Chapter 2: Miss

How did it come to this?

This wasn’t supposed to happen according to the original novel.

I only wanted to survive.

That’s all… I just wanted to give Judith a happy childhood, and I didn’t want to die.

The Count’s mansion burned fiercely red, banishing the encroaching darkness of night.

Screams echoed as people, seemingly wracked with the agony of the flames, fell from the windows.

It was like watching insects drawn to a scorching fire.

And Judith, watching it all with an emotionless gaze.

She turned her head to look at me.

She was smiling.

I had never seen her smile so brightly.

“Chloe.”

Her red eyes, crinkling into a mischievous smile as she looked at me, seemed to drip with something viscous and dark.

“Chloe.”

Her voice, like someone calling a beloved, was so bright and cheerful, utterly clashing with the horrifying scene behind her.

“Come here.”

A sweet voice, almost a whisper, demanding me.

That voice calling me, that hand reaching for me.

Judith knew.

She knew I couldn’t refuse her.

---

A month had passed since I arrived at the annex.

Even after a month, cleaning this annex, which resembled a junkyard, felt like a never-ending task.

A month flew by in a blur of cleaning rooms and preparing meals.

I had moved Judith to a larger room, and I took over and fixed up an adjacent waiting room meant for maids.

Though only a month had gone by, I’d only managed to get two rooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom into decent shape.

There was still so much left to tackle… but it was adequate for the two of us.

I watched Judith wolfing down her food in front of me.

“Please eat slowly.”

“Chloe, you eat too.”

Our relationship had improved considerably over the month.

As if proving our slowly blossoming closeness, Judith seemed to genuinely enjoy eating meals with me.

Even though she was an illegitimate child, she was still nobility; I shouldn’t be teaching her that eating with a mere maid was acceptable etiquette.

However, Judith had firmly declared she wouldn’t eat unless I joined her, so now we shared meals at the same table.

“I added some meat this time.”

“Yes, I had some.”

‘She’s quite composed,’ I thought.

Judith’s personality seemed a bit different from the original story.

In the novel, her childhood self was… a child broken by Chloe’s abuse, unable to form proper thoughts… something like that.

But this Judith, untouched by abuse, was calm and surprisingly obedient.

Then again, a child constantly subjected to abuse wouldn’t have had the chance to reveal her true nature.

It was also true that Judith required less supervision than expected, which helped me finish cleaning relatively quickly.

She had even stopped sneaking into the bushes to eat wild berries when hungry.

“After you finish your meal, shall we go for a little walk?”

“The roses at the edge of the garden have bloomed.”

“Okay.”

The moment I finished speaking, she hastily gulped down her soup, picked up the bowl, and placed it in the washbasin.

Was she imitating what she’d seen me do?

Judith quite enjoyed walks.

Perhaps because she had been confined for so long, she loved going outside, so we made sure to stroll through the garden once a day.

The thought that this might be why she always stared out the window made me pity her, and my eyes began to sting.

“Did you enjoy your meal?”

“…Yes.”

Walking through the garden, we lost ourselves in admiring the flowers.

Since it was still summer and the sun was strong, I brought a straw hat that the gardeners used and placed it on Judith’s head.

‘I really wish I could take a picture.’

The sight of the little blonde girl skipping through the garden was more than enough to make me long for a camera, something that didn’t exist in this world.

As we explored the small garden, I heard the clatter of horse hooves approaching the annex.

“My Lady, I’m sorry! Just a moment…!”

In this estate, only members of the Count’s family or the stable managers were allowed to ride horses.

With no proper hiding place nearby, I quickly pulled Judith under the folds of my wide skirt.

‘Damn it! Of all people, why did it have to be Judel?!’

Approaching slowly on horseback was Judel Sergia, the second son of the Count Sergia family.

Rumor had it he inherited the cruel and vicious nature of the Countess entirely.

Even in the original novel, he was depicted as a madman, completely unhinged.

Considering he was a lunatic who enjoyed the sight of blood, ‘madman’ wasn’t an exaggeration.

In the original story, the primary abusers of Judith were Chloe, the Countess, and this Judel.

Therefore, I absolutely could not let him see Judith now.

“What’s this? Why is a maid here?”

“I was cleaning the garden, sir.”

“…Really?”

‘Please, just go away, you lunatic.’

If Judel discovered Judith hidden beneath my skirt, he would undoubtedly start tormenting her.

He could never view Judith with anything but contempt.

Judel, who possessed immense pride in his family lineage, would never leave the illegitimate Judith in peace.

He would likely start with his signature insults about her parentage, then proudly boast about his ‘specialty’—using wind magic to slice flesh paper-thin.

“Hmm… What is your name?”

“Ch-Chloe… Byella, sir.”

“Right… Chloe.”

Judel dismounted and walked towards me.

My heart hammered against my ribs, unsure why he was approaching.

‘Did he notice? Did he see her?’

“A maid caught slacking off… You know the penalty is wage deduction, don’t you?”

“…Th-That’s not true, sir…”

“Now you’re lying, too.”

‘It’s better if this ends with just my punishment.’

‘Getting my pay docked is getting off lightly here.’

‘So please… please just let this go.’

“…Alright. I’ll remember your name. I’ll be sure to mention this to the head maid.”

“…Understood, sir.”

I kept my head bowed as Judel remounted his horse.

Only when the sound of his horse’s hooves faded into the distance could I finally exhale.

“Haa… Haa…”

Thankfully, Judith had managed to stay hidden behind my skirt, out of Judel’s direct line of sight, so it seemed he hadn’t seen her.

When he dismounted, I genuinely thought my heart would stop.

I unclenched my fist and stared at my palm, drenched in cold sweat.

Had I ever been this terrified in my life?

Judith emerged from beneath my skirt, her expression troubled.

“Are you alright, My Lady?”

“…Yes.”

“Perhaps we should avoid walks for a while. I think I’ve drawn his attention… I’m sorry.”

“…Yes, let’s avoid them.”

Judith spoke calmly, as if accepting the inevitable, handed me the straw hat, and walked back into the annex.

I felt a pang of guilt, wondering if I’d just snatched away her small slice of happiness – the walks.

But it was unavoidable if I wanted to protect Judith  from abuse.

Judel was a genuine psycho in the novel.

The eldest son, Erven, might just ignore her, but Judel…

I shook my head, recalling Judel’s described brutality from the story.

‘He really is a crazy bastard…’

Excluding the original Chloe, the two main figures in the Count’s family who abused Judith were Countess Maia Sergia and the second son, Judel Sergia.

The Countess wasn’t an immediate threat right now.

She wasn’t the type to visit the annex personally.

But Judel was different.

Using the excuse of ‘educating’ Judith, he would visit daily to indulge in tormenting her, even using her as a test subject for his attack magic.

I had thought simply avoiding these two would be enough… but somehow, I had caught Judel’s eye.

I hadn’t expected him to come all the way out to the remote annex…

‘Wait, in the original story, Judel only started actively abusing Judith after the Count summoned her to the main building. Why did he suddenly show his face at the annex now?’

No matter how hard I thought, I couldn’t understand it.

I couldn’t exactly reprimand him for wandering his own family’s estate.

It could simply be a coincidence.

Sighing, I gazed towards the annex.

Judith was watching me from the window.

When our eyes met, she waved.

I waved back.

Life as a maid here was shaping up to be more difficult than anticipated.

I silently prayed I wouldn’t run into Judel again and turned my steps towards the annex.

“My Lady, I’m truly sorry. It seems we’ll have to stay inside the annex for the time being…”

“It’s alright. I understand.”

“…Should we play hide-and-seek inside then…?”

“No.”

I was speechless.

It broke my heart how calmly Judith spoke, acknowledging that encountering a member of the Count’s family inevitably led to unpleasantness.

‘Maybe Judel will forget about this in a month or so.’

‘Yes… let’s just endure for a month.’

‘I’ll have to be careful and sneak around when I go to the main building, too.’

---

Not even a full day had passed since I made that resolution.

While I was cleaning the garden, the sound of horse hooves echoed once more.

This time, Judith was safely inside the annex, and I was alone in the garden, so it should have been fine.

I was genuinely cleaning, leaving no room for accusations.

With that thought, I looked up as Judel approached on his horse.

“We meet again, uh… Ch… Ch…”

“It’s Chloe Byella, sir.”

“Right, Chloe. You know, I heard something quite interesting.”

That single sentence from Judel sent a deathly chill down my spine, my blood running cold.

‘Please… please don’t let it be what I think it is…’

“I heard you’re the personal maid for that bug? Why didn’t you mention that to me?”

The world seemed to freeze.

‘Did someone tell him?’

Judel grinned down at me, clearly amused.

His eyes gleamed with the delight of a child discovering a new, fascinating toy.

Seeing that look in his eyes…

My body began to tremble uncontrollably.