“It’s almost dinner time.”

I straightened my back at Silvia’s words while sweeping the floor. Having skipped lunch and moved a lot for the first time in a while, I was very hungry, so it was a welcome sound.

As I stretched my arms high to loosen my stiff body, Silvia kept glancing at me and moving her lips nervously. Come to think of it, she had been hovering around restlessly as if she had something to say.

“What’s wrong?”

“Um… Lady Reneola.”

Silvia hesitated before carefully continuing.

“When a new maid comes in, there’s something called an initiation.”

From the connotation of the word ‘initiation’ and Silvia’s expression, it was clear this wasn’t going to be a pleasant event. Well, who would welcome me now anyway?

‘To think such a harmful practice exists in this world too.’

I inwardly clicked my tongue.

“If you go to the dining hall now, it will probably start. It’s something everyone goes through, not just you, Lady Reneola, so I hope you won’t be too hurt.”

All the way to the dining hall, Silvia fretted about whether I would be emotionally wounded.

“Thank you for letting me know.”

I smiled at Silvia, but given how much she was worrying, I felt a bit anxious thinking it must be quite a harsh prank.

‘You were prepared for this much when you entered the castle, weren’t you?’

I took a deep breath and slowly opened the dining hall door.

The dining hall was already full of people. Seeing no empty seats at the long tables, it seemed all the maids had gathered. As I entered, everyone’s gaze converged on me at once. Their expressionless stares were cold.

‘I’m really getting tired of being the center of attention.’

In my previous life, I was just an ordinary passerby who never stood out wherever I went.

I inwardly shook my head as I sat down. The maids’ sharp gazes followed my movements. Silvia hesitantly sat down next to me, not knowing what to do.

‘I wonder when they’ll start.’

Surely they won’t just keep glaring like this.

At that moment, the kitchen maids set down soup and bread in front of me. Then the head maid rang the bell to announce the meal. Suddenly, a scene often seen in movies and dramas flashed through my mind.

‘They’re going to flip the food over!’

I imagined the maids cackling as they watched me blink stupidly with soup all over me.

I lightly touched the plate of soup with my finger, and it was lukewarm. Hmm, even if I got covered in this, I wouldn’t get burned. Relieved, I remained on guard. Even if it wasn’t hot, I had no intention of just letting it happen.

But no matter how long I waited, there was no movement. They just sat rigidly upright in front of their food, staring at me expressionlessly.

‘What’s going on? Why is everyone just watching?’

What exactly are they trying to do? As I pondered, I soon deduced what they were doing.

The dining hall was filled with tense silence, not even breathing could be heard. By not picking up their cutlery together, they were exerting silent pressure. The intention was probably to make me feel guilty that everyone wasn’t eating because of me, trying to break my spirit.

‘Huh?’

I inwardly let out a laugh. I thought they had prepared something quite impressive given their serious expressions, but this is all? When they said initiation, I expected them to pull some low-grade prank or at least openly try to discipline me.

If they had dumped the soup on me, I might have gotten heated, but this is nothing.

While it was a bit burdensome to have dozens of gazes focused on me, compared to the shock of having my chest pierced right before my eyes, this was nothing more than child’s play.

‘I’ll just think of it as filming an eating show.’

As I casually started eating, there were incredulous exclamations. Ignoring them, I spread butter and jam on the bread and took a big bite. Though the bread was hard, hunger is the best sauce, and it tasted delicious.

In the quiet dining hall, only the sounds of my cutlery hitting the plate and my chewing and swallowing could be heard. Silvia, who had been anxiously watching from beside me, seemed to make up her mind and picked up her spoon. At that, the other maids, including Ginger, glared at her.

“Goodness, how can that go down?”

“How thick-skinned, eating while everyone’s starving because of her.”

“See, I told you she’s not normal.”

Since they spoke loudly enough for me to hear, I looked their way while taking another bite of bread, causing the maids to exclaim in disgust.

As I didn’t get flustered as they expected and remained calm, the maids started muttering in bewilderment.

I slowly blinked at Ginger, who was grinding her teeth. Then I picked up the teacup that came with the meal. I raised my pinky finger as obnoxiously as possible while nonchalantly sipping the tea and looking at her, causing her face to scrunch up.

* * *

‘Ah, I’m so full.’

I had cleaned my plate completely out of spite against the stares that seemed to question how I could swallow the food, and now I felt like my stomach would burst. I came out for a light walk with Silvia before bed to aid digestion.

‘They’re only hurting themselves by starving.’

I couldn’t help but laugh thinking of the expressions of the maids who had refused to pick up their utensils to the end in an attempt to pressure me, going hungry in the process. They probably won’t be able to sleep all night due to hunger.

“Lady Reneola, I was truly amazed!”

All traces of her initial shyness gone, Silvia clung to me affectionately with sparkling eyes.

“You’re the first and likely the last to finish eating in the silent dining hall. Usually everyone gets intimidated and trembles or can’t stand it and ends up crying. Of course, I was the same. Ginger even ran out of the dining hall, you know.”

Silvia laughed with a relieved expression, saying they had really met their match this time with such a childish tradition.

“Oh right, you said you’re sharing a room with Ginger?”

Silvia suddenly asked worriedly. When I nodded, her expression became even more anxious.

“Be careful, Lady Reneola. It’s suspicious that she, who never shares a room with anyone else because she’s sensitive, willingly agreed to share with you. She enjoys tormenting others. Plus, since the silent dining hall didn’t work on you, there’s no telling what she might do.”

I recalled Ginger glaring at me as I calmly ate. Her face had turned red and blue with anger. Well, I knew from the first day that her personality was far from normal.

“I wish I could have shared a room with you, Lady Reneola. If I had known, I should have asked the head maid beforehand.”

Silvia’s eyebrows drooped in regret.

“And besides Ginger, there are others you need to be careful of…”

As Silvia went on listing everything she knew about the maids of the 2nd Prince’s palace in an attempt to help me, I asked her something more important.

“Silvia, have you heard any news about how the war with Piten is going?”

“Oh, actually the castle has been in an uproar because of that lately.”

“Why?”

“The 1st Prince sent news of victory. Everyone is excited about finally winning the war that’s been going on for years. They’re all busy preparing to welcome the 1st Prince, who will return soon. There will be many events like the homecoming ceremony and victory celebration party.”

Oh no. There’s less time than I thought. The original story’s main plot would start after the 1st Prince’s return, so I had planned to escape before then, but it seems that won’t be possible.

Biting my nails out of habit, I asked Silvia:

“Have you ever been to the royal library?”

“Just once. I went there on an errand for the head maid.”

“How is it? Is it big? Are there many books?”

“Of course. They say if a book isn’t in our Hilic Kingdom’s library, it doesn’t exist anywhere else.”

I nodded inwardly, thinking I should make time to visit the royal library bit by bit. Silvia continued:

“That’s probably why even the librarians have trouble finding books.”

Silvia laughed as if it was amusing, but I didn’t find it funny at all. If even the librarians managing the library can’t find books, just how big is it? Still, the books must be categorized somehow, right?

“I heard it’s the head librarian’s lifelong wish to organize the library. Books on politics and economics that the royal family often looks for are organized separately, but when they occasionally want an unfamiliar book, it’s quite troublesome. Last time, they spent three days and nights searching for a book the 2nd Prince needed. The librarian lamented that the Prince was very angry.”

“…Would it be the same for books on magic or fairies?”

“No. Half of the Hilic Kingdom was built with magic. Since it’s fundamental, of course those are properly organized!”

Silvia clapped her hands together with a bright smile. The first positive answer raised my hopes, but they crumbled with her next words.

“The librarians were very proud of it. There are as many as 7,000 books!”

“7, 7,000 books?”

Damn, I’ll die of old age before I can read them all.

As I held my forehead, already feeling a headache coming on, Silvia’s eyes sparkled.

“But it seems you’re also very interested in magic, Lady Reneola!”

Silvia, who harbored romantic notions about supernatural beings, looked happy that I shared the same interest. Unlike Silvia, who was squealing like a girl her age, I kept sighing inwardly.

‘If that’s the case, I guess there’s no other way?’

I didn’t want to get involved if possible, but I really couldn’t see myself reading all 7,000 books. I grabbed Silvia’s hand as she eagerly offered to lend me all the magic books she had.

“Silvia.”

“Yes, Lady Reneola. What is it? Oh, should I lend you books about ghosts too? There are many famous collections of ghost stories!”

“We can borrow those later. More importantly, what do I need to do if I want to go out?”