I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 37

As the bazaar ended, summer slowly approached.

‘It’s going to be a hot summer without air conditioning.’

While I was thinking this, a very scary fact popped into my head.

‘Come to think of it…… how long does Edith appear in the original story?’

I don’t know why it just occurred to me.

“I Refuse Your Obsession” is a five-volume Rofan novel, and Edith is introduced at the end of the third volume and disappears before the fifth volume begins.

And at the beginning of the fifth volume, Lizé gets a proposal from Cliff, along with a confession of love.

‘How old is Lizé during that scene?’

Lizé and I are the same age now, twenty-two.

And Cliff proposes to her when she’s twenty-three years old.

‘I’m sure because I remember having the thought that she hadn’t even graduated college at that age.’

Okay, quiz here.

How many months until the episode where my head is cut off?

As I thought about it, my back suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.

Then, out of nowhere, Anna knocked on my door.

“Miss, you’re going to have to come out here for a minute!”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

A shiver of ominous feeling ran down my spine.

As I stepped out into the hallway, I heard a woman’s wailing coming from the first-floor landing.

“I’m begging you, please let me see my lady, she couldn’t even leave her house without me before she got married, how is she doing here alone……!”

I wondered what all the fuss was about and followed Anna downstairs, only to find that the Duchess and the butler, Philip, had already come down to the first floor, as well as Cliff, Killian, and Lizé.

“Eh……?”

I got goosebumps at the sight of a woman sprawled out on the porch of the mansion, sobbing and wailing.

She spotted me, too, and called out my name before I had time to retreat.

“Ah, Miss! Miss Edith!”

“So…… Sophia……”

“Ah, my dear, my little miss…… why are you looking so pale?”

“W- what? What?”

Sophia, whom I hadn’t seen in a long time, clung to me with a face that, unlike the Riegelhoff family, was dying of worry.

I wondered how a mere maid could have gotten the Duchess and her heir to come downstairs, but behind her stood Shane.

“Brother……?”

I called out to Shane, but he stood facing the Duchess, not me, and spoke with a sad expression, “I apologize for causing such a disturbance, but Sophia, Edith’s dedicated maid, misses her dearly…… and we’ve been uneasy about not having any idea of her well-being.”

“You could have come by anytime and met Edith.”

“That’s very kind of you, but you probably know that’s easier said than done. So, please, at least let Sophia keep by Edith’s side. She’s just a maid.”

I suddenly understood what Shane had meant by ‘tightening a dog leash’.

“Oh, brother, I am really fine!”

“Miss, please, please don’t abandon me. You can beat me and punish me, as long as I can stay by your side and serve you……”

Sophia clung to me more.

Then Shane said, “Edith. Isn’t she the same Sophia who’s been with you since you were a little girl, and how worried she was about you……”

“Rumor has it that my lady is being persecuted at the Ludwig mansion! You’re not even allowed to attend your best friend’s tea party……!”

Sophia shouted, as if she couldn’t take it anymore.

I thought skipping the party would keep me from being accused of spreading gossip about Lizé, but I didn’t realize it would backfire like this.

I glanced at the Duchess and Killian without realizing it.

“Who- who says I’m being persecuted!”

“Even now, you’re worried about other people’s eyes! I heard that at the bazaar, you sat there like a loner, and everyone said that Lady Sinclair, a guest of this house, was the only one who cared about you……”

Ah, that’s kind of irrefutable.

And the Duchess and the others also twitched their shoulders, as if they had been stabbed.

After all, this time, the Ludwigs had no reason to turn Sophia away.

“If you are so concerned, you may leave this maid behind. I will make her Edith’s personal maid.”

“Thank you. My family will take care of Sophia’s salary.”

“No, you don’t have to.”

“No. If Sophia works for this house, who will protect our Edith?”

Ha…… anyone who sees it will think it’s a sister complex. Yet he’s the one who slapped me so hard…..!

But I couldn’t bring myself to expose Shane. I tried to say, “You slapped me at the bazaar,” but my tongue got stuck again and I heard tinnitus.

‘Shit!’

I refused again and again, saying I didn’t need a Riegelhoff maid, but thanks to Shane’s insistence that it was a sign of the Duke’s favor, I was finally forced to accept Sophia.

‘Is this…… also the flow of the original story?’

Then, all of the episodes that are going to happen are going to be set in motion by Sophia.

The poisoning attempts, the information leaks, the spying……

‘What should I do? How can I stop this?’

Sophia was a mercenary, skilled in assassination and thievery.

It’s almost impossible for me to go against her.

Besides, Count Riegelhoff must have given Sophia full authority over my disposition, and if I were to die at the hands of that maid, he wouldn’t bat an eye.

Of course, I’m not without any hope.

‘If I die, Sophia will no longer be in this house, and the original story will be greatly distorted.’

So she won’t kill me.

I watched nervously as Anna taught Sophia how to do her job.

And when we were finally alone in the room, Sophia’s expression changed dramatically.

“It’s been a long time, Miss Edith.”

“……I don’t think it’s been that long.”

“I didn’t believe it when Young Master Shane told me about you, but by the way you responded to me, it must have been true.”

Wow, that’s just plain creepy.

I tried to push down my instinctive fear and speak as calmly as I could.

“Sophia, the power of the Ludwigs is not all that it seems, and it is growing every day. If my father does not change his mind, our entire family is in danger.”

“That is not for you to judge, young lady. All you can do is follow your master’s orders.”

“Even if it means we all die?”

“You should be thinking about honoring your family’s name with your life, not talking about how weak you are.”

Oh, this is for real.

Sophia is Count Riegelhoff’s person to the bone.

How she could follow him so far was beyond my understanding.

“Young Master Shane said you didn’t send him the weapons-related document……”

“I didn’t send it.”

“Was it because you knew it was a fake document, and Duke was afraid you wouldn’t send it and things would get out of hand, so he copied your handwriting and sent it?”

Huh? Is that possible?

But I don’t think the Duke and his family would do such a thing.

Their primary purpose in having me see the fake document was to get me to leave, not to attack the Riegelhoffs.

Still, to avoid getting beaten up by Sophia, it might be better to say that I didn’t send it because I knew it was fake.

But on the other hand, that would make Killian suspicious again.

‘Let’s get Killian’s side, and let’s do it right.’

Remembering once again the ‘choose and focus’ mantra, I replied, “I didn’t even think it was a fake document, because I had no intention of stealing it in the first place.”

As expected, Sophia’s gaze turned piercingly cold.

“So…… you’re saying that you really did decide to betray your family.”

“I don’t see why it’s a betrayal. Do you have any confidence that the Riegelhoffs would win against the Ludwigs? Even if Archduke Langston were to become Emperor, do you think he would give my father the dukedom? The Emperor’s throne is secure now, and the Duke of Ludwig is stronger than the Archduke of Langston.”

“Archduke Langston is favoring the Count, and sooner or later the Emperor and the Duke of Ludwig will fall.”

“Who says so? Father? You are mistaken, it’s all just your wishful thinking!”

I think I heard a crack.

Sophia, perhaps sensing the hint of sarcasm in my voice, stepped forward and slapped the back of my head.

“You vulgar sow have the audacity to use your snout in front of me?”

Without a trace of respect, Sophia shouted profanities at me and began to beat me viciously on the part of my body that was covered by my clothes.

“Ack! Ack!”

It hurt more than I could have imagined.

She hit only painful but unnoticeable parts, enough to make me realize that she was a professional at this.

I struggled, but she didn’t even budge, like someone made of wood and stone.

Then, suddenly, he grabbed me by the throat.