Chapter 07

 

“Where is Anette Etheled? Why are you here alone?”

Berndt Royce set down his cup of warm tea as he spoke.

Lucas entered the drawing room, shrugged, and sat across from him.

“Coincidentally, she is already part of this temple.”

“Hah, do you even know who she is? She is an Etheled. 

The Etheled protected by the Royce family.”

“But it seems she has no intention of returning to that Royce family.”

“What? She doesn’t want to return?”

Berndt couldn’t believe what he had just heard. Anette does not want to return. That was ridiculous.

What could she possibly do in this temple, which had nothing?

The story about her joining as a maid had to be a lie.

Now that Heine was safely on her way to becoming the crown princess, he had assumed Anette would give up.

Yet she was still being stubborn.

Was this just another way to throw a tantrum?

And more importantly, why was the commander of the temple’s first knight order trying to protect Anette?

Berndt’s sharp eyes studied Lucas carefully.

‘So, just because he’s a temple knight, he thinks he can use the legend of the goddess’s bloodline to protect Etheled? How ridiculous.’

Anette belonged to the Royce family. If anyone had the right to protect her, it was him, the heir to the Royce family, not some temple knight.

“Bring Anette here right now. I’ll confirm it myself.”

“…It seems like you’re mistaken about something.”

“…What?”

“In this temple, the only one who can give me orders is the goddess Hella.”

“You dare…?”

Berndt glared at him as if he wanted to kill him.

But Lucas was right.

The temple, which served the goddess, was a place even nobles couldn’t interfere with easily.

Berndt bit his lip and stood up from his seat.

It wasn’t like there weren’t people inside the temple who fed information to the Royce family.

For now, it would be better to watch and see what Anette was planning.

“I’ll be back soon. When I return, I must see Anette.”

“If she wishes to see you, anytime.”

“…….”

Berndt shot him a cold glare before turning around and leaving. Lucas smiled slightly.

Seeing Berndt suppress his anger was amusing.

What was so special about Anette that made him so obsessed?

A noble by blood but living as a commoner—Anette was starting to pique Lucas’s curiosity.

Anette did as planned and showed her injury to Anna, proving how hard she was working.

But the head maid’s reaction wasn’t very welcoming.

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have come here after all.’

Anette regretted not getting treated by a healing priest instead.

It seemed that the rumors of her past misdeeds had reached Anna’s ears.

Now that people knew who she was, they were starting to avoid her.

Anette worried she might get fired from her easy part-time job.

So, she worked even harder all day, trying to regain trust.

However, despite her efforts, people only continued to avoid her.

‘Berndt Royce, that useless bastard.’

Everything was fine with Anna and the others before he showed up.

Handsome but annoying.

In the novel, he is very affectionate toward Heine.

At the beginning of the story, when Anette first arrived at the duke’s estate, he had been kind to her as well.

He even gave her flowers shyly, like an adorable young boy.

But that was only because Anette had been quiet and obedient at first.

As time passed, her personality had turned nasty.

She bullied the servants and tormented Heine and Berndt, making him start to hate her.

Of course, all of that had been Anette’s fault in the novel.

But that had nothing to do with her now.

She spent the rest of the day cursing Berndt Royce as she worked.

After finishing all her tasks, Anette returned to her room, exhausted.

She was too tired to even dry her hair and collapsed onto the bed.

Her body had never been strong.

“Ugh, I’m so tired.”

Lying on the bed, she massaged her sore arms.

Her muscles ached as if she had never used them before.

As she rubbed her arms, she tried to recall information from the novel.

The kingdom of Aureolus, along with all the other nations on the continent, worshiped the goddess Hella.

The largest temple, dedicated to the goddess, was located in the capital of Aureolus.

And that was exactly where Anette was now.

Aureolus’s royal power was weakening.

The king had no heir.

Since all the nations that followed the goddess Hella strictly upheld monogamy, divorce was forbidden.

Remarrying was only allowed in cases of a spouse’s death.

Some nobles secretly had affairs, but if caught, they were punished.

Aureolus’s king had no prince or princess.

So, nobles with even the slightest connection to the royal bloodline were vying for the throne.

The Royce family was one of those ambitious noble houses.

In a continent that revered the goddess Hella, the legendary bloodline of Etheled was a powerful asset.

Although the novel didn’t explain it in detail, Anette could guess.

She had probably been kept around because she was politically useful, no matter how terrible she was.

‘Disgusting.’

They abandoned her, only to come looking for her again.

It made her sick.

Fine. Money—just think about money!

The currency here was called “Raud” instead of won.

One Raud was roughly equivalent to 1,000 won.

If she worked hard, she could probably save enough to open a small shop someday.

That was still better than her past life before she died. Thinking of that, her motivation to work hard flared up again.

But her excitement quickly died down.

‘Ugh, forget the novel. I just want some ramen.’

Curling up in bed, Anette thought about all the food she missed.

She had lived on ramen to save money in her previous life.

Back then, she had been sick of it, but now she craved it more than anything.

Someday, she would get permission from the chef and cook something herself.

She was getting tired of eating bread.

As days passed, the people working in the temple grew colder toward her.

It seemed like they were afraid of her.

‘Imagine getting bullied at a part-time job.’

Of course, they weren’t intentionally trying to hurt her, but avoiding her had the same effect.

Thinking about it made her feel miserable.

They assumed she had come to the temple with some kind of hidden agenda.

Her only agenda was getting paid.

Since no one gave her any tasks, Anette had to find work on her own.

Like a predator searching for prey, she wandered through the temple.

And then, she spotted her target.

“Ah! Julie!”

Holding a cleaning rag, Anette’s eyes lit up as she saw one of the maids who had been nice to her.

Her best coworker and rival, Lucy, had taken the day off.

This part-time job even came with vacation days. Anette couldn’t afford to lose it.

Anette ran toward Julie.

“Wait! Julie! Why are you running?!”

“Ahhh!”

Julie screamed and ran away.

What the hell?! I didn’t even do anything!

Anette’s stamina was terrible, but she was persistent.

Eventually, she caught up and grabbed Julie’s shoulder at the end of the hallway.

“Hic… I-I’m sorry!”

Panting, Anette held onto her shoulders and tried to catch her breath.

“Wait… I just wanted to ask where you were going…”

“But… why did you chase me so scarily?”

“Because you ran away first!”

“Hic…”

Feeling bad, Anette patted Julie’s shoulder to calm her down.

Julie flinched at every touch.

“I’m innocent, Julie! Think of me as your daughter and just listen!”

“But… my daughter is only five years old…”

“Daughter is daughter!”

Julie hesitantly nodded.

“Listen, I only came here to make money. I don’t even have a home to return to!”

Julie was different from Anette—she was a part-time worker who commuted home.

Unlike Julie, Anette had nowhere else to go, so the temple was the safest place for her.

Eventually, Julie started listening.

“So… you just want work?”

“Yes! No one’s giving me any because they keep avoiding me…”

Julie hesitated.

Anette was still scary, but her desperate eyes were even scarier.

In the end, Julie gave in.

“Okay… But the Second Knight Captain is very picky, so you have to clean carefully.”

“Of course!”