CHAPTER 11………………………………………
Beneath the robe, I could see the woman’s face. I recognized her immediately.
She was the same person I had seen at Cassius’s townhouse a few days ago.
‘Tara!’
It was Tara, one of the maids serving Rienna. She glanced around cautiously, as if searching for something.
‘Did she follow us?’
As I hesitated about whether to step forward, Terence acted first.
In the blink of an eye, he dashed forward and subdued Tara.
“…!”
Tara drew a dagger hidden beneath her robe to resist, but she was quickly overpowered.
“Her presence was faint, so I wasn’t sure, but it seems she’s been tailing us since the plaza. Quite skilled, I’d say.”
“Let go of me!”
Seeing me, Tara struggled even more violently.
“Little Mistress!”
“Is that true, Tara?”
“It’s a misunderstanding! I saw the Little Mistress by chance in the plaza and followed because I had something to tell her!”
“If your purpose was conversation, you would have had ample opportunities to reveal yourself.”
Terence stood unwavering as Tara pleaded with me.
“It hurts. Just tell me I’m not the Little Mistress! But… who is this Aja you mentioned?”
Her expression was pitiful and wronged.
To an outsider, it might seem that Terence was the villain harassing an innocent woman.
But I had words meant for her, not for appearances.
“Did my sister-in-law send you?”
The moment I mentioned Rienna, Tara’s face froze instantly.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m asking if my sister-in-law had you find out where I was and follow me.”
“Th-That’s impossible. You know how she is, Mistress.”
“What kind of person is she?”
“She… someone so pure wouldn’t send anyone to spy on another person.”
“But you’ve already spied on me multiple times under her orders.”
“Little Mistress, what are you saying?”
“Not just spying. Finding weaknesses, setting traps…”
“That’s ridiculous…”
“Talkative and prone to slip-ups, but actually a loyal and deep-hearted maid, Tara Spello. But that’s all an act.”
“…!”
“Drop the act. You’re just a dog who obediently spies and gathers intelligence whenever your master commands it.”
At that moment, Tara went completely blank, her face an expressionless sheet of paper.
Tara Spello. She had been born to servants in a noble household.
Her parents were rewarded with a small plot of farmland for years of devoted service.
If they worked diligently, they could avoid forcing even their young daughter into servant work.
They had hope for a modest farming life, but it ended in ruin.
It turned out the land deed they received was forged, and the land had been mortgaged.
When the noble family went bankrupt, unable to pay off debts, the land passed into the hands of creditors.
Overnight, they lost their livelihood.
Even if they protested, the noble family had vanished with their valuables.
Her father worked himself to death trying to reclaim the land; her mother died from the shock.
Her two younger siblings were left in an orphanage, where they eventually starved to death.
For over a decade, Tara obsessively tracked the noble family, eventually finding and exacting revenge on her enemies.
Caught as a noble murderer, she faced the executioner’s scaffold.
Tara’s life was marked by misfortune so common yet should never have been.
In Rienna’s first life, that is.
After her reincarnation, Rienna sought Tara based on information she had read in newspapers from her previous life.
Tara’s persistence, her ability to gather intelligence for revenge, had shocked the public and made headlines.
Rienna coveted such a devoted and capable individual.
To the still-unsuccessful avenger, the reincarnator whispered: live for me now, and I will help you achieve your revenge—and even ensure the safe lives of your younger siblings who were still alive.
Indeed, Tara’s two younger siblings were enrolled in school under the duke’s patronage.
At that moment, Tara vowed to serve Rienna as her lifelong mistress.
Through painstaking effort, she became an exceptional operative, working countless covert missions for her mistress.
This is Tara’s backstory in “Reincarnated to Walk the Flower Road.”
Outwardly, she is an ordinary maid; behind the scenes, she is a loyal dog who does any dirty work for Rienna.
Tara is not the only one—Rienna recruited talented individuals from various regions using her pre-reincarnation memories.
Rienna is a multifaceted, layered character. Her usual appearance—the cute, innocent youngest daughter of Cassius—is no mere mask.
The novel narrates her true intentions, but not completely.
Her self formed within her family’s love and the self she developed as a reincarnator exist separately.
Even if not a split personality, there’s a gap between the Rienna with her family and the schemer who manipulates behind the scenes.
Frankly, the author likely wanted to give the protagonist both childlike charm and calculating cunning.
‘And that’s how such a bizarre character was born.’
I clicked my tongue and looked down at Tara, subdued and prone on the ground.
Her gaze was full of wariness.
I hesitated.
If I let Tara go, she would surely report the “mysterious man” who was with me to Rienna…
‘Not deadly, but this will be troublesome.’
If she continued observing me and reporting every detail, it would be irritating.
Terence asked casually, as if inquiring about the meal menu:
“Shall I handle her quietly?”
Tara flinched.
He was merciless toward anyone suspicious, like assassins or spies.
“…No.”
Even though I was in a novel, my morals were perfectly normal.
Also, if her limbs suddenly disappeared, Rienna’s vigilance would rise far beyond measure.
Hmm, what to do…?
As the temple bell rang precisely three times in the distance, I made my decision.
“Tei, sorry, but could you give us a moment alone?”
“Are you sure, Mistress?”
“Of course. I have this.”
I pulled out my self-defense amulet. When that alone didn’t make Terence step back, I added:
“I know this one. It won’t harm me.”
I would make sure of it.
He sighed and lowered the sword aimed at Tara’s neck.
“I’ll stay a short distance away. Enough that you can talk without me overhearing.”
He understood my intention perfectly. I didn’t want him to hear what I was about to say.
“Yes.”
After Terence stepped back, I whispered quietly.
“Now, tell me. Did Rienna order you to spy on me?”
“Absolutely not.”
She insisted it was coincidence that she followed me.
Normally, Tara’s loyalty could never be broken.
But I was not normal—I was a possessed reincarnator.
“The Marquis of Schilean is your enemy, isn’t he?”
A sharp intake of breath, and Tara’s eyes widened in shock.
“Listen carefully. If you cooperate, I’ll tell you where the Marquis of Schilean is right now.”
I planned to reuse the method Rienna had employed.
“How do you… know about him?!”
“Don’t ask. Like Rienna, I can’t answer that.”
“What?”
“When Rienna appeared before you to help with revenge, you asked how she knew everything about your situation.”
“…!”
“She said she couldn’t tell you. Not just then.”
When she ordered you to bring Matis from the streets, or the secret ledger from Bishop Visan…
When she commanded you to pick the legendary windflower from the wasteland—each time, Tara’s face went pale.
These were all events from the early parts of the novel, which Rienna orchestrated using her previous life’s memories.
“You were always curious: how does this young lady know all of this, even though she’s not a worshipper?”
Rienna only revealed her reincarnation to her surroundings at the story’s end.
“But she never told you. I’m the same. I can’t tell you—just listen quietly.”
A cold bead of sweat rolled down Tara’s forehead.
“…Could it be that there’s a traitor inside our ranks…?”
“The orders I just mentioned were given only to you by Rienna.”
Faced with a reasonable objection, I deflected.
“E-even if… you possess abilities similar to hers, you’re not my benefactor.”
“So you refuse to listen? You’d give up revenge?”
“I can get information about Schilean from the young lady.”
“But she hasn’t given it yet.”
“…She promised she would when the time was right.”
“Then why not tell me now? Why wait?”
“Even she has limits! Don’t speak recklessly!”
Her reaction was intense. It was proof she still harbored slight doubts about her mistress—just a thin crack for now.
“Is it truly impossible? Or…”
“Shut up!”
Tara glared at me as if she would kill.
And in that fury, I saw a kind of fear.
Fear that the years of loyalty she had poured out would come to nothing.
“Say one more word, and I’ll kill you!”
Her desperate, ghostlike screaming was bone-chilling.
I couldn’t show hesitation. I gripped the amulet tightly, ready to activate it anytime.
“No, you can’t lay a hand on me.”
And I meant it. She was firmly in my control.
“You’re curious about the Marquis of Schilean, right?”
For Tara, revenge took precedence over loyalty to Rienna.
Even in the novel, her obsession with revenge nearly caused her to ruin Rienna’s orders.
“…….”
Her mind must be racing right now.
But the outcome was clear.
Tara could never ignore the possibility that this woman might know about Schilean.
And, she couldn’t use force through Terence to extract answers from me. So her remaining option was:
“……What is it that you want from me?”
After a long pause, the words slipped out in a tense, suppressed voice.
Perfect!
