I Thought It Was a Common Transmigration - Chapter 39

“Did you come looking for me on purpose?”

It was ridiculous.

He sarcastically asked if she was happy about such a thing, but Edith said it as if she was someone who would disappear at any moment.

“It’s exciting to know that someone cares where you’ve gone, isn’t it?”

The look of loneliness on her face was something Killian would never forget.

But any thoughts of softening toward Edith were stiffened by Lizé’s words at the end of the day.

“It may be my mistake, but I heard something strange at the Ermenia mansion earlier.”

“What happened?”

“Well…… I was talking to Cliff in passing, and I distinctly overheard the heir to Count Riegelhoff say something to the Count about the Duke of Ludwig”.

“……what?”

Lizé fidgeted with her small hands, then spoke up at Killian’s request to elaborate.

“I didn’t really hear much of it, it was such a fleeting moment that even Cliff didn’t see it…… but I’m pretty sure I heard the words Duke of Ludwig and Edith’s name. Did he meet Edith yesterday?”

A chill of anxiety ran down the center of his chest.

Then, a few days later, in the morning, Shane brought in one of his family’s maids, and he seemed to feel the need to put her next to Edith.

‘I wonder if they’ve been talking before……’

Killian thought of Count Riegelhoff, who had been trying to get a maid for Edith since before they were married.

At first glance, the maid Shane had brought in didn’t look like a normal maid.

What kind of maid could be so rude in the presence of the duke’s family?

‘Maybe Edith told Shane about her plight, and that’s why he was so angry with the Ludwigs that he offered to give her a maid, and maybe Edith was so moved that she showed tears…….’

Maybe the flush on her cheek was really from the sun, as she said.

Because of these doubts, Edith’s repeated refusals seemed like an act.

There were even rumors of Edith’s persecution, so there was no way she was not going to take the maid in.

‘We’ll see. Is Edith’s attitude an act, or is she genuine?’

The next day, Sophia became Edith’s full-time maid, and the Duke secretly increased the number of guards around them.

***

It was a thought that I had several times in my previous life, and it’s one that I think about every day as Edith.

‘I’d rather be working.’

I finally catch my breath as I make it to the morning office hours, where I can escape Sophia’s scrutiny.

‘Besides, if I come to Renon’s office, I can at least have tea and snacks!’

I don’t usually enjoy refreshments when I’m working, but I was starving.

Sophia was starving me.

“You seem to be enjoying…… the refreshments today,” Renon said, his face unreadable as to what the hell he was thinking.

“Ah, haha, well, yeah, they are delicious today……”

I was about to finish the cookies and madeleines on my plate, but in good conscience, I set aside one for Renon.

He must have looked at me with a pitying glance.

“You can have them all.”

“Huh? What about you?”

“I don’t normally have a sweet tooth.”

Yeah, I can see that.

He looks like he’s purposely trying to find something bitter to eat.

But why does he look so handsome today?

“Well, then…… I shouldn’t leave any leftovers……”

With that lame excuse, I finished off the rest of the cookies and madeleines.

‘Ha, now I feel like I’m living.’

My stomach was full, but I was actually craving meat and bread, or more honestly, a hot bowl of soup.

Pork soup, ox bone soup, bean sprout soup, sundae soup, oyster soup……

‘Oh, I’m going crazy.’

My mouth watered just thinking about it.

“Would you like some more?” asked Renon, probably knowing that I was salivating.

But I’ve had enough of sweets.

“No. Let’s…… get to work, shall we?”

But later that evening, I regretted the cookies and madeleines I didn’t refill.

I knew I wouldn’t be able to eat them for the next few days because I would be off work.

“Don’t you think it’s a bit much to starve me?”

I complained, glaring at Sophia, but it only made her feel better.

“If you want to be fed, you have to prove yourself useful.”

“You treat people like animals, don’t you?”

“Even an animal understands when you beat it like this. I don’t think you’re as good as an animal.”

“Funny. You may be my father’s dog, but I am a human, and I have my own free will.”

“I look forward to seeing how far that free will goes in the face of starvation.”

Sophia mocked me, then suddenly reached over and grabbed my hair, shaking it wildly.

“Ack, ack, get off me!”

After shaking me for a while, she let go, tossing my head back onto the pillow.

“If you don’t like getting hit, you’re going to have to be docile.”

“Hah…… hah…… who the fuck are you……”

“Seriously, what happened in the meantime? You weren’t that stupid…… tsk.”

I received a few more vicious punches to my wing bones and spine, but Sophia had my head pressed against the pillow, so I couldn’t even scream.

But it was a strange thing.

In my previous life, I would never have considered myself brave enough to stand up to such violence, but now I don’t want to give in.

I want to stand up to the violence the Riegelhoffs have inflicted on Edith.

I want to defend the self-respect that Edith had so helplessly lost.

At least I know they can’t kill me.

Actually, there’s another reason.

‘There’s no way the Duke doesn’t have guards monitoring around here.’

I’m sure there’s someone out there watching.

Of course, no one knows what goes on in this room, but mistakes happen.

They might notice Sophia’s strange movements.

‘Of course, that would reach Killian’s ears, and how hard would it be to clear up the misunderstanding?

Killian is my lifeline.

If he misunderstands me more than that, I know I won’t be able to explain it anytime soon.

‘……I miss Killian.’

Thinking about Killian made me miss him again.

I wanted to tell him all about my situation and beg him to help me.

But then I heard the narrator-like voice again from somewhere.

[Edith Riegelhoff can not reveal hidden settings about herself until she meets the conditions of the three-level exception.]

I’ve heard it enough in my dreams, and now I hear it again while awake?

‘I know, I know!’

I grunted, flopping down on my bed.

***

Sophia giggled as she walked out of Edith’s room.

‘What exactly has happened? It seems like she has changed, doesn’t it?

I’m sure no one knows Edith Riegelhoff better than I do.

I’ve been her personal servant since she was twelve, and I was the one who ‘disciplined’ her.

But this isn’t the Edith I know.

‘Why did the girl who would be frightened and obedient with even just one slap suddenly become so different?’

Edith, who grew up with the severe punishments of Count Riegelhoff from an early age, became extremely weak in the face of violence.

So much so that when she was outside, it was a matter of tightening the leash as much as she could handle, as she would fall helplessly if hit too hard.

But in just a few months, she became a completely different person, and even after being beaten, she would glare and make arrogant remarks.

“What a very stupid girl that she forgot her master. I must discipline her thoroughly again.”

Despite her exasperated mutterings, a smile of anticipation graced her lips.

In fact, Sophia found great pleasure in beating Edith.

How satisfying to her ego that she, a once commoner mercenary, could mercilessly beat up a noblewoman.

‘It’s an annoying constraint that I can’t do it in front of others……’

Since I couldn’t be seen by the Ludwigs, I had to choose the parts of the body covered by the clothes and hit her just enough to keep her from bleeding, which inevitably weakened my punch, which was a bit disappointing.

However, since humans have more than one vital point, there are many ways to torture them without seeing blood.

‘Let’s see how long you can keep your smug face on.’

With a sneer, Sophia put on her maid’s impassive face and headed to the dining room to pick up dinner.

At the bottom of the stairs, she bumped into the rumored Lizé Sinclair.

“Oh, hi, I hear you’re Edith’s new maid.”

“I’m Sophia…… nice to meet you.”

“Your name is Sophia, nice to meet you.”

Her smile was genuine.

As dazzlingly beautiful as the rumors were, Sophia felt her stomach twist.

‘Foxy girl.’

To Sophia, Lizé was on the same level as Edith, or even lower.

‘She’s like a lustful slut who lures men with her innocent face!’

Otherwise, there’s no way Shane, who has always been cold and rational, would be so enamored.