Chap 4-Sincerity

 

Annie was currently in a carriage heading back home.

According to the Duke’s family rules, vacation was only allowed twice a year, so this sudden return should have been a pleasant occasion.

If it weren’t for the fact that she was with the master she had to serve.

Annie anxiously peered out the window. Her tension made the air inside the carriage feel strangely heavy.

‘How did this happen?’

She resented Mary for telling the Lady about her situation.

Frankly, she was anxious.

The Lady had changed as if she were a different person for the past month, but Annie remembered.

The first day she became her exclusive maid, she made a mistake because she hadn’t received a full handover, and she was severely beaten by her directly.

It had already been six months, but the scars still remained.

Even after that incident, she was often nitpicked for trivial matters and subjected to physical abuse or harsh words.

Whenever she saw the Lady, who was now 180 degrees different, she couldn’t help but think, ‘Now, after all this time?’ But because of the difference in status and the fact that the current master was much easier to work with, she didn’t express it.

Annie glanced sideways at the man sitting next to her.

Mason Blanc.

A fairly famous doctor and a member of the Blanc family, a collateral branch of the Bennett family.

He could use healing magic and was also skilled in martial arts to some extent, so even though he was from a collateral branch, he held a position that couldn’t be ignored within the Bennett family.

When he volunteered to be the Bennett Lady’s personal physician and followed her to this mansion, the family was slightly stirred up.

Originally, it was unimaginable for such a prominent figure to go to examine her mother.

And that too, by the Lady’s order.

Annie looked at her master.

She was dozing off.

‘She looks so cute when she’s sleeping.’

Her expression had improved a lot since she changed, but she was still scary when she frowned sometimes.

‘Still… if it’s really…’

Annie looked out the window with a faint hope.

…

Outskirts of District 7.

Where Annie’s house was located.

A slum had naturally formed around the Bastille Prison, a notorious facility.

However, this slum was quite different from the slums in other areas.

The area near the prison was surprisingly safe from Contamination and monsters.

This was because of the Holy Stone that the Holy Theocracy had installed to strengthen the prison’s security.

Holy Stone.

A powerful sacred object that only a Saintess could create, it possessed the divine power to purify Contamination and block monsters.

Thanks to the Holy Stone, which could only be seen in important strongholds on the continent, being placed in Bastille Prison, this place became a surprisingly safe zone hidden behind the name of a notorious facility.

Was it because they didn’t have to die meaninglessly from Contamination or monsters, at least?

Unlike the slums in other districts, the faces of the people here held a faint hope.

“Lady, we’ve arrived.”

“Hmm… already?”

I must have dozed off.

An unfamiliar landscape unfolded outside the carriage.

Having stayed in the splendid Duke’s mansion, I was reminded of Earth for the first time in a while.

Houses huddled close together and people living in those cramped spaces.

Still, unlike those people who had dying expressions, the people here had vitality in their faces.

“This is the place, Lady.”

The small house she pointed to was neat but had a strong sense of age.

I followed Annie’s guidance with Mason into the room where her mother was sleeping.

Seeing her looking so weak, my heart ached a little.

“Mason, please.”

“Yes, Lady.”

He began to examine Annie’s mother with careful hands.

Annie and I were outside to avoid disturbing him.

“Who is this pretty Unni?”

A cute little boy asked, grabbing my sleeve.

Pretty Unni…

Well, it might be better than being called ‘Uncle’ by kids in my previous life?

“Dan! You shouldn’t do that! She’s the person Noona serves.”

“Wow! So she’s a noble Unni? I’ve never seen a noble before!”

This time, a small girl popped out and grabbed my hand.

“Clara! Please… I’m sorry! Lady. My siblings are still not well-mannered…”

“It’s okay. Can I play with the kids for a bit?”

She sternly warned her siblings not to be rude to me and reluctantly allowed it.

I reflexively said I would play with the kids, but I had never actually taken care of children before.

‘What if the kids think I’m boring?’

Soon, I realized that I was having the most useless worry in the world.

I was dragged around the village by the children for a full three hours.

They were 10 and 8 years old, the age to run around, so if Annie hadn’t forcibly dragged them away because it was time for dinner, I might have collapsed from exhaustion.

Still, it was a different experience.

In my hometown, where the birth rate had dropped to 0.6, it was so rare to see children that I would look at them in wonder when I passed them by.

So, although it was tiring, it was also rewarding and fun.

When I returned to the house, Mason was there to greet me.

“It was a serious illness, but it wasn’t an incurable one. I’ve completed the basic treatment for now, so I’ll prescribe medicine after arriving at the Duke’s mansion and send it here.”

“Thank you… thank you so much, Lady.”

Annie bowed her head to me with teary eyes.

It was a strange feeling.

Living as Yeon for a month, I had heard the words “Thank you” countless times.

It wasn’t because I had saved or helped someone.

It was just gratitude that came from acting like a normal person compared to the Lady’s previous, villainous self.

Those words were empty.

Gratitude for a villain who had become a little more normal.

I couldn’t feel any emotion from the greetings I received for simply acting as well as others.

But this time it was different.

This time, my direct actions had influenced and saved someone.

Annie’s mother.

The precious person of someone close to me, who had no family or friends.

When she looked at me and said, “Thank you so much,” in a tearful voice,

I finally realized.

What is this feeling?

It was strange.

It felt like a corner of my heart was warming up, and I felt strangely relieved.

It was an unfamiliar sensation.

I looked at Annie.

Her eyes were as tired as usual, but they were shining a little.

Whether it was because of relief, gratitude…

Or evidence that she had started to trust me even a little.

I couldn’t tell.

When we went inside together, I saw Annie’s mother struggling to get up from the bed.

“You don’t have to stay still. You’re still sick, so please lie down.”

As soon as I finished speaking, everyone in the room looked at me with shocked eyes.

Was it so strange that I used formal language?

I had used informal language in the mansion for the sake of the concept, but I couldn’t bring myself to use informal language to Annie’s mother.

It would be strange to use informal language to a friend’s mother.

“Please lower your words, Lady.”

She slightly raised her body and bowed her head.

“I will formally introduce myself. My name is Maria. And thank you so much for your help today. I will never forget this favor.”

Another thank you.

Was this how the hunters felt when they heard people thanking them after saving them on Earth?

I was a little doubtful whether I deserved to be thanked since Mason had essentially treated her alone, but I still felt good.

We finished dinner there and got back on the carriage.

“Annie, is there still something you’re worried about? Why do you look so down?”

She had been fidgeting and anxiously watching me for a while now, and it was starting to bother me.

“Hic, I’m sorry, Lady!”

Before I could even be flustered by the unexpected reaction, she continued in a tearful voice.

“Actually… I didn’t believe in the Lady’s change all this time. Life in the Duke’s mansion was really hard. So, so… I had disrespectful thoughts.”

Annie hung her head low.

“There’s no way that woman has changed. No, what is she doing, putting on such an insincere display now?”

I quietly looked at her.

So that’s what it was.

It was something I had expected to some extent.

It wasn’t her fault.

There was no way she could easily believe and be happy that the person who had tormented her for six months had changed in just one month.

Even so…

I felt a little bitter.

No matter what she thought, I was sincere.

“I am not worthy of receiving the Lady’s kindness. I will go to the mansion and accept whatever punishment I deserve. I am truly sorry.”

Annie cried and bowed her body.

I sighed and took out a handkerchief.

“Haa… Annie. Are you an idiot?”

Then, I carefully wiped her wet eyes.

“Why are you saying unnecessary things when you can just quietly take the benefits?”

Annie flinched and looked up at me.

“I’m so sorry for deceiving the Lady…”

She’s really stupid.

“I’m sorry, really.”

I said in a low, murmuring voice.

“It’s all my fault. It’s because I’ve lived like trash all this time, it’s not your fault. So it’s okay, Annie.”

At that moment, Annie’s crying grew louder.

Without hesitation, I hugged her.

Her tear-soaked shoulders trembled slightly.

“The Lady is really a good person… From now on, I will serve you with all my heart.”

A good person…

It was the most unsuitable word for this body.

Was that why?

An inexplicable sense of unease slowly rose from deep within my chest.

Ignoring that feeling, I spent the rest of the time talking to her more.

The stories of Annie’s life.

I wanted to tell her my story too, but I had been dragged into the game before the update, so I knew almost nothing about Yeon’s past.

But I couldn’t tell her about my life on Earth either…

In the end, I just quietly listened to her.

As soon as I arrived at the mansion, I washed up and threw myself on the bed.

Annie had come to follow me sincerely, and Mason said he was really proud of me.

Maybe this incident will change the minds of those who doubted me.

I should be happy, but…

The anxiety I felt earlier was growing and I couldn’t fall asleep.

I looked at the ceiling and quietly inhaled.

Could this be Yeon’s emotion?

Occasionally, I felt Yeon’s emotions.

I was confused every time, but this was the first time I had felt such an incomprehensible anxiety as today.

Why do I feel this way even though something good happened?

What’s the problem?

‘…How twisted is this woman?’

I forced my eyes shut in the quiet room.

But sleep didn’t come easily.

Author’s Note

There’s someone who spent money on 5080 recently because their writing speed is slow and they’re just working on Hangul all day?

Thank you for reading!