Chapter 2: Volume 1 - CH 2

But she didn’t die.

In the original storyline, Selina regretted why she didn’t die and even avoided death.

Of course, I was aware of the cause.

“You changed the drug yesterday. Isn’t that right?”

“Gasp!”

Penny’s startled, her eyes wide open.

“I-I’m-I’m sorry, My Lady!”

Knowing my changed mood, Penny knelt down and bowed her head.

“But I couldn’t pretend not to know, at the thought of the late Countess, your dead mother.”

I gazed around the dingy bedroom, letting the tiny weeping Penny behind.

Mold, rat hole……

‘Whew.’

The sobbing cries of Penny matched the gloomy atmosphere very well.

“I’m really sorry, My Lady…… but you can’t just leave in vain……”

“That drug you replaced gives me a headache and I just remember it, what drug was it?”

“What!? It couldn’t be…… it was simply a sleeping drug you used to take! I’m telling you the truth, My Lady!”

Penny gave me back the drug vial she had hidden.

This was the real potion. The eternal rest potion.

I looked with a suspicious gaze at the small vial..

“Didn’t you take money from my mother, and give me a hallucinogen that manipulates my memory?”

“My Lady!”

Penny shook her head almost screaming and insisted on her innocence.

“No! I really didn’t do that!

“But you did get paid, right?”

Penny looked as if she had wronged.

“Well, I did get paid but I gave it all to you……”

It was the truth. Penny did get paid and gave all that money to Selina. She didn’t even take a penny from that.

‘The lady who uses money from her maid. As expected, the story indeed is ridiculous.’

But Penny’s situation wasn’t good either. She has three sick brothers starving at her home.

I felt sorry for bothering Penny for a moment, so I decided to give her a reward.

“I will help you treat your brothers from now on.”

“What?”

“But you need to help me, too.”

“What do you want me to help you with? I’ll always……”

“First of all, how old am I now? I can’t remember well because of the drug you gave me.”

“That’s weird…… It was a real sleeping drug. Is it because the dose was too much?”

Penny scratched her head in confusion.

“Can you tell me how old I am?”

“You’re 18 years old, My Lady.”

Penny’s brow was slightly furrowed.

She seems concerned about my condition.

‘This is the start of the plot line.’

A moment in which Selina opens her eyes after attempting suicide but failing.

‘So the invitation Shanon going rampage about is……’

The Queen’s Birthday Banquet!

That’s where Selina’s first meeting with a fucking guy called the ‘Male Lead’ takes place.

‘Yes, Male Lead, get lost.’

I didn’t like the fact that he was the Male Lead.

If I had to explain why, one hand wouldn’t be enough.

The first reason was that he was older. He was six years older than Selina.

The second reason was his disturbed lower limbs, and he already had a lot of ladies. I suspected he had sexually transmitted diseases.

The third reason was that he believed himself as the greatest man in society, but he’s simply too bad for me.

The fourth reason was that he was overly kind to Camilla and Shannon (ㅗ).

(T/N: ㅗ middle finger)

The sixth reason was because of how he treated Selina, with his bottom and tongue.

And the sixth, and most crucial, reason was that he was such a jerk.

The Male Lead, who spoke to Selina informally from the start, was a sucker who felt he had better taste than the rest.

In a nutshell, he’s a jerk who shouldn’t be in a relationship!

‘But I have to go to the banquet.’

Is the Empress’s birthday banquet the only way I can get a man?

‘In any case, I’m well-versed in this.’

All I have to do is stay away from him.

“Shannon mentioned an invitation from the Imperial Family, right?”

“What? Yes, indeed! It’s been six months since the Capital……”

Penny’s eyes were filled with curiosity at the moment.

“How did you find out?”

“I heard Shannon yelling.”

“Will you……be going?”

“Yeah.”

Penny was taken aback by my nonchalant reply.

“But I thought you hate to attend the banquet, My Lady.”

That’s because Camilla asked Selina to attend the banquet so she could be disgracing Selina in front of others.

Who wants to dress in disgracefully shoddy clothing and become a one-sided laughingstock while failing to get along with others?

Selina, on the other hand, originally timid and too self-conscious.

“I changed my mind. I’m thinking of going to enjoy the banquet now.”

“What? Oh, my God, someone who usually despises leaving the bedroom……”

“Pe-people look-looking at me, I-I hate it.”

“You’re beautiful. That’s why everyone is looking at you. They are talking to you because they want to be close to you.”

“Oh, my mother has said it all. I… I’m, speak, stutter at speaking.”

“My Lady, I think something’s changed.”

“Really?”

“Yes, you somehow really changed…..a lot……”

Of course, because I’m not Selina.

“I’m simply trying to enjoy my life to the fullest. In any case, you saved my life. Thank you very much.”

Penny stared at the empty vial, then back at me.

She appeared to believe I had changed my mind about suicide thoughts.

“So…… what are you planning to wear to the banquet, My Lady?”

“Do you believe there are things in my closet for me to wear to that banquet?”

Penny gently shook her head.

Selina, who was reluctant to go out, didn’t even have a banquet gown.

“Good. I’ll start by going to the boutique. Request the butler to prepare the family carriage.”

The imperial dinner was still a long way off, but I needed to prepare for it.

“But the butler accompanied the Countess to the hunting grounds.”

Righ. Camilla’s favorite hobby was hunting. She spent almost half a month in the hunting ground.

“Then you have the option of bringing the servant or the horseman.”

Penny stopped as she exited my room, nodding doubtfully.

“Lady, you don’t stutter at all anymore……?”

She didn’t seem to be able to adjust because I had entirely changed.

“Do you want me to live a stuffy life like I used to, unable to look people in the eyes and unable to say anything?”

“Oh, no!”

“Then get me a carriage.”

“Yes!”

White dust erupted from the area where Penny rushed out, and old curtains flapped.

I realized that this world existed and was real.

One by one, that awful horror story about the Male Lead started to integrate to memory.

“It is your responsibility, Selina, to satisfy me. A woman who doesn’t know where she belongs isn’t entertaining.”