#001 Let’s Serve Lady Ruby Some Tea!
It was the worst. Not only was I the villainess Young lady, but also a maid.
Among the possible subjects for reincarnation, it was the worst of the worst. Not the protagonist, nor the heroine, but a maid candidate for the villainess Young lady.
Judging by the lowered field of vision after possessing this girl’s body, it seemed to be that of a young child.
Later, I was able to confirm from the people around me that I was a 13-year-old girl named Amber.
The game I was reincarnated into was called “Magical Lily Chronicle.” It was a masterpiece that combined the elements of romance and RPG, but due to poor sales, the sequel was never released.
The reason for its failure was that the atmosphere of the battle part was too devoid of dreams and hope compared to the bright and hopeful academy part.
Monsters in the form of creatures that could only be defeated by magic would attack the city little by little at regular intervals in this game, and only women could use magic.
Therefore, if you were a woman, regardless of being commoner or noble, anyone could enter the academy and learn magic. The nobles did it for the honor of their families, and the commoners did it as a duty to the nation.
But as an orphan girl of commoner status and a maid candidate, the problem I had to worry about was the immediate one in front of me.
“I have to somehow become Ruby’s exclusive maid···!”
My current status was nothing more than a maid candidate for Ruby, and I was always in a position where I could be eliminated and expelled at any time.
For me, an orphan of commoner status who had no parents, leaving the mansion meant game over, or in other words, death.
“Next is Amber, the candidate. Please come forward.”
The one who called my name was Merilda, the maid-in-chief who commanded all the servants of the Sarka family. She was a middle-aged woman with white hair and a scary aura.
“Lady Ruby’s room is on the upper floor. If you become her exclusive maid, you will have to go up and down these long stairs thousands of times. Since you are sensitive to noise, you must go up silently without making loud footsteps.”
“Yes···!”
I was seriously clumsy. Even before reincarnation, I was a clumsy person who often dropped things or tripped over.
The driver’s license that others easily obtain after taking the test nine times, I passed with a chin-up. And among the reasons for failure, three times were due to not wearing a seatbelt.
Unfortunately, it seems that there was no change in my tendency to stumble and be clumsy, even after possessing a different body.
I was walking up the stairs without paying attention to my skirt, and my feet got tangled, causing me to fall spectacularly.
“Oops…”
Before I could even get up, Merilda’s thunderous voice pierced my ears.
“Amber! Are you still unable to properly climb a single staircase?”
“Uh…”
Not only was it difficult to adapt to my suddenly reduced height, but this frilly maid outfit was also extremely uncomfortable.
“How can you become the exclusive maid of the young miss if you can’t even climb the stairs properly?”
The children around us burst into laughter at her words. In response, Merilda shot them a stern look and delivered a reprimand.
“I didn’t ask you to laugh. Stop looking at me and practice on your own.”
“Yes…”
Merilda was strict with everyone, including the talented candidates.
***
“There’s no change just because I’ve possessed someone…”
I had only become a teenage girl in body; the essence of who I was remained the same. Getting tense still made my body stiff, and my hair didn’t turn white. Nothing had changed.
Perhaps this girl also had the same constitution as me. Otherwise, these small flaws wouldn’t make any sense.
Thinking about it that way, I couldn’t help but feel impressed that she had made it to the position of maid candidate.
“If I falter in a place like this, it’ll be the end. Let’s do this again.”
I had to steel my resolve. It’s not a place where they would overlook my clumsiness and frequent mistakes just because I’m worse than others.
It had been a long time since the other candidates had gone for dinner, but I couldn’t leave the stairs. I continued going up and down the stairs until I could do it naturally.
Damn stairs, they were so high that I couldn’t see the end from below, like a noble mansion. But as a maid for Lady Ruby, I had to go up and down carrying plates and teacups dozens of times a day.
By the time I finished practicing and returned that day, it was well past mealtime.
***
The next morning, the candidates moved around busily according to the maid supervisor Merilda’s command. I felt even more dizzy, perhaps because I hadn’t eaten dinner last night.
“A maid’s swiftness is their life! Speed it up!”
Following the given manual, I finished tidying up the bedding and dressing myself, and the candidates lined up in the hallway in the order they finished.
Of course, among them, I was the slowest and arrived at the hallway last.
“Tying my hair, was it this difficult…?”
According to the rules, the maids of Sarka Manor had to tie their hair neatly. Naturally, it was my first time tying my hair, and after numerous trials and errors, I finally managed to figure out a way.
Merilda glanced around at us and nodded.
“Looks like everyone’s here. Then, form pairs of two, starting from the front.”
‘Pairs of two?’
At Merilda’s words, the candidates moved confidently and formed pairs. I, who was at the back, naturally became paired with the candidate in front of me.
She was the only candidate who stayed in the dormitory until late, excluding myself.
“Hello…”
When I awkwardly greeted her, she gave me a cold response.
“Don’t talk to me. I have no intention of getting close to you.”
“…”
‘Wow, she’s harsh…’
In the end, without even asking her name, I found myself standing awkwardly.
Merilda divided plates and teacups among us, calmly explaining, “One person will drive the lady to enjoy the tea, while the other will play the role of hosting. Depending on the taste of the tea and the hospitality, the impression Ruby lady receives will vary greatly.”
Although I wanted to take on the role of driving the tea, it seemed I was chosen for the hosting role as the girl paired with me tightly held onto the teacup.
“Candidates taking on the hosting role must remember this well. Never do anything that would offend Ruby lady’s sensibilities. Absolutely not.”
While waiting for my turn, I observed what other teams were doing. Everyone seemed fine with driving the tea, but the problem always arose on the hosting side.
A candidate who had brought in the tea came out shedding tears.
“Ah…”
It was fortunate if tears were the only thing shed. Many faced rejection without even seeing the lady’s face.
‘She’s indeed sensitive…’
According to Merilda’s explanation, Ruby wouldn’t accept a tea that didn’t meet her standards, even just by smelling it.
Ruby Sarca.
I vaguely heard yesterday while sleeping that Ruby lady was the same age as me, 13. Considering the main game’s timeline, she should be around 17 now, about four years before the events of the game.
Every keyword associated with her brought negative connotations.
A facial expression full of disdain, gruesome scars on her face, excessively sensitive and nervous personality, possessiveness bordering on rejecting others, topped with animal aversion.
In the game, she was the epitome of a villainess. Her personality led to her exposure and appropriate punishment in the ending, where she either died or faced self-destruction in most endings. Even in the only ending where she survived, she had her family’s fortune confiscated and faced exile, clearly designed as an intentionally crafted antagonist.
As the turn approached, the candidate paired with me handed me the tea she had made.
When I took it and smelled, a sweet fragrance filled my nostrils. Even for someone like me unfamiliar with tea, it looked like a delightful cup.
“Well done. What did you put in it?”
As I showed interest in what she had hidden behind her, she jumped in surprise and concealed it.
“Turn your interest off.”
“…”
Even if I thought she was too sensitive, I could at least share the recipe. Thinking that, I headed towards the long staircase.
Placing the teacup on the plate, I looked up the stairs.
“Was it this high…?”
Perhaps due to tension, the number of stairs seemed more than yesterday. I felt everyone watching me with anxious eyes.
“I can do it. I practiced so hard yesterday.”
I climbed the dark stairs alone, hungry until the mealtime, repeating it dozens of times. I cast a spell on myself, saying I could do it, and took the first step towards the stairs.
This time, my hands were sealed due to the teacup. If I hadn’t practiced in advance, I would have spectacularly shattered the teacup.
Fortunately, it seemed that the special training had paid off. Although I wobbled, stepping on the uneven stairs, I quickly recovered my posture and safely reached the upper floor.
“It’s a success!”
Although I climbed slowly, the tea remained lukewarm, and not falling was a significant improvement.
Now, all that was left was to knock on Ruby’s door and enter her room.
“It’s still a bit scary. Maybe because she’s that villain…”
The expression of disdain towards the character Ruby in the game came to mind. Even looking at it through the monitor, that expression, which slightly gave me chills, was still vivid in my mind.
“I brought the tea, miss.”
Ruby remained silent.
It seemed like she might know the reason why some candidates couldn’t open the door earlier. Since she consistently ignored greetings, she probably thought she was rejected.
In reality, it could have been a genuine rejection, but I couldn’t step back here. To survive, I had to somehow catch her eye and become Ruby’s exclusive maid.
“···Excuse me, miss.”
Eventually, I pushed the open door and entered, locking eyes with Ruby sitting in the middle of the room.
With a confident entrance, I froze upon seeing her.
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“Is that… Ruby?”
Her appearance was quite different from what I remembered.
Instead of eyes that glared at people with contempt, she had surprisingly calm eyes, looking in my direction.
There were no gruesome scars on her face. In fact, with her black hair and red eyes harmonizing, she appeared unintentionally pretty.
“Don’t judge by appearances; she’s the villainess of the academy.”
Within the academy, she had wielded power and hesitated at nothing—violence, murder, threats, embezzlement. Even though she might be wearing an innocent expression now due to her young age, there was no doubt that her true nature would reveal itself in a few years.
I approached cautiously, not letting my guard down.
“···I brought some tea; would you like to try it?”
Of all times, I tripped at that moment.
“···!”
I had let my guard down. Perhaps I had relaxed my tension upon entering the room, but my foot got tangled right in front of Ruby.
-Thud.
And as a result, I ended up spilling the tea all over Ruby.
Thud. Thud.
Above my fallen gaze, Ruby, drenched in tea, looked terrifyingly calm.
“···.”
Even after such an incident, she didn’t say a word and just stared at me silently.
Upon witnessing that sight, I had an intuition right then.
– Ah, I’m about to die now.
