Chapter 7 ..

The Villain’s Future Is Making Me Anxious – 

To see if my guess was right, I asked the soldier escorting me.

“Are we heading west right now?”

“What do you care? Keep your mouth shut.”

At the soldier’s warning, I wrapped my arms tightly around my knees and crouched down again.

I had been the lady of Willinger, but to these people, I was no different from a slave now.

What happened in Izar while Shiraz was staying here?

I tried to remember, but my eyelids gradually grew heavier.

I’d stayed awake all night planning my escape from the lord, and only now did sleep finally come crashing over me.

By the time we passed through the vast grain fields stretching endlessly in golden waves, I realized my prediction had been correct.

When we finally arrived at Izar Castle, its sheer size left me speechless.

Back in Willinger, I’d thought the lord’s castle was the entire world.

But Izar Castle was so enormous that the two couldn’t even be compared.

As I watched the soldiers lower the drawbridge and lead us through one gigantic gate after another, the last traces of hope slowly faded away.

Escaping from here will be next to impossible.

Anyone would have been awestruck by the magnificent fortress.

To me, it was nothing more than a colossal prison.

“Quit dawdling and get down!”

While I had been distracted by the scenery inside the castle, we’d already arrived.

The soldier yanked me down from the wagon.

The other soldiers and knights who had traveled with us had disappeared somewhere.

Naturally, neither Grand Duke Shiraz nor his retainers were anywhere to be seen.

They must have taken another route once they entered the castle, leaving only the lower-ranking soldiers behind.

“Where are we going?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.”

With an annoyed expression, he led me deep into a remote corner of the castle grounds.

“Wait here.”

In front of a shabby-looking building, he spoke with a middle-aged woman while occasionally glancing at me.

“This way.”

When the woman beckoned, I hurried over.

Her cheeks were so plump that they looked as though she had hard candies stuffed inside them.

She slowly looked me up and down.

The way she examined me felt like a butcher grading a slab of meat.

It was more than a little unpleasant.

“She’s so scrawny. I wonder if she can even do proper work.”

She muttered to herself before nodding to the soldier as if to say she’d take care of the rest.

Looking relieved, as though his job was finally over, the soldier left.

“Don’t cause any trouble from now on, and work hard. If you try to run away or slack off, you’ll be beaten.”

Towering over me with her large frame as she lectured me, she reminded me of the terrifying dormitory matron from a boarding school.

I obediently nodded.

Satisfied, she ushered me inside.

The building appeared to be the servants’ quarters.

The interior was so cramped, cluttered, and winding that it resembled a maze.

As I followed behind her, the absurdity of my situation made me let out a hollow laugh.

Not only did I fail to escape, I ended up becoming Shiraz’s maid.

I had gone from being a lord’s wife—even if only in name—to a maid.

I couldn’t even tell which was supposed to be the better fate.

Strangely enough…

I actually felt much more at ease.

At the lord’s castle, I’d constantly tried to think and behave like Garnet.

But here, nobody knew who I was.

I could simply be myself.

That alone made me feel as though the shackles binding me had finally fallen away.

“You can use this bed. I’ll tell you your duties later. Change out of those clothes and wait quietly.”

“Yes.”

I answered obediently.

Even I thought I sounded like a real maid now.

She gave me one last distrustful look before turning on her heel and leaving.

Now alone, I looked around my new home with curiosity.

So this is where the maids live. It looks like some kind of maze prison.

Judging by the surroundings, this was probably where the maids who handled the dirtiest jobs stayed.

Everyone must have already gone to work because the room was empty.

Several beds lined one wall, each with its own shelf mounted above it.

The items on every shelf reflected the personality of its owner.

I sat on the bed assigned to me.

Creak.

The frame tilted to one side.

As I shifted my weight, the bed groaned again, and somehow the familiar creaking sound calmed me.

For now, I’ll eat well, sleep well, keep my head down, and survive here. Then I’ll figure out a way to escape.

I had to stay so quiet that everyone would forget I’d ever been brought here.

Eventually…

They wouldn’t even remember I existed.

Nobody’s going to pay attention to a mere maid.

“Wake up already! Keep dragging your feet and I’ll send you to the waste disposal district!”

Something poked me all over with a stick, as though someone were jabbing at an insect.

Outside, it was still pitch black.

A maid’s day began long before dawn.

Rubbing my aching shoulders and arms, I climbed out of bed.

Every day was an endless cycle of grueling labor.

Ah… So Rosaline wasn’t exaggerating when she kept saying every part of her body ached and she was exhausted to death.

Thinking about her for a moment made me strangely solemn.

I got dressed in the dull, burlap-like maid uniform and stood in front of the wall.

It felt less like wearing fabric and more like wrapping myself in sandpaper.

I wiped the cracked mirror with my hand and studied my reflection.

My face looked fragmented, just like the shattered mirror.

Several days had already passed since I arrived here.

Doing every imaginable odd job had turned my hands rough like scrub brushes.

Yet strangely enough, my face had become fairer, smoother, and healthier.

Was it the power of living on a regular schedule?

Or simply because my heart was finally at peace?

Back at the lord’s castle, my body had been comfortable, but the emotional stress had been overwhelming.

Here, when the bell rang, I ate.

When work ended, I immediately fell asleep.

And the moment I felt like I’d just closed my eyes, the wake-up bell rang again.

It was almost like being livestock raised on a schedule.

Yet I’d adapted surprisingly well to a maid’s daily routine.

My job was transporting food supplies brought in from outside the castle to the kitchens.

Vegetables.

Meat.

Milk.

I hauled them all day long.

Since the work was outdoors, the maids avoided it.

In summer, they were drenched in sweat.

In winter, frostbite was practically unavoidable.

Back when I was the lord’s wife, I’d seen the various menial tasks the maids performed.

Even then, I knew this was one of the hardest jobs.

Willinger Castle had been relatively small, so unpleasant work rotated among everyone.

But this castle employed countless servants and maids, each with a permanently assigned duty.

Which meant…

I spent the entire day dragging a heavy cart without a moment’s rest.

I still remembered the matron witch’s expression when I’d volunteered for this assignment.

Her eyes had widened at first.

Later, she accepted my request with what almost looked like pity.

“Don’t come complaining later.”

Her face practically said,

This foolish child has no idea what she’s asking for. Let’s see how she likes the real thing.

The first few days had been hell.

I constantly lost my balance and toppled over along with the one-wheeled cart.

At night, my back felt as though it would snap in half from hauling heavy loads all day.

Even so, I’d volunteered for this work for one reason.

It allowed me to move freely throughout the castle without arousing suspicion.

As I traveled around the castle, I learned far more than just its layout.

I could tell whether something important was about to happen…

Whether the soldiers were preparing for battle…

Even what kind of mood the Grand Duke had been in lately.

The atmosphere itself carried information.

Best of all, I occasionally got to hear news from outside the castle while receiving supplies from the villagers delivering food.

That had turned out to be an unexpected reward.

Today was no different.

I began my work by pushing an empty cart.

Autumn had fully arrived.

The chilly air stung the tip of my nose.

Apparently, even in this world, autumn made people sentimental.

For some reason, I found myself feeling unusually emotional.

Looking at me now, anyone would assume I’d always been just another maid serving this castle.

I’d adapted so completely that it was hard to believe I’d ever been a lord’s wife.

Sometimes I even wondered whether being a maid was my true calling.

At this rate… am I just going to stay here forever instead of escaping?

Chuckling to myself, I looked up at the sky.

The deep autumn sky told me the time to act was drawing near.

Grand Duke Shiraz should be making his move soon.

It was the Battle of Kieni.

As I pushed the rattling empty cart, I slowly flipped through the original story in my mind.

It was the crucial battle where Grand Duke Shiraz decisively crushed General Marcus, whose influence had been rapidly expanding.

Not only would the elite soldiers he’d brought from the capital be deployed…

Even the troops stationed in this castle would march to war.

When that happened, Grand Duke Shiraz and nearly all his subordinates would leave.

The castle would be almost empty.

Only a handful of servants would probably remain behind to guard it.

Security wouldn’t be nearly as tight as it was now.

That would be my chance to escape.

Thinking that, I continued pushing my cart.

Then I noticed another maid who had come out even earlier than I had.

What’s she doing out here this early?

It was rare to see another maid start before me, so I couldn’t help feeling curious.

She was tossing firewood beneath an enormous cauldron, feeding the flames until they roared.

It was the laundry yard, where giant cauldrons stretched in a long row.

Every time I passed by, thick clouds of hot steam billowed out, forcing me to steer my cart carefully.

I’d recently heard rumors that the Black Plague had broken out in the eastern region.

Perhaps the castle had strengthened its sanitation measures, because every day they boiled everything relentlessly like this.

Standing in front of that fire all day must be miserable.

I’d rather push a cart.

Thinking that, I walked past.

Then—

“Ahhh!”

A sharp scream pierced the air.