IDLA 02

Chapter 2

It wasn’t a hallway.

The place connected to the room I’d awakened in was actually another bedroom—far larger and far more luxurious.

And then—

“Stella!”

A beautiful young woman called out softly the moment she saw me.

With golden hair that almost looked like a wig, doll-like eyes, and a flowing dress, she looked nothing like the people I normally saw.

But why does she feel so familiar? …No way. K-Keila?

I didn’t know why that name immediately came to mind, but the woman looked almost exactly like the Keila in my imagination.

Just like the version I had pictured while reading the novel.

Just like the one from my dream.

Wait. Did she just call me Stella?

Feeling uneasy, I slowly turned my head toward the mirror inside the room.

A young woman with a petite frame, softly wavy red hair, and a pale, pretty face stared back at me.

The moment I saw my reflection, it felt like I’d been struck over the head.

So this situation meant…

I had transmigrated—

and because my luck was terrible, I’d ended up possessing Stella, the maid who suffered her entire life only to die miserably alongside her mistress.

“Stella! Help me already! Why are you just standing there blankly?!”

Keila urgently shouted while tearing long strips of fabric with a pair of scissors.

She had ripped down all the curtains in the room and was knotting them together like a rope.

Unable to tear my eyes away from the mirror, I nearly burst into tears.

Not a beloved baby princess doted on by her father and brothers.

Not a glamorous villainess from a wealthy noble family.

Not a saintess obsessively loved by a young emperor.

A maid.

Just a maid!

And worse, I’d been thrown straight into a crisis situation without even having time to mentally prepare myself for transmigration.

On top of that, the biggest problem was that I had never seen this scene in the original novel before.

“Stella!”

When I remained frozen in confusion, Keila looked at me in disbelief and called my name again.

Then she spoke with determined resolve.

“Listen carefully. I’m running away tonight.”

Riiip!

Even as she spoke, her hands continued tearing apart the curtains.

There was a firm determination in her movements.

This version of Keila was completely unlike the one in the original story. Back then she was always crying, throwing tantrums, and hurling objects around.

“I’d rather run away than marry that blood-crazed demon.”

Hearing her words, I began to understand the situation.

This was before Keila and Stella even appeared in the original plot.

This must’ve been before Keila Enrio married Ricardo Zenkis.

So something like this happened at her family estate…

Come to think of it, before meeting Ricardo, Keila had feared him based solely on the horrifying rumors surrounding him.

Which means this escape attempt ultimately failed.

That was why she later gave up, went to the capital, and married Ricardo.

And that meant—

I was currently standing at the critical moment where the original story could still be changed.

My chaotic thoughts suddenly became clear.

My lady, no! Please don’t do this!

If I shouted something like that and tried to stop her, everyone in the estate would come running.

Then Keila’s escape would fail, and the story would proceed exactly as it had in the original novel.

The dream I’d just had flashed through my mind.

Keila and Stella being dragged out of the carriage and slaughtered.

I could still vividly see the scene where they collapsed onto the ground without even managing a final scream, their blood spreading into a crimson puddle.

“I’m sorry to you, Stella. You treated me like a real younger sister. But we can’t go together. Escaping with Vittorio alone is already difficult enough.”

She looked at me apologetically.

Vittorio?

The original story had briefly mentioned that Keila once loved another man before her marriage.

This must’ve been him.

“Cuckoo. Cuckoo.”

A timid cuckoo call came from outside the window.

Both our gazes turned there at once.

“He’s already here!”

Keila’s movements became even bolder and quicker.

Grabbing the makeshift rope, she darted around the bed with surprising agility.

I honestly couldn’t understand her.

She already had a man she loved back home, yet the moment she met the Duke she somehow fell into an eternal, obsessive love with him.

“You’re really going to run away? Then… what about marrying the Duke?”

At my question, she stared at me like I was insane.

“How can you even ask that right now? If I go there, I’ll die. They say he’s a bloodthirsty warmonger with no tears, no mercy—a monster who can kill people with one hand.”

I closed my mouth.

Because one thing she believed was absolutely true.

If you go, you really will die.

And innocent me will die with you.

I honestly had no idea how such a sharp, clear-minded Keila eventually lost her sanity after marrying the Duke.

“Thank you for everything, Stella. No… sister.”

She approached me, wrapped her arms around my shoulders, and kissed my cheek.

Like a final farewell.

“I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Something about her determined eyes stirred me too.

Yeah, Keila. Let’s change this garbage original story together.

Let’s avoid that meaningless dog’s death somehow.

“Yes. Please be careful, my lady.”

At my words, we clasped hands and shared a brief, wistful smile.

Then I actively helped Keila climb out the window using the curtain rope.

First, I need to twist the main storyline itself. If I want to survive, I have to stop Keila’s marriage.

As Keila climbed down the wall, the rope remained taut until suddenly it slackened.

Thunk.

I heard her land safely on the ground.

Then came hurried whispers and retreating footsteps.

As I stared down into the pitch-black darkness where Keila had disappeared, my heart began pounding wildly.

My possession of Stella.

Keila’s escape.

Everything had happened in an instant.

Peeeeep! Peeeeep! Bark bark!

Suddenly, loud noises erupted from somewhere far away.

What do I do? Did they already get caught?

Lights began turning on throughout the mansion.

Someone was blowing whistles frantically.

Hunting dogs barked nonstop.

This was bad.

This isn’t the time to panic!

I rushed back into the room where I’d first awakened, dove onto the bed, and pulled the blanket over myself.

Looks like they got caught while escaping.

Was the original story truly impossible to change after all?

If so, then I’d eventually end up going to the capital with Keila and dying exactly like in the dream.

That was a disaster.

Then suddenly, someone began pounding on the door hard enough to nearly break it down.

Since Keila’s room was locked from the inside, it seemed everyone had rushed into my connected room instead.

This is driving me crazy.

I quickly messed up my hair to look freshly awakened and opened the door with sleepy eyes.

The instant the door opened, people shoved me aside and stormed in searching for Keila.

“Keila?”

“My daughter!”

“Lady Keila!”

The middle-aged couple who pushed past me looked utterly pale.

A short, heavyset man with white hair.

A thin blonde woman with a sharp, irritable expression.

At a glance, anyone could tell they were Keila’s parents—the Baron and Baroness Enrio.

Naturally, Keila’s room was empty when they entered.

All that remained were the shredded curtains and scissors abandoned across the floor.

“H-How… How could this happen?!”

“Stella! What is the meaning of this? Where is Keila?!”

Even though they clearly already understood the situation, they still pressed me aggressively for answers.

I shook my head as though I knew nothing.

And somehow, despite possessing Stella only moments ago, I already acted exactly like her.

“I-I don’t know either…”

“You mean you were sleeping while your lady disappeared?!”

The furious Baroness strode toward me and slapped my cheek with her bony, claw-like hand.

The sting burned like scratches across my face.

Holding my cheek, I glared back at her.

The Baroness narrowed her eyes and raised her hand again—

“Dear, calm yourself.”

The Baron beside her restrained the trembling woman.

I also forced myself to calm down.

That slap had nearly sent my head spinning, but honestly, it was still preferable to going to the capital and dying a pointless death.

The Baroness swallowed her rage before collapsing onto the bed in tears.

“What are we going to do? What are we supposed to do now?”

The Baron looked just as shaken, pacing anxiously beside her.

Watching them, I thought to myself:

You may feel shocked now, but this is better for your daughter.

But strangely enough, the couple seemed even more terrified of something else than of their daughter disappearing.

“We’re all going to die. That person will never forgive us. We’ve already sold off half the engagement gifts.”

“What? You already touched them?!”

“You think I spent it on myself? Do you know where the silk pajamas you’re wearing came from? Even our carriage was practically falling apart! No matter how ruined our territory becomes, if nobles walk around looking like beggars, what will people think of us?!”

The Baron could only groan helplessly at his wife’s words.

I knew Keila came from a minor provincial baron family, but I never imagined they’d been so blinded by wealth that they’d send their daughter off to a stranger in the distant capital.

“If we can’t find our daughter, then we’ll just have to beg for mercy. Surely he won’t kill us. As for the money we spent… we’ll repay it little by little for the rest of our lives somehow.”

The Baron spoke with a resigned expression.

At that moment—

A group of soldiers burst into the room as if invading it.