The birds’ chirping woke me up. The unfamiliar ceiling made me remember that I was not in Heilon castle, but Count Green’s house.

Yesterday, I arrived at an ambiguous time, so I just slept in this house. Fortunately, they assigned a normal room for me.

‘If they were to give me the attic I had before, I would have turned this house upside down.’

The shocked expression of the Countess and my half-brothers came to my mind. They looked at me as if they had seen a ghost. I had no interest in the Green family’s property so I was wondering whether I should come to this house or not, but I was glad I came, I liked the stupid expression of those three. In fact, when I decided to go, I had the intention to make my appearance in front of them as a sarcastic reply to their letter.

‘But, they’re calmer and a bit kinder than I expected.’

If they were to not have a resentment towards me, it was definitely a lie. However, I thought their reaction would be more than that. I thought they would feel more annoyed.

Also, as I expected, it turned out this damn family eventually fought over the inheritance, and was going to split up. I hope, if possible, by their ugly fight, this family would be completely destroyed.

However, of course, I didn’t want to be implicated by it. I felt like it would be better to sign the letter of renunciation of the inheritance and leave this house quickly, today or tomorrow.

‘I don’t want to stay here.’

“I brought the washing water” A maid’s voice was heard outside of the door.

“Come on in.”

The maid opened the door and came in, then put the wash water in front of me. The bassin was full of water, and because of how rough the maid put it in front of me, some water spilled on the floor.

This maid should have been careful. In Heilon, this was a rare mistake. Abel was a perfectionist so all the maids of the castle were also excellent. But I wasn’t picky enough to complain about this little mistake. So without a second thought, I tried to put my hand into the washbasin, but eventually stopped when I detected a bad smell.

‘What is this strange smell?’

Upon closer inspection, the washbasin was rusted in several places. In addition, the bad smell was coming from the water.

‘I take back the thought that they’re kinder than I think.’

No noble family provided such washing water to ladies or guests of the family.

‘This is mop water.’

It was obvious that this was on purpose.

When I looked up, the maid who brought the washing water had her face bowed. The corner of her lips trembled as she tried to hold back her laughter.

I looked closely and I remembered that she was the maid that I saw often five years ago. She was one of the maids who was particularly harsh on me for being an illegitimate child. There was no doubt that this maid was able to act like this because she had the unspoken permission from the people of this family, including the Count Green and his wife. And this time, she got that invisible permission from the Countess.

I managed to hold my sigh.

Apparently, everyone in this family was still under the illusion that I was still a thirteen years old kid with no money, no place to go, and no power.

‘If you all treated me like this, I don’t think I could hold back the feeling of wanting revenge.’

Feeling the anger that swelled up inside, I touched the area near my lips. I had to put up with the shitty things in front of me. Because, now, I have the awareness of an adult living a social life.

“….”

After taking a deep breath, I looked up at the maid and asked in a soft tone as usual.

“You, what is your name?”

***

“It’s May.”

The maid said her name while staring straight at Fiona.

“Okay, May. It’s a face I remembered seeing before.”

Generally, in a noble family, a maid should not easily have eye contact with the noble they served. However, there was a reason why May could act so daringly. It was because she was one of the Countess’ favorite maids.

The Countess originally extremely hated Fiona, and now, with a dispute arised within the family over who inherited the property and the seat of the head family, it was natural that the return of the illegitimate child who she thought was dead was a sand in her eyes. And it was not only her, the other family members felt the same way as her. The Green family was worried to the point that they were afraid even a single jewel would be taken away by the lowly illegitimate child.

‘The countess seemed like wanted to get rid of this girl.’

So, with the Countess on her back, May had nothing to fear. Even if she treated Fiona harshly, no one would blame her. Because this was the unwritten permission.

Fiona Green.

May laughed on the inside. The girl in front of her was just a grown-up girl. She had no power, all she had was half noble blood.

‘She thinks she is lucky she could come back and sticks herself to this family. What a dream.’

While Countess asked her to serve Fiona, May felt that this was an opportunity. If she could make Fiona out from this house, the countess’ trust on her would be stronger. So, May, with the greedy idea of her, looked forward with confidence.

Fiona looked at May for a moment, then said kindly.

“May, I believe you are aware of your own faults.”

May shook her head and replied fiercely.

“What are you talking about?”

In response, Fiona quietly raised her hands and covered her face. At first glance, it looked like her shoulders were shaking.

‘What? She cries just because of this?’

Seeing Fiona like that because of her, May laughed inwardly.