“You want to become my maid?”

She was admiring me.

Cahirun, who had been staring at me with his chin resting crookedly in a slouched posture, chuckled. I closed my eyes tightly at his mischievous expression, already knowing the real reason I had come.

Damn it. Who would have thought this guy would be the First Prince?

“Alright.”

Surprised by his crisp permission, I opened my eyes as Cahirun stood up from his chair. He strode across the room with his long legs, circling around the desk. As he approached with an unsettling aura, I had the feeling that I might have gotten myself into trouble. Should I bolt now? As I glanced behind me and took a slight step back,

“You’re not thinking of running away now after coming all this way on your own, are you?”

Cahirun’s long fingers suddenly caught my chin. His eyes conveyed a subtle pressure, as if saying it would be better to give up quietly if that was my intention.

‘Why did it have to be this lunatic!’

With so many men in the world, how could this madman be the First Prince?

As I wandered my gaze in this thoroughly messed up situation, he scrutinized me carefully before curling up the corners of his perfectly handsome lips.

“Go ahead, seduce me to your heart’s content.”

Cahirun leaned in close, bringing his face near as he narrowed his eyes seductively.

“I’m quite willing to fall for it.”

* * *

“Oh, the shoe fits perfectly!”

The servants exclaimed. The prince’s expression sparkled with love as he gazed down, entranced, at the dazzlingly radiant golden-haired girl.

“I’ve finally found you. I searched the entire empire to meet you.”

As the prince held out his hand, the girl blushed shyly and bit her lip. Hesitating for a moment, she carefully placed her hand in his. Beneath the hem of her worn dress, transparent glass slippers encased her small, white feet.

The sunlight streaming through the window brightly illuminated the couple, as if blessing the lovers whose fates had just intertwined.

And I was watching this scene from a step back, feeling dizzy. Based on the intuition I’d built up over the years, I guessed that girl’s name was,

“Cinderella, just look at that flirtatious little minx putting on airs!”

Hearing the middle-aged woman trembling and biting her handkerchief, I was certain. Ah, so I’ve undergone the possession I’ve only heard about. I’m doomed.

* * *

To think that the “I thought I was dead, but when I came to my senses, I was possessed by a character in a novel!” trope I often read in romance fantasy novels would become my story.

Seeing as everyone called me Reneola Violet, this was definitely the novel “And Cinderella Lived Happily Ever After”. This novel, based on the fairy tale, followed the original story of a poor girl named Floria who was mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters before marrying the prince – a plot everyone knows.

The problem was that the fairy tale it was based on happened to be a cruel one.

In “The prince’s bride Floria sent pigeons to peck out her stepsisters’ eyes and blind them”, one of those “stepsisters” was me, Reneola Violet.

“I’m thoroughly screwed.”

Of all times to be possessed, it had to be when all that’s left is to get my eyes pecked out by pigeons! If only I’d been possessed a little earlier, I could have either won Cinderella’s heart or run away.

“No, I thought I was dead, but here I am alive.”

I tried to calm my breathing. I should be grateful for this miraculous situation where I survived a head-on collision with a truck. Think positively. People follow their thoughts, after all.

“The charm of possession novels is the deviation from the original.”

Surely it won’t follow the original predictably? The fact that I’m possessed is proof that the original has already deviated!

I nodded, thinking of Cinderella. Golden hair that seemed to radiate light, skin as white as jade, eyes as clear and blue as the sea, and cheeks flushed shyly. Her lips were pink like ripe peaches.

No matter how you look at it, she’s the typical kind-looking female protagonist. I believe in that face that smiled shyly!

“My lady, the Avey merchant group has contacted us to cease trade.”

“My lady, the bank is urging repayment of the promissory notes.”

“There are still no letters from the Middleton Count’s family today.”

“The ship that left for Failden has been seized locally on suspicion of illegal trading.”

“The servants are resigning one after another due to delayed wages…”

“I’m sorry, madam. I too will be returning to my hometown now…”

So much for belief.

Cinderella’s hands were unnecessarily quick. The prestigious Violet Countess’s family collapsed in an instant. Notices of trade suspension and demands for debt repayment flooded in from everywhere, and even when we tried to ask for help, all families closed their doors to the Violet family, leaving us no options.

After dismissing all the servants and selling even the mansion, our last stronghold, the Violet family was driven to a small countryside on the outskirts. As Eliya looked around the old house with cracks everywhere and cobwebs hanging, she finally burst into tears. Her cries echoed loudly due to the emptiness all around.

“How can we live in a place like this!”

The Count and Countess also wore gloomy expressions as they watched their daughter throw down her suitcase and cry unrestrainedly like a child.

“If I’d known it would come to this, I should have gotten married earlier. Who would want to marry me now!”

Eliya, who seemed to have discarded her dignity as a noble lady, sat down on the floor with a thud and buried her face in her knees. Watching her regret the days when she had been picky about men with her nose in the air, I wanted to tell her that what she should be worried about now are her eyes shedding tears like chicken droppings, not marriage, but I held back.

‘I told you we should have run away earlier.’

I had a bad feeling from the moment Avey merchant group sent notice of ceasing trade. As expected, Cinderella followed the original route exactly as I had hoped and feared. Thus, I argued that we should take whatever assets the Count of Violet had left and flee abroad, but he was excessively optimistic.

He acted complacently, saying things would be fine if we just held out a little longer, and in the end, we were left with a pile of debt.

I looked around the house, which was incomparably shabby compared to the mansion we used to live in. The Count’s couple and Eliya were disgusted, but it didn’t look too bad to me.

‘There’s only one reason for showing such kindness.’

“Cinderella is pretending to be nice again!”

The Countess stamped her foot, unable to contain her anger. The sound of her heel striking the floor echoed sharply.

“That gloomy girl has always been like this. She’s quite adept at making people feel strange with her pitiful face. It’s not the first time I’ve fallen for it!”

There was a reason for the Countess to grind her teeth. Cinderella, or rather Floria, was far from being a kind and good-hearted girl. While the Countess and her daughters weren’t exactly easy-going either, Floria was different.

If the Countess and her daughters were like a raging fire, Floria was like a quiet swamp.

On the day he brought the glass slipper, the prince noticed that Floria was being mistreated by her family. So, ignoring protocol, he took her to the castle even before the wedding. And on behalf of the woman he loved, he began a persistent revenge.

Thanks to this, rumors spread widely in society that the Violet family was being punished by the prince for mistreating Floria, who was soon to become the prince’s bride.

But behind all of this was Floria. While maintaining the position of a good person, she manipulated others to achieve what she wanted. That was the real Floria Violet.

Even this house, while outwardly appearing as Cinderella’s consideration, was in fact just a calculated move for her ‘kind and benevolent image’.

‘Even if it’s based on a cruel fairy tale, why is the personality of a romance fantasy protagonist like that?’

No wonder people said it was minor or that the protagonist’s personality was strange.

Although I’m complaining now, as a reader, it was a unique setting that kept me in constant admiration. A sociopathic female lead was fresh and good… You really never know what will happen in life.

Anyway, now that I was in a situation where the only thing left was to have my eyes pecked out by pigeons, there was no choice. Until now, I had been meddling out of pity for the family members who weren’t entirely villainous, but that’s over. The Count clearly still thought there was a chance. In this case, I had to look out for myself.

‘I’m leaving tonight!’

Just in case, I had already siphoned off some assets. The plan was to settle in a new place, start a new life with a new identity, completely unrelated to the original story. My luggage was already packed, perfect for running away. Wherever I go and whatever I do, it would be better than the pigeon ending.

I was firmly making up my mind, listening to the Countess’s voice heating up about how Cinderella should have given us a better mansion instead of showing off with such a wretched place, when it happened. Knock, knock, someone knocked on the door.

“Is anyone there?”

The unfamiliar voice echoing through the empty house was ominously strange.

“Wait…”

Before I could stop him, the Count flung the door open. Outside stood people dressed in clothes that were clearly from the royal palace.

The servant, who introduced himself as sent from the Second Prince’s palace, gave a formal greeting to the Count before looking for me.

“Are you Lady Reneola Violet?”

“Yes, what is it?”

As I was pushed forward by the Countess and Eliya, the servant looked me over without changing his expression and mercilessly delivered the death sentence.

“By order of Princess Floria, Lady Reneola Violet is to enter the royal palace as a maid.”

Oh, for heaven’s sake.