“I love you.”

“Please let me go… Please, this isn’t like you, young master.””

“Please understand. Don’t you think that there’s a reason for everything? You’re always like this.”

Osses stroked Yuria’s cheek. She shrugged her body away and leaned back. What touched her back was a cold iron bar.

To think Osses, who used to be a gentleman, aided in the confinement of people was shocking.

No, I think they might already know. As they were only servants, maybe they just kept silent to hide their masters’ bizarre hobbies.

Yuria held her trembling hands and looked to the wall on her right.

“Don’t even think about running away, Yuria.”

Leaning against the wall, Arthur spoke as he flipped through the pages of his book.

“Even if you run, I have the confidence to catch you. We aren’t a ducal family for no reason.”

The boy’s eyes gave off a warm energy unlike usual, but the words he spoke were cold.

There was nowhere to run. How can a commoner like her rebel against the nobles? Yuria had nothing else to do but lower her eyes and tremble.

Seeing that, Isley burst out laughing. The chair he sat on swung left and right in accordance with the flippant movement of his body.

“Rabbit, we are going to live together for the rest of our lives from now on. What do you think? Don’t you like that?”

* * *

The Secret of the Rose Mansion was an R-19 novel that I was very excited to read.

The story begins when a beautiful commoner girl, Yuria, and her sister, Lyla, were hired together by the Ducal Family of Emerson, where roses bloomed all year round.

Full of charm, dignity, and kindness, the three young masters fell for Yuria’s beauty.

The love was poison.

In the name of love, the young masters were obsessed with Yuria and imprisoned her in the basement, committing all sorts of terrible things to her.

So what I’m saying is… Uh, once again, this novel is R-19. I’ll just say that.

Some will wonder how I know this. Of course, I knew! Yes, I am someone who lived and died in Korea and was reborn in The Secret of the Rose Mansion!

“… L…!”

Ahem, anyway… So Yuria becomes exhausted both physically and mentally, which resulted in her to try and take her own life several times.

The young masters treated Yuria’s wounds, but they never opened the doors to the place that locked her in.

In the end, Yuria goes crazy and comes to accept the reality…

“L… La!”

Who is that being so noisy?

“Lala!”

My eyes snapped open.

My friend Marie was looking down at me, crying. My forehead was swollen red. I stared blankly at her and touched my head.

“Why are you crying…”

“Sniff!”

My head… Why does my head hurt so much? Why am I lying down? I got up with Marie’s help.

And the sight in front of me… was a mess. It was as if a bomb had exploded. In other words, the faces of the maids were messed up.

“…? Why are your eyes so puffy?”

What. Their faces were full of bruises as if they had been beaten up.

Out of the three maids of the same age who were struggling with pain, one of them, with lemon-like hair, wiped away her nosebleed and shouted loudly.

“You did this! Hey, you fucking bitch!”

“Ah right. I did!… Hey! How dare you insult my sister?!”

I grabbed her yellow hair right away. My hands were fast.

“Ack-!”

“Lala, calm down! She’s maybe a snobby, annoying, and an ignorant person, but you can’t kill her!”

Now I remember everything. Today marked the first month since I came to the Rose Mansion.

The employees of the mansion were generally nice, but there were a few who were particularly annoying. Those few were Lemon and her friends.

They spread strange rumours in the mansion out of jealousy because my sister was pretty and received the attention of the young masters.

What did you say, you bastards? Who is the fox, and who wagged her tail in front of who now?

There is a saying that a good-looking person is treated like a cornerstone, and that’s exactly what is happening here. But unfortunately, they were caught by me and and were being beaten to death.

That was the story of what happened before I passed out behind Marie after being pushed by Lemon and bumping heads with her.

Just then, someone rushed to the laundromat.

“I can’t believe this… Lala, you can’t hit others!”

It was sister Yuria, my only family. Her beautiful light brown hair fluttered gently behind her as she moved.

The maids at the laundromat, including Marie, who was trying to hold me back, and Lemon, who was trying to force off my grip on her hair, all turned and looked at my sister with a blank expression.

Heck, my sister truly was pretty. I felt proud for a moment until she looked at me with her blue eyes, ready to reprimand me.

“Let’s stop, okay?”

My sister loosened my hold of Lemon’s hair.

When I looked at that white face, it reminded me of the scene I saw in my dream.

Yeah, that’s right… My memories begin to become clear.

From the moment my head collided with Marie’s, I remembered everything. After I had reincarnated, I had lost my memories of the past!

Tears poured out.

Sister… The young master-no, those bastards will imprison you in the future and do terrible things to you. Since we are commoners, we couldn’t do anything but suffer. They even said they would kill me if I got in their way, since I was the one sister said you liked.

No… Thinking about it, this is unfair! It’s not my fault that they couldn’t take sister’s heart, so why did they kill me?!

As I sniffled, my sister looked flustered, and she seemed at a loss for what to do.

“I’m sorry, Lala. I’m sorry for just stopping you without understanding the situation first… But hitting others is wrong. Sister just thought…”

“That’s not it!”

“Yes…?”

“Sister… Let’s change our job…”

No, we have to change jobs!

“Lala, I don’t think that’s possible. They give us a lot of money, and the welfare is good… When will we ever find a job like this again? Aunt Emily worked hard for us. Even if you don’t like it, can’t you just hold on?”

Aunt Emily was the one who took care of us when we were going through a hard time after losing our parents.

She was a fallen aristocrat and a maid who held a high position in the ducal mansion.

When it came to a situation where they had to hire a few maids, she quickly recommended us. If it wasn’t for that, we wouldn’t have been able to set foot in this mansion.

“I know, Sister!”

I whispered softly under the blanket.

I know how difficult it is to become a maid of the Duke family, and how good the salary is.

However, if you knew a terrible future lurks there, wouldn’t it be natural to talk about job turnover?

Sigh, Sister doesn’t know anything.

I want to talk about the novel I read, but… She might think that I’ve gone crazy. Pointing out that something’s gone wrong with my head, Sister will take me to the infirmary.

Hah… Only those who know the truth suffer!

I kicked the blanket with my feet. My sister, who was wearing her pajamas, looked back at me with a puzzled look on her face.

“What’s the matter?”

“…Nothing. Change your clothes.”

“You should get up soon. It’s time to work.”

“Okay… Okay… I’m so bored to death.”

All employees share double rooms in exception to those with high positions such as butlers and head maids. Maybe it was because we were sisters or because of our motive for joining the ducal mansion, for they let us share the same room.

I got up from the bed and went to the closet. The maid uniform is in the form of a one-piece, so you just need to put your body in and zip up. It’s really comfortable.

I put on the apron and stood triumphantly. My sister looked down at my face and twisted my nose.

“Ack! What’s the matter?!”

“I’m just upset.”

“…?”

“Our Lala’s cute face was hurt.”

“…Hmm, well, that’s kind of sad.”

Employees’ mornings start very early. I have to get up at 6 am, wash my face, brush my teeth, change clothes and go out.

Before I eat breakfast and start my day of work, we all gather at the front door as a group and say, “Loyalty to the Duke today!” for motivation.

I’m sick and tired of it.

After I swore my oath of allegiance, I went to the kitchen. I even waved my hand when I saw an acquaintance or a familiar face.

My sister and I were swept away by the waves of employees. I look around.

There was a girl looking at me with terrifying eyes: Lemon and her friends.

“Bring it.”

And guess what I did. I pointed at my eyes and then at them with my index and middle fingers. Seeing that, Lemon’s face is horribly distorted.

Their faces were quite the show. So why did you curse and talk bad about others in the first place?

At that moment, my sister caught up with me and nagged at my ear.

Alright. Honestly, I admit that the duke provides good welfare. They give me more money on my birthday, let me rest for a few days if anything happens, and in addition, the food that is served for maids are very good.

I hummed as I ate a sandwich filled with meat and a side of corn soup. When my sister saw me in good mood and smiled and asked, “Is it good?”, I suddenly lost my appetite.

This was not the time to be eating. I need to find a new job soon so that my sister and I could both be happy.

How unfair and cruel would the world be if my foolishly kind and innocent older sister became unhappy?

After eating, I swept the hallway with a broom. According to the original novel, my sister was responsible for cleaning Osses’ room, who was the eldest son of the duke, and also the guest rooms. I was responsible for cleaning the hallway leading to the garden and also the room of Isley, the second young master.

I swept the hallways while I recalled those memories. Isley’s room was cleaned the total of three times: mainly in the morning, noon, and evening. If his room was dirty in the slightest, Isley would call his exclusive servant to come and clean again.

It was now around eight or nine in the morning, which meant it was time for the young master to come down to the dining room. It also meant that it was time for me to clean his room.

I went up to the second floor and knocked on Isley’s door a couple of times. Once it was clear that no one was in the room, I opened the door and looked around. I straightened out the blankets, collected the pillows and organized them neatly.

Lastly, I picked up the clothes that had fallen on the floor and laid them out on the bed.

You bastard Isley. You just take your clothes off every day, don’t you? Maybe he’s acting like this because I’m in charge of cleaning the room, all to bother me!

Why is it that I am reminded of a husband – in the world before I reincarnated – who flips his socks inside out when taking them off?

Oh, I’m annoyed. I hate cleaning. After all, why do I have to clean his room?

This man was the bastard of a dog who killed me in the original story because he was disturbed that I got in the way when they confined my sister. Of course, the three of them killed me together, but it was him who made the final blow.

Even in RPG games, people who make the final blow often gain most of the experience points. It’s this guy who got those points from killing me. You punk!

I should take out the hanger and hang the clothes. I grumbled and approached the closet. Just then, something popped out of the closet door!

“Ack!”

I fell backwards onto my butt.

Wow, my heart almost jumped out.

I groaned and lifted my head to see a suffocatingly handsome face. Beautifully burnt skin, red eyes, curly black hair, and distinct facial features that make you wonder if it’s really human… It was Isley Emers.

Don’t fall for it, Layla. Don’t even think he’s handsome!

“Haha! Are you surprised?”

“Y-Yes…A bit much…”

Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in the dining room,now?

“Didn’t you go down to eat?”

“I was waiting to surprise you.”

You truly are a sincere bastard.

I smiled awkwardly and got up.

Isley liked to joke around. He gave me a cup of coffee with soy sauce, surprised me every chance he got, and even threw something like a fake snake toy.

I still haven’t forgotten that he gave me a cookie stuffed with capsaicin. I suffered because of him for a whole month and even had nightmares. This must be why the maid who used to work for him quit.Isley pouted and looked at me in the face. What- why are you looking at me like that?

“Come on! What’s with that reaction? You’re no fun.”

“Is that so…? Haha… ”

“I mean, you live for fun.”

Please? What exactly are you trying to do? I turned away from that face.

Originally, I would have screamed and gotten angry.

‘Young master, you’re so mean!’

But now I can’t. If you were me, would you be able to speak, let alone get angry at a person who’s going to kill you?

I pulled out a hanger from the closet and started hanging the clothes.

I wondered why my cheeks felt tingly, but it turns out it was because Isley was still looking at me. He poked my left cheek with his long finger.

“Did you get hurt? The already-ugly face has become even more ugly.”

“Akh.”

I got injured from a fight with a bunch of lemons last night. I was punched in the cheek with a fist. Apparently, I was hit on the bottom of the cheek, so my lip also split. My sister had gotten a bandaid from the infirmary and put it on the injured area.

Heh, it’s okay because I hit them more than I was hit! After all, this body isn’t called ‘oatmeal street fire fist’ for nothing.

Anyway, who is he calling ugly?

Both subjectively and objectively, I had an ordinarily cute face.

Rounded up, curly light brown hair and dark brown eyes, moderately dark skin, red cheeks from natural flush, and a protruding tooth on the right side of the mouth.

It’s not a combination suitable for beauty, but it’s pretty cute.

Isley made a curious face.

“What were you doing?”

“Just a little…”

“Just a little?”

Since when did you start asking me questions out of worry? Are you thinking of earning some points off of my sibling? He wasn’t the type of person who lived by reading other people’s atmosphere…

Ah, forget it! There’s nothing good about getting involved with him, so let’s make a run for it.

I quickly hung up the clothes and took my leave. When I grabbed the doorknob and opened the door to get out of the room as if I was on the run, the door suddenly closed shut.

Huh?

I blinked a couple of times and looked up. Isley’s hand had closed the door.

He looked down at me expressionlessly. He was always smiling, so I wasn’t used to that kind of face.

Dude, are you getting mad at me for shrugging off your question? Out of the blue?

Without realizing it, my body shrunk. But soon a smirk appeared on his annoyingly handsome face. I let out a sigh of relief upon seeing that.

“I asked, why are you hurt?”

How do you even say that you were injured in a 3 versus 1 fight?

“I just fell.”

“Lies.”

He reached out and ran his finger across my forehead.

For a moment, my heart pounded at his action, but a sudden bad premonition ran through my head.

I rushed to the mirror. A black line was drawn on my forehead. It looked as if it was painted with charcoal.

I wiped my forehead with my sleeve.

No way. It wasn’t coming off easily. That’s why he stopped me from leaving!That damn bastard!

Looking back, I could see the corners of Isley’s mouth had risen. I really wanted to stab him in many ways. Well, of course, it will be me who’ll get stabbed later on.

When I recalled the image of him thrusting a sword into my heart in the original novel, I trembled.

“Haha… Dummy!”

Isley walked out the door. Perhaps he’s going to the dining room.

I bowed to his back and raised my head when the door was completely shut. And then, I flipped up my middle finger at the closed door.

I hope you fall down on your way and break your nose.

Ahem, let’s go meet up with Sister now. I need to keep the young masters from doing anything nonsense to her.

I don’t know how far I’ve progressed in the past month… The moment I see any signs of love from them, I’ll definitely blow them cool..

I left the room and walked down the hallway. I looked around but I couldn’t find my sister.

Just where was she cleaning?

I saw a servant cleaning a vase.

The freckles stamped on the bridge of her nose were impressive. What was her name…Handel?

“Hey, have you seen sister Yuria?”

“Yuria? She was cleaning the room over there.”

“Thank you!”

She’s cleaning the room at the end of the hallway, right?

I opened the door to the room and entered.

My sister was tying up the curtains that had been unrolled. She felt my presence and looked back at me.

“Lala.”

A bright smile appeared on her pretty face. How can a person look like that? As her red lips drew a curve, I smiled along with it.

My sister is so pretty. The problem is that her beauty attracts all the wrong kinds of mutt.

“What’s up?”

“I came to see you!”

“You cutie.”

Yes, I am your cute sister. My sister pinched my cheeks and stretched them.

“But I think you got something black on your forehead…”

“Ah, this… It’s nothing. I’ll clean it later.”

“Come here, this older sister will clean it for you.”

“No, no, it’s okay!”

Even though I said it was okay, my sister wet her sleeve with water and wiped my forehead. I became sad when Sister’s sleeves became dyed black. When I raised an arm to help her, she held me back.Then, the door opened once more. I looked back in surprise. A soft brown hair rustled softly.

His blood-red eyes were finely curved, indicating that he was the Duke of Emers. The wrinkle-free, crisply ironed suit showed that he was a perfectionist.

This man was Osses, whom I pushed as a candidate for my sister’s groom. He is the share of my failed stock.

Hello, young master. How ridiculous is it that you look handsome today?

“Good morning, Yuria.”

“Yes, good morning.”

The two looked at each other and smiled softly. All they did was greet each other, but it felt like spring flowers bloomed in the room.

Uh, I don’t know why, but it kind of feels like I’m a pebble between these two.

“Nice to see you, Layla.”

Osses looked at me and slightly waved his hand. I didn’t want to be greeted, but I still politely bowed and greeted him back.

He was the most gentleman among the masters in this mansion. If the second is crazy and the third is a jerk, then the first is an angel.

I mean it. It’s no wonder why the maids want to work with Osses. Ever since I lost my memory after reincarnation, I became like a mad dog when I found out Osses began to befriend my sister.

The master must have had a crush on Sister! The two get along really well. What if my sister marries Osses? Since he is a noble and a rich man, she will be happy every day.

Besides, he’s handsome so that’s definitely a plus for her… Until yesterday, I had such a stupid thought…

Everyone out. I can’t give my sister to anyone.

At the very least, one should only meet people who are handsome, young, and rich, who love only you, and are good-natured. You three don’t meet these requirements, so you’re all out.

I buried myself in my sister’s arms and secretly glared at Osses. Osses had a very puzzled expression.

Yeah, that’s understandable. We’ve been avoiding each other all this time so of course you won’t know why I’m looking at you like this! What a pushover!

Are you uncomfortable because I’m not leaving you two alone? Well, I hope you feel uncomfortable.

“What are you doing here? Did you already eat?”

“Not yet. I have something to hand over to Yuria.”

Don’t get funny ideas and go eat breakfast already.

Osses handed her the book he was holding. My sister had a sullen expression on her face.

“What is this?”

“It’s a fashion book. You said you were very interested in making clothes.”

“You don’t need to do this…”

“No, Yuria is a grateful person who always cleans my room. I wanted to give you a present at least once. Just accept it.”

Wow, some people say things like that to a maid. In the first place, it’s surprising that there are masters who are respectful to maids. He really is like the bastard I once pushed as her husband candidate after all. I’d like to hear that from Isley at least once too.

Well… Thinking about it, the day I will hear those words will probably be on my memorial day.

My sister reached out to the book with a smile that was a mixture of 100 percent burden and being touched.

“Then I will be grateful to…”

“Thank you!”

I shouted that out and took the book from my sister’s hands. Flirting? Love scenes? Heck, I’ll chew them all up.

I could feel my sister’s eyes burning me. She probably wanted to nag at me for being rude.

Heh, there will come a day where you will say you lived thanks to me. My sister looked very peeved, but she seemed to be holding back because Osses was here.

Osses looked at me with unknowing eyes and then smiled.

My heart raced like crazy with excitement and fear, but I did not give in.

“Did you say you haven’t eaten yet? You must go and eat quickly. If you don’t eat, you won’t feel well.”

I’m telling you to go away. But Osses didn’t want to go out and kept trying to talk to my sister.

If it’s like this, then there was no choice but for us to leave instead.

I pushed her on the back towards the door.

“Sister, I have to clean the room next door now and then the room next door to that door. Let’s clean together.”

“Lala!”

I closed the door and walked out. Pushing my sister, I made her continue to move forward. A deep sigh was heard.

“Why are you like this?”

“What?”

“You mustn’t behave disrespectfully to the master. It’s not good to accept a gift that does not belong to you. And you also kept interrupting. I know you didn’t do that on purpose, but…”

“Alright. I won’t do that next time.”

As I grunted, the corners of her eyes curled.

“Good, then that’s that.”

Why does it make me feel like crying when I see my sister’s smiling face?

Sister, I will protect you, okay? Let’s survive together in this retrenched mansion.

There was a very small sound of footsteps from behind. Osses was following us! Oh, I just got goosebumps.

“Would you like to walk together? After all, the dining room is in the same direction.”

“Yes, that’ll be…”

I put my hand over my sister’s mouth.

“I’m sorry. We have to clean this room.”

Osses made a disappointed expression and continued down the hallway.

“Is that so? Then there is nothing I can do. Work hard, Yuria, and… Layla.”

I could feel the nagging about to start again. I circled around her with an innocent, pure face.

“What? We need to clean this room, right? I’m not wrong! Will you scold me? You won’t, right?”

Holding her mouth closed and looking up at her with twinkling eyes, my sister pursed her lips and then turned her head. Her white cheeks were stained red.

“Ah… Really, you’re so cute… How can I win over you?”

Hehe, I smiled and opened the door in front of me and entered. Cleaning and resting, we repeated this process until we finished.

As for cleaning the hallways… The others must have done it!

When I suddenly looked up, the clock hanging high on the wall was pointing to twelve o’clock. Soon it was time to eat.

What was for lunch today? Was it a fruit salad, potatoes, and stir-fried meat? If meat was included, the menu was good no matter what.

I went to the restaurant and looked around.

I was looking for someone. Where was she? Ah, there she is. She wasn’t seen in the morning perhaps due to a lack of appetite.

I’m glad the seat next to her was empty.

I sat down next to her. Even if the snobby Lemon stuck next to her… If it’s for a purpose, I can endure it. My sister sat in front of me with a puzzled expression.

“Hello!”

The maid elegantly shoved the salad into her mouth and patted her mouth with a napkin. She glanced at me with her ripped eyes similar to that of a fox. I smiled kindly.

“Yes, nice to meet you.”

There are two ways for a maid to easily change jobs. The first is to win the head maid’s heart and receive a letter of recommendation, and the second is to get scouted by other nobles.

To be honest, I thought that the second would be near impossible, so I thought I’d try to capture the head maid’s heart from now on.

There may be a third way to give up being a maid and find another job… But after all, nothing is as sweet as being a maid! I’m going to try my best to get a letter of recommendation.

Anyway, Miss head maid! I’ll melt your heart gently with my cuteness and flattery.

It may seem ridiculous if an unfamiliar person tries to make a move on you, but wouldn’t it change her mind in a good way if I continue to flatter her and act cute? She didn’t seem to hate those who were greedy for power.

If she didn’t like those kinds of people, she wouldn’t have let Lemon stay next to her. Lemon, that girl who can’t even work properly and is only good at flatteries.

Lemon stared at me. What do you want, dude? Let me do some flattery like you always do.

Normally, she would have kicked my legs under the table or taken me outside and yelled at me to knock it off, but she’s being exceptionally quiet.

Was it because she was beaten up by me yesterday?

The head maid liked Sister Yuria, who was sincere and perfect in her work, and maybe that’s why she didn’t think too badly of me.

Hmm, does she know that I beat Lemon up? If so, then I wouldn’t look too kindly in her eyes.

“Madame, the bracelet is really pretty. Where did you buy it?”

How to get to know other people first: Praise the opponent! It’s a very useful way to make friends, even when you first enter a new semester’s classroom.

I glanced at the head maid’s bracelet. It looked very pretty – the purple jewel sparkled.

It was smaller than a fingernail, but it’s probably a real gem, not a cubic. A head maid’s salary would be sufficient enough to purchase jewelry like this. The maid laughed pleasantly.

“It seems you have standards. It was given to me by my husband as a gift for our wedding anniversary.”

“Wow, your husband is so romantic.”

“Fufu, I’m used to it, so I don’t know… Everyone used to say that.”

“I think the bracelet suits you better because it’s pretty.”

Aww, to think that I was such a natural at this. That’s why you shouldn’t judge your own skills before testing them out first.

Showering her with flattery in a way similar to that of a dog licking its owner’s shoes, the head maid seemed quite happy.

In comparison, my sister’s expression became very, very strange.

“My sister is a sycophant.” Is that what she’s thinking? Hold your horses, Sister! I’m doing this because I don’t have a choice! In this world, there are things that had to be done even if it meant you would end up as a sycophant. Just then, Lemon popped in.

“What are you talking about? Miss head maid is twice as beautiful as the bracelet.”

So she wants to give it a go? When I glared at her, Lemon flinched. Her face turned red as if she was embarrassed that she got scared.

“No, she’s 10 times more beautiful.”

“Ha! She’s 100 times more.”

“No, a thousand times.”

“Ten thousand times.”

“100 million times.”

A contest of flattery unfolded at the table. Actually, I don’t even know if it’s a flattery showdown or an auction.

As our voices grew louder, the people around us glanced at us. My sister looked back and forth between us and the head maid with an awkward smile.

“…Lala.”

As if to say, “Shh,” she stretched out her long finger and put it to her mouth.

Aunt Emily, who was sitting pretty close, mouthed if I was crazy. At that, I pretended to zip my mouth shut.

Seeing the reaction of the two, I kept my mouth shut. The more the compliments continued, the more the head maid’s expression darkened.

Her fingers curl inward. Excessive compliments make people feel ashamed.

Lemon laughed thinking she won. Eventually, Lemon was told to shut up by the head maid.

Haha, what a great sight!

After dinner, my sister stopped me.

“Lala, really, why are you like this? Something in you seems to have changed suddenly.”

“Hey, what do you mean by changed?”

“If it were the usual you…”

I had a feeling I knew what she was going to say even before she finished her sentence.

The me who lost her memories didn’t treat the master like that, nor approached the head maid that way, right?

I’m not even quick-witted. Knowing she was looking at me with a worried expression, I pushed my sister on the back.

“Now that we have finished eating, we have to go to work!”

After pushing her, my sister sighed deeply and muttered, “Alright.”

“Sister, don’t get too close to the master. I’ll get jealous, okay?”

Before we parted, I whispered in her ear.

My sister nodded slowly. Then she stroked my hair and went to Osses’ room to clean.

I hope you don’t take my words lightly! I sincerely meant it.

Well, instead of jealousy, it’s more fitting to tell her to ‘avoid getting close since it’s dangerous,’ but…

When I passed by Aunt Emily, she stepped in front of me to stop me.

She looked down at my face and smiled gracefully. The way she looked at me made it seem as if she was asking ‘are you trying to become of higher rank than me?’

I shook my head slowly. Aunt Emily said, “Then why are you like that? There is no other reason for you to act like that,” she muttered, and she poked my bright red cheeks as usual and went away.

I rubbed my cheeks with my hands and glanced at her back.

Climbing up the ranks means taking on important tasks, such as becoming an assistant to the head maid, or becoming the master’s exclusive servant.

No, that isn’t what I want. What I want is a letter of recommendation.

I thought of this only to myself.