Chapter 01
The Amnesiac Maid
It was the worst possible situation.
Darkness swallowed everything, and the pouring rain steadily drained my body heat. Supporting my father, whose leg was injured, I forced myself to keep moving.
Just a little farther and we would reach the West, a region where entry by people from our Empire was restricted. If we could make it there, we could escape those chasing us.
I clenched my teeth, holding back tears. My strength was fading, and my body was growing weaker by the second. My father, who had been sobbing quietly, suddenly stopped walking.
Startled, I looked up at him. He exhaled deeply, then spoke words I couldn’t fully comprehend.
“If we keep going like this, we’ll both be caught. You should go on ahead. In the Sharonde Empire… there will surely be someone who can take care of you.”
“What are you talking about?! Then what about you, Father? Are you telling me to abandon you?!”
I shouted at him as he sank to the ground. Avoiding my gaze, my father lowered his head.
“I don’t want to see my daughter suffer because of my mistake. If we’re going to be caught anyway… at least you should escape safely. I’m begging you.”
Nearby, the sound of horses neighing echoed through the rain. My heart pounded as I looked back and forth between the direction of the noise and my father. Still seated, he smiled gently at me—an expression he had never once shown before.
“Take this with you. This is no time to hesitate.”
From his pocket, my father pulled out a stone and pressed it into my hand. The moment I recognized what it was, I finally broke down and cried. My tears were quickly washed away by the rain.
My father smiled once more.
“We can start over. We will meet again someday. I promise… Garnet.”
The moment I opened my eyes, a question surfaced in my mind.
What… is this? A dream?
I didn’t know why that thought came to me. My body felt incredibly refreshed, the texture of the bed was vivid beneath my fingers, and when I stumbled while getting out of bed and stubbed my toe, the pain felt very real.
A person who looked like my roommate clicked her tongue at me.
“How is it that you manage to stub your toe every single morning? It’s honestly impressive.”
She had long brown hair that reached her waist and striking green eyes. The woman looked at me as if I were hopeless. Holding my aching toe, I groaned and blurted out a name that came to mind.
“Thanks for worrying about me, Tequila.”
“Te-rik-sha. It’s Deriksha. You’ve been here a whole week—can’t you at least remember my name…?”
I waved my hand dismissively, brushing off Deriksha’s complaint. My sense of reality was still shaky, but out of habit, I opened the wardrobe.
Inside were two maid uniforms—one clearly mine, and one belonging to Deriksha.
Staring at the uniforms, I turned to her and asked,
“Deriksha. Am I… a maid?”
She looked at me like she was staring at an insect.
“…You really need to see a doctor today. You’re getting weirder by the day.”
“Was I like this before?”
“You’ve always been weird.”
I see.
Nodding, I took out a maid uniform and changed into it.
After getting dressed, I stood in front of a full-length mirror to tidy myself up. Reflected back at me was a woman with softly curled, bright blonde hair.
Light green eyes—paler than Deriksha’s—looked back at me from the mirror. Because of my drooping eye corners, my features looked gentle, but my blank expression made me seem rather cold.
“Lily, we’re going to be late. Move already, will you?”
Deriksha stepped up beside me, brushing her hair as she glared at me. The unfamiliar name made me tilt my head.
“Am I… Lily?”
“Oh, for the love of—”
Deriksha buried her face in one hand, clearly exhausted. I continued staring at her in confusion.
I genuinely couldn’t remember anything.
The only thing I knew for certain was that I wasn’t originally from this world—and that I was someone familiar with electronic devices.
Even then, I couldn’t remember my family, or even my original face. All I remembered was falling asleep while reading a novel.
The title of the novel was… I Became the Young Master’s Maid, Just Like I Dreamed Of, wasn’t it?
The moment that light-novel-esque title surfaced, goosebumps spread across my arms.
Why had I even been reading something like that?
I remembered the title, but everything else was hazy. There had been a female lead and a male lead. And an antagonist who was also a sub–male lead…
No matter how hard I tried to think, nothing came to mind—not who the leads were, nor what kind of person the antagonist was.
The vague fragments only left me feeling uneasy.
Rolling my eyes, I surveyed my surroundings. No matter how I looked at it, this was not a modern setting. There were no electronic devices—there weren’t even electric lights.
Honestly, I’d already suspected as much the moment I saw the maid uniform. It looked exactly like the ones described in novels.
Did I… possess someone?
It might be a ridiculous guess, but since the only information left in my head was from that novel, my thoughts naturally went there.
Though for a possession, this body felt strangely familiar.
“Whatever. It’ll be faster if I just help you get ready. Come here, Lily.”
Deriksha called out to me as I stood blankly in front of the mirror. I obediently walked over.
She was about a palm taller than me, and she handled my hair skillfully, clearly used to doing this. After brushing it out, she tied it into a high ponytail.
Just tying my hair back drastically reduced the bright impression I gave off. Still, my refined features stood out.
“All done. Today’s our turn to work in the kitchen, so we need to head out early.”
Deriksha opened the door, already prepared. I blinked, then followed her out of the room.
The hallway outside was lavish and enormous—almost palace-like.
Judging by the fact that only maids were coming and going, this must be the servants’ annex. If even the annex was this extravagant, I couldn’t imagine how grand the main building must be.
“You still look spaced out, so I’ll go over the schedule for you. In the morning, you’ll work in the kitchen. After lunch, you’ll go to the laundry area to wash bedding. In the afternoon, we’ll go greet the young masters.”
I stopped her at one word.
“Young masters?”
“You’re going to say you don’t remember the employers now, too?”
Deriksha halted and turned to glare at me with a murderous expression.
I’m an amnesiac possessor, you know. A little kindness wouldn’t hurt.
Swallowing the words I couldn’t say, I pouted.
“I haven’t been a maid for very long, so there’s a lot I don’t know.”
“Even so, people don’t usually forget who their masters are…”
That didn’t work either.
Since my memory loss was already obvious, I decided to go all in.
“Who are they, then?”
“…Listen carefully, Lily. This is the House of Leofrum. The one who hired you is Duke Leofrum. The Duke has two sons and one daughter—his eldest son is Odin, the second son is Lou, and the youngest is Lady Abel. The first and second young masters were attending the Academy, but they’re returning now that it’s break. That’s why we’re going to greet them.”
“And Lady Abel?”
“…She’s only ten years old.”
Ah. Clear explanation. I applauded internally.
Deriksha looked at me with concern.
“I don’t know where you came from, but now that you’ve landed a job, at least memorize your masters’ names. It’s incredibly hard for commoners to get a position like this.”
“I’m not a commoner.”
“Then what are you?”
“A fallen noble.”
I said it without thinking, but Deriksha froze in shock. Judging by her reaction, maybe my looks made even nonsense sound convincing.
“…I’m kidding. I really don’t remember anything.”
“…Do you want to get arrested for blasphemy?”
Not wanting that, I quietly followed behind her.
The kitchen wasn’t far, and we arrived quickly. Deriksha greeted the people inside with ease.
“We’re here.”
“Oh my, our flower-like young ladies have arrived.”
“Don’t call us that, Mr. Drum.”
Deriksha shot an irritated glare at the man who looked like the head chef. Mr. Drum laughed heartily and continued whisking.
“Oh, Lily. How’s the work? Manageable?”
Noticing me behind Deriksha, Mr. Drum spoke naturally. I shrugged.
“I haven’t done it yet, so I’m not sure.”
“…Huh?”
Mr. Drum stared at me in confusion. Of course—someone who’d been here a week saying that would sound absurd. Deriksha quickly explained for me.
“She lost her memory again.”
“Oh dear, Lily said her memory hadn’t come back yet. Is it recurring?”
“Um… I don’t remember.”
I wanted to answer properly, but since I truly didn’t know, I gave a vague response. I walked past Mr. Drum, grabbed a pile of potatoes from the corner, and began peeling them.
Even without memories, my body moved naturally. Apparently, maid instincts were more useful than memories.
“Was it a week ago when Lily first came here…? The estate was in complete chaos that day.”
Mr. Drum stared at me and suddenly reminisced. The bustling kitchen conversation seemed to shift entirely toward me.
I continued peeling potatoes and nodded vaguely. If I could gather information about myself, all the better.
“Deriksha brought you in after finding you collapsed. Do you remember that?”
“No.”
“We saved you and this is how you repay us…”
Deriksha muttered ominously while peeling potatoes. I pretended not to hear and asked Mr. Drum instead.
“Do you know why I collapsed?”
“I don’t know anything. Deriksha’s the one who stayed by your side all day nursing you.”
I glanced at Deriksha. The same sharp-tongued girl had been the one to take care of me? She was the textbook definition of a tsundere.
Noticing my expectant gaze, Deriksha finally spoke.
“You had a dangerously high fever. After you barely recovered, we asked you questions, and you said you couldn’t remember anything. The doctor said the fever probably caused damage to your memory. The Duke allowed you to keep working here until your memory returns.”
“His Grace really is kind-hearted!”
Mr. Drum laughed loudly. A Duke who earned praise like this from his servants must be a genuinely good person.
After all, he’d hired someone whose background was completely unknown.
Still, the dreamlike haze clinging to me—was that also because of my memory loss?
Curious, I asked Deriksha,
“Did I have days like today during the past week? Days where I couldn’t remember anything?”
“Almost every day. I teach you, you forget the next day. I teach you again, and you forget again…”
Deriksha gritted her teeth. Sensing danger, I shivered.
Maybe I should’ve just stayed quiet.
“But forgetting even the basics like today? That’s a first. I never thought you’d forget the young masters’ names.”
She scoffed at herself. Of course I forgot everything—today, someone else had possessed this body entirely.
I kept my eyes on the potatoes and spoke calmly.
“That won’t happen anymore.”
It was my quiet conviction.
