[Renée’s POV]

“By any chance, among these…….”

“… … .”

“Who wants to quit… … ?”

I gestured for them to raise their hands, but the maids were only slightly agitated, and no one raised their hands.

I see, you don’t want to quit… ….

Originally, they wanted to leave my side to the extent that they wanted to quit, but no one raised their hand. I wasn’t sure if I should be happy or sad about this.

Then there’s nothing I can do. Having thought ahead of time in the event that no one wants to quit, I cleared my throat to come up with a suggestion. But someone quickly intervened first.

“May I dare you to ask why you’re curious about that, lady?”

It was Susan. Susan was the only one who wasn’t even shaken by my words. She seemed to be curious about my intention because she was skilled in many ways.

But what are you saying? I can’t even say I have to cut one of you to avoid a penalty. In the end, I fumbled.

“Ah, well, something came up and I had to fire one person, but I was wondering if anyone wanted to… …”

The maids were greatly agitated by my words this time. Except for Susan.

One of the maids, Lyn, covered her mouth with both hands and asked.

“Why……what is the reason, lady? Do you really, really, really have to fire one of us?”

“Th, that… …”

“Do I have to quit even if I don’t want to?”

Laura asked this time. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand their feelings, so I couldn’t say more. But I had to tell them.

“Everyone must have been surprised by the sudden words, I understand. Instead, we will give you severance pay and unemployment benefits as much as the sudden dismissal….”

… … Yeah, that was all I thought about this morning. Giving money to a person who has been cut off.

If I were a maid, I wondered how I could be cut off less unpleasantly, but I also couldn’t think of anything except money.

The maids became a little quiet. That said, they still had puzzled expressions that like they couldn’t understand this situation.

My heart was weakened by that expression, so I opened my mouth to say something, but then shut it.

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In fact, no one wanted to be fired. It was because they were the people I had spent a lot of time with since I was possessed. No matter what they thought of me, I arbitrarily attached affection to them.

‘Should I just fail the first mission and aim for the second and third missions? Last time I saw that if I failed one mission, it would be enough if I was sick for 12 hours….’

I opened my eyes at the sudden thought.

‘Why didn’t I think of this?’

Yeah, not a week, not a day, just 12 hours! Let’s not do this mission!

‘But what if the 2nd and 3rd missions are all nonsense?’

Eyy, what the heck, damn. I’ll just be sick for a week then! It’s not like I’m going to die… !

I suddenly thought of the seppuku penalty, but I tried to ignore it and tore the dismissal letter I was holding. So, kids? Let’s just quit. Let’s pretend it never happened.

But before I could tear, I heard a light sigh.

It was a very faint sound, but I didn’t miss it and turned my head.

It was Susan who let out a sigh. For some reason, Susan erased even the mechanical smile she had been making and lowered her head slightly.

Su, Susan, this situation is so irritating that it erased her constant smile. Well… … I found out when I saw Susan’s application, she had worked at the mansion ten years ago.

In other words, she must have seen the evil heart of the girl she served the most over the past decade. So she must be exhausted too. That’s what happened today.

Thinking so, I started to feel sorry for her too. Although she abused Handel violently in my absence… …  That too, would have been to suit the original Renée Blair.

Now that I’m going to show you how I’ve changed, so she’ll gradually change too.

It was the moment when I tried to tell Susan that I was sorry for making this sudden decision, and that I would pretend it didn’t happen, so don’t worry too much. Susan spoke up this time.

“I really don’t understand the situation.”

“Huh? Ah, I’m sorry, Susan. I’ll just quit…”

“Sorry… What?”

Susan asked again with an expression that seemed to have heard me wrong. Then she laughed. No…

She laughed mockingly.

At that ridicule, My body stiffened and I blinked my eyes. Susan continued.

“May I ask you a question, lady?”

“… … .”

“I haven’t appeared in front of you in the past month. Do you know why?”

“What…?”

“You wouldn’t know. Then lady, you’ve never washed your face with warm water while I was with you, did you know that?”

I couldn’t understand at once what she was talking about. I just stared blankly at Susan and clenched my fists. My heart started beating in a bad way.

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“You don’t even know that. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have told me to prepare warm water this morning. Then you know what? That the young lady never once mentioned His Excellency’s name?  What about throwing a vase at me immediately upon entering the lady’s room? The fact that the lady wasn’t interested in whether or not I scolded the maid… You wouldn’t know.”

“… …”

“Because you’re not the lady.”

Thud.

All I could hear was Susan’s raging voice and my rapidly beating heart.

I tried to find a solution quickly, trying to backtrack like a hedgehog that tried to protect itself by erecting thorns immediately when attacked.

What should I say? Should I say that I actually have amnesia… ? Then why am I saying that now?

It sounded like someone was shouting. Do you think such a lie would work for Susan?

“For the past month, when I was staying in my room as the lady ordered….. I heard a rumor. Rumor has it that the lady has changed beyond recognition. Of course, I thought you were playing a new game.”

The word game reminded me of last night. Susan, who was standing in a dark hallway with the lights almost turned off, asked what kind of game this was.

“Definitely, the appearance of the lady I haven’t seen in a long time looks really different like rumors. As if you’re a new person. But I didn’t think much about it. I thought you were just playing another game…… .”

Susan put her hands together and put them on her cheek with a puzzled expression.

“But the young lady continued to play even when I was alone with her. So I was suspicious. Is this the girl I knew?”

“… …”

“Huhu. Judging by the look on your face, I think I’m right.”

I had a quick brainstorm. If it was the original Renée Blair, how would she have gotten through this situation?

The worry didn’t last long. If it were her, she would have been angry with the maid who doubted her.

I pressed Susan urgently.

“Now, are you saying such nonsense without thinking that I’ve changed over the past? It’s very rude… !”

“No, if you were the lady I served, no matter how much you changed, you would have hit me on the neck without hesitation when I act rudely.”

“… …”

“Yes. Of course, even that could have changed. One day, suddenly, you may change, as if you were someone else, which is very rare, but of course.”

Susan said sarcastically and approached me slowly, one step at a time.

TL/N: YO she creeping me out and leaving me on edge

It’s just a person. A person who doesn’t even have a weapon in her hand. Even though she is shorter than me, even though she is not a threat at all.

That woman approaching me just felt creepy. A red alarm sounded in my head because it was dangerous.

Susan, who had finally come closer, uttered quietly.

“But, fake lady. There is a reason why I am so sure that you are not my master.”

“… … .”

“My master never called me by name.”

“… … .”

“In ten years, not once.”

Susan laughed again. It was as if the twinkling eyes between the curved eyes were strangling me little by little.

“So that’s what I mean, lady. Who is the lady?”

“… …”

“Why are you in that body?”

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I stopped breathing at the words she asked with conviction.

I couldn’t think of anything. This situation went beyond embarrassment and felt frightening.

Who is it? Why are you in that body?

Why do I, I need to hear that. And why….

You can’t answer that easily, can you?

In an instant, I realized that I was taking things too easily that I entered someone’s body.  I only thought that others would see my change and think it was strange, but I didn’t know that they would question that I was a different person.

“You haven’t answered me.”

At the moment I was lost in my thoughts, Susan smiled knowingly.

“Or are you using magic to pretend to be the master? If so, where is my master?”

That, how do I know that. Me, too. I was dead, and when I opened my eyes, I came into this body without knowing what was going on.

Even if I die, she doesn’t know my circumstances, she stared at me for a while and then turned her head. The four other maids who suddenly caught Susan’s gaze flinched.

“You guys have a problem, too. I can’t believe you didn’t even notice this fake posing as a lady while I was away. Can you say that you are a maid who supports the lady closely?”

“It’s not that…”

“Or? Are you silent even though you know it? Don’t tell me It’s because you think that a woman who doesn’t even know the basics is better than the lady.”

The four maids looked at each other. They couldn’t speak easily. They didn’t seem to understand how to accept this situation.

Or did they also think that Renée Blair wasn’t different, but a different person?

Thinking about it made my heart feel strangely cold. Why do I feel this way? I’m actually someone else, not Renée Blair.

It was a time when my heart was heavy and I lowered my head. Handel’s shrill voice cut through.

“I think it’s not us that’s the problem, but the chief maid. You’re telling the lady that she’s fake.”

When I doubted my ears because I couldn’t believe that Handel, not anyone else, had argued back, a startling cracking sound resounded.

Surprised, I looked up and found Handel lying on the floor. Covering her cheeks like yesterday.

What?

I saw Susan with her hand raised nearby. In that moment, I knew everything about what was going on.

“What are you doing!”

Stunned by my shout, Susan lowered her hand.

“Don’t mind me. I’m teaching because she’s being naughty.”

“I told you not to hit anyone yesterday…!”

“Yes, you did.”

Susan smiled naturally. Then he politely put his hands together and tilted his head.

“But I only listen to the master.”

“What…?”

“By the way, I wonder what your Excellency is thinking. There’s no way he doesn’t know that you’re not the master.”

Susan grinned as she mumbled.

“Just in case, I should tell your Excellency.”

Susan turns around and grabs Handel by the hair as if this was all she wanted to say. I blankly looked at Susan’s back and, as if possessed, approached and grabbed her wrist.

Susan looked at me calmly. Facing dry eyes like glass marbles somewhere, I bit my lip.

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Yes. I am not Renée Blair. I have no idea why I ended up in Renée Blair’s body. I just died, and when I opened my eyes, I came into this body.

I’m a fool for not considering that there will be people who will be suspicious like Susan. I thought it was too easy to enter someone else’s body.

Just like the novels I read every night, I thought I could act like anything even if I ended up entering someone else’s body.

I thought that if I showed a 180 degrees-changed figure, everything would be easily resolved. As long as everyone who hated and feared Renee Blair would open their hearts… …

But it wasn’t.

Still. Still…

Even if I go back to the first day I entered this body, I have no intention of changing my behavior.

Even if I go back to the first day, I won’t follow the mission. I’ll act equally kind, and I’ll show you how I’ve changed.

You can say it’s stupid. You can say I’m a selfish person who doesn’t give the slightest thought to the ‘real’ Renée Blair.

Suddenly, a scene came to mind.

It was a dreamlike scene. The dream-like moment of sitting on a cliff under a dark but dense night sky studded with stars and eating bread from a basket with a child.

What did the kid say to me then?

‘It’s okay to be sure.’

Yes. It was. That’s what she told me.

TL/N: Wow Susan is seriously creepy scary but I can’t bring myself to hate her for being so hostile towards the current Renée? Like it feels like she’s just being fiercely loyal to OG Renée. Also props to Handel for attempting to confront Susan!! Wow, thought this chapter was really nerve-racking but really interesting since we get full on confrontations regarding possession of OG’s bodies and like the thought process of the implications.