Chapter 1
For some reason, today was an unusually bright and beautiful day.
The sky was blue, the air brushing against my cheeks was warm, and flower petals rained down from above.
And on such a beautiful day, I—
“Ariel, you see, toys…”
I was cruelly abandoned.
“They’re only useful if they’re fun to play with.”
“……”
“You’re not fun anymore.”
Those words came from the young lady to whom I had sworn to devote my entire life.
“Abandoned.”
Just like that, my three years at the Russell Count’s household came to an end.
Staring blankly in the direction where the count’s carriage had disappeared, I bent down and picked up the bag that had fallen to the ground.
“What should I do now? Matthias’s tuition can’t be cut off…”
I had been prepared for dismissal, since the young lady’s harassment had been getting worse lately.
But now that it had really happened, I couldn’t help worrying about reality.
When I turned my head absentmindedly, my reflection appeared in a shop window.
My pink hair and blue eyes—just like my mother’s—stood out clearly.
“If Mom were still alive at times like this…”
My eyes began to sting, and I hurriedly wiped them with my sleeve.
“Crying won’t fix anything. Finding a job comes first.”
Taking a deep breath, I started walking forward with exaggerated determination.
“What, did you think I’d just sit down and cry? I’ll show you the weed-like vitality of a commoner!”
My pink hair, tied up in a single ponytail, swayed with every step.
Several hours later—
“Boss! Please think about it just once more!”
“I told you, I don’t need anyone!”
“I’m really good at sweeping and scrubbing, you know?”
Despite my shameless pleas, the shop owner shoved me outside and slammed the door shut.
Another failed attempt at employment.
“If you’re not hiring, why even put up a recruitment notice?”
I muttered under my breath and glared at the help-wanted sign.
It was already my countless rejection.
“Not strong enough, too young, too cheerful… and what else was there…?”
Counting the reasons on my fingers, I soon realized it was pointless and stopped.
I knew the truth myself.
“Of course. Who would hire someone who has no education, no special skills, and just got kicked out of a maid job?”
But what could I do? Beating myself up wouldn’t magically give me new abilities.
Still, it was a little disappointing.
“I wish I’d received the goddess’s blessing. If I could teleport or use elemental magic…”
If I had, I wouldn’t have needed to work as a maid in the first place.
Every noble house—and even the royal family—wanted mages.
But that was nothing more than a pleasant fantasy.
Rather than being blessed by the goddess, I was probably cursed.
“She definitely stole the jewel box key. Otherwise, how could she open the young lady’s jewelry box?”
“They say she tried to seduce the young lady’s fiancé just because she has a pretty face.”
Being falsely accused of theft I never committed, and turned into a scheming fox who tried to seduce a man I had no interest in—those were part of my everyday life.
Even now, thinking about it made anger boil inside me.
“Fine. Maybe it’s better this way. I’ll live better than ever, right in their faces.”
By now, night had fallen, and I lifted my head toward the blackened sky, steadying my resolve.
That was when cold raindrops began to fall on my face.
“Rain too? Seriously? Now of all times?”
I thought this was already the worst possible situation, but apparently the world had no limits.
It was so absurd I almost laughed.
But this wasn’t the time for that. Determined not to catch a cold, I started running without thinking.
My feet instinctively carried me toward a place where light was leaking out—a small trinket shop.
“Is it still open?”
Unlike the pitch-dark street outside, a faint light was on inside.
Carefully, I opened the shop door.
At the very least, I had to escape the rain pouring down like the sky had cracked open.
Of course, if they happened to be hiring, that would be even better.
“Hello? Is anyone here?”
As I stepped inside, the first thing I saw was a lamp on a table.
That was the source of the light I’d seen through the window.
“Huh? No one’s here?”
Aside from the lamp, there was no sign of anyone.
The shop was messy and unorganized, and it smelled musty, as if dust had piled up for a long time.
“I feel like I came to the wrong place…”
Just as an ominous feeling crept over me—
“Wh…o…”
Creeeak—
From the back of the shop came a slow, chilling sound of a wooden door opening, along with a faint voice.
My shoulders twitched as I turned around.
A blood-covered man was leaning against the inner door.
“Eek! A corpse? Are you a corpse?!”
I thought I’d lived a rough life, but looking at him made me realize how wrong I was.
“What… nonsense…”
The man frowned at my panicked babbling and then, as if he could no longer endure it, slowly collapsed to the floor.
“Hey—! Are you okay?!”
Is he going to become a real corpse at this rate?
Without thinking, I rushed over to him.
Up close, he was a young man with dazzling blond hair and pale green eyes.
Those green eyes, now dim, stared at me.
I froze for just a moment, then hurried to check his condition.
His shirt was soaked red around his abdomen.
“He’s lost so much blood…”
I had no idea what was going on.
I’d never seen someone this badly injured before, and honestly, it scared me.
But watching someone die in front of me would be even worse.
“I want to call a doctor, but leaving him like this is dangerous. I need to give first aid.”
Thankfully, though he was bleeding heavily, the wound didn’t seem immediately fatal.
“I’m sorry. I’m going to touch you for a moment!”
Without hesitation, I tore my underskirt and used it to stop the bleeding.
I never thought the first aid I learned at the count’s household would be used like this.
“How did you even get in…?”
“We both have a lot of questions, but I think it’s better not to talk right now. Is there somewhere you can lie down?”
The man moved his lips as if dissatisfied, then looked toward the open door.
Opening it, I saw stairs leading to the second floor.
“Stairs… seriously?”
With no choice, I supported his much larger body and struggled up the steps.
I laid him on the nearest bed and collapsed onto the floor.
“Huff… huff… What is even happening?”
Without taking time to catch my breath, I stood up and looked around the second floor.
Unlike the shop below, this was clearly a living space, so I was able to find clean cloth, water, and medicine.
I bandaged his wound again, wiped down his feverish body, and gradually his breathing stabilized.
“I’ll stay until morning. I should call a doctor too…”
I needed to stay awake to take care of him, but my eyelids kept drooping.
“Come to think of it, today was pretty insane for me too.”
In the end, I lost to sleep and dozed off, leaning against the bed.
“Mm…”
Waking up to sunlight pouring over my eyelids, I jolted upright and looked around in surprise.
Then my eyes met the man, who was sitting against the headboard, quietly watching me.
The moment our eyes met, last night’s events flashed through my mind like a dream.
“So it wasn’t a dream…”
When I stared blankly at him, he spoke.
“Who are you?”
His voice was as beautiful as his face, but his expression and tone were clearly wary.
Which made sense—whatever had happened, he’d been badly injured just last night.
Of course he’d be cautious around a stranger.
“How do I explain that I’m not suspicious?”
I rolled my eyes for a moment, then said the line I’d repeated endlessly all day yesterday.
“Hello! My name is Ariel April. My hobby is embroidery, and my special skills are cleaning and serving tea! Are you perhaps hiring staff?”
“……What?”
Uh.
Was that not the right answer?
