2. A person must know how to stand in the right line to succeed.

The Lily Trampled Beneath the Tyrant’s Feet

Hailey Brooke realized she had been reincarnated in a bizarrely titled romance fantasy novel when she was eighteen years old.

In her previous life, she was a regular college student named Lia. The only unusual thing about her was that her family’s financial situation was a mess, so she had to work part-time day and night just to make ends meet.

On the day of the accident, she had just finished a late-night shift at a convenience store and was heading home when she was hit by a speeding car.

That was her last memory as Lia — and when she regained consciousness, she found herself in the body of Hailey Brooke, an apprentice maid in the imperial palace.

In short, she had experienced what’s commonly known in romance fantasy novels as “book reincernation.”

“Ugh, of all the books to be reincarnated into, why this one?!”

The Lily Trampled Beneath the Tyrant’s Feet

This romance fantasy novel had made waves for its absurd ending, where the tyrant, driven mad after being abandoned by the female lead, went on a massive killing spree.

And the character Hailey Brooke, whom she had reincarnated, was an apprentice maid in the imperial palace. To summarize, she was a minor character with no significant role, who got caught up in the massacre and died a miserable death.

“I’m screwed…”

Realizing that, Hailey clutched her head in despair.

“I mean, come on, I’m just a minor character. Did he really have to kill me off that brutally?”

But tyrants in romance fantasy novels are, by nature, endlessly cruel and ruthless. The tyrant made sure to hunt down and kill even an insignificant apprentice maid like Hailey.

‘If I’d known this would happen, I never would’ve started this whole apprentice maid thing…’

Hailey considered quitting her apprentice maid job, which barely paid anything anyway, and just returning to her hometown.

But she quickly shook her head.

‘Kincaid wasn’t just any ordinary tyrant.’

Because at that point in the story, Crown Prince Kincaid had already massacred every single servant who had ever worked in the palace over the past few years.

Apprentice maids, trainee cooks, temporary laborers, even part-time gardeners — all of them!

“How… meticulous of him…”

It wasn’t enough that he hunted down everyone whose name appeared on employment records; he even tracked down and killed servants who were on vacation or leave at the time.

Tyrants are usually expected to be mad, but Kincaid took it to the next level — not only was he brutal, he was thorough.

And so, he proudly claimed the number one spot on Hailey Brooke’s Official Ranking of Tyrants in Romance Fantasy.

“Clap clap clap. Congratulations on becoming the number one tyrant.”

Lying in her humble—no, downright shabby—apprentice maid quarters, Hailey muttered in a deflated voice.

“But still, there’s always a ray of hope, and even a mouse might find a way to escape from a cat….”

She had to think. She had to come up with a way to survive, no matter what. Hailey desperately tried to recall details from the original novel.

1. The current Emperor, Bronteum II, had been ill for a long time, and the reins of power had long since fallen into Kincaid’s hands.

2. Both the current and former emperors had children not only through the empress but also through concubines, which meant Kincaid had been embroiled in a fierce succession war with his many half-siblings…

3. And most importantly, the female lead, Lady Vernette of the Count’s family, had rejected Kincaid’s proposal — a decision that greatly contributed to triggering his relapse into madness…

“Wait, stop right there!”

As she combed through the original plot in her mind, Hailey suddenly remembered one paragraph, barely, from the very end of the novel.

The blood of those slain by the tyrant’s sword flowed like a river, and the corpses piled high like mountains. In just three days, the crown prince committed the atrocity of slaughtering the majority of the imperial palace’s personnel. However, there was one exception…

“Duchess Eleonora of Brontes…”

The tyrant spared only Duchess Eleonora of Brontes, the wife of his brother, the dethroned crown prince Terrence, and the former crown princess who was raising a princess. He showed mercy solely to the duchess, allowing her and her attendants and maids to safely return to her homeland, the Duchy of Simodel. Thus, only Duchess Eleonora and the few people attached to her secluded palace became the sole survivors of that tragic massacre.

“I found it—my lifeline!”

Hailey’s eyes sparkled. She had finally found a way to survive.

‘Duchess Eleonora of Brontes and her attendants—the only survivors of the massacre.’

And this was a canon fact from the original story!

So Hailey made up her mind.

If she couldn’t quit being a maid anyway, then she would become a maid serving Duchess Eleonora and survive that way.

“Right. A person needs to know how to line up behind the right people if they want to succeed!”

…Though in this case, it wasn’t about success, but straight-up survival!

At any rate, Hailey—originally a novice maid of the main palace—rushed to the Imperial Household Department at dawn the next day and applied for a transfer to the duchess’s secluded residence.

***

According to palace regulations, maids who enter the palace at the age of sixteen must go through a two-year probation before being selected as official palace maids.

If, during those two years, a maid was found to have poor work performance or a bad attitude, she would be dismissed without hesitation.

However, if she successfully advanced to the position of an official palace maid, the working conditions were quite decent.

‘And it’s open to commoners too.’

For Hailey, born the eldest daughter of a poor farming family in the countryside, it had seemed like a pretty good job option at the time…

But looking back now, she felt like biting her tongue in regret.

‘Even if I hadn’t regained my memories of my past life yet, this was basically walking straight into hell with my eyes wide open…’

To make matters worse, being an apprentice maid was no easy task.

According to palace regulations, there was a clear distinction between maids and servant girls — but that only applied to official maids. Apprentice maids were tasked with all the miscellaneous chores around the palace.

Delicate but tedious jobs like hand-washing expensive linen, flower arranging, organizing bookshelves, and ironing — all too fussy for servant girls and too troublesome for senior maids — fell entirely on the shoulders of apprentice maids.

‘But well, there’s nothing I can’t do.’

Because Hailey Brooke, apprentice maid of the Detached Palace, had once juggled three part-time jobs a day in her previous life just to afford tuition, the ultimate part-timer was practically blessed by the gods of labor.

***

“Hailey, did you put away the linens from the laundry room?”

“Yes, they’re all organized and on the shelves.”

“The handkerchiefs with lace need to be ironed separately…”

“Don’t worry, I ironed them all neatly and sorted them already.”

“Then I suppose I’d better check them.”

The senior maid lifted one of the handkerchiefs Hailey had ironed.

“Let’s see… You did a pretty decent job. The lace looks nice, too.”

After examining the handkerchief from different angles, the senior maid gave a satisfied nod.

“Well done… Those handkerchiefs are part of the dowry Her Grace the Duchess brought with her when she married, and she treasures them dearly. You must always handle them with care.”

That explains it… The handkerchiefs were high quality, yet looked quite worn. It had already been fifteen years since Duchess Eleonora married the dethroned crown prince, Terrence.

‘Still, since they were made from such fine fabric, they’ve held up pretty well.‘

The Duchy of Simodel, where the duchess came from, was the wealthiest duchy in the empire. Naturally, her dowry items were all top-tier, but even the finest goods can’t win against time.

‘Basically, that means they’re only still around thanks to the blood, sweat, and tears of apprentice maids like me. My fingers are still tingling.‘

Hailey grumbled inwardly, remembering how she’d spent the whole morning ironing a bundle of lace-trimmed handkerchiefs one by one.

“Hailey, where are you?”

As soon as the senior maid left, the disciplinary maid, Maria, came looking for her.

“Have you had lunch?”

“I was just about to eat.”

“Then go eat quickly, and after that, change the water in the flower vases. If there are any wilted flowers, pick them out and tidy everything up.”

“Understood.”

“And one more thing…”

Maria continued as Hailey bowed her head respectfully.

“That sachet you made the other day — it was quite nice. The scent wasn’t too strong, but it did a great job of getting rid of unpleasant odors.”

“Thank you.”

“You used dried tea leaves for the filling, didn’t you?”

“Yes. I dried used tea leaves thoroughly and put them in the sachet.”

It was a trick she’d picked up during nearly two years of part-time work at a café. Dried tea leaves, even after being used once, could make for excellent natural air fresheners.

“And since it felt like such a waste to throw away premium tea from the Duchy of Simodel after just one brew, I thought I’d try making something out of it.”

“You’re still so young, yet so frugal. Making good use of fine materials is an important virtue for any maid.”

Maria looked at Hailey with pleased eyes.

“Even Her Grace the Duchess complimented your sachet.”

“!”

“She said the scent reminded her of her homeland, the Duchy of Simodel. And the stitching — so neat and precise. Your craftsmanship is on par with a professional.”

‘Well, that’s because I was a fashion design major in my past life. Give me fabric and a needle, and I could sew you a full hanbok if you’d like.’

“Thank you very much.”

Though she thought all of that inwardly, Hailey only gave a single polite reply and bowed her head respectfully.

‘Don’t get too excited even if you’re praised.’

‘Work hard, but don’t stand out too much.’

‘Always remember who holds the power.’

These were the hard-earned lessons she’d learned through years of part-time work in her previous life — through sweat, tears, and exhaustion.

“When I see diligent girls like you, it truly makes us happy. Now, go have your meal and then take care of the vases.”

“Yes, Lady Maria.”

Bowing her head once more, Hailey quickly made her way to the dining hall.

***

The life of Eleonora, Duchess of Brontes and mistress of the Detached Palace, had not been smooth.

After her husband Terrence, was deposed due to health issues, Eleonora was stripped of her title as Crown Princess and demoted to the status of a mere duchess.

And when Terrence passed away just a year later, the ambitious factions — like the Emperor’s concubine, Duchess Siela — tried to expel the Duchess from the palace.

Fortunately, the newly appointed crown prince, Kincaid, firmly blocked their efforts.

‘We cannot allow His Highness’s only child, Princess Lysa, to be raised outside the palace.‘

Thanks to that, Eleonora narrowly avoided expulsion from the palace.

Still, her status remained precarious, and within the imperial court, she wielded not even a sliver of real power.

‘But perhaps because she had no greed for power, she was able to survive that massacre and make it through to the end.‘

In that sense, the true final winner of the original story was Duchess Eleonora.

‘First things first — I need to become an official maid of the Detached Palace.‘

The novel never specified who escaped the palace with the duchess.

However, it was only natural that her personal senior maids — the ones who served closest to her — would most likely accompany her in such a crisis.

‘Which means the chances of survival would increase.‘

So Hailey had her goal clearly set.

‘I must win the duchess’s favor and become a senior maid.‘