“What is all this ruckus about?”

The plate fell from my hands with a crash. Spilling the foul-smelling rotten lump of meat and spicy soup all over the floor, I quickly raised a hand and slapped myself across the cheek.

At that moment, the door opened, and in came the no-good count.

The maid who’d been bullying me sucked in a surprised gasp. “M-master.” The flustered maids swiftly bowed. It was a stark difference from how they’d been treating me.

“I asked what this was about. Answer me,” he demanded.

I sniffled, my cheek burning red. And while the maid opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish as she tried to come up with an excuse, I cut in and said, “Y-Yoowuh Eclensy, she tode me to... to ea’ wif my han’s.” (Y-Your Excellency, she told me to… to eat with my hands.)

“What?”

“She seddat if I was lazy, I woud tuwn bawd like the cown’...” (She said that if I was lazy, I would turn bald like the count...)

A young child stood there with big, fat teardrops falling from her eyes, showing traces that she’d been struck. Despite being a full-grown adult, the maid was pale-faced and trembling in fear. Considering all this, it would have been hard not to believe me, no matter how much he hated me.

The cherry on top was that thanks to my dreams, I knew exactly what my uncle hated to hear the most: “Bald.” Count Evelan was a big man with a sagging, flabby stomach and a shining dome for a head who lost his reason the instant he heard the word “bald.”

“What?”

“She seddjoo wuh bawd becos you ayt too much...” (She said you were bald because you ate too much...) I sniffled again, deliberately emphasizing the word “bald.”

Gasping, the maid jolted and shook her head to deny it, but it was already too late. “Master...!”

“How dare you disrespect me in my own house. How dare you! How! Dare you!”

“N-no, milord!” she pleaded.

“What are you doing?” he yelled at the others. “Drag her out this instant!”

Goodbye, nameless maid. You have to be kicked out so that the other maids will hate me and drag me to the water pump.

“No, master, no, that thing is lying!” the maid shouted, but the count’s eyes scanned over my reddening cheek. It probably wouldn’t occur to him that a child might slap herself to make her lie believable.

In the end, the maid was hauled away, her scream echoing behind her. Count Evelan and I were the only two people left in the bedroom. His blue eyes gazed at me with contempt.

I remembered those eyes looking right at me without a single ounce of guilt as I fell to the ground. I also remembered how he’d stabbed me through the stomach one more time, just to make sure I was dead.

Wow, look at that glint in his eyes. He seems like he wants to kill me right this instant. But I wouldn’t be dying today. That knowledge made me want to be brave. Though my legs shook on their own accord and my mouth went dry, I held my head high and looked straight into those blue eyes.

“You will not be given any meals today either. Starve.” The situation was wrapped up with the awful count’s cold verdict. I clutched at my growling stomach, ignoring its whining. In any case, this was a small victory.

But food didn’t come the next morning, either.

* * *

I was so hungry I’d fallen asleep sucking my thumb. I repeatedly woke up and fell back asleep until I finally got up at noon.

“Here you go.” The maids rushed out, leaving behind bread and jam.

Edible food! I wanted to get up right away and stuff it all down my throat, but if I did, I was sure that I’d get sick again. I peeled off the outer layer of the bread and chewed on it like a cow chewing cud. The skin of the hard bread became softer the longer you chewed on it, making it easier to digest. I wonder if I’ll be able to eat more delicious food once I get my child support.

Grand Duke Khalid Passar Durndevre was a man who was called “the Demon of the Battlefield.” There were even rumors that said he truly was a devil. His two sons were each said to have temperaments like ice and fire, and nobody knew when, where, or from whom they had been born. All anyone knew was that they were strong and cold-hearted. Though Abel Durndevre, the second son who drank the poison I gave him without a single doubt, did seem less cold than the rumors made him out to be... No, they’re still dangerous people. I have to cut and run once I get what I need!

I finally swallowed the crust and used my teeth to tear off a piece of the rough insides.

Count Evelan may have abhorred me and confined me within the house, but publicly he was renowned to be a man of good character, so I had my doubts that the Durndevres would believe my information about him. But... that’s the only thing I have that I can sell.

Excuse me, would you like to buy some information on how to prevent the end of the world? I put on a fairly serious expression, spread both hands out confidently, and practiced, “Cheab, so cheab. Tot seecwe’ infowmaysho’ fow onwy a towsan gowd!” (Cheap, so cheap. Top secret information for only a thousand gold!)

“The stench is unbearable! Make sure to wash that thing today.”

“Yes, milord.”

Two days had passed when I heard the count’s orders from beyond the door. I lay with my eyes closed tightly, pretending to sleep.

“And don’t forget the wig. You must put it on her!”

Finally, it was the day! Without warning, my heart went into overdrive. I quietly took deep breaths to calm down. The maids would be coming in at any moment. I had replayed this scene in my head a hundred times to make sure I didn’t forget anything.

“Hey, His Excellency’s gone.”

“Drag that thing out.”

“How dare that little demon spawn parade around like a lady!”

The enraged maids circled my bed. I was so scared, but I did my best not to freeze up.

“Time to wash, kiddo.”

“We know a place that’s just perfect for you. We’ll wash you there. Look forward to it.”

Rough hands gripped me by my collar and yanked me up. I pretended to jump in surprise, coughing and squirming.

“Let go! Let go!”

“Why you little!”

“Yooooowuh Ecklensy!” (Yooooour Excellency!)

“His Excellency isn’t here now. Lady Marianne isn’t around either, so there’s no one for you to ask for help.”

They were right. The count had gone out and wasn’t coming back soon. But there was one thing the maids didn’t know: My aunt would be returning home shortly. When everyone was rattled by her unexpected return, that would be my chance to escape.

I deliberately stopped fighting and busily scanned my surroundings. The maids went through the hallway used by the staff and opened the back door, hurling me toward the water pump where they did the dishes and the laundry.

“Oof.” I barely managed to keep from biting my tongue.

There was a buzz of murmuring as the maids flocked around me. Soon, ice-cold water would fall over my head. When that happened, I had to cry out and sob as loud as I could. I can do this. I can... Please help me, Mommy. Help me endure it. Please.

I shut my eyes and withstood the deluge of water over my head. The maids cackled with laughter as they threw a bar of laundry soap at me. “There you go. You need to wash... my lady.”

“Yes. Do make sure to wash well with that bar of soap. By yourself, of course.”

“Of course, even soap couldn’t wash the filthy hair of a devil’s bastard white.”

All the maids here were followers of El-Halla, so they couldn’t help but hate me. I couldn’t know for sure, but followers of the Doctrine of Devils probably didn’t like El-Halla’s believers, either. So their words didn’t hurt me very much—it was just that it was so cold, my hands and feet were growing stiff. But that was all right. It was going to be all right.

“Pfffft!”

Torrents of water pelted down on me three times. The nightclothes I wore to bed were made of silk and felt soft against my skin, but they did nothing to keep me warm.

“Look at that! How could a thing like that be of noble blood?”

“What a joke!”

I crawled across the stone floor, looking for the hole in the wall I’d seen in my dream. The maids jeered at me, comparing me to a dog, but I didn’t hear a word they said.

There. It’s right there. It wasn’t that far away, even for my small legs. No, you could even call it close.

What about clothes? They must’ve planned to just get everything over with out here. A maid close by was clutching a wad of yellow cloth. That was my dress.

I endured their harassment, waiting and waiting for my chance. In my five-year-old state, it seemed to go on for a thousand years. Still, it didn’t last forever, and at last, my aunt arrived. I could hear the sound of footsteps, the footsteps I’d always been terrified of.

“What nonsense is going on here? Did you not understand when you were told to wash that thing and get it ready?”

A voice even colder than the water that soaked me stopped the maids in their tracks.

They gasped, “L-Lady Marianne...!”

This was the moment. Right now. This was my only chance, one that would never come again.

“Lemme go!” I clamped my teeth down on the arm of the maid restraining me. (Let me go!)

She yelled out in pain and reflexively loosened her grip, letting me push her off me with ease. As I leaped, I locked eyes with my aunt. Her eyes wavered with shock and some other emotion I couldn’t place, but the moment was fleeting. While everyone stood dumbfounded, I ran like the wind and snatched the dress from the maid’s hand.

“Why, you little!”

One maid was quick to recover and followed me through the small hole, grabbing at my shoe. I shook it off and threw off the other one as well for good measure.

Behind Evelan mansion was an alleyway. The streets I’d lived on in my third dream... No maid or guard would be able to find me there.

I took a deep breath and set out quickly. I had to find my father.