Translator: Nox

Chapter 1

# 1

• Note

In this work, the words are used differently from their dictionary meanings:

'Maid: A person who serves by one's side,

Housemaid: A person who does not serve but cleans or does other chores.'

Please keep this in mind while enjoying the work.

Prologue

This place was eerie even with the creaking noises. With each step, the sound of my shoes echoed loudly. That's why I was even more careful.

I bent my back slightly and took steps at a pace that was neither fast nor slow. Only when I reached a familiar door did I stop abruptly.

Before opening the door, I caught my breath. Huff, huff, huff, after a few short breaths, I grabbed the doorknob and turned it.

The darkness of the room, darker than the hallway, rushed in. The room was so black that I hesitated to even enter.

But I went inside familiarly and threw open the long curtains. A beam of light so strong that it made my eyes close poured in.

Blinding. Still, I pulled the curtains all the way and turned around.

At that moment, something flew quickly past my face.

Bang! It hit the window frame, bounced off, and fell to the floor. It was a desk clock. I glanced at it and turned my gaze forward.

The bed was farthest from the window, in a corner where the shadows fell heavily. On it was a round shape covered in a sheet. The only thing sticking out was a hand gripping the edge of the sheet tightly. There was a clear sign of terror.

"Get out."

A hoarse, cracked word flowed out. There was a deep anger within it.

I didn't even pretend to listen and picked up the desk clock that had fallen on the floor. The nail was sticking out, and the wooden surface was torn off. It was obviously broken. I concluded that it was unusable and placed it on the new sheet I was holding. Then I scanned the messy room.

The dishes were broken into pieces, and even those pieces were scattered dangerously on the floor. There were forks and spoons with them. It wasn't just the dishes that were broken. Nothing in this room was intact.

I picked up the things that had fallen on the floor, one step at a time. The round shape twitched and trembled following the sound of my footsteps.

"Get out."

The voice echoed once more.

I ignored the words again and reached the bed. The shape on the bed was so anxious that it couldn't stand it and groped on the bedside table next to it, then retreated. Since there was nothing to throw, it chose to run away. But even if it ran away, it was still on the bed. The sight of it sitting right against the wall was even pitiful.

I scanned the sight up and down and reached out my hand. Noticing this, it fiercely slapped it away.

"Don't touch me."

As if I would. Again, pretending not to hear, I quickly pulled the sheet away. Then the shape that had been covered in the sheet staggered and revealed its appearance.

Tangled golden hair, a neck and shoulder line twisted in embarrassment, and protruding bones were visible. My gaze swept down below it. I didn't need to check to know how thin the body hidden inside the clothes was.

When I raised my gaze again, his face, seen up close, was covered in sweat. When I reached out my hand, he slapped it away fiercely again.

"Don't touch me!"

Following that, a thunderous shout erupted.

"I told you to get out! Get out! Get lost!"

When the rough curse came out, I finally let out a deep sigh.

The man's pale face was flushed red with heat. Chapped lips exhaled rough breaths. Even so, he was gripping the sheet so tightly that his fingertips turned white, trying not to let me take it.

"Get lost. Please, get lost!"

"Calm down, Master."

"Get out! Go, get lost— Huff!"

As expected, the man's breathing began to sound labored. His flushed face turned pale again, and soon he grabbed his chest and groaned in pain.

I quickly hugged him and took the Breathing device out of my pocket and put it in his mouth. Then I gently stroked his back and said.

"Slowly, breathe."

Hearing my words, he tried to catch his breath. As he inhaled air through the Breathing device, repeating inhale and exhale, the chest that had been moving roughly gradually subsided. I watched him for a while and took the Breathing device out of his mouth.

"Haa, haa."

"You'll be okay now."

His face was already covered in sweat. Wet golden hair scattered over my clothes. I stroked his hair to mean he had done well. Then the eyelids that had been tightly closed opened weakly. Emerald eyes, slightly white, turned to me.

At that moment, my body was pushed back.

"Ugh!"

In the blink of an eye, I fell down under the bed with a thud!

The hem of my skirt flipped over, exposing my underwear completely. As I struggled with my legs floating in the air, a face suddenly popped out above them.

The gaze that had been staring blankly ahead gradually lowered. It couldn't be, but it felt like it was looking at me. The face, still excessively pale and still excessively handsome, filled my vision.

His moist lips parted quietly.

"Get out."

A crack appeared on my face. Anyway, you son of a bitch.

1. The Baron family's Crazy Master (1)

I am the daughter of a tenant farmer, born without anything and raised without anything. Even then, the situation was so difficult that it was hard to make a living.

Earning one day and eating the next, a terrible poverty. Struggling in it was my whole life.

The funny thing is, there were five children in the midst of all that.

Unable to bear the tearing poverty, Mother ran away alone, and the remaining Father drank and committed violence every day.

The youngest, still breastfeeding, was beaten to death by his hand, the fourth died of starvation, the Second daughter was sold to a Brothel, and the third, at least, was raised like gold and jade because she was pretty. His intention was to raise her well and marry her off to a young master from a noble family to improve his fate.

And I, the eldest and ugly one, was kept by his side because I was good at managing the household.

My day consisted of cooking, washing, cleaning, serving the third, working at Mark's bakery in the city during the day, and being beaten by Father's violence at night.

It was a hard life with no time to catch my breath.

My ugly face was swollen and even uglier, and my legs were broken during my growing years, so my height stopped growing. An ugly dwarf. The neighborhood children called me that.

I thought if there was hell, it would be now. I envied the third, who became more and more beautiful every day, and it was hard to endure Father's violence. I had tried to hang myself several times. Each time, I was unlucky enough to be caught by Father or by someone passing by, or the rope broke just before I passed out, and I survived.

This is my prison, and I am a prisoner being punished without even knowing the charges. No, a real prison life would be better.

The reason Father didn't sell me to a Brothel was because he needed someone to do the housework. But half of it was a lie. I knew through the gossip of the neighborhood women that he had tried to sell me to a Brothel when I was young and sucking my fingers without knowing anything, but when they offered a low price because I was ugly, he didn't sell me and taught me housework.

Mother called Father a Devil spawn. I followed her and called Father that. My future life will be controlled by that Devil spawn.

If this isn't a tragedy, what is?

But God didn't abandon me until the end.

My height, which hadn't been growing, miraculously grew by a hand span, my dry bangs covered my ugly face, and when I started to be called a flower-like age, an old gentleman visited the village. I don't know why a gentleman with elegance flowing from head to toe visited this small, remote village.

The reason was that he gestured to me, who happened to be passing by the street, as he was walking around the village.

"I would like to hire your daughter."

The old gentleman offered politely, handing over a bundle of Gold coin. Father, distracted by the Gold coin, swallowed hard once. Father's vile mind quickly turned as he looked at the old gentleman in front of him and the bundle of Gold coin on the table.

Father wanted to snatch the bundle right away, but he clenched his trembling hands and composed his expression.

"Sir. It is a great honor that my humble daughter has caught your eye, but she has only learned to beg, so there are many unskilled parts. If you don't like it later……."

"Don't worry about that. Even if you don't like it, I won't ask for this back."

The old gentleman calmly replied, sliding the bundle of Gold coin towards Father. At that, Father forcibly lowered the corners of his mouth, which were rising sharply, and looked at me sitting next to him. It was a creepy gaze, as if he were looking at his beloved daughter.

"My dear, Father respects your thoughts. Money is good to have, but it's not more important than you. Tell me your thoughts comfortably."

As he said that, he grabbed my dry wrist with his big hand. It was a strong grip that twisted my bones. On the outside, it was the face of a Father worrying about his precious daughter, but his eyes were wild with greed for the Gold coin.

The old gentleman also waited quietly for my decision. If I expressed my refusal here, the old gentleman would leave to find another girl, and Father would beat me to death as if punishing his unruly daughter.

"I will go."

"Honey."

Father embraced me with a face full of emotion, uttering a voice filled with tears. I had to suppress the desire to shake off the hand that was gently stroking my back.

I prepared and followed the old gentleman right away. My luggage was just one bag. I didn't have many clothes or belongings. However, the only difference from usual was that I was wearing a pretty dress embroidered with flowers instead of the ragged clothes covered in dirt that I wore every day.

"Goodbye. Be careful."

Father, who was seeing me off in front of the door, patted my shoulder. There was an unspoken pressure in that touch to please the gentleman well.

The third, Alicia, who was standing next to Father, smiled at me.

"Goodbye, Sister. Stay there for a long, long time."

Don't ever come back. Alicia added the words, only moving her lips. But when I didn't react in any way, Alicia erased her smile and pouted her lips sullenly.

I spat out just one word to such Alicia.

"Take good care of that pretty face. You have nothing else to show."

"What?!"

I turned around, leaving Alicia, who was huffing and puffing, behind.

The place I followed the old gentleman to was a mansion so big that my eyes widened. It was much bigger and more magnificent than the mansion of the wealthiest lord in the village I lived in. Wow. I let out a pure exclamation and followed the old gentleman inside.

"Have you arrived?"

A middle-aged woman in neat attire greeted the old gentleman. The old gentleman nodded once and took off his fedora.

The middle-aged woman noticed me standing behind the old gentleman and asked.

"Who is this child?"

"She is the child who will serve the master from now on."

Master? As I questioned and looked at the old gentleman, he gestured to me to come forward. As I came forward hesitantly, the middle-aged woman scanned me up and down, giving me a look as if she was evaluating me. Tense, I swallowed hard and waited quietly.

"I see."

Perhaps a good evaluation was given, the middle-aged woman nodded and turned her body. Soon after, the old gentleman also turned his body to the opposite side. I looked back and forth at the two people splitting in both directions and followed the woman.