Starting with Joanna, the women who were supposed to like Richard in the original story had all set their sights on Blake now.

Among them, Camilla Vendrick was the second most important female character after Iana.

Camilla was the daughter of the Marquis family. Originally, she was an abandoned child, but the Marquis of Vendrick soon accepted her because he felt the need to have a connection to the Imperial Palace.

Camilla loved Richard. She knew of his evil deeds very well but pretended not to know them.

"Only I can understand Richard! We're definitely meant to be. Even if I were to be reborn, I would only like Richard."

She said it over and over again. She said she was purely in love with Richard, regardless of his status, wealth, appearance, and that she was the only one who truly loved him.

Then she became Blake's maid. I don't think Richard planted her as a spy, so what happened ?

Richard's face from seven years ago and Phillip's face from a thousand years ago came to my mind at the same time. Their appearance alone made me shudder. Suddenly a small light appeared.

[Hello, Laontel.]

'Long time no see, Shell.'

It was the first time we met again after a long time.

'What's going on?'

Shell pouted. Shell seemed as if she had been waiting to say it and replied as soon as I asked.

[I've never eaten anyone!]

'Huh?'

[A Macul doesn't eat people! How can they say such harsh things? They talk as if we ate you!]

Even if Ancia survived in the door of darkness, she would've been eaten by Macul in the end. That's what the knights said, and Shell overheard them.

Then, even when I couldn't see them, they had still been circling around me?

'You were following me?'

[!!!]

Shell's eyes widened and she quickly looked away. It seemed that my guess was correct.

[Oh, I'm here to relay a message on behalf of the goddess!]

She flew up in a hurry. When Shell circled in front of me, her light became a circle and created a transparent space that shone brightly. Beyond the light, I could hear Ser's voice.

[Laontel, how do you feel living that way? Don't you want to discard that ugly body that everyone despises?]

'I don't think it's ugly. It's just a scar.'

[Stop pretending! Stop pretending to be the nicest in the world, and stop pretending to be good! Tell me the truth! You want to go back to your original body, don't you? You want the face that everyone praised for being beautiful! Did you regret giving up my offer?]

Her voice was still full of madness. She had suffered for a thousand years, so it was no surprise that her wound was almost impossible to heal.

'I've never regretted it, Ser.'

To be honest, whenever I saw people stare at me with so much disgust, I felt very hurt. But Blake smiled at me. He held my hand full of scars, but showed no sign of disgust.

There were also few people who showed no reaction to my scars. Blake, Edon, Mellisa, Hans and Jayden.

So it was okay. I didn't have much time left. It was enough as long as I thought about those nice people only. I didn't want to pay attention to those who felt disgusted after seeing me.

[Are you touched that the Crown Prince has given you some sympathy? How would he react when he finds out Ancia turned out to be this ugly? Eventually, he'll leave you and marry another woman. You won't be able to remain in his memory. He'd shudder at the fact that a woman like you was once his companion!]

'Blake won't be like that.'

Blake wouldn't leave me just because of my appearance. At first I didn't think that way but now I was very sure.

He wasn't that kind of person. He wouldn't discriminate against people because of their appearance.

[Haha. Don't make me laugh! He's a man just like Philip! When I had the scars on my body, Philip gave up on me.]

'What?'

Philip approached Ser from the start with the idea of using her. And as soon as he gained the power of the goddess, he wanted to abandon her. Did she forget that?

Why did she think she was abandoned because of her looks?

[If I had been as beautiful as you, Phillip wouldn't have abandoned me! If I hadn't had the scar, he wouldn't have left me!]

'Ser, you...'

Did she still like Philip? I tried to ask her, but I quickly shut my mouth. That was absolutely impossible. I felt as if I would be insulting Ser by asking her that.

[Laontel! I'll give you one last chance. This is really the last time! Kill the Crown Prince! We're going to be the only ones left in this disgusting empire. We're friends. We don't need other people, do we?]

'We need them.'

[...what?]

'There are a lot of nice people. I can't kill them and survive alone.'

[They don't even recognize who you are! You're the only one who's gonna die miserably! Who would love you for being ugly? Even if you were to die, they wouldn't feel sympathy!]

'I don't care.'

It really didn't matter to me. I was okay even if no one recognized me. A thousand years ago, Rakshul died and my life felt like a living hell. I'd rather die than to let him go first again.

[Silly girl! Stupid! You'll be abandoned! You'll end up being thrown away miserably!]

'Even if they do that, I won't regret it.'

[Hahahahaha! I'm going to kill the Crown Prince soon. So are you going to kneel to me and beg?]

The moment I heard her laugh, I had an ominous premonition.

'What are you trying to do?'

Just when I frantically asked Ser, I heard a knock outside.

"Miss Rose, I will be coming in for a moment."

It was Chelsea's voice. Since I couldn't speak, she opened the door without waiting for any permission.

I looked at the table in shock. However, Shell and the transparent space were all gone.

"Hello, Miss Rose. My name is Chelsea Brooke, a maid of the Crown Prince."

Chelsea greeted me politely. I also gave a light bow.

"I'm sorry about what happened just now. I apologize on behalf of everyone."

'It's alright.'

I shook my hands. Chelsea looked confused. She didn't understand what I was saying.

'Its. al. right. Truly. It's. al. right.'

As I said it over and over again, Chelsea carefully asked me.

"Are you saying you're okay?"

I nodded. It was hard to even hold a simple conversation because I couldn't speak and write. When I was with Blake, I didn't have any problems with communicating.

"To be honest, most of the maids of this palace like His Highness. So, they were just jealous when they saw you. Don't worry about it."

Chelsea must be worried that I might've been hurt.

She was a minor character in 'The Beast and the Lady.'

Richard pretended to like her and stole the Brooke family's fortune. Chelsea also tried to marry Richard for the sake of her family.

But Chelsea soon discovered his true colors and planned to reveal Richard's misdeeds to the world. However, before she could do that, Richard found out and killed her.

Although Chelsea was a smart person, she only appeared for a short time and wasn't particularly memorable. However, she turned out to be very smart and considerate.

'Yes, thank you.'

Chelsea groaned slightly. It was difficult to read my lips. As I repeated the words, Chelsea smiled as if she could barely understand the words.

"In the future, I will serve Miss Rose. I look forward to working with you."

Chelsea would serve me?

She was a lady of a prominent family. Although I was a guest of the Crown Prince, my identity was unknown. There was a possibility that I was a slave, not a commoner.

It was ridiculous for Chelsea to serve me.

Why did she do it? Did Melissa ask her?

'Are you okay with it?'

I tried to say it slowly.

"Oh, I see. You're asking if I'm okay, right?"

She smiled brightly as I nodded. She looked like a high school student who was happy to have finally solved a difficult question.

"Yes, I applied to serve you."

She wanted it? As my eyes widened, the corners of Chelsea's mouth meaningfully lifted up.

"I've been a maid for two years. But it was my first time seeing the Crown Prince smiling. Miss Rose made him smile. At that moment, I knew that you're a great woman. That's why I wanted to do this."

"I know that His Highness's real mother is Roum. It's really amazing that he took control of the empire even though he had Roum blood. It would be nice to marry someone like this."

Chelsea told me something similar to what she said to Richard in the original story.

So many things had changed from the original story.

Did she never see Blake smile? Blake smiled a lot on our trip back to the palace. But didn't he also do that in the Foren Palace? How had he been for seven years?

I was lost in thought when Blake came in.

"Who are you?"

He asked Chelsea.

"My name is Chelsea Brooke. I will serve Miss Rose."

"Okay. Chelsea, take good care of Rose."

"I am honored to serve Miss Rose."

She smiled broadly. I could feel the sincerity from Chelsea's smile. She really wanted to be my maid. It wasn't because someone told her to.

"Chelsea, have you prepared a meal?"

"Would you like to have it here?"

"Yes."

"Okay."

Chelsea lowered her head and left the room.

After a while, the fancy meal was ready. The dishes were made with great effort for the Crown Prince who had returned after a long time.

A smile bloomed on my face as soon as I tasted the soup. This was Terry's cooking.

"Is it tasty?"

I nodded.

The dishes were all delicious. However, it was somewhat surprising that there were no eastern dishes to be seen. Terry liked to cook eastern dishes, and so did Blake. However, there was no such thing on the table.

Dessert came out as soon as I finished eating. Furthermore, a variety of ingredients were prepared to go with the black tea.

I could feel Blake looking at me. I intentionally ignored my favorite lemon jam and added only one sugar cube.

Then I heard Blake laughing.