Chapter 2
The maid let out a scream before she even realized it. But that scream seemed to trigger something—like a switch had been flipped. The frightened children all started screaming at once, as if they had agreed to do it together.
“Kyah!”
“P-please don’t kill me, young lady!”
“I-I want my mom!”
One of the kids even burst into tears and began sobbing. None of them even thought about running away. It was like their legs had given out.
“P-please don’t kill me, miss!”
“I’ll do whatever you say!”
“What are you all doing?!”
Ivna tried to calm everyone down, but to the children—who had only known normal lives—this was pure terror. The rumored monster. The cursed saint who could kill with just a touch.
No, the cursed witch. They all stared at Lilith, who just sat there quietly, as if she were a monster, and cried.
“Whoa. That’s scary.”
I glanced around and knelt down like the others. I wasn’t actually scared, so I didn’t scream. Everyone else was already loud enough—there was no need for me to add to it.
‘Is Lilith okay?’
I suddenly became curious about the girl at the center of the chaos and lifted my head.
“Can’t you all be quiet?! Do you want Miss Lilith to scold you?!”
Ivna was so busy shouting at the maids and children that she hadn’t even checked on Lilith. Lilith, who was receiving all those fearful stares. Her young eyes—no older than five or six—were trembling. As if she had given up on something… or maybe she was just very sad.
The moment I saw her eyes, I forgot about pretending and stood up like I was in a trance.
“Lilith…”
I meant to call her Miss, but maybe she couldn’t take it anymore—being treated like a monster. The air around Lilith started to ripple strangely. She looked surprised too.
‘What’s happening?’
Her face looked like she knew she’d done something she absolutely shouldn’t have.
“Ah… ahh…”
Her small voice sounded like it reached only me. Ivna was still yelling at the maids, not noticing. Lilith’s hand trembled.
“That’s…”
It felt like a weak breeze was blowing.
‘Lilith’s power.’
I had only heard the rumours, so I didn’t know the exact details. Just that the maids near her had died, bleeding from every part of their bodies.
‘Now that I think about it, this is around the time…’
When the villainess couldn’t control her powers and killed all the maids. It must be today. I instinctively realized her powers were starting to awaken.
“Head maid!”
I called out to Ivna and walked forward, pushing past the crying children. At this rate, every living thing in this room could be wiped out.
“Everyone, calm—”
Seeing me move snapped Ivna back to her senses. She finally turned to Lilith.
“M-Miss?!”
“Ugh… uhh…”
Lilith was already covering her face with both hands. Her small body was trembling all over with fear. It was like she knew exactly what was about to happen. And that she couldn’t stop it.
“Miss Lilith!”
Even Ivna, the only adult here, had fear in her voice. At the same time, the air around Lilith shook violently.
“Kyah!”
The ground trembled like there was an earthquake. The building felt like it might collapse.
“Haah… haah! I—I can’t breathe…”
A maid close to Lilith grabbed her throat and gasped.
“Please stop, Miss!”
Ivna shouted, but it seemed even she knew it wouldn’t work. She started inching away slowly.
‘What should I do?’
It was chaos. I bit my lip and looked around.
‘This is too early to die!’
I had only been born as “Chloe” in this world for about ten years.
“I don’t want to die again after only ten years!”
Using the noisy room as cover, I shouted. Through gritted teeth, I caught sight of Lilith again. Her small body was trembling in a chair far too big for her. As if saying that none of this—none of what was happening—was what she wanted.
‘She’s scared…’
Everyone here saw her as something terrifying.
Lilith Sheinen.
But to my eyes, she looked like the one who was most afraid right now.
“Please save me!”
Just as the maid in front of Lilith coughed up blood, I stepped forward.
Bang!
A loud crash rang out behind me, followed by more screams from the children. I ignored it all and ran toward Lilith.
‘Yes, Lilith too…’
A small villainess suffering alone. She was still just a five-year-old girl who needed protection. My breath came out ragged and heavy. I wrapped my arms around Lilith’s tiny frame.
“It’s okay, Miss.”
The closer I got to Lilith, the harder it became to breathe. But it wasn’t bad enough to make me cough blood. When I touched her, her body flinched.
“It’s okay. Don’t be scared.”
I held her shaking body and gently patted her back. I whispered softly in her ear. I was used to comforting kids—I had a younger sibling. Her tiny body flinched again. Lilith slowly looked up at me. Her red eyes, her tear-soaked face—she had been crying so much.
I smiled gently at her frightened eyes.
“Ah… ahh…”
“I’m Chloe. Starting today, I’ll be your maid.”
“Uhh…?”
Lilith’s eyes widened in surprise as she looked at me.
“From now on, I’ll protect you, Miss.”
Maybe it was because I wasn’t afraid of her. Lilith’s small hands reached out and clutched my clothes. At the same time, the shaking ground stopped. The air that had been pressing down on our lungs became lighter.
“Cl… Clo…”
It sounded like she was trying to say my name.
“Oh…”
Lilith hadn’t been born unable to speak. No one had ever taught her how. She was just awkwardly copying what she had heard. I forced myself to smile again.
“Yes, that’s right. Chloe.”
Her round, pale face crumpled, and she burst into tears, burying her face in my chest.
“Nice to meet you.”
The little villainess I met in person was just a normal child, unable to control her own power.
I looked down at Lilith, who had cried in my arms for a long time. Her crying had finally stopped.
‘Now what?’
Before I knew it, Lilith and I were the only ones left here. Ivna had been the first to calm down and led the other maids away from the room.
“Take care of Miss Lilith for a while.”
That was the only thing Ivna said to me before leaving with the maids. She looked like she struggled to remember my name but couldn’t in the end.
‘She looked at me strangely.’
I remembered the way Ivna kept glancing at me. Maybe she thought it was strange that I wasn’t scared of Lilith. After that, Lilith leaned more and more into me, so I ended up sitting down on the floor.
Even though some time had passed, Ivna and the maids hadn’t come back.
‘Don’t tell me… they really left me here alone?’
I was starting to feel uneasy. As I frowned, thinking about what to do, Lilith’s tiny head caught my eye.
‘Lilith can’t control her powers.’
Of course not—she hadn’t even learnt how to speak properly, so how could she have learnt to control something like that?
“Tch.”
At the very least, someone should be taking responsibility for this. I clicked my tongue and shook my head. Lilith flinched a little, then slowly lifted her head and peeked at my face.
“…Hiah…”
“What is it, Miss?”
I smiled at her again.
‘Wait, what did she just say?’
This time, I couldn’t quite understand.
“Hian…”
Her red eyes kept watching my expression carefully.
