At least her round green eyes still sparkled like glass marbles. Her appearance was disheveled, but it was still a pretty face.

‘Cynthia Blewitt. The protagonist’s sister.’

A romance fantasy novel she had enjoyed reading in her previous life.

<Iris Never Cries!>

It had a somewhat childish plot where Felix, the male lead, saves Iris who is in danger during the Pope’s feast day, they fall in love at first sight, and overcome the crisis created by the villain trying to steal the female lead through the power of love.

Despite the female lead being surrounded by admirers due to the side effects of some potion, the setting where she knew herbs well made it quite enjoyable. Perhaps it was more immersive because of her own interest in herbs.

Cynthia Blewitt was a character who appeared in just one line in a letter received by the female lead. And that was the news of her death in Baron Reka’s territory.

‘It was the scene where Felix comforts Iris, who is wailing over losing her sister, and vows to protect her for life.’

It was entertaining when reading it, but now that she had become the character destined to die young, her head throbbed.

Her goal had simply been to live a long life working with her beloved herbs, but somehow she had ended up in a survival game.

‘Think positively. If I hadn’t remembered my past life or the novel’s content, I would have been sold off and died.’

Perhaps it was her grandmother’s final gift.

Cynthia shook the water from her face, returned to the room, and pulled on the door handle. But the firmly locked door didn’t budge.

“I need to escape quickly.”

Original story or not, she needed to get out of here to survive.

She searched the pockets of her funeral dress but found nothing. It was depressing to realize she had neither money nor anyone to help her.

As Cynthia tried to recall the original story to find a solution, she heard someone coming up the wooden stairs.

Click–clack, there was a humming tune while turning the key.

Cynthia immediately recognized the owner of the voice.

‘Loretta?’

Head maid Loretta was a servant who acted as Viscountess Blewitt’s accomplice and was desperate to torment Cynthia. Based on experience, she could now understand where the fallen dirt clumps had come from.

Cynthia quickly grabbed the lamp and headed toward the herb storage area near the bathroom. She immediately began frantically searching through the potions on the shelf.

Soon, she found several potions that still seemed effective.

Creeeeak.

As the old door opened, she lowered the lamp’s brightness and watched outside the storage area.

Loretta approached the bed with quiet steps, giggling. Then she poured a bucket full of ice onto the bed.

Yesterday dirt clumps, today ice water? She couldn’t help but smirk at the consistently boundary-crossing behavior.

“What? Why is it so quiet? The physician said she would wake up today.”

Loretta tilted her head with a puzzled expression. She must have expected Cynthia to create a commotion after being doused with ice water.

Then Loretta yanked away the soaking wet blanket.

“Ha! Where has this d*mn wench hidden herself?”

Well, well. Now openly cursing?

Just as the huffing Loretta was about to turn around.

‘Now!’

Timing her escape, Cynthia jumped out of the herb storage and poured all the potions in her hand over Loretta’s head.

“Kyaaaaaah!”

Suddenly drenched, Loretta collapsed to the floor. Belatedly, she raised her head, trembling.

Seeing the figure in the dim moonlight, Loretta finally understood the situation. Her shocked expression was quite a sight to behold.

“……!”

“How does it feel to experience it yourself? Refreshing, isn’t it?”

Cynthia looked down at her with a crooked posture and smiled.

“What on earth are you doing?! Madam will never forgive you when she finds out!”

Oh my. Look at her.

Has she already forgotten what she did?

The hypocrisy was astounding. Cynthia ignored her barking and answered indifferently.

“Do as you please. But before you go to mother……”

She let her words trail off, then stepped back a few paces and pinched her nose.

Sensing something ominous, Loretta slowly raised her arm and sniffed the smell coming from her body.

“Ugh. Urk.”

Dry heaving and shedding tears, Loretta glared with a vicious expression. Her intimidation was quite fierce, but not at all frightening.

“Wha-what did you do to me?”

“Oh, that?”

Cynthia smiled brightly and tapped her shoulder.

“My dear Loretta. You need to be healthy if you want to bully me.”

“What does that mean! Urk.”

As Loretta’s body jerked, a terrible stench filled the air.

“This is a potion made from steeping an herb called ‘ponica.’ It’s really good for the skin. The only drawback is that the smell of horse urine never goes away.”

“……!”

Loretta was aghast, her mouth hanging open.

“Wha-what did you say?”

When I was young, you used to torment me by splashing me with dirty water and throwing dirt.

Cynthia’s expression turned cold as she recalled memories of crying for help when no one would come.

Sensing the ominous atmosphere, Loretta suddenly prostrated herself flat on the ground.

Her ability to change tactics was truly impressive. That’s what happens when you mess with someone who was minding their own business.

“Miss, please spare me just this once. I, I have a matchmaking meeting in four days!”

Wait. Did she just say matchmaking? Cynthia stopped in her tracks and smiled meaningfully.

Loretta, unable to understand the meaning behind that smile, began to feel uneasy.

“Would you like me to get rid of this smell?”

Cynthia took out a small glass vial from her pocket and neutralized the potion that had spilled on her hand.

The foul odor disappeared, and a sweet fragrance instantly filled the room.

Ponica was an herb good for the skin, but when used alone, its distinctive foul smell wouldn’t go away, making it a low-grade herb used to chase away mice.

However, when mixed with oil extracted from ‘malum’ petals, the terrible smell disappeared, leaving a fresh apple scent.

With sharpened eyes, Loretta quickly snatched the glass vial.

“Ah……!”

She shook the bottle thoroughly, but not a single drop of potion remained. Facing the devastated Loretta, Cynthia spoke nonchalantly.

“Don’t be disappointed. If you do me a favor, I might tell you the formula for the potion. What do you say?”

Loretta gulped.

She was the daughter of a dedicated maid brought from Viscountess Blewitt’s maiden home and enjoyed the mistress’s favor.

Even among nobles, a child abandoned and neglected was an object of ridicule among employees.

But…

‘She’s changed.’

This wasn’t the Cynthia who used to tremble at her words.

What should I do?

This matchmaking was very important to Loretta. It might be a golden opportunity to become the mistress of a merchant guild. Gritting her teeth, she had only one answer.

“Wh-what do you want me to do?”

Cynthia hid her wicked expression and smiled benevolently.

“Something very simple.”

❀❀❀

What Cynthia demanded from Loretta was a small amount of travel money to leave the viscounty immediately, an outdoor dress, and lastly, an avatar to help her get revenge on the Blewitt couple.

Cynthia was furious when she heard about being moved to the main house while unconscious.

According to Loretta, Baron Reka had been looking for an apothecary to work like a slave on his massive plantation, and Cynthia fit the criteria.

Coincidentally, Viscount Blewitt, who needed a large sum of money, had schemed. Most skilled apothecaries were nobles, and nobles couldn’t be treated as slaves. So he quickly arranged the marriage with Baron Reka.

Moreover, she couldn’t forgive the atrocity of taking all the herbs, bulbs, and seedlings she had painstakingly grown to the main house, and their preparations to hand them over to the merchant guild for great profit.

While Cynthia changed into the dress, Loretta, who had finished her avatar task, trudged back to the attic room.

“I did everything you asked.”

Judging by the irritation in her voice, she must have really hated doing it.

Noticing the grass stains and white powder all over the hem of Loretta’s dress, Cynthia let out a small laugh.

❀❀❀

It wasn’t difficult to escape from the mansion since only the kitchen maids started work before dawn.

Due to Loretta’s foul smell, they couldn’t take a rental carriage and had to ride horses themselves.

Although it took some time because the horse refused several times, Cynthia managed to arrive at the train station smoothly.

Boarding the comfortable second-class compartment, Cynthia opened the window and smiled freshly.

Standing below the window, Loretta kept looking around nervously, seemingly embarrassed by her smell despite wearing a thick winter robe.

“Now tell me how to make the antidote!”

“Of course. I keep my promises.”

Soon, the signal announcing the train’s departure sounded. As the wheels began to move, Loretta urgently knocked on the window.

“Hurry up!”

Cynthia threw a small piece of paper through the window. Loretta picked up the fallen note like a lifeline and shouted angrily.

[I’ve hidden the antidote formula somewhere in the attic room. Look carefully♡]

“You, you…… If you’re ever caught and brought back, I won’t let you off then!”