Chapter 10

I felt a little ashamed of my past self for ever having found this interesting.

Tap.

I closed the book without a hint of regret and got to my feet.

Rather than reading some ridiculous story about a dragon that amounted to nothing, chopping firewood was far more worthwhile.

“Whew.”

I stretched and stepped outside the front door. The air felt noticeably warmer.

The weather wasn’t particularly cold today, either. Could spring already be on its way?

According to Nina, who was in charge of the “Na” in the Ganadan Maid Squad, winters in Celeste were extremely unpredictable.

One day, it could be bitterly cold, and the next, the weather would clear up as if nothing had happened.

Then the fog would roll in again, and it wouldn’t be strange for frost-covered days to continue.

That was what Celeste was like.

I deeply agreed with the saying that the weather was practically the whim of the gods.

Still, today, with the gentle warmth in the air, tending a vegetable garden didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“Has the ground thawed enough?”

Ever since I had fallen over while chopping firewood, Betty had hidden the hand axe somewhere.

But there was one thing she didn’t know.

“I know there’s a pickaxe behind the woodpile!”

Hahaha! Now I could use this to turn over the soil.

The backyard of the cabin was perfect for cultivating a small vegetable garden, both in size and soil quality.

I’d plant lettuce, tomatoes, and herbs here.

And if there were chili peppers in this world…

I’d grow those too, along with napa cabbage and radishes, and then I could try making kimchi.

Although I was living a more satisfying life than in my previous life, there was exactly one thing I regretted about this world:

There was no rice and kimchi.

I’m Korean through and through.

I needed rice to have the energy to work!

That argument sounded more like an excuse, considering the Ganadan Maid Squad had grown up strong and healthy eating only Western-style food…

Still, I was more than willing to look into it and see if I could try growing rice or making kimchi.

I squatted down in the middle of the backyard and pressed my hands against the soil.

The dirt was cold, but the snow had already melted long ago.

Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if I loosened it with the pickaxe?

“Hnnngh!”

My thoughts were short, but my actions were swift.

I grabbed the pickaxe and slammed it into the ground with all my might.

“Argh!”

Then I immediately threw the pickaxe away.

No, actually, it was more accurate to say that I was the one who got thrown away.

The ground was soft, so the pickaxe sank into it without much resistance.

The problem was that something as hard as a rock was hiding underneath.

Zzzzt!

The shock traveled up through the pickaxe as if an electric current had run through my body, making every hair on my body stand on end.

“My hand!”

Right.

This body was weaker than I thought!

Thinking of Betty, the smallest but strongest of all the maids, I shed bitter tears of envy inside.

If Betty saw me in this state, she’d have a fit.

I absolutely cannot let her find out.

It would be better to pretend none of this ever happened.

One Betty was already more than enough to handle, but somehow, I now had six overprotective guardians.

If they found out I’d been digging around with a pickaxe all by myself…

They might start taking turns standing guard and literally prevent me from taking even one step outside my blanket.

“I refuse!”

Let’s pretend it never happened. Yes. Nothing happened.

Just as I pulled the pickaxe from the soil and was about to roughly kick dirt over the hole to destroy the evidence—

“?”

Something dangling from the end of the pickaxe came loose.

“What is this…?”

Could I catch something with this? From the ground?

It was utterly absurd.

I stared blankly at the object hanging from the end of the pickaxe.

It was an antique silver cup with handles on both sides.

It was covered in elaborate patterns and looked quite expensive.

If it were a little larger, it could probably have been used as a championship trophy for some kind of competition.

Moreover, considering it had been buried in the dirt, it was suspiciously shiny.

“…This feels ominous.”

Something about it gave me such a bad feeling that I didn’t feel comfortable bringing it into the house.

I used the pickaxe to gently scrape out a shallow hole in the soil, placed the silver cup back inside, and covered it up.

“Nothing happened. Yep, yep. That’s right.”

…Or so I thought.

“Madam, are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?”

Lia, who was in charge of the “Ra” in the Ganadan Maid Squad, looked at me with concern.

Despite having impressive, bulging muscles, she was the most tender-hearted of the girls.

I smiled awkwardly and shook my head.

But inside, I was on the verge of rotting away from misery.

“I-I’m fine…”

“How could you be fine? There’s a shadow over your beautiful face.”

Saying that, Lia quickly fetched a hand mirror and held it in front of me.

My reflection in the mirror…

Even I could see how haggard I looked, with dark circles hanging heavily beneath my eyes.

And there was a good reason for that.

I hadn’t been able to sleep properly for the past few days.

My life’s genre had changed from a “peaceful healing rural story” to a “horror, dark, and depressing tale.”

“Madam~ Time to eat!”

Just then, Garnet, Nina, and Dora entered the cabin one after another, each carrying a tray with bright smiles on their faces.

They even enter in alphabetical order…

Apparently, the Ganadan Maid Squad had connections in the kitchen as well, because ever since they had declared themselves my footrests, my meals had become noticeably more elaborate.

But I had grown accustomed to healthy food, so all that greasy food was difficult for me to eat.

Thus, after we all shared the food they’d prepared on the first day, they went back to serving the same healthy meals as before.

The Ganadan Maid Squad had been terribly upset about it and begged me to at least let them prepare enough food to satisfy their hearts’ content.

I couldn’t bring myself to refuse them.

And that was why they had come carrying three whole trays like that…

“Madam. Today, we specially prepared some wine to cleanse your palate after the meal. Dora and I stole it from Lady Katarina’s meal!”

“It was quite thrilling!”

“Ha ha ha!”

“Hee hee hee!”

“Kyah hah hah!”

Normally, I would have laughed along with them and said, Not bad, you guys.

But today, I couldn’t.

“Eek!”

“Oh my! Madam, are you all right?”

“What happened?!”

“Who did this?!”

Even Betty and Marie, who had been cleaning the windows and sweeping the yard in the distance, came running at the sound of my horrified scream and immediately assumed battle positions.

I buried myself in Garnet’s enormous chest, trembling.

Honestly, I was genuinely terrified!

And the reason was, without a doubt…

“That silver cup! Where did you get it?”

“The silver cup? It was on Madam’s table this morning, and it was pretty, so we used it…”

“AAAH! You crazy thing! Crazy silver cup!”

“Madam!”

Yes!

It was all because of that silver cup!

That suspicious silver cup I’d picked up a few days ago when I’d gotten carried away trying to make a vegetable garden!

I had definitely covered it up properly and thought I’d quietly put the whole thing behind me without anyone finding out.

But strange things had started happening that very night.

That night, after I’d buried the whole incident deep in my mind as if nothing had happened, I took a thorough bath and flopped down onto my bed to sleep.

“?!”

Something was digging into my back.

When I lifted the blanket—

The silver cup was there.

“That’s creepy!”

The sudden chills made me throw the silver cup out the window.

And…

That was only the beginning.

“AAARGH!”

I threw it out the window, buried it in the ground, and even left it in the main building.

I had hung it from a tree in the mountain behind the cabin and walked away.

But whenever I came to my senses, the silver cup would be back beside me, like some immortal wandering beggar who refused to die and kept returning!

It wasn’t even some kind of Exorcist’s Bell!

After this had repeated itself for several days, I was practically developing neurosis.

Yesterday, I’d buried it under a tree in the Grand Ducal Castle’s garden, thinking, This has to be the end of it.

An evil spirit! At this point, it has to be an evil spirit.

They said I was cursed.

Could that be why?

Was it actually true?

Was I not simply being gaslit in some medieval fashion because my eyes were red and I was different from everyone else?

Was I actually cursed?

That was when—

“Madam, look at this!”

Marie, who had instantly dropped her battle stance, widened her eyes and held the silver cup toward me.

“Something is reflected inside the silver cup!”

“What?”

The moment I heard that, an uncontrollable wave of curiosity surged through me.

To be honest, there was some pride involved too.

I’d already been trying to find a way to end this exhausting game of hide-and-seek.

If it really was an evil spirit, I was prepared to resort to a physical exorcism without hesitation.

I looked toward my reliable reinforcements, the Ganadan Maid Squad.

As expected, their magnificent muscles had not gone anywhere. They were proudly displaying their natural beauty.

With their grip strength, an evil spirit would be nothing more than a one-punch opponent.

That’s right. Even if I’m weak, my allies are freaking strong… Maybe they can beat up a ghost too.

Emboldened by my petty, sycophantic courage, I cautiously peered inside the silver cup.

And inside it was…