Vivianne’s circumstances changed overnight. Kian von Larson neatly took away everything he had bestowed upon her, which had been more than she deserved.

The luxurious room, dedicated maid, pretty dresses, private meals, even the soap bubbles she had enjoyed in the bathtub – everything that had been given as if it were natural disappeared like a mirage.

She cleared out the room she had briefly used, received and put on a maid’s uniform, learned the mansion’s layout and the rules that employees must follow. After greeting everyone at the morning assembly, the whole day had passed.

“Here, wear this, miss.”

At bedtime, Matilda, who had brought Vivianne to sleep in her room, held out an elegant negligee.

It was what Vivianne had been wearing until yesterday.

Should she wear something like this? At first, she hadn’t thought anything of it, but now that her circumstances had changed, even wearing nice clothes felt somewhat burdensome.

“I’m not a miss anymore. Please call me Vivi.”

“Alright, Vivi. No one’s watching right now anyway, so let’s secretly wear it.”

“Still…”

“In my opinion, these things suit you better. I want to dress you in them when we’re alone. Come on, hurry.”

Since she hadn’t received any other sleepwear, and due to Matilda’s insistence, she reluctantly accepted it, but she couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable. As head maid, Matilda had her own private room and a single bed. Vivianne worried she might be causing trouble.

“Won’t it be uncomfortable for Matilda? I can sleep somewhere else…”

“I said I’d keep you with me tonight. This bed is wider than it looks. It won’t be uncomfortable, so come sit here.”

Vivianne hesitantly sat on the bed. The wooden bed creaked with even the slightest movement, perhaps due to age. Matilda, seemingly unable to bear seeing Vivianne so awkward, sat beside her and began brushing her hair.

“Matilda, you don’t need to do this. I’m now…”

“You haven’t been decided to work as a maid yet. That’ll be determined in a week.”

As Matilda said, exactly one week remained.

She had boldly declared she would prove her usefulness, but…

Could she really find her role in this house? It felt overwhelming.

No matter how she thought about it, she couldn’t shake the feeling that things had gone wrong from their very first meeting.

Though she didn’t know why, it was clear that Kian disliked her.

When she thought of Kian’s sharp gaze as he looked at her, she wanted to bury her face and cry.

Vivianne tried to carefully review what she might have done wrong, from the moment she entered the room until she left, but eventually gave up, realizing it was meaningless now.

It felt like waking from a dream. Perhaps because she had fallen for him on her own and wanted him, she had arbitrarily cast him in the role of prince in her sweet delusions.

While she had been watching him and harboring feelings for quite some time, to Kian, she might just be an uninvited guest who suddenly appeared. She could accept that, but she couldn’t help the pain that felt like thorns piercing her heart.

However, there wasn’t much else she could do. She had made a contract with the witch to get legs, and if she didn’t fulfill it, she would disappear like sea foam.

“This house has no young ladies, so it was fun, like playing with a doll for a while. How could the master do this when you’ve barely woken up?”

Matilda grumbled, criticizing her master. Vivianne, who had been completely dejected, managed to recover a faint smile.

“It’s not his fault. I was the one who insisted on staying here, asking to be given any kind of work.”

“I understand the situation. But Vivi, you were crying.”

“…”

She must have noticed the tear stains already. It was embarrassing. Her face burned as if a shameful secret had been exposed.

“Lie down here.”

Matilda lay down on the inner side and patted the space beside her. When Vivianne lay down, Matilda held her in her arms and patted her back as she looked ready to cry.

“You know, I actually had a daughter about your age.”

“A daughter?”

“Yes. She would always go play by the sea alone without saying anything, so dangerous. I got so frustrated that I told her not to come home if she kept doing it. And then she really didn’t come back. Of all things to actually listen to… really.”

It wasn’t meant seriously. Matilda muttered to herself. Her voice, though trying to maintain a light tone, seemed somewhat lonely.

“If she were alive now, she’d be about your age. That’s why I keep wanting to be nice to you and help you. Am I being nosy?”

“…I’m sure your daughter was pretty and kind.”

“Are you a fortune teller, Vivi? How did you know?”

She asked playfully. A sweet smile appeared on Vivianne’s face, which had looked ready to cry just moments ago.

“Because if she was your daughter, she would have taken after Matilda. You seem like a pretty and kind person.”

“We haven’t known each other long, but you’re that sure?”

“Yes.”

“What if you’re wrong?”

Matilda had a point. Sometimes she could be wrong.

“…That’s okay. There’s nothing sadder than not trusting someone from the start.”

Though she had never experienced it, she was certain of this.

A being with sharp thorns would be unhappy either way – whether they pierce others or maintain distance to avoid piercing them.

“When you say things like that, it makes me really want to be a good person to you.”

Matilda was a warm person.

Though they hadn’t known each other long, just as Matilda saw her own daughter in Vivianne…

Though Vivianne had lost her mother early and had no memories of her, she wondered if this was what having a mother would feel like.

“Do you think I can do well? I’m actually scared.”

Perhaps that’s why she suddenly wanted to share her true feelings.

Besides, there was no one else to talk to but Matilda.

Could she make Kian overcome his misunderstanding about her?

Though she had bought time, she had no idea how to proceed.

Matilda stroked Vivianne’s hair back and smiled maternally.

“Don’t lose heart. There’s an old saying: constantly worrying is like praying for the things you’re worried about to happen.”

“…”

“So when we dream, let’s only dream good dreams.”

Good dreams.

As Matilda said, Vivianne had always dreamed good dreams even when confined in the mermaid palace.

How could she dream good dreams now? When he dislikes me so much? An inexplicable sadness washed over her, making her nose sting.

“Do you really think that just getting legs will make a human prince fall in love with you?”

Suddenly, she remembered the witch’s mocking question. To which Vivianne had clearly answered:

“What I want is a chance. With legs, at least I can try to approach him first.”

Right. What she wanted from the start was simply the ‘chance’ itself. Though the first meeting was upsetting, thinking about whether the opportunity was gone – it wasn’t, not yet.

Of course, Kian might not be a good person. But wasn’t this the chance she had wanted, even accepting such risks? Besides, such things couldn’t be known from brief encounters.

Obtaining precious things naturally takes time. To somehow clear up the misunderstanding and get closer to him, the important thing was to stay near Kian by whatever means necessary.

Starting tomorrow, she has a week of opportunity. She couldn’t just keep crying.

As her thoughts reached this point, tomorrow, which had only seemed frightening before, slowly began to feel something to look forward to.

* * *

“I heard they found her collapsed on the beach?”

“Why are you leaving out the important part? Completely n*ked, they say. All the soldiers there saw her.”

When one maid brought it up, another eagerly added to it.

“My goodness. Honestly, it’s too indecent to even talk about.”

“Oh, what does it matter? It’s just between us.”

The maids gathered around the large washtub doing laundry giggled and whispered among themselves.

“Could she be an escaped slave from a slave ship?”

“Who knows what she was doing or where she came from.”

“It is suspicious. That she happened to be lying there right when the ship was docking.”

Vivianne, who had been standing behind them, instinctively realized they were talking about her.

On her first day learning maid duties, the Larson house maids didn’t welcome the unfamiliar newcomer. Though Matilda had asked them in advance, they were still wary.

Finally, after being pushed around here and there, they told her to go to the laundry area, and when she arrived, they were gossiping about her, not realizing she was coming.

The first emotion she felt was embarrassment. At the same time, she recalled how Kian had avoided mentioning the details of how he had rescued her.

So this was why. It was something too embarrassing to even mention.

And perhaps.

Just perhaps.

He might have been considerate, not wanting her to feel embarrassed.

‘What should I do? Should I just go somewhere else?’

She wanted to run away, but her feet wouldn’t move.

‘…They seem to dislike me here too.’

Just because she had resolved to stand firm didn’t mean it was easy to endure hostility directed at her.

Wouldn’t it be endless if she tried to avoid every situation like this?

If people she’d never met before were talking like this, the rumors must have spread everywhere. Everyone might be thinking this way anyway, so going somewhere else wouldn’t change anything.

Right. Let’s just bear with it and greet them first.

“Hello, I’m Vivianne.”

At least they wouldn’t spit in a smiling face.

When Vivianne deliberately greeted them with a bright smile, the maids who turned around wore sour expressions.

“What should I do first?”

They looked at each other, and then the one who appeared to be the oldest spoke first.

“…Have you done laundry before?”

“No, this is my first time.”

The maids laughed incredulously at her innocent face.

“If you teach me, I’ll really work hard to learn.”

Though their attitude was far from friendly, now wasn’t the time to be picky. After all, they weren’t the ones who needed help—she did.

“Please take care of me. You can call me Vivi.”