Chapter 1
“You’re so lucky.”
Roina blinked her eyes open and shut. That sound again. She silently got up and ran her fingers through her tangled hair.
Maili, who had just spoken, began to chatter without waiting for her reply.
“You! You spent another night in His Highness’s room last night!”
“Your Grace, Lady Maili, I apologize, but that’s not what happened. Really, you don’t need to come in and check every time.”
“Ha! How can I believe you? A girl like you, who knows where you came from.”
“But how did you even get into my room?”
‘I clearly added another secret lock.’
“Oh, there are ways! But that’s not important! I can’t believe you’re eyeing our innocent Roberto!”
She casually dismissed Roina’s privacy as insignificant. Her blond hair swayed like waves with each shout. Roina blankly imagined how difficult it must be to dry and style that hair, then shook her head slightly and sat up completely. The blanket slid off, revealing her naked body wrapped in a thin nightgown.
Maili blatantly scanned Roina’s body from top to bottom.
She had erased all traces of the night before. It wasn’t so sloppy that it would be obvious to her, and she wouldn’t have left it that way anyway. The Crown Prince was very secretive about his private life.
Unconsciously, Roina rubbed her neck. It wasn’t visible now, but Roina had a curse placed on her neck that would activate if she broke the rules. It was like having an invisible leash.
“Ugh, I was supposed to be the one closest to Roberto, but how did I end up losing my position to such a worthless girl.”
‘If you knew what I was actually going through, you wouldn’t say that…’
Roina frowned slightly as she recalled the injuries she had sustained the night before, which were now completely healed and invisible.
“Oh, so you’re just going to ignore me like a dog barking? Hey! You, you really. A piece of trash with an uncertain origin!”
Maili scolded Roina but couldn’t bring herself to lay a hand on her. It was a serious crime to harm a maid, especially one directly serving the Crown Prince. After being severely punished for hitting Roina on the first day, she had avoided touching her ever since.
Roina ignored her and began to get ready to leave. Seeing her undress so casually, Maili exclaimed, “Oh, so uncouth! Agh, truly, they’re such low-class people!” Then she left the room.
For all her faults, Maili isn’t a truly bad person. In fact, I think she’s quite straightforward for someone in her position. Most of the other maids look at me with contempt or ignore me, and they torment me in other ways behind my back. That’s the kind of bullying I’m truly afraid of and avoid.
Ironically, Maili was the only person she’d had a real conversation with, the only person she felt a sense of familiarity with. After Maili left, Roina’s tension suddenly released.
“Ugh, ugh… Cough.”
She couldn’t hold back the foreign sensation in her throat any longer and vomited. Dark clots of blood stained the floor crimson. All the Crown Prince cared about was a flawless appearance. He didn’t care how rotten Roina was on the inside.
It had been two years since she’d been thrown into this strange world of books, and no fairy-tale romance had come her way. Every day, she simply pondered how to escape this suffering.
Roina curled up. Her abdomen twisted, and she vomited several more times before the door burst open.
“What, what is this?! You… you…”
It was Maili. Even Roina was a little taken aback.
‘Why did she come back? That’s so unlike her…’
Maili grimaced at the sight of Roina huddled over her vomit and grabbed her wrist.
“Lady Maili, I think you’re misunderstanding… It’s okay.”
“What? What do you mean…”
“I often feel like this in the mornings. And even if I saw a doctor, it wouldn’t help. It’s nothing you need to worry about, Lady Maili.”
“…”
Maili stared at Roina, unable to speak, then shouted.
“Good! Then go ahead and die!!!”
With that, Maili slammed the door shut and left.
Roina was so stunned by her behavior that she remained frozen for a moment.
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