chapter 3
A week passed.
I no longer felt any need to return to my original body. I had completely adapted to Ariel’s life.
There was only one reason.
Being the eldest daughter on this side was a hundred times better than being the eldest daughter on that side.
One father, two younger siblings. The family makeup was the same, but the role of the eldest daughter was worlds apart.
Nobody came looking for me!
Nobody asked me for help!
Nobody caused trouble!
They didn’t even greet me!
True to its reputation as the greatest mastermind family in the setting, House Valienor boasted an utterly bleak family atmosphere.
The place was so eerie that if a vampire popped out on a full-moon night, nobody would bat an eye.
On top of that, everyone was as indifferent to each other as residents in a twenty-first-century high-rise apartment.
Ariel’s relationship with her family was basically that of apartment neighbors. Exactly that much. As long as nobody made noise complaints, there was no reason to see each other’s faces.
And that wasn’t just a figure of speech—they genuinely never saw each other.
Ariel lived in the annex, while the rest of the family stayed in the main mansion, making even accidental encounters rare.
On top of that, her younger siblings, Jeremiah and Davina, had never set foot near the annex to begin with.
A family member had practically come back from the dead, yet neither of them had bothered to show their face.
From Ariel’s perspective, that might have been hurtful.
From mine, it was fantastic.
Who in their right mind would willingly go meet the original story’s mastermind villain and villainess? If I could avoid them, I’d avoid them for as long as possible.
For that reason, I was rather fond of Valienor’s trademark “cold and distant family culture.”
I didn’t have a single complaint.
“Miss, what would you like for dinner?”
“I’d like veal steak tonight. Medium rare.”
“Shall we serve it in your room?”
“That sounds perfect.”
Tender, richly marbled steak. Grilled vegetables cooked to perfection. Mashed potatoes infused with the deep flavor of butter.
A flawless dinner prepared solely for me awaited.
I thought I’d fallen into a survival-themed romance fantasy, but after actually living here, it felt more like a healing novel.
Three proper meals a day. Medical treatment. Walks. Baths. Reading.
The only regret was knowing I’d eventually have to run away.
Just as I was sinking into bliss, thinking, so this is what happiness feels like, a phantom sob suddenly echoed in my ears.
Hwaaaah…
My shoulders twitched instinctively.
“Miss, is something wrong? Is there a problem?”
“N-No, nothing. The veal steak is just so good it’s giving me goosebumps.”
Damn it. I’d almost forgotten.
Why did it have to pop back into my head and ruin my happiness now?
Knock
knock
knock.
The sudden knock made my body stiffen.
For some reason, I had a bad feeling about this.
“See who it is.”
“Yes, Miss.”
I followed the maid with the corner of my eye.
Tension crept into the back of her neck.
My appetite vanished instantly.
“Miss, the Duke’s secretary has come to see you.”
Of course.
Bad feelings never miss their mark.
Silently mourning the happiness that had just been mashed flatter than boiled potatoes, I set down my fork.
“…What is it?”
“The Duke wishes to see you immediately in his office.”
Damn.
Life really isn’t easy.
Then again, what did I expect?
Hardship and adversity had always been my passive skill. I should just be grateful I got a brief taste of luxurious happiness.
Unlike the chaos in my head, a calm smile settled on my face.
It was a social survival skill honed through years of working life.
“Shall I let him in?”
“Yes.”
A long leg crossed the threshold beyond a faint sigh.
The man, impeccably dressed in a black tailcoat-style suit, immediately drew the eye.
When I looked up, his monocle stood out at once.
The moment I met the crimson iris embedded behind the glass like a gemstone, a chill shot down my spine.
A monocle.
Red eyes.
Red hair.
Ah.
I knew exactly who this was.
The one who had crushed my peace could only be Mikhail, the butler from the original story.
Mikhail was Jeremiah’s most trusted subordinate, a man who remained loyal until the day House Valienor was destroyed.
Which also meant—
This guy wasn’t exactly sane either.
If it was Valienor’s will, he never questioned it.
No matter how inhuman the order, he carried it out flawlessly. At times he seemed less human than an AI.
Honestly, Mikhail was even creepier than Jeremiah, who occasionally lost control and went berserk. Mikhail always remained cold and composed.
Since he was such an inscrutable character, one of the fandom’s biggest theories was that Mikhail was actually the real mastermind.
“What if Jeremiah is just a puppet and the redhead is the real mastermind?”
“Or maybe the redhead is taking orders from someone else.”
“The fact that he’s always expressionless makes him suspicious as hell.”
Everyone suspected Mikhail’s identity, but it was never revealed, even by the end of the story.
After Jeremiah died, Mikhail vanished without a trace as well, leading readers to criticize the author for leaving such a major plot thread unresolved.
“Wait, the redhead was just an ordinary butler? That’s an even bigger plot twist.”
“The author definitely couldn’t be bothered to wrap up that subplot.”
“Author… Mikhail is my favorite character. Could you at least tell us whether he’s alive or dead?”
To be honest, that last comment was mine.
Mikhail wasn’t actually my favorite character—I just liked him. But I figured if I claimed he was my favorite, the author might at least mention him in a side story.
If you’re wondering why I became attached to Random Supporting Character #1 over the male lead, female lead, and mastermind villain, the answer is simple:
Unlike the maniacs in this household, he actually listened when he was told to do something.
Without an ounce of caution, I raised my eyes and stared directly at Mikhail’s face.
I couldn’t look away from his trademark expressionless expression.
“Wow…”
With no expression at all, he wasn’t scary.
He just looked like a sculpture.
Even from this terrible angle of looking up at him from below, his features seemed even less human than his personality.
It was as if scientists obsessed with the golden ratio and master artists had joined forces to create the ultimate final product.
I found myself staring blankly until a lock of vivid red hair slipped across his neat forehead like a streak of blood.
The sight snapped me back to reality.
Ariel, get a grip. The man in front of you might be even crazier than your mastermind little brother.
The moment I fully recognized who he was, the back of my neck stiffened.
I swallowed hard, my mouth suddenly dry.
“Good evening, Miss. I am Mikhail, Secretary to the Duke.”
“Yes. It was a good evening.”
I had only managed to eat half my veal steak, but whatever.
Mikhail’s chilly gaze swept over me as if examining a specimen.
Despite his red eyes, there was nothing warm about them.
“I heard you’ve recovered considerably. How are you feeling?”
“Fine.”
“That is good to hear. Then I shall escort you to the Duke immediately.”
“All right. I’ll walk, so don’t prepare a carriage.”
The maid jumped in at my answer, visibly startled.
“Miss, are you sure? The annex and the main mansion are connected, but it’s still quite a distance for you to walk…”
“It’s fine. I just spent over thirty minutes walking earlier anyway.”
A small laugh escaped me at her familiar overprotectiveness.
The servants of the estate still treated me like fragile glass despite my improved health.
To be fair, Ariel’s body, after suffering from chronic illness for so long, was absurdly weak.
The first time I saw her body in person, I was genuinely shocked.
It felt like seeing an idol who looked thin on television, only to discover they were even thinner in real life.
Is she literally walking around on bones? One low kick and she’d snap in half.
Mikhail’s monocle gleamed ominously.
In a completely emotionless voice, he asked,
“Thirty minutes? Didn’t your arms and legs lose strength?”
“My physician said I’m perfectly healthy now. He only mentioned that I should gain some weight.”
“Then… are you no longer taking the medicine?”
As he questioned me, Mikhail fixed his gaze directly on the maid.
The maid’s face drained of color, and she hurriedly nodded.
“Both the blue medicine and the red medicine?”
“Y-Yes, that’s correct. T-That was the Duke’s order.”
“Ah, well, whenever I took it, it made me nauseous…”
And then I couldn’t stomach meat afterward.
I let my voice trail off as I gauged Mikhail’s reaction.
For a split second, his eyes lit up as though he’d just discovered an unidentified lifeform. Then he quickly smoothed over his expression.
“I see. Then shall we go?”
Contrary to his plain tone, Mikhail’s escort was graceful as a swan’s. His movements looked like something straight out of a guidebook on high-society etiquette.
Almost entranced, I reached out and placed my hand in his.
“By the way, why is the Duke looking for me?”
“He said there is something important he wishes to discuss with you, Miss.”
“I think this is the first time something like this has happened. The Duke’s never sent for me first.”
“That is correct. It’s quite unusual.”
Right. A lot of unusual things happen in life.
Sometimes your little brother crashes a motorcycle into a convenience store and you end up coughing up thirty million won in settlement money.
Thinking of my younger brother from my previous life, I tried to calm my racing heart.
As always, nothing soothed anxiety quite like righteous anger.
“Please watch your step, Miss. It gets a little darker once we pass through the corridor.”
“Okay. I’ll keep my eyes open.”
As we passed through the corridor connecting the annex to the main mansion, the lighting suddenly dimmed just as Mikhail had warned.
Even though it was only early evening, the main house of the Valienor estate was as dark as a moonless night, as if every window had been covered with blackout curtains.
A few candles flickered pitifully here and there, but it was like throwing eggs at a rock—completely ineffective. If anything, the scattered candlelight only added to the eerie atmosphere.
“…Good grief.”
Candles in a world with electricity? Seriously?
It’s not like they’re poor. Don’t tell me the abandoned-mansion aesthetic is intentional.
A sigh escaped me with every step.
I didn’t remember it being this bad.
It seemed that after the Duchess died, the Duke had simply stopped caring for the place.
“It’s been a really long time since I’ve been in the main house.”
“Yes. At long last, a rose has bloomed in Valienor again.”
…Huh?
A rose?
Did I hear that right?
I shot Mikhail a suspicious glance.
The human-AI hybrid was making jokes using Ariel’s nickname.
Even after thinking it over, I could hardly believe it.
Ariel Valienor.
Better known as the Rose of Valienor.
A girl blessed with lovely pink hair as vibrant and beautiful as a pink rose.
In the novel, Ariel was already dead, so mentions of her were few and far between.
“Everyone in Valienor was trash, but Lady Ariel wasn’t, from what I’ve heard. If she hadn’t died so young, maybe her siblings wouldn’t have turned out quite so crazy.”
People mourned Ariel, the family’s only normal member.
Ironically, though, not a single person had ever shared any actual memories of her while she was alive.
“A rose? Wait… are you talking about me?”
“Of course. Other than you, where in Valienor would I find a rose?”
At that moment, a passing candle flame briefly illuminated Mikhail’s face.
There was the faintest trace of amusement on the face of the man casually calling me a rose.
“…Are you smiling?”
Had I imagined it?
Or were my eyes playing tricks on me?
Since when did Mr. AI smile at me?
