chapter 04
Drip, drip. Seeing the drops of blood fall to the floor, Ashbel jumped back in surprise.
“Uh, uh…!”
Even someone as reckless as him seemed shocked—not only had the child been hit, but now he was seeing blood.
‘…No wonder it hurt so much.’
Serrena wiped the blood flowing from her nose.
Her whole head throbbed painfully. Her cheek already felt swollen, and it seemed like it would only get worse with time.
“I’ll say I secretly took some money and got robbed. I got beaten by a delinquent.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie—she had just been hit by someone similar, and these kinds of things happened quite frequently.
However, Ashbel froze at the unexpected proposal that she would accept the punishment herself.
Even in his drunken, dazed state, he seemed intrigued. Framing it as the rebellious act of a naïve child was less humiliating than admitting she had lost the money gambling.
“…Fine, fine! What could a little kid like you possibly do? I’ll handle it myself, so don’t interfere.”
Yet for some reason, he refused Serrena’s offer.
He was always trying to dodge responsibility, so she had expected him to accept without hesitation—but apparently, he still had some sense of shame.
Rianna snorted in derision.
“And what do you think you can handle on your own? Have you ever actually done anything responsibly?”
“What are you saying—!”
Ashbel started to yell but stopped mid-sentence, curling back in defeat.
He felt wronged, but the fault was too great. Even Rianna, with her bloodshot eyes glaring at him, was terrifying.
So he just waited, and after glaring at her husband for a while, Rianna turned her attention to Serrena.
“You! Go wash that filthy face immediately. Daisy, give your smaller clothes to her, and everyone else get ready to go out. You too!”
“W-We’re all going? I could just go by myself this time…!”
“Why would I trust you to go alone? Who knows if you’ll steal money again, like last time!”
Rianna, leaving with a cold remark, departed.
Ashbel, full of discontent, realized he had no choice and scratched his head before disappearing.
Daisy, struck by sudden misfortune, jumped up in protest.
“Why me? No! I don’t want to! Why do I have to give her my clothes?!”
“Stop whining. Are you going to let her go to the main house in that state? What would people think?”
“Then she can wear your clothes instead! Why does it have to be mine?”
Caroline, ignoring Daisy’s complaints, followed their mother to the bathroom.
Daisy, reluctantly losing her clothes to Serrena, glared at her furiously.
“Ah! This is so annoying! Just wait until I get back! I won’t forgive you!”
Do as she pleased. Serrena didn’t react, and Daisy stomped her feet and gritted her teeth in frustration.
A little later.
Serrena and her family, now dressed rather neatly, climbed into an old hired carriage.
“Guests! You’ll need to pay the carriage fare when we arrive!”
Before departure, the coachman turned to check again. They had no money to pay until they reached the main house, unfortunately.
The slightly shabby appearance was acceptable because, if they didn’t look somewhat noble, no one would have taken them seriously.
“Where did you get such tacky, childish clothes? Are you seriously calling that an outfit? Just being seen in it is embarrassing.”
Caroline frowned at Serrena’s appearance.
Daisy, on the other hand, folded her eyes sweetly and giggled, tapping Serrena’s head playfully.
“Right? Isn’t it funny even to you, sister? It was already funny, but with that outfit, she really looks like an idiot. Fool! Dummy!”
The dress, bright pink with yellow, green, and blue decorations, was enough to make anyone look ridiculous.
Serrena had never cared about clothes, so she didn’t mind at all. For her, outfits were simply tools to investigate what had happened during this visit, where money had started running short, and to prevent further disasters.
But when people laughed at you with such glee—especially when it wasn’t even your clothes—your feelings naturally changed.
She roughly pushed Daisy’s hand away and said with a pout:
“This is your clothes, Daisy.”
“So what?”
“Then it’s not really your taste. I don’t like this dress, but I had no choice but to wear it because you gave it to me.”
Daisy’s eyes rolled back in protest at her usually obedient youngest sister’s bold remark.
“No! It’s not true! I was going to buy something else, but I accidentally got this one and never even wore it!”
“Don’t lie. You wore this dress and came to the main house for your birthday two years ago. Your hair was braided like this too.”
Even though the dress was already painfully flashy, tying her hair with a huge bright red ribbon made it truly shocking.
Serrena, always wearing rags, had found all her sisters’ clothes beautiful—but this dress was an absolute exception. She had even been angry at how someone could make such a hideous dress out of fine fabric.
“Oh.”
Mentioning the exact day brought a look of recollection to Caroline’s face.
Daisy desperately denied it.
“You don’t remember! I really never wore that dress!”
“Now I remember. Everyone freaked out when they saw Daisy’s outfit.”
At that moment, Ashbel, still slightly drunk and unaware of social cues, chimed in.
“But they did give you money to buy a proper new outfit, so it wasn’t really a bad thing.”
Serrena frowned.
‘That’s the worst…’
Unfortunately, the dress she hadn’t ripped apart was the one she was wearing now.
With Ashbel unnecessarily bringing up the details, Rianna and Caroline’s expressions stiffened. Their glare was icy.
Unsurprisingly, Daisy, now bright red, jumped up screaming:
“No! No! I never wore that dress! It’s not true!”
It had begun.
Caroline resignedly covered her ears and stared out the window.
“Ugh, this is unbearably noisy. You started it, so do something about it!”
“What did I do? I just said the dress is a little funny and weird.”
Ashbel, clueless, asked in disbelief.
People really had a talent for making others angry.
Thanks to this, Daisy shouted even louder:
“No! I never wore that dress! I didn’t! I didn’t! Never!”
“I clearly remember you wearing it. Did you hit your head when you fell in the lake earlier?”
“No! No! No!”
“Daisy, stop it! How can you not even ride quietly in a carriage?!”
Rianna shuddered, exasperated, covering her ears. Once Daisy started thrashing like this, even her mother couldn’t control her.
“Honestly! Be quiet! Your yelling is driving me crazy!”
The coachman, unable to endure it any longer, told her to quiet down—but that only made Daisy scream louder.
‘Second life or not, it seems like dealing with my second sister is the priority for now.’
Eventually, Serrena covered her ears too, staring out the window. A sigh escaped her—it was just the beginning.
The carriage arrived at the Roselantis Count’s mansion late in the evening.
It would have taken only an hour or two by normal carriage, but the old hired carriage drawn by elderly horses took much longer.
Her already aching body was worsened by Daisy’s shrill screaming the entire way.
Clutching her forehead as she got off, Serrena was overwhelmed by the grandeur of the mansion.
‘…All of this is just one house?’
Everywhere she looked, it was all part of the mansion.
It was enormous. She had never seen a house this big, and she was utterly astonished.
‘Clean light gray bricks with a blue roof… How often do you even clean this?’
Of course, she wasn’t envious—she was worried about the cleaning.
The neatly arranged lawn, trees, and rose gardens symbolic of the Roselantis family looked like a painting. Managing it all seemed overwhelming.
While she fretted over the upkeep, numerous servants began gathering both inside and outside the mansion.
Dressed in clean shirts with black long skirts or pants, they lined up at the entrance, bowing their heads respectfully.
