The maid following me was named Connie Crimson.
Unlike the other maids, she was a commoner and the youngest, handling various odd tasks. She was quite skilled with her hands but timid and fainthearted, with hardly any presence.
The maids were always extremely wary of anyone getting close to me.
‘It must have been Simon’s orders.’
Thus, my maids were often replaced.
Among them, however, Connie remained as my maid for eight years in my previous life. She had no presence and kept a distant relationship with me until the very end.
But that timid girl stood in front of me in my final moments.
“R-run…”
She couldn’t even finish saying ‘Run away’ before she died. I didn’t even have the chance to do anything.
‘Connie.’
After returning to the past, I looked at her light brown hair and eyes and decided right then.
‘From now on, you will be my closest confidant.’
Someone I could trust.
She may not have spoken kind words to me or been affectionate, but she remained loyal until the very end.
“Your Highness, you don’t look well at all. Are you okay?”
The day after I had been harshly treated by the concubine, it was Connie who took care of me first.
The other maids were busy trying to gauge the situation, siding with Simon.
‘You’re the only one who’s truly mine.’
Despite her personality, she shouted at large, intimidating men, taking my side.
But just as I didn’t fully understand Connie, she didn’t fully understand me either.
While tidying my clothes, she murmured in a timid voice,
“…I… I didn’t know Her Highness could speak like that… You weren’t like this in the palace…”
“Even I know how to read the room.”
I replied softly, glancing at the modest furnishings around us.
“I couldn’t speak or act comfortably in front of the maids like I did in the North.”
I knew such language was considered uncouth and that other noble ladies would never speak that way.
But that’s simply how I grew up—among people who genuinely didn’t know better and a mother who abandoned me.
Mother always said, “Stay here. Don’t go to the capital and become a burden to Edwin. You’re not fit for the palace, so there’s no need for education.”
I felt no closeness to such a mother. As a child, I desperately wanted to belong, to blend in naturally rather than being left out and merely “served.”
“Connie, I want you to adapt.”
I spoke with my usual grace and kindness.
“This isn’t the palace. This is how I’ve always been.”
“B-but… still…”
Connie continued to tremble.
It felt like it would take a long time for us to communicate properly at this rate.
“Hmm… Really? Then how can I help you adapt?”
Looking around, I spotted a rickety chair that seemed destined for the trash. Honestly, the entire household was a mess.
“Watch carefully, Connie.”
I channeled aura into my foot and kicked the creaky chair. It crumbled instantly.
Connie’s eyes widened.
I smiled sweetly and said,
“It’s an order. Will you adapt?”
“Yes!”
Connie replied immediately.
“Understood!”
She didn’t even stutter.
“But I’ll have to brace myself… It seems like it’s just me and Your Highness in this mansion. I’m glad I brought plenty of clothes and accessories.”
Her voice still carried a hint of bewilderment.
“I looked around the mansion, and it’s a wreck. There’s nothing properly maintained here.”
That was based on Connie’s and other city dwellers’ standards.
From the perspective of the resource-scarce, poorly connected North, this barony’s estate wasn’t too uncomfortable to live in.
“If someone else came here, they might have fainted.”
The real problem was that they had no idea how bad it truly was.
“Can you believe it? The cleaner said this mansion was bought for 8 billion gold! Do people here exaggerate that much? He even claimed to be a knight!”
“Hmm… Connie, I’m sorry, but I have to tell you something horrifying.”
“Huh? More horrifying?”
“That’s probably all true. The people here never exaggerate about anything except the size of the prey they missed.”
Connie’s jaw dropped as if accepting a terrible truth.
I sighed deeply.
To be honest, the mansion’s size and location weren’t bad.
“But it’s just so old and poorly maintained.”
The furnishings purchased along with the mansion were also a disaster, far from what a noble family would use. Most importantly, even the average count’s estate in the capital was cheaper than 8 billion gold.
“Connie, listen carefully.”
I smiled brightly and said,
“From now on, I’m going to turn this hopeless mess into a proper noble family.”
“…What?”
“A noble family that no one can look down on.”
I strode to the table, sat down, and grabbed a pen.
“Watch.”
“This won’t be easy.”
I made my assessment immediately.
“They’ve got all types of value—and they’re exceptional in all of them.”
Arthur had been wealthy since his mercenary days, practically monopolizing the resources scattered across the North.
Connie furrowed her brows and muttered, “But for some reason, the people here look like their clothes are a bit cheap. Do they really have that much money?”
As a maid chosen to serve a princess, her eye for detail was sharp.
I quickly dispelled her doubts.
“They have enough to give a fifteen-year-old kid 8 billion gold as pocket money to buy a ‘decent’ house.”
“Oh, I see.”
Connie understood immediately.
“They gave it to him like buying a child a suitable toy, didn’t they?”
“Exactly. That’s a sharp observation. Good analogy.”
Praising her, I moved on to the next point: ‘Strength.’
“Both Viscount Barcklith and Kayan are incredibly strong.”
“Even the… young master? He still looks so young.”
The “young master” Connie referred to was Kayan.
I nodded without hesitation.
“Yes. He has an extraordinary innate sensitivity to aura. He’s still young, but he’s probably the strongest in this estate.”
That wasn’t all. Though he accidentally earned the title of “knight,” the knights of Barcklith were originally mercenaries who had followed Arthur since his days as the “Mercenary King.” Their loyalty was absolute.
It was no coincidence that Arthur had conquered the lawless Northern lands and claimed a viscountcy as soon as he set his mind to it.
‘It would be great to send them to the Eastern front to end the war…’
Then my brother could return, and everything would be much easier.
But unfortunately, the Eastern front relied heavily on naval battles, and Barcklith’s forces, who had never seen the sea, weren’t particularly suited for it.
‘No choice but to let my brother keep slogging through the battlefield.’
Even with my regression, it was a problem I couldn’t solve.
‘When he returns, Simon will quickly rise as the leader of the pro-crown prince faction and enjoy great success. My brother will likely cower before him, grateful that Simon looked after me in his absence. Watching that would be unbearable.’
I quickly pushed thoughts of my brother aside and moved to the third point.
“Lastly, appearance.”
“Ah, this one is easy to tell.”
Connie agreed with more confidence than ever.
“Is the viscount, Kayan’s father, as handsome as he is? Since he’s an adult, he must be even more impressive.”
“Oh, no, not at all.”
I answered awkwardly.
“They have the same hair and eye color, but they don’t resemble each other physically. The viscount is bulky and muscular, a bit rough-looking.”
“…I’ve seen enough big builds in this estate… So, does Kayan take after the viscount’s wife?”
At her question, I flinched. The term ‘viscount’s wife’ felt unfamiliar to me.
“Well… um… I don’t really know.”
“…What?”
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