“Ah…?”

Looking to see what had changed, she noticed that her hair, which had been tied up in a bun, was now loose and flowing down.

With a frown, Serena threw the hair tie and hairpin she had been holding onto the floor.

While the maid was staring blankly at the hairpin, the sound of someone taking a deep breath was heard, followed by Serena’s voice.

“You, from head to toe, you’re completely ugly! So ugly that it’s dizzying to look at! With your hair tied up, you look like an ugly newborn puppy all wrinkled! Ugly face, ugly hairstyle, ugly pin design, and with that dull hair color to top it off, what’s standing before me is nothing but a king of trash! If you don’t want to rot my eyes, from now on, go around like this.”

“…Eh.”

Drip, drip.

The maid was confident she wouldn’t cry even if she was slapped five times.

But somehow, those words deeply hurt her. That’s how harsh they were.

‘Those eyes looking at me like I’m real trash…’

King of trash… How many times did she say I was ugly?

Tears that even the maid herself didn’t expect started falling from her eyes.

“Sob…”

“……”

Serena was now frozen.

She hadn’t expected this situation at all.

‘…What’s the problem?’

She had just slightly modified one of the least harsh things Lemerun always said to her.

The maid had a wide forehead and a slightly larger face, so Serena thought it might look more stylish to cover it with hair rather than exposing the whole face.

So, while it might have seemed like an insult at first glance, she hoped the maid would realize after a few days of anger that there was hidden advice in those words…!

But there was one thing Serena overlooked in this whole situation.

“Oh my, how could she say such terrible things…!”

“Even if there’s a strict class system and she’s a duchess…”

“Even if it’s true, to speak so crudely and directly…”

“Could it be true that she never took etiquette lessons, as the rumors say…?”

Serena, who had become accustomed to Lemerun’s direct way of speaking after a long time of struggle, had forgotten that this was high society.

High society, where the key is how elegantly one can retort even when angry.

A gathering of people with amazing patience who smile instead of cursing when angry, and instead deliver sharp remarks.

They fight not with fists, but with subtle power struggles through public opinion and connections.

And the maids and servants, having served such nobles for a long time, were accustomed to such ways of speaking.

In other words, to them, Serena’s direct way of speaking was the kind of dialogue that only ruffians, thugs, or mercenaries would use.

Of course, Magnus, who had blurted out the word ‘pigsty’ openly, was also not accustomed to this kind of speech.

Thanks to that, Serena had no opportunity to encounter the high society’s way of talking until today after returning to her original body.

In other words, she didn’t know that this was the kind of conversation that could make someone burst into tears.

Because Serena heard such words dozens of times a day and grew her anger.

“…The hair color, hic, that mother gave me… sob…”

“……”

Serena realized that things had gone wrong, very wrong.

She just wanted to drink a cool glass of water.

She had planned to say, ‘I’d like a cool glass of water,’ when the maid finished speaking and was either filled with anger or apologizing while cursing her internally.

Her goal was to get a glass of water and then lean against a corner or on the terrace, setting the mood.

But now, even if she said that, no one would listen.

“Oh my, it must be the only inheritance from her deceased mother.”

“Really… that’s too cruel.”

“I’m not even the one involved, but I feel like my heart is being torn to shreds.”

“…The duchess has always spoken like that, hasn’t she.”

“I heard they’re finally getting divorced…”

Serena, who had been staring at the maid biting her lips and swallowing her sobs, rolled her eyes for a while before placing her hand on the maid’s shoulder.

” — is what you don’t need to hear about your excellent hair color. Your mother left a great legacy. The legacy of you, to cherish even a single part of your body.”

Serena blurted out words randomly, attempting damage control.

“Well then, good work.”

She tried to turn her increasingly awkward body to leave this uncomfortable banquet hall.

If only she hadn’t caught sight of the tray of a passing servant at that moment.

Stop.

She paused for a moment and looked at the tray. The servant’s tray was full of cups of cool water.

Yes. This servant was only carrying a tray full of water cups.

“……”

It seems each drink had a separate person in charge.

“…Clueless bastard.”

Serena glared at the servant.

Although she knew it wasn’t his fault, at this point, she needed someone to blame.

And so, she ended up cursing at the servant.

If this servant had come a little earlier, this situation might not have escalated like this.

“……”

She quickly grabbed a glass of water and strode out to the terrace.

Fortunately, no one followed her.

“……”

Whoosh, the blowing wind felt somehow chilly.

* * *

After Serena’s whirlwind appearance, the banquet hall fell quiet.

During this commotion, Magnus, who had been delayed due to some business, stepped into the banquet hall.

‘It hasn’t even been 30 minutes yet.’

Surely she hasn’t caused trouble already.

Worried about Serena, or more precisely, worried about the trouble Serena might cause, he rushed back after finishing only the urgent matters.

But as soon as he set foot in the banquet hall, he felt the gazes pouring on him.

He also saw a tear-stained maid getting up from the floor with the help of other servants.

‘Don’t tell me…’

Magnus felt an uneasy sensation creeping up his spine.

‘Has she already caused trouble!’

He unconsciously raised his hand to his head, feeling dizzy.

He didn’t think she would cause trouble so quickly, in just 30 minutes.

“What on earth…”

Feeling the gazes focused on him, Magnus raised his hand to stop a maid who was about to pass by.

The maid flinched and quietly stopped walking.

She had retied her hair that had been let down.

“What exactly happened here?”

“W-well…”

The maid clutched her apron tightly and bowed her head deeply.

She couldn’t badmouth the duchess in front of the duke.

Even if she told the truth, it would feel like tattling, which was just awkward.

“I won’t blame you, so tell me.”

Magnus asked as if he knew what the maid was thinking.

Only after receiving the duke’s permission did the maid open her mouth.

“Well…”

The maid carefully opened her mouth and calmly explained what had happened.

After bursting into tears once due to the sudden tears, her mind had actually cleared up a bit.

Because there were many witnesses, she tried to relay the story based on facts as much as possible.

“…I see.”

Magnus looked down at the maid with a complex expression.

He couldn’t understand at all why the maid had cried.

That’s right.

To Magnus, who had spent his youth following the previous duke through blood-soaked battlefields and among rough mercenaries, Serena’s words, while somewhat rude, didn’t seem that strange.

“Let your hair down once.”

He nodded slightly.

“Pardon?”

“I said, let it down.”

“Ah, yes…”

At Magnus’s unexpected order, the maid who had been quietly observing her painfully retied hair, hesitantly raised her hands.

Plop, as she removed the pin and hair tie, her hair flowed down again.

“Hmm.”

Magnus tilted his head slightly.

“She was right.”

“…Pardon?”

Magnus, who had been staring at the maid, said,

“You look much better with your hair down.”

“Ah…”

“A lighter hair color would be better too.”

Magnus thought there was nothing wrong with what Serena had said. Rather, it was surprisingly rare for her to say something right.

Because Magnus had also learned through struggle.

The previous duke had a rough temperament and was the type to raise his children harshly, even throwing them off cliffs, so he had no filter in his speech.

“What’s wrong with this advice?”

“…Advice? But she called me t-trash…”

To the maid who spoke tremblingly, Magnus opened his mouth with a rather serious face.

“You, what do you expect from Serena Kelahinum?”

“Ah…!”

The clever maid understood immediately.

Magnus asked with eyes that seemed to question what more expectations one could have for someone like Serena.

‘I see…’

Although she was hurt for a moment, the fact that she wasn’t wrong was as good as being born under a lucky star.

“…So it was advice.”

The maid muttered softly as if she had gained a great realization.

“…I was a bit sad because it’s the hair color I inherited from my mother, but I think what Your Grace said is right. I’ll try doing as both of you suggested.”

The maid spoke in a slightly deflated voice.

“……”