“What about the nanny? Did the nanny send you here?”
“S-Spare me… Huh?”
Watching Marie cry pathetically, even snot running down her face, I clicked my tongue.
I haven’t even done anything yet, and she already looks like that. If I’d shown her my usual temper, she probably would’ve fainted on the spot.
Yet strangely enough, I wasn’t particularly angry as I looked at her miserable state. I was simply curious why she had come here to attend me.
You should count yourself lucky. You survived by a single day.
“I asked if the nanny sent you.”
“Huh? Y-Yes…! Hic!”
Now she had started hiccuping too. I clicked my tongue again. Marie’s excessive reaction perfectly illustrated what kind of personality I’d had until now.
Not that I intended to become kinder, but continuing on as before would be a problem. More importantly, if things kept going this way, pain and despair were all that awaited me.
“Why did the nanny send you?”
“Hic— I-I don’t really know either… hic.”
Marie clamped a hand over her mouth, desperately trying to suppress the hiccups. Her face had turned bright red from the effort, making her look pitiful beyond words.
Anyone who knew would understand the agony of hiccups.
The longer they lasted, the worse the pain pulling at your stomach became. I waved my hand dismissively.
“You can go.”
“Hic…? E-Excuse me?”
“Stop standing there like that and go do your work.”
“Hic… b-but…”
“You’re planning to attend me looking like that?”
Still sitting collapsed on the floor with both hands over her mouth, Marie lowered her head deeply. Through the strands of hair hanging down, I could see her ears turning bright red. She seemed to think I was rejecting her because she was a maid who usually handled menial chores.
Whether she was a maid or a lady’s attendant made no difference to me right now, but honestly, I didn’t want Marie serving me. Not because she worked as a chore maid, but because she clearly wasn’t used to attending someone personally.
Anyone could tell she would be clumsy. I had absolutely no desire to endure uncomfortable service.
“Go drink some water and calm those hiccups down. At this rate, you’re going to pass out.”
Marie jerked her head up and stared at me. Her watery eyes trembled like a puppy’s. Feeling oddly generous, I added one more thing.
“If you bend over and drink water from the opposite side of the cup, your hiccups should stop.”
“...”
Judging by her expression, she hadn’t understood a word. My generosity ended there.
“Go bring another attendant. Quickly!”
Only after I raised my voice did Marie scramble to her feet and run out of the room. She disappeared so quickly she didn’t even bow goodbye.
“Is something wrong with that girl?”
Marie should be grateful to the heavens that she met today’s me instead of yesterday’s.
At least she handled errands properly. Not long after, two attendants entered my room. Unlike the flustered Marie, their movements were graceful and their manners impeccable. Their faces were familiar too—I had seen them attend me several times before.
Other than the nanny, the people who served me were never fixed. Whenever I needed attendants, the nanny would personally select a few maids and bring them over.
Back then, I treated the people serving me like furniture in the house, so I’d never thought much about it. But now that I considered it, it was strange.
Don’t noble ladies usually have one or two personal attendants assigned to them permanently? Or not?
Since I’d never paid attention to other people, I had no idea how things normally worked. Not that I particularly cared to find out now.
Without needing any instructions, the attendants dressed me, fixed my hair, and helped me prepare myself.
If Marie had been the one handling it, I would’ve needed to explain every little detail step by step—or simply prepare myself on my own. Just imagining that was exhausting.
There was no way the nanny, who knew Vionne’s personality better than anyone, would knowingly send a maid who usually handled chores to attend me. Which meant something urgent enough to distract her from noticing Marie’s position must have happened.
“Where’s the nanny?”
“She is at Madam’s residence.”
Even at my sudden question, the attendant answered smoothly, as if she had been expecting it. It was a completely different level of response from the scatterbrained Marie. Even while replying, the attendant carefully watched my expression.
Because she knew her answer would displease me.
The only person the attendants called “Madam” was the mistress of this estate—the Marchioness.
My nanny had grown up alongside the Marchioness as her milk sibling. I’d heard that the nanny’s mother had served as the Marchioness’s own nanny, and the two women had been raised almost like sisters.
Even while raising me, the nanny had never neglected the Marchioness. Whenever she had spare moments, she visited the Marchioness’s quarters.
Vionne hated that.
To the self-centered Vionne, it was unbearable that someone she considered hers would concern herself with anyone else.
Every time the nanny went to see the Marchioness, Vionne would inevitably vent her anger on the attendants.
Knowing Vionne’s dreadful temper better than anyone, the nanny usually tried to avoid letting her notice. Days like today, when she openly went to the Marchioness’s residence, were extremely rare.
And whenever the nanny neglected me enough to leave openly like this, there was only ever one reason.
As I rose from my seat, the attendants visibly flinched.
Like properly trained attendants, they didn’t let anything show on their faces, but they couldn’t hide the anxiety trembling in their eyes.
Right now, they were probably imagining me flying into a fiery rage. No matter how one tried to sugarcoat it, Vionne’s personality could never be described as pleasant. Chances were high their hair would not survive the day.
Vionne didn’t just have a terrible personality—she was physically violent too.
I was still the Vionne they knew, but I was also different from the Vionne of before. If I felt displeased, I would have no hesitation in expressing my anger or grabbing them by the hair.
But there was one thing they didn’t know.
Contrary to what they expected, I wasn’t displeased at all.
There was no doubt that the nanny had once been someone precious to Vionne. Unlike the Marquis and Marchioness, who had merely given birth to her and shown little interest afterward, the nanny was the one who had actually raised her.
Whatever the quality of that upbringing, the nanny had been the only person in this household who cared for Vionne and paid attention to her. Naturally, Vionne had grown attached to her.
Moreover, the nanny indulged every one of Vionne’s wishes and obeyed her like a tongue inside the mouth. In many ways, the nanny herself had helped create Vionne’s arrogant, tyrannical personality.
But to the nanny, the Marchioness had always come first—not me.
Vionne refused to accept that, so whenever the nanny prioritized the Marchioness, Vionne would lash out and take her anger out on everyone around her.
The reason I wasn’t angry now was simple.
The current me no longer felt the same attachment to the nanny as before.
More precisely, her actions no longer affected my emotions.
Even seeing her prioritize the Marchioness over me didn’t irritate me anymore.
I didn’t know whether it was because I knew the future, or because I carried the memories of Lee Jia.
But one thing was clear:
Compared to what I had expected, my emotions had become strangely calm toward the stimuli around me.
“My lady?”
When I remained silent, the attendants looked at me in confusion.
I had no intention whatsoever of satisfying their curiosity, so I ignored them and walked out of the room.
That only made them more flustered as they hurried after me.
“M-My lady, where are you going?”
I didn’t want to bother with them, so without even turning around, I waved my hand dismissively behind me.
I merely meant for them to leave me alone and return to their duties, but they continued trailing after me regardless.
Fortunately, they weren’t bothersome enough to stop me from heading toward my destination.
“Ahhh!”
Crash!
“Madam!”
As expected, screams and the sound of something shattering echoed loudly through the corridor.
Honestly, there was no need to see it for myself. There was only one reason important enough for the nanny to risk angering me by rushing to the Marchioness.
The attendants standing anxiously outside the Marchioness’s room turned pale the moment they saw me approaching.
I understood their feelings, but seeing their expressions change so openly still irritated me.
As I’ve said many times already, I do not have a good personality.
Unlike the protagonists in common novels, I had never once thought, Since I know the tragic future, I should become kind and change it.
That kind of thinking didn’t suit me in the slightest.
And honestly, I doubted acting kind would change much anyway.
I’ll be lucky enough if I avoid dying from stress.
Devoting an entire life to something with no apparent benefit was foolish.
Besides, perhaps because I had already died once before, death itself no longer frightened me that much.
If possible, I simply wanted to live an ordinary, peaceful life like Lee Jia had.
“Open the door.”
Despite my order, the attendants hesitated, only watching my expression instead of opening it.
Logically, I understood their actions. No matter what I said, they couldn’t casually open the Marchioness’s door from their position.
But understanding them and forgiving disobedience were two entirely different matters.
This is annoying. Should I just punish all of them?
The thought crossed my mind briefly before disappearing.
More than anything, I wanted to get inside quickly, and punishing them would take time and energy. Too troublesome.
“Ah!”
I shoved the attendants aside and opened the door myself.
They cried out in shock, clearly never expecting me to act personally. Even if they had expected it, none of them would have dared stop me.
To be honest, even I couldn’t understand my own actions.
It wasn’t as though I felt deep affection for the Marchioness, nor did I have urgent business with the nanny.
In all the years since her birth, Vionne had stepped into the Marchioness’s residence so few times one could count them on one hand.
And yet, right now, I wanted to see the Marchioness.
No matter how much she denied it, Vionne had always craved her parents’ affection.
Perhaps this impulsive behavior came from the fact that, at this age, some lingering attachment still remained within me.
Bang!
The door flew open with a loud crash.
Three pairs of eyes inside the room turned toward me simultaneously.
