CH 3

Afterwards, I went to my room to calmly think about my situation.

It’d be more realistic to dismiss what I had seen as a mere dream and forget about it.

However—

—be it the pain from the lacerations all over my body; the pungent smell; how sickening the prison was; the taste of moldy bread—

—I could recall them vividly.

Being honest, I was still unsure over whether I was dreaming now or if the time had rewound.

Nevertheless, during dinner, I figured it out at once.

It was when one of my maids, Luria, fell grandly while carrying a bowl of soup. The contents spilled over on the carpet and the bowl broke.

The moment I saw that scene, I remembered.

In a moment, my mother, Bella, should get angry, and say—

“—What have you done!? Don’t you realize that this carpet and bowl cost more than your annual salary!?”

As I recalled that, my mother, whom was at the table, stood up and yelled.

“—What have you done!? Don’t you realize that this carpet and bowl cost more than your annual salary!?”

Then, Luria was supposed to say, “I’m sorry, Madam…!”

“—I’m sorry, Madam…!”

Then, I recalled mother saying, “You don’t have to show your face here anymore.”

“—You don’t have to show your face here anymore.”

As I perceived that an exchange, I became convinced.

It wasn’t a dream…

At that moment, I concluded that the time had rewound.

…In that case, my next step was only to be expected—

—after thinking so, I bent over and gently called out to Luria who was petrified in fear.

“Luria, are you alright?”

“Y-yes…” She trembled as she answered.

“Alright. Then, be careful from now on. That should be fine, shouldn’t it, mother?”

When I said that while smiling, my mother was surprised and stared at me.

After all, she expected me to be furious at Luria.

Well, last time, although I didn’t fire Luria, I said. “How unbecoming of a duke’s maid.”

However, that was the case no longer.

While it had cost me my life, I learned that everyone made mistake.

Therefore, I refrained from senselessly getting angry at people. Regardless, there was no way my mother was aware of that.

Thus, my mother stared at me with a dissatisfied expression.

“But, my precious bowl and carpet…”

“If so, sell my dress or some of my jewelry to buy a new one.”

Mother and Luria were surprised when I gave such a ready answer.

“T, that’s…”

“M, milady…”

I laughed inwardly when I saw them.

Well, I used to be quite arrogant. Thus, it wouldn’t be strange for them to be shocked—or even think that I had gone crazy.

Nevertheless, I was no longer the same Violet.

“Now, let’s dispose of this before father and brother come.”

I said that and called the other servants to clean up the mess and to lay a new carpet.

“Look, it’s all tidied up, now.”

I said that and took a seat while ignoring my frustrated mother. My mother looked ready to complain, but she didn’t say anything in the end.

Afterwards, my father, Bran, and my brother, Sagius, came to the table. They didn’t seem to notice that the carpet was different.

It was apparent that my mother was still dissatisfied with the situation. I wanted to laugh at her.

Anyway, those two hadn’t seen a thing.

While thinking so, I muttered that I enjoyed the decent soup I had drank for the first time in a few months. Then, my father asked me.

“How’s His Highness.”

“…Don’t know.”

While I answered so, my surprised father asked once again.

“What do you mean?”

“His Highness may suddenly fall for someone else.”

“That won’t be the case. He is the member of the royal family. To them, romance has nothing to do with marriage.”

In my heart, I laughed at my father’s words.

In no time at all, His Highness would fall for Baroness Mia Abazn.

I recalled His Highness steadily devoting himself to Baroness Abazn.

To me, he gave excuses such as—“—I’m merely educating Baroness Abazn. She doesn’t know anything.”

Of course, at first, he only had good intention and probably felt nothing towards her.

Afterwards, as the saying went—‘—the road to hell is paved with good intentions.’

Before I knew it, His Highness fell head over heels for Baroness Abazn.

At that moment, rather than, ‘romance had nothing to do with anything’, to His Highness, it was him being a member of a royal family that had nothing to do with anything.

Therefore, I could say with certainty—

“—It doesn’t matter whether or not he’s a member of the royal family.”

When I said that, I wiped my mouth, said that I was finished, and left my seat.

My dad stared at me with a complicated expression. He didn’t say anything more, perhaps afraid that it’d affect my princess education.

***

“Haa, I’m tired…”

When I returned to my room, I felt tired and collapsed onto my bed.

I thought I’d fell asleep as I was. But, I felt strange. As such, I called a maid.

Then, Luria came and bowed to me.

“Thank you, Milady! How can I repay the favor?”

“You don’t have to worry about it. Well, if you care about it, please assist me in the bath.”

“W, wow, are you sure? Isn’t Grace the one who usually assists you?”

“I’ll explain to Grace later. I asked you because I want to retire early. Grace isn’t my exclusive maid, so there is no need to call her all the time.”

“Okay, I’ll get it ready soon.”

Luria said that and set about preparing the bath.

Seeing Luria, a good idea sprang in my head. I narrowed my eyes.

If possible, I didn’t want to see Grace ever again…

…I thought such, and after the bath was over, Luria nodded happily as I made her my exclusive maid.