IWAP- Chapter 2

"What about the nanny? Did the nanny send you here by any chance?"

“Save me...save me?”

I clicked my tongue as I watched Marie crying ugly, even letting out a runny nose.

'To think you look like that when I haven't even done anything yet... I would have been more than happy if I had shown you my damn personality just as it is.'

I wasn't particularly angry at seeing her ugly appearance. I was simply curious why she had come here to serve me.

'You're lucky. You survived by just one day.'

"Did you come because the nanny sent you?"

"Huh? Yes... Hiccup!"

Finally, watching Marie hiccup, I clicked my tongue once again. Marie's excessive reaction clearly showed what my personality had been like up until now.

I have no particular intention of becoming more forgiving, but continuing to live as I have until now was also problematic. Above all, if things continue this way, what awaits me is pain and screams.

"Why did the nanny send you?"

"Ugh. I'm not really... hiccup."

Marie covered her mouth, trying to stop the hiccups. Her face turned red, and the sight of her struggling was utterly pitiful.

Those who know, know. The pain of hiccups!

The longer the hiccups dragged on, the more indescribable the pain in your stomach felt. I waved my hands.

“Go out.”

"Yes, hiccup...huh?"

"Don't just stand there in front; go outside and do your business."

"Ugh... hiccup, but."

"You're saying you'll serve me in that state?"

Marie, who had been sitting on the floor with her hands covering her mouth, hung her head low. Her ears, visible through her hair, were stained bright red. It seemed she thought I was refusing to let her serve me because she was a maid doing menial tasks.

Whether it was a maid or a lady-in-waiting, I didn't care who served me right now, but honestly, I didn't want to be served by Marie. It wasn't because I disliked her as a maid who did menial tasks, but because I wasn't used to being physically served.

It was obvious at a glance that she would be clumsy. I absolutely did not want to be served uncomfortably.

"Go outside and drink some water to calm your hiccups. You're going to suffocate at this rate."

Marie snapped her head up and looked up at me. Her watery eyes shimmered, making her look just like a puppy. I was generous one more time.

"If you bend over and drink water from the other end of the cup, your hiccups will stop."

"..."

Judging by her expression, she doesn't seem to have understood. That is as far as my generosity goes.

"Go out and call another maid, quickly!"

Only when I raised my voice did Marie hurriedly get up and leave the room. I can see her retreating figure disappearing quickly without even saying goodbye.

"Is she a bit slow?'

Marie should thank heaven for meeting 'me' today, not yesterday.

Not long after, two ladies-in-waiting entered my room, presumably having properly completed the errand. Unlike the flustered Marie, their movements were graceful and their demeanor polite. Judging by their familiar faces, they were ladies-in-waiting who had attended to me a few times before. Aside from the nanny, my attendants were not fixed. Whenever someone was needed to attend to me, the nanny would select a few of the ladies-in-waiting to bring along.

Since I had always thought of servants like furniture in my house, I hadn't really thought much about it until now, but it was strange, if you could call it that.

'Usually, aren't there at least one or two permanent ladies-in-waiting? Or not?'

Since I don't pay much attention to my surroundings, I have absolutely no idea how other people do things. That said, I didn't really feel like looking into it now.

Even without me giving any instructions, the ladies-in-waiting took the initiative to help with my grooming, such as dressing me and styling my hair.

If I had just made Marie dress up, I would have had to explain every little detail from A to Z or do the dressing myself. That was exhausting just to imagine.

The nanny, who knew Bjornne's personality better than anyone, would not have sent a maid doing menial work to me while in her right mind. This meant that something extremely urgent had happened to her, to the point where she couldn't even notice that she was a maid doing menial work.

“What about the nanny?”

"She is in the mistress's quarters."

The maid answered my sudden question smoothly, as if she had been waiting for it. It was a response qualitatively different from the clumsy Marie. While answering my question, the maid did not forget to gauge my reaction. This was because she knew that her answer would displease me.

The only person a lady-in-waiting can call "Madam" is the mistress of this mansion, that is, the Marchioness.

My nanny was the Marchioness's nurse. I heard that they grew up like sisters because her mother was the Marchioness's nanny. Even while raising me, the nanny did not neglect the Marchioness. Even while staying by my side, she would stop by the Marchioness's quarters whenever she had a spare moment.

Bjornne did not like the nanny going to the Marchioness. For the self-centered Bjornne, the fact that the nanny, whom she considered her own, was paying attention to someone other than herself was enough to cause her displeasure.

Whenever she went to the Marchioness's quarters, Bjornne would often take out her anger on the ladies-in-waiting.

The nanny, who knew Bjornne's wretched personality better than anyone, had been acting in a way that would keep Bjornne from noticing as much as possible. It was extremely rare for her to go to the Marchioness’s quarters so openly as today. There was only one reason why the nanny had gone to the Marchioness’s quarters in this manner, even to the point of neglecting me.

As I rose to my feet, the maids flinched. True to their education, they did not show any emotion on their faces, but they could not hide the trembling of their eyes.

In their minds, they must be picturing me raging like fire. No matter how nicely I tried to sugarcoat it, given Bjornne's personality, which was far from pleasant, I was certain there was a high probability that none of their hair would be left intact. Bjornne had a bad temper, but his habit of stealing was even worse.

I am the Bjornne they know, but I am also a Bjornne different from before. If I feel offended, I will not hesitate to express my anger and grab them by the hair.

If there is one fact they don't know, it is that, contrary to what they are currently assuming, I am not offended.

The nanny was certainly a special person to Bjornne. Unlike the Marquis and Marchioness, who merely gave birth to her and showed no interest, she was the one who raised Bjornne herself.

Regardless of how she was raised, the nanny was the only person in the Marquis's household who took an interest in and cared for Bjornne. It was only natural that Bjornne developed an attachment to her nanny. Moreover, the nanny granted Bjornne whatever she wanted and acted like a subservient servant. It could be said that the nanny had a significant influence on Bjornne's arrogant and self-centered personality.

To the nanny, the person of the highest priority was not her, but the Marchioness. Because Bjornne did not acknowledge this, she would get angry and take out her frustration on those around her whenever the nanny acted with the Marchioness's priority.

The reason I am not angry right now is the same. I no longer have the same attachment to the nanny as I used to. To be precise, this means that her actions do not affect my emotions. Her prioritizing the Marchioness over me did not bother me as much as it used to.

I could not tell the reason, whether it was because I knew the future or because I possessed Lee Ji-ah's memories. However, one thing I could tell at the moment was that I felt much more indifferent to the stimuli around me than I had expected.

"Miss?"

When I remained silent, the maids looked at me with bewildered expressions. I had not the slightest intention of satisfying their curiosity, so I ignored them and left the room. Bewildered by my actions, they followed me.

"Ah. Miss, where are you going?"

I didn't want to pay attention to them, so I waved my hand at them without looking back.

It meant you should go take care of your business, but they kept following me closely. There was nothing particularly bothersome.

Since that wasn't the case, I ignored them and moved toward my destination.

“Ahh!”

Clink!

"Lady!"

True to expectations, screams and the sound of things breaking echoed loudly down the hallway. After all, I could tell, without even seeing it myself, that there was something significant enough for the nanny to run to the Marchioness, even if it meant upsetting me.

The ladies-in-waiting, who had been pacing in front of the Marchioness's room with tearful expressions, turned pale at the sight of me. It was not that I was unaware of how they felt, but seeing their faces change so blatantly made me feel sullen.

As I have said repeatedly, I am by no means a good person. I never imagined, like in a typical novel, the idea of 'knowing the bleak future ahead, I must live a good life to change it,' nor did it suit my personality. In fact, I didn't think anything would actually change just because I lived a good life.

'It would be a relief as long as I don't develop a stress-related illness.'

It is foolish to devote one's entire life to something that doesn't seem to yield any benefit. Moreover, perhaps because I had done it once, I wasn't particularly afraid of dying.

I just think that if I could, living an ordinary life like Lee Ji-ah, who lived a smooth life, wouldn't be bad.

“Open the door.”

Despite my command, the maids hesitated, merely glancing nervously at me, and showed no intention of opening the door.

I could understand their actions intellectually. After all, even though it was my order, from their perspective, they could not simply open the Marchioness's room without permission. However, understanding something and forgiving their disobedience are distinctly different things.

'It's a hassle, should I just beat them all up?'

That thought crossed my mind, but I soon dismissed it. I was eager to get inside quickly, and punishing them was a hassle as it required time and energy.

“Oh!”

I pushed past the maids and opened the door myself. They let out a single scream, perhaps not expecting me to take matters into my own hands. Even if they had known, they would not have dared to stop me.

To be honest, I couldn't understand my own actions either. Even the fact that I had such affection for the Marchioness...

It was not as if I had business with the nanny. The days Bjornne had visited the Marchioness's quarters on her own were so few that I could count them on the fingers of one hand in her entire life.

Nevertheless, I wanted to see the Marchioness now.

Even while saying she hated it, Bjornne always craved her parents' affection. Perhaps my impulsive behavior now was because I was at an age where I still had affection for them.

Bang!

The door opened with a loud noise. Three pairs of eyes in the room turned toward me simultaneously.

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