He was the type to not only suspect her but potentially dig into her background. With no other choice, Hailey made her way into Marianne’s house and spent the night throwing punches at the air, unable to sleep.

‘If it’s come to this, I’ll just do whatever it takes.’

If bodies were swapped, there had to be a way to swap them back. Whatever it took, she would return to being ‘herself’ and get Damon back…

Knock, knock.

A knock at the bedroom door startled her and her eyes flew open. She threw back the blanket she pulled over her head, and bright sunlight poured into her eyes, making her dizzy.

When did I fall asleep? Is it morning already?

On the off chance she returned to her original body overnight, she checked her hair first, but sadly no such thing occurred.

“D*mn pink hair.”

“Rianne, are you up?”

From outside came the sound of knocking, followed by an unfamiliar male voice.

‘Is it Marianne’s brother Brick? Or Marianne’s father?’

She flung the door open, and sure enough, standing there was that dimwit brother ‘Brick,’ the one who used to pick fights with Hailey at every turn. After the family fell, he was someone who didn’t dare even look at her.

“What? What is it, this early in the morning?”

“About yesterday.”

“……”

She looked up at him with a humorless expression, and Brick opened his mouth, then stopped and hemmed and hawed for a long moment before suddenly poking her in the side with a coaxing grin.

“Are you really mad? Hey, Rianne, what happened to your lip?”

Ha, Brick could make a voice like that?

Rumors of him doting on his sister were well-known, but seeing it up close was something else entirely. This was the same person who used to snipe at Hailey with things like ‘Oh, the lady graces us with her presence’ and ‘No wonder, being the royal family’s favorite and all,’ and on top of that, used to trip her. Maybe that was why, even as she brushed off the shoulder he poked, the unpleasantness didn’t go away so easily.

“Don’t worry about it. And what are you going to do about it even if I am angry?”

Whatever he did, it seemed like Brick wronged Marianne in some way, and she had no desire to forgive him easily. She even felt the urge to yank his red hair, tied back in a single bundle.

While I’m in this body, I won’t be giving you an ounce of grace.

“Come on, I’ll get you some medicine.”

“I said I’m fine.”

“Being angry… right, he’s my friend. Is Damon pulling this kind of thing again? Hm?”

“Da… what?”

She didn’t expect Damon’s name to come up out of nowhere.

She knew he stayed friends with Brick even after the family became commoners. Damon did a great many things under the banner of ‘noblesse oblige,’ after all. Brick must have read her startled expression, because he bit his lip and kept talking.

“Damon went too far, apparently. He told me to make sure I passed along his apology. Said you wouldn’t listen to him directly. Is that true? What kind of prank was it that got you this angry? Hm? Rianne.”

A prank? A kiss is a prank? Or is the prank that he went around dating me while telling Marianne he loved her?

Either way, kicking him in the shin wouldn’t be enough to make her feel better.

“He’s really calling it a prank?”

Brick seemed to sense something off in Hailey’s voice, because he wiped the smile off his face and straightened up.

“No, not a prank exactly… he said he went too far, that it was all his fault. It wasn’t a prank? What actually happened, seriously?”

“Say it straight.”

“That’s all there is. He wronged Rianne, he wants to apologize but doesn’t think she’ll accept it, let him know when she’s in a better mood, that’s about it…?”

Brick trailed off, staring hard at Hailey while chewing his lip, then lacing and unlacing his fingers in a restless flurry. He rambled on for a while, then suddenly clapped his hands together as though something just clicked.

“You! Don’t tell me!”

“……”

Brick launched into a flurry of dramatic gestures, but Hailey didn’t react at all. He eventually inched close to her and raised one hand like he was about to whisper in her ear.

“Don’t come closer. I said don’t.”

“He didn’t confess again, did he?”

She barely shook off the whisper from her ear before the word landed.

“Confess?”

The word ‘confess’ lodged itself precisely in her mind.

And ‘again’? So he did it once before?

“I told him no. Damon is off-limits. Absolutely off-limits.”

But what on earth happened between those two? She was afraid to see how far things went with the man she once called her husband, but it occurred to her that using Brick might be the easiest way to find out.

“Give me three reasons why not. Why can’t it be me and Damon?”

“Hm? Oh, right.”

Brick pretended not to hear and suddenly started rummaging busily through his clothes.

“Don’t change the subject.”

“I really do have something to give you, Rianne. It’s genuinely important. Is this how you treat your brother who came all the way here first thing in the morning just to give it to you?”

Just as her irritation was about to boil over, a “Ta-da!” rang out and an invitation bearing the royal crest appeared from inside Brick’s coat.

“It came for you. I came to give it yesterday but you never came home.”

Hailey snatched the invitation and tore off the sealing wax without a moment’s hesitation. This was… an invitation seeking ladies-in-waiting to serve the goddess.

***

“A lady-in-waiting for the goddess!”

Tartie came running to Marianne’s house at the crack of dawn and cried out with a beaming face. She was in a frenzy, asking if Rianne got an invitation too.

Tartie kept close to Marianne even after she became a commoner, and the reason for that was a rumor that made the rounds in society, one Hailey knew well. It was simple. She liked Marianne’s brother, Brick.

“I heard the goddess was returning, but I never thought there’d be a chance to live in the palace! Right, Rianne?”

“I suppose so.”

Anyway, yes, it was right around this time. When the goddess returned to the Kingdom of Onyx and was soon to prepare for her slumber. The royal family sent cards with notices to various households to recruit additional ladies-in-waiting and maids to serve the goddess.

Following the goddess’s instructions to send them to nobles and commoners alike, any household with a daughter would have received one. It was a position that brought not only the chance to live in the palace but the honor of serving the goddess at her side.

Since Hailey was previously the princess’s lady-in-waiting, it was only natural she was excluded from consideration. But because of that, she was able to add her input when the goddess’s ladies-in-waiting were being selected.

So in a few days she would naturally come face to face with ‘Hailey.’ Then she could confirm whether it really was Marianne who took over her body. Either way, becoming the goddess’s lady-in-waiting was the most urgent priority. Only then could she…

“Rianne, what about this one?”

Tartie pushed a dress catalogue toward Hailey with a bright, excited expression and broke her train of thought.

“A dress?”

“Yes. Isn’t this one gorgeous?”

There were plenty of elaborate designs, just as she said, but in truth none of them caught Hailey’s eye. She had too much to worry about.

“White doesn’t really suit a ladies-in-waiting interview. It’s not a gathering to select a lady for marriage.”

Hailey gave a casual reply and put a slight emphasis on ‘lady,’ and Tartie pouted with a “Hmph” and took the catalogue back.

“Your way of talking has gotten really strange.”

“It was always like this. You just never noticed.”

“Hmph.”

Wait, dresses.

Hailey recalled that one of the ladies-in-waiting selected at the time was her friend Hartlan. Along with that, the memory surfaced that the candidates chosen in the first round all wore dresses in shades of red. Hadn’t the goddess herself singled it out, saying ‘I happen to love red’?

“Then what about this one?”

Tartie pointed to a bright yellow dress in the catalogue this time, insisting it really did suit her. It was undeniably more flattering than the one she picked before, so Hailey gave a wordless nod.

‘I need to find something red.’

Hailey casually picked up one of the dress catalogues Tartie brought in an armful. Looking through it, a few designs caught her eye. But there was something to secure before worrying about design. She quietly asked Tartie for help.

“Is there any way to choose the fabric first? Popular colors might go fast.”

She never imagined she would be sitting across from Tartie having a conversation like this, but now was not the time to be choosy.

“Is that so? Then forget this, should we just head straight to the dressmaker’s? What do you think?”

Tartie started getting ready to leave before she even finished speaking. Before they headed out, Hailey opened the wardrobe. She needed to know the state of Marianne’s wardrobe before she could figure out what kind of dress to have made. But…

“Tartie.”

“Yes, what?”

“What did I usually wear most often?”

“What kind of question is that? You’d know better than anyone.”