I Don’t Want to be a Villainess – Chapter 72

Summoning the predecessor, transferring schools, writing contracts… there were more things to do than I expected.

Fortunately, there were few things I had to do myself.

First of all, summoning the predecessor surprisingly went smoothly.

I’ve said this several times before, but the owner of this mansion is under ‘Ye Sara’s’ name.

Ye Sara, who had virtually given up on life and lived without any motivation, never actively exercised that right, but legally speaking, I could expel all the servants in this mansion without much issue.

Of course, if I did that, my life would be paralyzed, so I was holding back for now.

For that reason, Yang Hye-in was able to re-enter the mansion more easily than I expected.

However, despite that, Yang Hye-in herself was reluctant to return to the mansion.

Well, even I wouldn’t want to return to a place I was fired from by none other than the chairwoman of the largest company in the country… no, in the world.

The problem was, I couldn’t just leave Yang Hye-in alone.

As expected, the servants in the mansion started avoiding me as much as possible.

Before, they would just stand there silently if I was present, but now they were making sure not to appear in my sight at all, especially when I was out and about.

They must have realized that I was no longer someone they could ignore.

The chairwoman had probably ordered the servants not to speak to me, but I had been approaching them whenever I saw them.

“Is there a manual for the servants?”

“Is there a notebook where my predecessor maid organized her tasks?”

“Is there anyone who can guide So-hee and me around the mansion?”

After spending all Sunday walking around with So-hee and pestering the servants with questions, they turned pale and started running away whenever they saw me.

If I moved my feet quickly, they would move their feet quickly too.

Unfortunately, Ye Sara’s legs were much slower than the servants’.

Alright, now I have another reason to start working out.

Someday, I would run at full speed and catch them.

“Should I catch them for you?”

So-hee asked.

I shook my head.

In a power dynamic, the one in a position of power usually has the upper hand.

It’s obvious.

The ones paying and the ones getting paid—there’s no need to think to know who has the advantage.

But I remember the contents of the original story.

Ye Sara wreaked havoc not only at school but also in the mansion.

Though there wasn’t a direct scene showing this, it was mentioned in the ending that described Ye Sara.

The brave servants in the mansion exposed her tyranny, which of course, became a reason to punish her.

The chairwoman also ultimately abandoned Ye Sara.

…Did she really abandon her?

In the game, Ye Sara’s side wasn’t properly depicted.

Because of that, I didn’t know what kind of life Ye Sara had led, but now, it’s different.

Were the servants under Ye Sara, employed by the chairwoman, truly the ones who spoke out themselves?

Were the students who treated Ye Sara like an invisible person, tightly held by the chairwoman, and who had experienced the business world since childhood, truly the ones who reported her misdeeds and helped in her social downfall?

The chairwoman tried to isolate Ye Sara from the world, but it wasn’t just because she hated her.

Was it simply to take away her fortune?

No, if that were the case, she wouldn’t have bothered to dress her in such strange clothes, pat her head, or touch her face.

…A possibility came to mind, but I decided to put it off for now.

There’s no point thinking about it at this moment since there’s no answer.

For now, the priority was finding out whether I could locate the real consciousness of Ye Sara in my head.

At the same time, I decided to figure out what Choi Na-kyung was thinking.

Anyway, I decided to call Yang Hye-in back.

Even if the chairwoman had placed additional conditions when firing Yang Hye-in, I could simply rehire her under my name.

A statement like “Don’t work here or there” was just a threat after all.

No one in this country had the power to isolate someone like that.

Especially not from someone who could afford to pay a maid a 500-million-won salary.

Even if someone had more money than me, they wouldn’t be able to do that.

Maybe it was because I called from So-hee’s number instead of Ye Sara’s, but Yang Hye-in surprisingly answered the call easily.

Of course, she seemed a little flustered when she heard my voice, but she didn’t hang up right away.

Seizing the opportunity, I asked her to come back.

[But I…]

Yang Hye-in hesitated.

“If you don’t want to meet inside the mansion, let’s talk outside. You can’t just leave like this without handing things over to the next person.”

I’ve hated “being busy” since my previous life.

And busy situations usually arise when multiple tasks overlap.

That’s exactly what’s happening now.

In my past life, a senior at my company befriended me by buying me food and whatnot right after I got hired.

Then, about two months later, just when I was getting used to the job, she resigned.

She just left a resignation letter and disappeared.

They said that the severance pay would be sent to her salary account anyway, or she could contact the boss later.

Looking back, that senior had probably been planning to leave the company all along.

I don’t know if she got a job at another company or if the work was just too hard for her, but thanks to her, I was stuck with all of her work.

Without a proper handover, at that.

Even though I’d worked hard for two months, the memory of that time was exhausting.

Who enjoys involuntary overtime?

Of course, this situation isn’t exactly the same.

The maid coming in after Yang Hye-in would already have been trained by then.

…But the maid I wanted to use was So-hee.

“Even if you don’t want to do it, at least complete the handover. I’ll pay you properly for the time worked.”

[…]

“Should I come and get you? Should I hail a taxi?”

[No, I’ll get to the mansion as soon as possible.]

“Good, then.”

[Thank you, Miss.]

There’s no need to thank me.

You’re getting paid for this.

So, the handover issue was resolved by summoning the predecessor.

By Sunday evening, it was over.

Yang Hye-in said she’d start the handover on Monday since she had to pack up again.

Since I was at it, I decided to squeeze in the school transfer process and contract writing.

Why not?

It’d be more efficient for Yang Hye-in to handle it than me.

If necessary, I’d just pay extra for the task.

Not everything in the world can be solved with money, but usually, when things can’t be solved, it’s because there’s not enough money.

And I had enough money to handle most things.

Now that I think of it, wasn’t it the World Health Organization that said a certain percentage of Elon Musk’s wealth could solve world hunger?

Maybe I should invest a percentage myself.

If it improves my public image, it would serve as a great shield when a crisis hits.

I don’t plan to solve world hunger, but handling a domestic issue to a visible extent might be possible.

Alright, I’ll add that to the checklist.

The second thing I needed to do was find a maid uniform that fit So-hee.

Of course, I had no idea where the maid uniforms were.

Since I was already in this situation, I decided to familiarize myself with the mansion’s layout before Monday.

*

“When you come back from school today, the predecessor will have arrived, so by this evening, you can officially become a maid.”

“Then should I start using maid speech from then on?”

Seeing So-hee blush at my words, I put on a dumbfounded expression.

Uh… does she have some fantasy about the maid profession?

“…It would probably be better to speak like that in front of the other servants. But when we’re alone, you can talk casually. Actually, I’d prefer that. It’d be uncomfortable if you didn’t.”

“Really?”

At my words, So-hee thought for a moment, then nodded.

“Okay then. See you in the evening.”

Since the transfer process wasn’t complete yet, So-hee was going to her own school today.

She would probably start attending the same school as me soon.

I found the maid uniform yesterday.

As I expected, most of the mansion was empty.

In fact, it was so large that just walking around and opening doors took over an hour.

It would have been more surprising if most of the mansion had actually been in use.

Thanks to that, I managed to find the rooms where the servants worked, as well as the storage areas.

In a place that looked like a clothing store warehouse, there were rows of servant outfits organized by job type and size.

This place sure has a lot of money.

They weren’t just hiring servants but had all the uniforms custom-made and stored in advance.

And there weren’t even many personnel changes.

“Alright, see you in the evening.”

With that, I said goodbye and headed toward the car.

Since So-hee had to walk to school, she left a little earlier today.

Luckily, the servants seemed happy that I was leaving earlier than usual, probably because of the commotion I caused yesterday.

Well, I didn’t really mind.

Once again, I waved to So-hee, who looked strangely cheerful, and got into the car.

*

After getting out of the car, it felt a little awkward without anyone to say goodbye.

The car drove off immediately, as if the driver thought I might start talking to him.

Since I wasn’t particularly close to the driver, I just walked toward the school gate.

There were quite a few students arriving at the same time as me, but because of my notorious behavior at school lately, they kept a significant distance from me.

Thanks to that, there was a wide circle around me, like some sort of barrier.

Since it wasn’t time for Ha-neul to arrive yet, I decided to walk alone.

It seemed like people found it easier to ignore me when I was by myself.

No one was even glancing at me.

…That’s right.

They weren’t glancing at ‘me.’

Rather, they were looking somewhere behind me.

As if they were staring at some weirdo.

“…”

Curious, I turned around.

A flash of blue hair disappeared behind a nearby tree.

“…”

I kept staring in confusion, and then a member of the disciplinary committee, who had been hiding behind the tree, cautiously peeked out, made eye contact with me, and quickly hid again.

…Was that supposed to be hiding?