Chapter 2

Estella Margaret Montiel

It was exactly one month ago that Estella Margaret Montiel came to Bertha Duchy.

That was also the day Estella remembered her past life as a disillusioned elementary school teacher in Korea.

Nothing in particular had made her remember her past life. The moment she woke up in the last inn she stayed at before arriving in the capital, a completely different set of values had permeated her mind.

At first, she’d thought she had a dream. The memories she recalled were filled with absurd details.

In the world that suddenly dominated her mind, everything was completely different, from how developed the culture was to the appearance of the people she had associated with.

Everyone in the country had black hair and black eyes. It had to be a country in the East.

Perhaps influenced by Estella’s future destination, the woman in the dream was also a teacher who had more than thirty students. If it truly was a mere figment of her imagination, it was extremely extensive and realistic.

While eating bread for breakfast, Estella took the time to ponder the different food she had eaten in her dream.

As she recalled the taste of rice, stew, and several side dishes, she was finally able to accept that it was a memory from her past life. If it had purely been a dream, she wouldn’t miss the traditional fermented food so much.

She set the bread down, as the taste of it suddenly made her feel a bit queasy.

In her past life, she’d lived over thirty years with the assumption that Koreans loved rice, but ignorant to this fact, she had eaten only bread for the last twenty-two years. She was dumbfounded.

She would have lived perfectly fine without this memory, so why was she remembering her past life now as an adult?

It turned out that people didn’t go to hell or heaven after death. They were simply reborn. Even though she’d solved the ultimate question of all mankind, she wasn’t particularly happy.

If anyone woke up one morning and realized the truth about life and death, they would generally think, How absurd...!

Her memory of when she’d died was fleeting.

While on her way to school, she’d slammed on the brakes during a sudden traffic jam, but the truck behind her had failed to notice and crashed into her car.

As the trunk of the car approached her, she knew instantly that she would not survive the accident.

Her premonition had manifested into reality.

When she’d opened her eyes, she was in a country completely different from Korea.

No, it wasn’t just a different country. She had ended up in a completely different world.

Estella was a countryside noblewoman who was poor despite her status. At the same time, she lived in the city center where no one paid any mind to status.

Estella had never seriously thought about death until now even though she’d died once and had been reborn.

Although her perspective on life had completely changed, her circumstances remained the same.

She didn’t even have time to contemplate. She was on her way to an interview for the position of House Bertha’s governess.

Because her family had become poorer with each generation, Estella found herself seeking jobs that did not fit her noble status. A daughter from the humble rural nobility often faced that reality.

Not long ago, the Duke of Bertha had fired a tutor, creating a vacancy. As soon as Estella heard the news, she had sent a letter to the capital.

Surprisingly, she’d received a reply with the interview date.

Estella thought more seriously about the impending interview, putting aside the knowledge from her past life that was useless now.

The reason being, unless she got this job, she was in danger of adding “starvation” to “car accident” in the list of things that had killed her.

“Miss, we’ve arrived at your destination.”

With that announcement, the carriage rattled to a stop.

Trying her best to calm her nerves, Estella stepped out.

A sprawling, magnificent mansion welcomed her.

In the center of the high fence surrounding the site was an unyielding gate made of iron bars.

Estella was a bit intimidated by its domineering presence.

As the coachman prepared to leave, she asked him, “How do I get in?”

“Why are you asking me that?” the coachman answered curtly as if she’d just asked a ridiculous question, then left.

She had already paid for the ride so he had no need to worry about what happened to her after she was out of the carriage.

Estella hesitated for a moment, then walked toward the gatekeeper.

She didn’t want to talk to him because of his frightening visage, but it seemed she had no other way to get past the large iron gate.

She cleared her throat. “Uh, I’m here to apply for the governess position.”

As she said that, she admired the uniform the guard wore. Fortunately, he immediately knew who she was.

“Oh, are you Miss Estella?”

“Yes.”

“The butler told me about you. Please come inside.”

The guard’s response was much more gentlemanly than she had expected. Despite the commanding appearance of the high fence, her entry was anticlimactically easy.

Following the guard, Estella observed her surroundings.

The many elegant decorations the likes of which she had never seen before were a feast for her eyes. The majesty of the palatial mansion and the well-cultivated garden reminded her of the Palace of Versailles.

Even after entering, Estella was busy admiring the magnificent interior.

The guard seemed to recognize her behavior as something typical of a country bumpkin and asked her a question: “Is this your first time in the capital?”

“Yes, this is,” Estella answered calmly.

The guard responded cheerfully, “The capital is a different world. It’s difficult to find a building of this size with the exception of the Imperial Palace. I’m also a transplant. I was so intimidated when I first started working here. Ah, here we are.”

The guard seemed to notice his mistake of talking too much and took a half step back. Then he motioned for Estella to stand in front.

She followed the guard’s guidance and took a place in front of the large door.

The man briefly saluted. “Best of luck on your interview.”

After confirming the guard had left, Estella took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

The word “interview” had a way of making people nervous when announced in advance. But the person in the room didn’t even give her a chance to catch her breath.

“Come in.”

Estella carefully opened the door and entered.

An old man was sitting in the room.

He had neatly swept white hair, a monocle, and a trimmed beard. His appearance suited a specific profession.

Is he a butler?

“Welcome, Miss Montiel. My name is Javier, and I oversee the management of Bertha Duchy.”

The butler offered to shake hands.

Grabbing his outstretched hand, Estella also introduced herself.

“Hello, I’m Estella Margaret Montiel. Please call me Miss Margaret.”

The butler’s eyes twinkled with a strange tinge.

However, it was only for a moment. Javier understood Estella’s intention and nodded.

Nobles didn’t work.

Even if Estella had never rubbed shoulders with powerful families, having to look for a job was still embarrassing.

Montiel was not a famous family name, but she likely didn’t want to be addressed by her surname while she worked.

Sure enough, she smiled awkwardly and added, “Revealing my family name is embarrassing for me.”

“I understand, Miss Margaret.”

Javier placed his hand on his chest and nodded. This was a sign of respect.

After the polite gesture, he picked up the resume that was laid out on the table. Estella had sent the document to the mansion a week ago.

Javier took a moment to read the lines written by Estella. Just by looking at her neat handwriting, one could tell that she had received a fairly good education.

“As the notice indicated, you will be teaching two children: Master Cedric and Lady Cecilia.”

The names were strangely familiar.

Estella calmly nodded despite her slight puzzlement.

Javier glanced at Estella over the paper.

“You look healthy.”

“Yes, I can handle two children.”

“You said you were twenty-two years old?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent. Please follow me. The position is for a live-in governess, so a room will be provided. Let me show you the location of the dining room. I’ll explain the house rules to keep in mind as we walk.”

The butler stood up from his seat. Estella’s eyes opened wide.

It had been less than five minutes since she’d sat down on the sofa. She was very flustered by the sudden decision to hire her.

Following the butler, she stood up and asked, “Uh, is the interview over?”

“Yes, is there a problem?”

“Um... It’s just that you didn’t even check to see if I have the skills to teach children.”

Javier said, “Ah.” He turned from the door to face Estella.

Then he asked in a soft tone, “Is there anything untrue on your resume?”

“No.” Estella quickly shook her head while she tried to grasp the bewildering situation.

Javier casually threw out a question.

“I’ll ask you a simple problem then. If there are a total of six chests containing twenty-three apples, what is the total number of apples?”

He suddenly wanted her to do multiplication...?

She felt dazed but answered calmly, “138?”

“You passed.”

“Just because I answered that one question correctly?”