Chapter : 03
A day passed.
Then two days passed, and three days passed… Before she knew it, another week had gone by. As the days went by, Camilla’s face grew increasingly haggard.
“Why, why……!”
Why wasn’t she waking up?!
Frustrated, Camilla repeatedly rubbed her dry face with both hands.
This was truly the first time something like this had happened. Had she ever remained in this world for such a long period of time? She was beginning to grow increasingly anxious.
‘Could it be…….’
No way, right?
‘Could I really be stuck here like this……!’
Camilla shook her head vigorously. Just thinking about it was horrifying.
She knew all too well how Camilla’s life ended in this world.
Camilla repeatedly touched her neck, which was still perfectly intact.
Knock, knock.
A moment later, someone entered the room after knocking. It was Donna, her personal maid.
“Miss?”
Donna flinched when she saw Camilla lying face-down with both arms and her head hanging limply.
“Why?”
But when Camilla slowly raised her head, Donna discreetly let out a brief sigh of relief.
“The head chef personally prepared a snack for you.”
“A snack?”
“You haven’t really been eating properly lately.”
After what had happened in the dining room, a large number of the kitchen maids had been replaced. The maids who had played that little trick on Camilla were all thrown out without receiving even a single penny of severance pay.
On top of that, the Duke had ordered everyone to pay special attention to the food Camilla ate.
“Not interested.”
But since there was still no sign that she would return to her original body, Sia, Camilla had completely lost her appetite and had barely touched any food lately.
No matter how good or delicious the food was, she would take one bite and soon lose interest. In the end, the head chef himself had gone so far as to prepare a snack and bring it to her.
“Please have at least one bite, if only out of consideration for Chef Jellard’s sincerity in coming here himself.”
“…….”
There was genuine concern in Donna’s voice. Camilla’s gaze, which had been about to drop toward the floor beside the bed again, turned toward Donna.
If she had to name the one person here who genuinely cared about Camilla, wouldn’t it be her?
She had been the one who had stayed on Camilla’s side until the very end when Camilla was arrested as an attempted murderer.
She had also been the only one who shed tears when Camilla died.
‘She was always furious whenever the other maids mistreated me.’
Whenever something similar happened, Donna would jump around insisting that they had to tell the Duke immediately.
Even when she ultimately kept quiet according to Camilla’s orders, she would be unable to contain her frustration. She had even gotten into fights with the other maids, grabbing them by the hair because she desperately wanted to clear her young mistress’s name.
Eventually, Donna would come back with a huge bruise around her eye and grin proudly as she said she had at least landed one more punch than the other side.
Knowing what kind of person she was, Camilla found it difficult to simply ignore her.
“Fine.”
In the end, unable to refuse her request, Camilla sat up and straightened her posture.
Donna’s expression brightened at the sight.
She hurried outside and soon returned with someone who had been waiting outside.
“Excuse me.”
He was a man in his mid-forties with a somewhat thin build.
After giving Camilla a slight bow, he immediately placed the food he had brought onto the table.
“It’s apple pie.”
It was a pie covered with plenty of thinly sliced apples that had been simmered perfectly in sugar.
“Please try it.”
There was a great deal of pride in the chef’s voice as he offered the pie.
No—perhaps it would be more accurate to say there was a great deal of arrogance.
Although he never openly said anything, the chef’s gaze toward Camilla was far from friendly. If anything, it was downright fierce.
It was obvious from his expression that he was only paying attention to her because of the Duke’s orders.
Camilla’s eyebrows rose.
‘Well, look at this.’
Unlike Donna, who became visibly restless after realizing that Camilla was displeased, Chef Jellard remained firm. In fact, he even occasionally pursed his lips in annoyance.
He really didn’t like this.
The thought that the beautiful masterpiece he had created would be put into the mouth of some young girl like her twisted his stomach.
It was such a waste for his food to end up in the mouth of someone who knew nothing about proper taste.
‘She should just eat whatever she’s given.’
Seeing the food he had sent to Camilla over the past few days come back to the kitchen almost untouched had made Jellard’s stomach boil.
How dare she leave his food behind!
‘Though those maids were certainly annoying too…….’
The maids who had recently been kicked out of the estate after their little prank on Camilla Sorphel had been exposed.
Jellard was extremely angry at those maids for tampering with food he had prepared, but honestly, he couldn’t say he didn’t understand their feelings.
She wasn’t even the real daughter of the Duke, after all.
She had lived in some remote countryside in a region with an unfamiliar name, yet she acted as though she had a refined palate. It was utterly irritating to watch.
If it weren’t for the Duke’s orders, he wouldn’t want to pay the slightest bit of attention to whether she starved or not.
“I put my whole heart into making this.”
“…….”
Camilla’s gaze returned to the chef.
‘Sigh.’
After meeting Chef Jellard’s deeply dissatisfied gaze, Camilla let out a small sigh.
His expression, which made absolutely no attempt to hide his discomfort, wasn’t really a problem.
‘I’m used to it.’
She had dealt with people who disliked her since she was young, and after spending so many years in the entertainment industry, she had become an expert at ignoring them.
That wasn’t the problem right now……
‘It’s noisy.’
Her head already felt as though it were about to explode from the situation she was in……
[You fool! How many times must I tell you! Food truly shines when someone else eats it!]
What on earth was this noisy old man?
[No matter how well-made the food is, if nobody eats it, it’s nothing but garbage!]
Camilla looked at the old man standing beside Jellard, who had been noisily talking for quite some time, and sighed again.
‘But these aren’t even my eyes.’
These weren’t even her eyes from the real world, so why could she see this kind of thing?
The beings that she had never been able to see when she entered this world as an observer just to watch everything unfold had suddenly begun appearing before her eyes.
That realization plunged Camilla into despair once again.
Apparently, I really have entered this world completely……
‘Ah, seriously……!’
This was enough to make her swear.
She wanted to unleash a whole stream of curses at whoever had shoved her into this woman’s body.
‘What am I supposed to do now?’
[And this pie! You used 1 gram less cinnamon! Don’t you understand how big a difference even 1 gram can make to the taste?! And Camilla, this child doesn’t like apples. How many times have I told you to consider the preferences of the person eating the food!]
Ugh, this is giving me a headache.
Camilla slightly furrowed her brows.
Thinking that she needed to get rid of these ghosts as quickly as possible, she took a bite of the pie.
Then she immediately put the fork down as though throwing it onto the table.
“What’s wrong?”
“Take it away.”
“Is there something you don’t like?”
Jellard had expected Camilla to eat his pie and praise it, so her unexpected reaction made him frown.
“It’s tasteless.”
“What?”
“I said it’s tasteless.”
“W-what……!”
Jellard’s face crumpled.
What did this girl, who knew absolutely nothing about taste, dare to say? His food was tasteless?!
“That’s impossible! If you’re talking about this pie—”
“You used too little cinnamon. One gram too little. You’re serving food that doesn’t even meet the basics of baking. Take it out immediately.”
“Excuse me?”
Cinnamon?
“And I don’t like apples.”
“Th-that……”
“Shouldn’t you figure out the preferences of the person eating the food first? What good is it if you’re the only one satisfied? If nobody eats it, then it’s nothing but garbage.”
“……!”
Those words…… Were they words his late master used to say so often long ago……?
Camilla stared wide-eyed at the confused Jellard.
“Aren’t you leaving?”
Only then did Jellard snap back to his senses. His face flushed red as he hurriedly picked up the food he had set down and rushed outside.
‘And you should leave too.’
Camilla waved her hand toward the old man, who was looking at her with a slightly surprised expression after she had said everything he himself had wanted to say.
For a moment, his eyes met Camilla’s exactly.
The old man’s eyes widened even further.
‘What? Why? Is this your first time seeing a human who can see ghosts?’
Looks like it is.
‘Ah, whatever.’
Camilla collapsed back onto the bed.
[What’s wrong, Ferrol?]
Another ghost approached the old man as he left Camilla’s room.
It was an old man around the same age, dressed neatly in a formal suit.
[Our eyes met.]
[Your eyes met?]
[I’m telling you, we really made eye contact!]
[Calm down and tell me slowly. What are you talking about all of a sudden?]
[I made eye contact with the girl in that room.]
[Who? Miss Camilla?]
[Miss? Do you still think you’re the butler of this household?]
[Just because you’re dead doesn’t mean you should forget your duties.]
The butler ghost, Derin, smiled pleasantly.
[Since the Duke accepted her as his daughter, we should respect her as well. But more importantly, did you really make eye contact with her?]
[I’m telling you, I did.]
[Hmm.]
The two old men simultaneously turned their gazes toward the door of Camilla’s room.
They had watched her for a long time, yet they had never seen the slightest sign of anything like this before……
[Are you sure you didn’t imagine it?]
[I really made eye contact with her. She even waved her hand at me.]
[She waved her hand?]
Butler ghost Derin stroked his chin with interest.
[We’ll know if we watch her carefully. We have nothing but time, after all.]
At those words, the old ghost Ferrol, who was wearing a chef’s uniform, nodded as well.
Soon, the two ghosts quietly disappeared from the spot.
‘Let’s live.’
I need to survive.
Another three days passed after that.
And in the end, Camilla had no choice but to reach one conclusion.
‘I’m screwed.’
It seemed that returning to the original world was simply impossible.
Who knew what would happen later, but at least for now, there seemed to be no hope.
She decided that this was no longer the time to waste away doing nothing.
‘First, I need to survive.’
Camilla, who had been lying there like a corpse, suddenly jumped to her feet.
If she continued like this, she would literally die a meaningless death.
“I need to change my reputation first.”
Among the countless lives she had lived, there had occasionally been times when Camilla did not participate in Ravi’s plans to assassinate the eldest son, Rudville.
‘But…….’
The results had not been particularly different then, either.
There were simply too many people who disliked Camilla and viewed her as an eyesore.
The moment Ravi’s wrongdoing was discovered, everyone lumped Camilla together with him and made her out to be a criminal as well.
They had fabricated false testimony and made it seem as though she had been in league with Ravi.
No matter how much she shouted that she hadn’t done it, that she was innocent, there was no one willing to listen to her.
Everyone paid far more attention to the words of those giving false testimony than to Camilla’s own words.
