‘This place is…….’

A room larger than my studio apartment, a spacious bed in the middle of it, a splendid chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and all sorts of other ornate furniture.

Something about it felt familiar, but the moment I thought that, no matter how I looked at it, this wasn’t my room, the events of yesterday surfaced like a dream.

Meeting Anastasia and jumping up and down with her.

Then finally meeting the butler and returning home.

‘Ah, right. Yesterday, I got transmigrated into a novel.’

I stared blankly around the room and murmured softly.

Then I let all the strength drain from my body and lay back down on the bed, which looked wide enough that I wouldn’t fall off even if I rolled over three times.

‘Wow, how long has it been since I’ve had such a leisurely morning?’

While suffering under debt, I had never once had a relaxed morning. I always had to spring up no matter how sleepy I was to the sound of an alarm blaring painfully in my ears, wash up, and go to work.

But now, I didn’t have to do that.

Why?

Because I’d transmigrated into a novel!

I cheered silently and tossed a nearby pillow into the air. It dropped right back down and smacked me in the face, but I didn’t care.

To be honest, I didn’t remember the title of the novel. I read so many novels, and I wasn’t the type to remember every title one by one.

Was that all? I didn’t remember the contents very well either. Maybe because I always fell asleep while reading before bed, everything was as hazy as a dream.

What I remembered was that the female lead was Anastasia and that there were a lot of male lead candidates?

And that Rene Blair, the person I had transmigrated into, was an indescribably hopeless character.

‘Rene Blair.’

The foremost delinquent of the Kingdom of Konia, a woman saddled with every negative epithet imaginable, like the madwoman of the century. Whether the other party was the female lead, a duke, her own older brother, or anyone else, she tormented them viciously.

If she didn’t like someone, her hand flying at them was a given. Scathing abuse was a given too. And whenever she went to a crowded place like a banquet hall, she would inevitably cause a scene…….

‘As expected, she really wasn’t in her right mind.’

That insane Rene Blair would eventually die a futile death at someone’s hands in a banquet hall one day.

“What was the reason she died again……?”

Was it because she slapped someone?

She had hit so many people that I couldn’t remember who it was.

In any case, since her fate was nothing other than death, now that I had transmigrated into Rene Blair, I should be despairing. Or at least feeling wary of the death that would come someday.

But I couldn’t do that.

Because my future death felt trivial.

‘Because Rene Blair is a great tycoon no one in the Kingdom of Konia can ignore!’

Just how much so? She had so much money, too much money, that no matter how much of a delinquent she was, no one could touch her.

Even the king of Konia kept a close eye on Rene Blair because of her wealth.

Having a lot of money……. Just imagining it made my hair stand on end with excitement.

Before, I lived a dog’s life because of debt, but in this life, I’m a great tycoon. God must have taken pity on me.

“Haa, then what should I do starting today?”

I let out a sweet sigh and fell into happy worries. First of all, what I had to do immediately was stop acting viciously.

I should stop hitting maids and stop going to banquet halls I wasn’t invited to at the drop of a hat and causing a ruckus.

And…….

In the midst of making my resolution, I recalled Anastasia, whom I had met yesterday.

Her dazzling, flowing long silver hair, her golden eyes as if they had been coated thickly with honey,

Her quiet and cautious demeanor, and her face, which looked all the more pitiful because her cheek was swollen.

The female lead, Anastasia, was a character I had grown oddly attached to and liked.

‘So I definitely want to become friends with Anastasia…….’

Even if I couldn’t become close to her, my minimum wish was to change the deep-rooted vicious impression I had.

“Mm…….”

Yes, let’s stop being a villainess right away.

I’ll be nice to everyone. Who knows? If I show them how kind I’ve become, maybe the male lead candidates will come to like me, just like in a common villainess transmigration novel!

That was when I was getting all worked up by myself.

A quiet, succinct knock sounded.

I sprang up from the bed and looked at the large door.

Since it was morning, it seemed a maid had come. For a brief moment, I wondered whether I should speak casually or use polite speech to change my impression, but in the end, I chose the former.

“Ahem, come in!”

I was a little nervous. After all, as soon as I had resolved to stop acting like a villainess, I was meeting someone who knew Rene Blair.

Soon after, the door clattered open and a maid entered. She was a young girl with black hair neatly tied up.

As if she had firmly decided not to show her face, she lowered her head deeply and scurried to stand before me.

Mm, what should I do?

As I was wondering how to treat her, I noticed that the girl was trembling all over. It was a sight that let me guess what kind of existence Rene Blair was to her.

‘No matter how well I treat her, it won’t be easy to change my bad impression.’

Just then, daang, daang, a long, drawn-out sound faintly rang from outside. It sounded like the chiming of a clock.

I let it pass without much thought and focused on the maid again.

Ding.

Today’s Mission

‘Slap the cheek of the maid attending you.’

Accept / Decline

A deranged, translucent window appeared right in front of my nose.

‘……What is this?’

I completely forgot that I had been about to speak to the maid and blankly stared at the translucent window floating before my eyes.

It was written in strange characters, but without much difficulty—no, as easily as if it were my native language—I could read it.

‘Slap the maid’s cheek……?’

Even when I rubbed my eyes and blinked, the thing floating in front of me did not disappear. I glanced past the translucent window. The maid was still standing there with her head lowered, not moving an inch.

This won’t do. I should ask her what this is.

To draw her attention, I cleared my throat.

“Ahem!”

A rough sound rang from my throat, the kind that seemed like it would only come from someone who had smoked for several decades.

‘S-so embarrassing……!’

Still, if it meant getting that girl to lift her head…….

But the maid was a formidable opponent. As if there were something interesting on the floor, she kept her head deeply lowered.

“Kheuk, ahem!”

In the end, I cleared my throat as if I were about to cough up blood, and at last, I succeeded in receiving the maid’s gaze. It seemed like she had lifted her head to check whether that sound had really come from a person, but so what? All’s well that ends well.

Immediately, I pointed at the translucent window floating in the air as if asking what this was.

However, no matter how much I pointed at the translucent window with my finger, the maid only looked back and forth between the tip of my pointing finger and my face with trembling eyes.

Wondering if this window could only be seen by me, I narrowed my eyes.

Then the maid looked as though she had received a shock.

Thud!

As if someone had pushed her from behind, she abruptly dropped to her knees. And that wasn’t all. She didn’t stop there, but slammed her head against the floor.

When I stared at her, too shocked to say a word, the maid’s voice came out trembling uncontrollably.

“I-I’m sorry. My lady! I was lacking and failed to understand your wishes! Please forgive me!”

Flustered, I looked down at her blankly, then hurriedly climbed out of bed. Then I grabbed the maid’s arm and pulled her up.

“F-forgive you for what? Just get up. Don’t do this, get up!”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, my lady! Please calm your anger and……”

“I’m not angry! It’s fine, so get up!”

“I’m sorry, my laaady! Please calm your anger and……”

“I said I’m not angry!”

She kept repeating the same words like a parrot, and in my frustration, I shouted. The maid flinched and began trembling all over again.

At that, I realized with a start that I was more worked up than anyone.

No, but what am I supposed to do? No matter what I say, she trembles, and now she’s even prostrating herself flat on the floor!

Calm down.

Even though my chest felt tight and stifled, as if I’d eaten ten sweet potatoes……!

If I kept shouting and losing my temper like this, changing my reputation would be impossible.

So I put on a smile, as if I hadn’t just shouted. But then the maid abruptly covered her face with both hands.

She looked exactly like she was about to burst into tears, so I froze and could only stare at her without saying a word.

Because soothing someone who was crying was always difficult.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry for crying.”

Hearing the maid’s sudden apology only made the tightness in my chest worse.

“No…… Why are you crying……? Because I’m scary?”

Changing the impression the people around me had of me felt like it was growing more and more distant. So I sighed and asked directly, but unexpectedly, the maid lowered her hands and shook her head.

“Then why are you crying?”

“……W-well……”

“Well?”

She fidgeted with both hands, watching my expression, and finally answered.

“When I thought about it…… My lady…… right after you woke up, you d-didn’t hit me…… I-I think this is the f-first time……”

“……”

“It was j-just so hard to believe……”

Watching her carefully mutter in a voice as faint as a crawl, I came to a small realization.

Ah.

I really have a long way to go……