Chapter 4
Best Friend
“I’m sorry. But that wasn’t my fault, and… please make sure you tell those two properly!”
“Oh? Sounds like you still don’t get it. If words don’t work, then I guess I’ll just have to do this, huh?”
Before she could react, Baldo suddenly grabbed Sena’s silver hair—tied together at the back—and yanked it hard, throwing her to the floor with that momentum.
He then planted his heavy foot on her back and stomped down again and again, spitting insults as he did.
Useless. Foreigner. Good-for-nothing piece of trash.
Those filthy words seemed to seep into her ears and settle deep inside.
Frozen by fear, Sena curled up, covering her head, unable to do anything but endure until the storm of violence passed.
“Please stop! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”
“Ha! Useless imperial garbage! You people should all just crawl back to the Empire!”
A merciless kick flew straight at her face.
Her nose burst with pain, and she tasted iron as blood trickled down, making it hard to breathe.
A dull buzzing rang deep in her skull.
Eventually, after a few more stomps to her back, Baldo seemed satisfied and walked off.
The day before yesterday, he had kicked her with the hard sole of his boots, leaving her body covered in bruises.
Yesterday, he punched her in the face, called her incompetent, and beat her repeatedly across the back with a broom that happened to be nearby.
Once she was certain her supervisor’s violence had ended, Sena used the handkerchief she was holding to wipe her face.
The white cloth slowly stained with the metallic red of her blood.
“Goddess Rafine… please, grant me healing…”
Making sure no one was watching, Sena used magic—something she had never told anyone at this workplace.
A sacred healing spell, far more effective than the regular treatment the infirmary provided, washed over her body, easing every wound.
It even soothed her fatigue… and melted the ache in her heart.
“I won’t lose to this kind of bullying.”
Sena clenched her fists.
She refused to give in.
Entering the locker room, she wiped away the blood and redid her makeup.
Night shift at the bar required makeup on the heavier side.
She slipped into the outfit—a tight black one-piece dress with a ribbon at the waist for adjusting the fit.
She put on black stockings and a garter belt, things she never wore during daytime cleaning duties, and stepped into the high-heeled pumps she hadn’t used in years.
She let down her silver hair, then gathered it again over her left shoulder.
There was no time for a comb, so she used cleansing magic—another spell she normally used for work—to smooth out the frizz and fix the shape.
In the mirror on the wall, a completely different woman appeared:
A stylish noble lady with an impeccable figure.
The bar’s uniform revealed quite a lot around the chest, which bothered her a little, but aside from that, the material was luxurious—something that wouldn’t look out of place on a daughter of high society.
The pleasant texture of it made her chuckle bitterly as memories of her past life resurfaced.
Four years ago—
Until she was fourteen, Sena had been an imperial noble.
But those she trusted most had taken everything from her.
Her family had fallen so far that they had no choice but to flee the Empire and live as immigrants in another country.
“But I’m free here… I just have to keep trying.”
She still needed to save far more for the down payment on the dream house she hoped to buy someday.
Transformed from a daytime cleaner into a night butterfly, Sena left the locker room and headed up the stairs for employees, climbing to the floors above.
These were the highest-class suites—the ones she had been cleaning earlier, used by the most prestigious guests.
At a room on the eastern end, she knocked, inserted her master key, and stepped inside.
“Mia? How are you feeling?”
Sena spoke to her childhood friend, whom she hadn’t seen in four years.
The luxurious suite might have made anyone hesitate to step inside, but Sena walked in without pause.
Her friend was in the back bedroom, reading a kingdom magazine—the one Sena had bought at her request.
Hearing Sena’s voice, Mia looked up. She managed a weak smile, still not fully recovered.
“How are you feeling? I wanted to come earlier, but my shift just wouldn’t allow it. I’m really sorry.”
“No… I’m the one who’s sorry. Looking like this… I’m making you spend your break time on me.”
“It’s fine.”
Trying to erase the memory of the earlier incident with Baldo, Sena forced her brightest smile.
Mia tilted her head slightly—Sena’s behavior seemed strange to her.
Mia’s lead-colored long hair slipped down over her chest as she propped herself up on the bed.
Her hair was very similar to Sena’s.
Mia’s had more black mixed in, but their eye colors were almost the same shade of blue.
Their height, build, even their faces—everything was similar.
Back in the Empire, people often asked if they were twins.
Of course they would.
Mia was the daughter of a ducal family—one that shared a common ancestor with Sena.
Naturally, they looked alike.
