Chapter 1 – When Will We Get Out?

Just like every other story, this one’s beginning was normal as well.

Of course, the standards of normalcy differ from every individual, but I was a pretty ordinary child. Yet, I couldn’t deny the fact that compared to other children belonging to my status, I was unbelievably lucky. And it was thanks to my mother.

My mother gave birth to me and raised me all on her own. After I was born, she travelled all the way to the capital with only a letter of recommendation from a southern count, who she used to work for before, and settled there. Soon, she began to work for the Serpente, who’d just welcomed a baby daughter of their own.

The duke and the duchess were excellent people. I knew nothing about how the other nobles behaved, but the duke and his family were extremely kind to my mother and me. They treated us like family! It was only because of them that I, a mere servant’s daughter, could play around with their children instead of working like I should have. In fact, the duke would even go as far as to admonish his second son for teasing me to the point of making me cry.

My childhood was full of happy memories, filling me with warmth whenever I thought about them. Back when my mother, the duke and the duchess were alive, every day we spent were jovial.

But everything fell apart the day my mother passed away. A plague rampaged through the empire, leaving behind seven thousand corpses in its wake, regardless of their status. And within a day of my mother’s death, Empress Alicia died as well.

Because of the duke and duchess’ kindness, my sick mother could rest in peace after getting a proper burial instead of being burnt to ashes. The next few days were absolute hell. I was only fourteen and was facing the crisis of my life. I was young and didn’t have anywhere to go. Where would I go now? Fortunately, the Serpente allowed me to stay at their manor.

During that traumatic period, memories flooded my mind. It was almost like a film reel, every detail vivid in my mind. Suddenly, it was all clear to me—the truth about the life I was living right now. I…could recall the memories of my past life.

At first, I thought it to be a fantasy that my mind made up to ease me of my grief… But those memories told me I was living in a fictional world from a novel. And that I was an orphan in my previous life, who met her horrible end—dying alone in a broken elevator, freezing until her last breath.

Who would want to believe such a story?

Furthermore, to think that the people I’d been with since my birth would suffer from an awful tragedy… There was no way I would’ve believed in such a wild story.

But then, just like my memories had predicted, the duke and duchess passed a week later. As soon as I realized the terrible implications of this incident, anxiety began to gnaw at my soul.

If this world truly was the one that I’d read about in a novel in my past life, then that would mean our future was filled with tragedy. Letis, Benya, Estelle and I—all of us would meet an awful end.

According to the novel’s plot, which was told from the protagonist’s perspective, the Serpente siblings would spend the two years after their parents’ funeral in another country. The decision was made by their relatives because they deemed Letis to be too young to inherit the dukedom at that time. Considering the empire’s situation, they thought it best to take care of the Serpente household in Letis stead.

I had also followed them and faithfully took care of Estelle there, but I remember that nothing was written of how the siblings spent this period.

In the book, I’d followed them for Estelle, but I had no memories of reading about the time siblings spent there. All I knew was that due to her weak constitution and sensitivity, Estelle passed away there, after which the two brothers and I returned to the country and reduced the empire to ruins.

Yes, I was the final villain of the book—the Queen of Serpentes; the demoness in human flesh! The plot of the book ended with justice. I was fated to die an extremely painful death.

Ah, and here I thought my life was simple! How did I gain such an awful second life? Did I not do enough virtuous deeds in my past life? Maybe not… After all, I didn’t even have time to be virtuous. To think that I was born again only to become a villainess…

Well, I guess it should be fine if I don’t do anything villainous in the future. Then I won’t have to worry about any consequences, right?

But, the problem was that my knowledge about the plot was incomplete. The story was told through the protagonist’s perspective, so I wasn’t aware of anything else other than what she knew.

Besides, whatever was told to the public might not be the truth either. After all, as far as I remembered, there were no descriptions about Letis, Benya, Estelle and I being locked up in some secret room in the manor. All the book said was that we went to another country.

No matter how old I’ll grow, I’ll never forget that night.

As soon as their parents’ funeral ended, Estelle and I headed to the garden to watch the sky in silence as Letis and Benya dealt with their relatives. The two of us embraced each other tightly as choked up emotions welled inside us, but neither of us cried nor spoke. Tiny hearts beating madly against each other.

The countless stars scattered across the sky seemed like they were trying to talk to us. Somehow, the common sight of the stars twinkling felt like the heavens themselves were crying—desperately trying to warn us of our future.

Chapter 2 – The Serpente Siblings

I knew what would come next, but I still felt like I was on edge. Warning bells rang in my head, signalling that something was off. But I didn’t get enough time to ponder over the signs.

“Estelle.”

I turned around to find Letis, dressed in mourning clothes. The once bright blue eyes of the fifteen-year-old now blankly stared at us. It was almost like the light in his eyes had been extinguished.

“Uncle has something to discuss with all of us.”

The poor boy… He had numerous servants he could order to summon Estelle, but he still came on his own. He must’ve been desperate for some time alone. Despite needing to keep up a stoic appearance, Letiswas shy and found it hard to control and hide his emotion. For an heir to a noble family, it was considered to be a fatal flaw.

Estelle stared back at her brother, her eyes mirrored the same blankness. She turned around and looked at me, almost begging me to not let her go. Even back when her parents were alive, she’d feel nervous and anxious if I or my mother weren’t beside her. And now that she’d lost them… I couldn’t imagine what she must be feeling.

Still, no matter how badly I wanted to, I couldn’t join the family meeting. Despite practically growing up with the siblings, I wasn’t officially their family. It was impossible for me to be present there.

I smiled at her, trying to reassure by gently tapping her hand. Still reluctant, Estelle slowly let go of my hand and walked up to Letis.

Under the bright moonlight, the siblings’ pale blue hair sparkled as they constantly looked back at me during their walk towards the manor. Were they…worried about me? I wanted to hug them and tell them that as long as we were together, everything would be fine.

But at that time, I didn’t know that their worry was not for naught.

If only I’d known that that night would be our last time in the gardens for the next two years… I would’ve picked up a wild blossom to take along.

***

When I opened my eyes, a strange ceiling greeted me. That was the first surprise of the day. I didn’t know what others might have done in the same situation, but panic suddenly began to creep up on me.

The second surprise sprung up on me soon after. When I turned my head, I found Estelle’ long pale blue hair resting on top of mine. I’d clearly gone to sleep in my room in the annex last night, where I used to live with my mother. Unless either of us suffered from sleepwalking, there was no way we should have been sleeping on the same bed. What was even more weird was that the room itself was unfamiliar to me. It wasn’t mine or Estelle’s. How did we end up here?

I stared at Estelle’s sleeping figure in stunned silence. She must’ve felt my gaze burning into her because she soon stirred awake. Her sleepy blue eyes blinked vacantly and looked at me. She looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and spoke in a groggy voice.

“Did you bring me here?”

Why would she think that? Perhaps she was still half-asleep. I wish I had someone I could ask the same question.

“Sasha? Estelle?”

“Are you guys upstairs?”

Suddenly, I heard Letis and Benya calling out to us. I panicked for a moment, I couldn’t figure out where they were. But soon the two boys came running up, their footsteps thudding against the steps.

The moment our eyes met, we all fell silent. The last time we’d seen each other in pajamas was about 8 years ago. It was embarrassing to see each other in such a state, but this wasn’t the time to linger over something like that.

“Sasha, do you have something to do with this?” Letis raised a query against me.

Ah, he didn’t know anything either? And here I thought I could rely on Letis. He is the most reliable out of all the siblings. I couldn’t help but stare at him in disappointment.

Benya ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. He turned around to glare at Letis upon hearing his question. Letis expression, in return, turned sour seeing Benya’s suspicious face.

“What? I just wanted to clear it up, okay?”

“The fact that you said that shows that your intellect is suffering from a major problem.”

“Won’t you think someone’s playing a prank on us after waking up together in a strange room too?”

We exchanged puzzled glances, all of us ignorant about the current situation. An ominous feeling began to creep up on me. It was as if my heart was plunged to ice cold water.

“Does our house even have a room like this?”

“Are you an idiot? You’re the eldest son and you don’t even know this?”

“Did you know?” Retorted Letis.

With balled fists, Benya couldn’t help but say, “It’s not like you know anything about it either.”

We used to run around all over this manor during our childhood, so we found it hard to believe that there was a place that even we didn’t know about. The bedroom was fairly large, but it looked cramped because of all the furniture stuffed in the room.

A short-legged bed lay in the center of the room, surrounded by different kinds of chairs and a marble table with a lamp on top of it. Several chests and closets were lined up against the wall, right next to the dressing table and the thick rugs covered the cold floor. But none of the furniture matched each other, as if chosen without any care for beauty.

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The sunlight trickled in from the large witch window placed up on the wall. It was the only source of air and sunlight in the room. It was quite disturbing. It was as if—

“Were you guys in a room downstairs when you woke up?”

“Yes, imagine having to wake up next to him!”

“Hey, how do you think I felt?”

I left the bantering pair behind, choosing to explore the place instead. I spotted a small door right across from us. I walked towards it and held the rusty brass doorknob. The door creaked open as I turned it.

Chapter 3 – Quarantine

“There’s a bathroom here…” Benya commented as he sneaked up behind me.

The bathroom was big enough for a servant like me, but for these nobles… It was quite small.

“Does the room downstairs have a bathroom too?” I asked, dropping all sense of formality. Whenever there were no adults around, I tended to talk to them casually. This is how it’s always been since we were little. We grew up together and felt no need to be formal with each other.

“Yes, at first I thought it was a different room, but it turned out to be just a bathroom.”

Ah, as I’d expected… An indescribable feeling began to gnaw at me and my heart began to race as I grew anxious. My eyes fell on the door next to the closet. I closed the bathroom door and approached the other door.

Letis stepped behind me and yelled out in warning, “Be careful. Who knows what’s in there!”

In any other situation, the rest of us would’ve laughed at him and his paranoia. But considering our current predicament, no one was in the mood to do so. Even Benya, whose sole purpose of breathing was to tease others, chose not to comment on it. In fact, his reaction was probably warranted. The situation was so strange that even if we found a slumbering dragon behind the door, we wouldn’t be surprised.

Of course, there weren’t any dragons inside the room. But in hindsight, a dragon might’ve a better option.

Lettuce stepped up as the oldest and bravely opened the door. We held our breaths, preparing ourselves for whatever surprise would be revealed. In the end, it just turned out to be another ordinary room.

The siblings were unfamiliar with it. They’d never seen this room before.

“What is this place? A restaurant?”

The room wasn’t a bedroom or a bathroom, but a kitchen lined with cupboards that were filled with utensils. The dishes looked old and dirty and the wood on the cupboard was chipping away. Just like the bathroom and the shoddy room, it wasn’t a place befitting of a noble’s status.

Benya was the first one to enter. He walked around the kitchen without a care in the world, as if the situation we were currently in didn’t bother him at all. He turned around and smirked at us.

“Estelle, doesn’t it look just like your dollhouse? You and Sasha can play here all day.”

Letis chuckled at his lame joke, finding it easy to laugh at our expense. I glowered at them, causing them to immediately try and change the subject. Letis put on a serious expression.

“Alright. Let’s stop joking around.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Sasha, did you plan this prank with the other servants? I wouldn’t put it past you to do something like this.”

What… Did he think the other servants went and hid themselves under a boulder to pull off this prank? Why did he think I planned all this? I was about to say something to him, but I guess it was a good thing when Estelle, who up until now had been clinging to my arm, interrupted me.

“Sasha… It’s too stuffy in here.”

“I feel the same way.”

“I don’t like it here.” She muttered softly.

I knew what she wanted to say. It didn’t matter what this place was and why we were there. She just wanted to get out of there. I wanted the same, but…

“I think the way out is downstairs.”

Letis spoke up as soon as I was done, as if he was expecting me to say that.

“There’s no door leading outside down there.”

“We were probably brought here to prevent us from being infected. What did they call it… quarantine? Maybe they moved us while we were asleep because they thought we would get scared.”

I thought he was joking around again, but his calm demeanor surprised me. I hesitated for a bit, wondering whether I should ask him a question. In the end, I decided to give it a go.

“Yesterday… At the family meeting, what did your relatives say?”

The mischievous look in his eyes died the moment I mentioned his relatives as a gloomy feeling took over him.

“Because of the current situation, they considered it best if we moved to Fjeya for a while. They said that after what happened to our parents… They couldn’t bear to lose us too.”

Ah, that’s exactly what the book said. The heir to the Cervantes family was only fifteen year old right now. His circumstances were quite bad, so no one would blame him for temporarily entrusting everything to the adults and going abroad, just like the other children of nobility. It was a natural thing to do.

Then this place really was—

“You didn’t talk about anything else?” I asked.

“What else would I say? Ah, I told them that we couldn’t leave without you, so don’t worry. Who’ll take care of that crybaby if not you?”

I appreciated his sentiment, but that wasn’t what I was worrying about. Something seemed off about the situation.

More memories popped up in my mind. I don’t why I remembered it at this very moment, but I realized that all of the sibling’s relatives passed away suddenly after a few years.

One died from a chronic illness, the other died after being poisoned, another died in a fight fuelled from rage, and then another…

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All of the deaths were suspicious in one way or another. There was a rumour that the vipers were behind all of it… At least, that’s what I remembered.

“What are you two talking about?”

“Sasha was worried that we were going to leave her behind.”

“Really? I thought she’d like that.”

…What in the world does Letis think of me?!