Chapter 5

“When the male lead regrets everything after the female lead dies, falls into despair, and ends up killing himself—gosh, the dopamine and tears just come all at once.”

In her past life, Cynthia had an older sister with trash taste.

With air raids happening nearly every day due to the war, staying at home and reading novels or webtoons was her only joy.

“A let’s-die-together ending? Are you a weirdo or something? Why do you like that stuff?”

“I’m telling you, this is where the good stuff is at. Just try it once and you’ll see paradise.”

“Wow, you really are a trash can for all the nasty stuff in the world. Real life’s already bad enough, so why would I read that crap too?”

“The male lead and female lead start out as enemies, but when she dies and he reads her will—he finally realizes his feelings. I swear that part hits so hard.”

“Yeah, I can’t handle spicy stuff like that.”

If she had liked those kinds of stories too, she’d probably be stuck suffering in such a grim setting by now.

In the end, I’m the winner for landing in a rom-com, healing, salvation-type world!

With a bright expression, Cynthia strolled down the hall, completely unaware that this world was not healing but fatally toxic.

“I wonder if my sister’s also living a new life somewhere.”

“Hey! If you survive again, swear on the River Styx you’ll read it! I even read that <The Cutesy Sunshine Lady Always Wins!> you recommended! God, this pisses me off so much!”

Her sister liked that novel so much, she was promoting it even on her deathbed.

And yet she never even told me the title.

I hope she ended up as a fairy or something in the world of <The Cutesy Sunshine Lady Always Wins>.

As for our brother, who was a soldier… maybe he went to that <One Piece> world he always liked.

“Ah.”

As she was walking and reminiscing about her past life, Cynthia suddenly remembered something and came to a halt with a serious look on her face.

She retraced her steps and stood before Massera again.

“That reminds me, I don’t know where my room is. Are we, by chance, sharing a room?”

Massera looked at her, tilting his head, expressionless.

“Are we close enough to be doing that?”

“We should be. We may have not held the ceremony yet, but we are legally married. I guess you must be shy.”

No matter what she said, he showed no reaction. He definitely didn’t seem normal.

Holding out her hand, she asked—

“We’re at least close enough for you to walk me to my room, right?”

“That’s a hassle.”

Cynthia pursed her lips and glared at him as he rejected her with a smile. She looked like an angry small animal.

“So petty… I guess I’ll have to get a map or something…”

She muttered to herself as she walked away.

Cynthia’s innocent cluelessness was more than enough to spark Massera’s stubbornness and competitiveness, his lips curving into a smirk.

“Let’s see how long that carefree attitude lasts.”

He planned to show her just what a terrible decision she had made after their wedding.

He was looking forward to seeing her fall into despair and helplessness.

***

A maid who spoke in a stiff military tone showed me to my room.

She emphasized that we would be using separate rooms until the wedding.

“Please call for assistance if you need anything.”

“I actually need help with unpacking my lu—”

The maid who had put down my luggage left before I could even finish my sentence.

Wanting to get off work, I completely get it.

Looking around the room, I broke into a wide grin.

“This is so nice.”

The joy of finally having my own room hit me all at once. This was because I had always shared a room with my sister in my past life.

As for the servants from the Count’s house who came with me—not a single one was helping with unpacking nor were they in sight. Probably because they were only here to keep an eye on me.

“But this room is no different from a freezer.”

The room was nice, but too cold. I pulled the bell cord to summon a maid.

“I don’t think there’s enough firewood. Maybe it’s because the room is facing north, but the room is really cold.”

At my request, the maid shook her head with an expressionless face.

“What you have now should be sufficient.”

I looked at the three pieces of wood inside the fireplace, then back at her.

This… is the classic bullying trope in rofans, isn’t it?

“It really isn’t.”

“We have an internal policy that limits the amount of firewood used per day.”

Policy? This isn’t some poor house but a mansion, and yet they’re limiting firewood?

Are they Scrooge, or some kind of boot camp instructor?

“Then you… survived this freezing weather with just that tiny bit of wood?”

Seeing the pity in my expression, the maid looked flustered.

“If you’re worried about getting in trouble, I’ll go get more myself.”

As I strode out of the room, the maid hurried after me, sounding alarmed.

“My lady, what are you… Do you even know where it’s kept?”

“Yeah. It must be in the shed in the garden.”

Firewood for fireplaces needs to be dried out in sunlight, after all.

Cynthia had over ten years of experience working as a servant, and some of that knowledge was proving useful.

“What brings you here, my lady?”

In front of the shed stood a woman who appeared to be a senior maid. With a bright smile, I answered—

“I’m running low on firewood, so I came to get more!”

Struggling to pull out a bundle of firewood, I glanced back at her.

“What age are we in that people are expected to survive a freezing night with so little firewood? The owner of this house must be a terrible person. There are even children living here. The labor union and child protection agencies would never stand for—”

The senior maid who had been listening to me politely clasped her hands together and said—

“The General is not that kind of man. In fact, I believe your room was given more firewood than others.”

She must think I’m being greedy and asking for more firewood.

“There were only three pieces though. You can come check with me if you’d like.”

The senior maid’s face stiffened. It was only then that she seemed to realize what had happened.

“...My deepest apologies. I apologize on behalf of my subordinates for not teaching them properly. Most of the servants in this residence hold a grudge against the royal family, so I ask for your understanding.”

Her tone was basically saying, “It’s because you’re the bad royalty!”

“It’s fine. There are bound to be people in the world who don’t like me.”

Yelling or making a scene here would be a bad move.

“I understand. I get those kinds of looks often because of my unique appearance.”

At my wistful glance, I could see the senior maid’s pupils trembling as she looked at my silver hair and red eyes.

“I-I’m not prejudiced. I simply thought you were beautiful when I first saw you.”

A true pro dominates with a smile and makes the opponent feel guilty and apologetic instead.

From my experience, it’s best to avoid creating conflict.

I’d probably lose if we fought, so we should just get along. Glancing at her strong arms, I said—

“Thank you, Dahlia. Your amber eyes are lovely too.”

“You know my name?”

“Everyone introduced themselves when I first arrived, remember?”

“...Did you memorize all those names at once?”

Dahlia’s questioning voice carried genuine surprise.

I just smiled silently and looked at her.

In truth, I only happened to remember it because my brother’s dog in my past life was named Kim Dahlia.

“Dahlia, would you be my personal maid?”

“If that is your order, then I have no choice but to obey…”

She spoke as if she was complying with a boss’s unreasonable order.

Hm, I thought I almost had her, but she’s still holding on strong.

On my way back with Dahlia and the firewood, I ran into the snappy black-haired boy again.

“Hi!”

I greeted him cheerfully, but he snarled at me like a hissing cat.

“Why are you still here? Go back to your house!”

“Why?”

“Because this is my house!”

“Legally speaking, this is my house too since we’re family now.”

“I was his family before you showed up!”

After a fierce back-and-forth, I made a suggestion.

“How about we decide by flipping a coin? If it lands on tails, I’ll leave.”

“Deal.”

Taking out a coin, I tossed it high and caught it in my palm with a clap.

“All right, time to check!”

When he saw it was heads, he puffed up his cheeks and held up three fingers.

“We have to do best of three, like a match!”

I agreed and tossed it two more times, but it landed heads again both times.

Even after flipping it himself and seeing it land on heads, he started to tear up with a furious look on his face.

Dahlia looked over at me like I was a childish adult.

“It’s not rigged. I’m just lucky with stuff like this.”

Winning big in gambling and living comfortably off that would be nice, but that kind of luck always comes at a price.

I smiled gently at the boy.

“Please don’t kick me out. I’m all alone, you know.”

At my words, his peridot-colored eyes wavered.

“You don't have a family either, noona?”

“Not really. So mind telling me your name?”

The boy looked at me with a hint of sympathy in his eyes and said—

“It’s Eugene.”

“That’s a name that means ‘noble one.’ Whoever gave it to you must’ve really loved you.”

After hearing me, Eugene suddenly pouted and stomped his foot on the ground.

“I still don’t like you!”

And then quickly ran off.

I’m definitely going to get that feisty kitten and put him in my bag.

With that thought, I imagined Eugene clinging to Massera’s clothes, bawling his eyes out and begging him not to kill me when the truth comes out later.

He wouldn’t be able to bring himself to kill me then, right?