After even thanking the servants who were staring at me like they’d seen something unbelievable, I got up from my seat.

“Let’s go, Young Lady.”

As if she had been waiting, Marin quickly came to my side. She looked like she had a lot to say. Unlike earlier, this time she guided me back to my room.

***

“Young Lady! Have you lost your mind?!”

As expected, the moment the door closed behind us, Marin glared at me and snapped.

“…Hm? Are you talking to me like that?”

“How could you behave so rudely in the dining hall? What did that maid ever do to you?!”

“…What are you talking about? What did I do wrong?”

I tilted my head as if I truly didn’t understand.

My reaction only made Marin’s face flush red with frustration.

“You dumped soup and salad all over an innocent maid! She’s been crying this whole time!”

“…Oh, that? It was an accident. Didn’t I apologize?”

“…That’s—”

Well, I did apologize.

Even if there was no sincerity in it.

Marin clearly wanted to point that out, but I had no intention of playing along with her any longer.

I shook my head and cut her off.

“Marin, let’s stop talking about my mistake. I don’t want to hear it anymore.”

“…Ugh.”

She glared at me like she wanted to kill me.

I met her gaze calmly and dismissed her.

“I have something to think about. Could you leave now?”

“…Ha.”

Letting out a hollow laugh, Marin turned sharply without even bowing and slammed the door as she left.

‘A mere maid acting like that toward a noble lady…’

It clearly showed just how low my standing was in this ducal household.

‘Let’s see what she does next.’

Knowing Marin, there was no way she’d let this go so easily. Would she try to drench me again? Mess with my food? Or maybe hide needles in my clothes to hurt me?

One by one, the petty things she had done to this body came to mind.

Marin had always treated the original heroine however she pleased—whether she was in a good mood or not. Yet the heroine couldn’t push her away.

Because Marin had been the only one by her side since childhood.

She thought of her as her only friend.

And because she believed she deserved punishment for being born after her mother died, she endured everything.

I slowly sat down on the bed and began sorting through the tangled memories in my head.

The Duke had only assigned her a basic etiquette tutor when she was young—after that, he practically neglected her.

Though… he did show a bit of interest when she picked up a sword.

But even that stopped once he concluded she had no talent.

Which was completely wrong.

She wasn’t untalented.

She was a genius.

Her talent had simply been hidden due to manipulation by the knights of the ducal house.

‘What an idiot.’

Not even realizing it, abandoning her like that…

The Duke regretting it in the future—after she became a Sword Master—was entirely his own fault.

I clenched and unclenched my fists.

This body held incredible potential.

The heroine was a prodigy.

What I needed to do now was simple: awaken that talent and become a Sword Master as soon as possible.

The training methods?

Everything I needed was already in my head.

Both the knowledge from the book—and the heroine’s own memories.

At first, I wasn’t sure. I thought maybe I had just dreamed up everything I imagined while reading.

But no.

Even now, just by closing my eyes, her memories and emotions felt vividly real.

It was completely different from just reading words on a page.

Her entire life—up to marrying the crown prince—felt like something I had personally lived through.

Even the joy she felt when he proposed.

It was as if I had lived her life and then regressed.

In other words, I had all the memories of becoming a Sword Master—the hardships, the realizations—everything.

To reach that level again…

“…It’ll be insanely difficult.”

But not impossible.

A confident smile spread across my face as I looked forward to what lay ahead.

***

“Young Lady, your lunch is here.”

“…Oh, come in.”

After spending half the day with my eyes closed, going through memories, I was startled awake by how much time had passed.

Marin, who had left earlier with a face full of irritation, was now smiling brightly and acting gentle.

Whenever Marin smiled like that, it meant she was planning something.

Before tormenting the heroine, she always wore that same expression.

And the heroine, even after being bullied countless times, would smile back just because Marin smiled.

Marin handed me a tray with bread and soup.

Silently, I accepted it.

While going through the memories, I had realized that aside from the once-a-week family breakfast, this was the kind of food she usually ate.

‘This looks awful… It’s not like the ducal house lacks food—so this is deliberate, isn’t it?’

I frowned at the meal Marin had brought. The bread was moldy. The soup looked yellowish and smelled sour.

I looked up at Marin.

She stood there, watching me instead of leaving—clearly waiting for me to eat.

“I don’t really want to eat this… Could you bring me some meat? Like what we had at breakfast?”

Before I even finished speaking, Marin let out a deep sigh, as if she had been waiting for this.

“Haah… Young Lady, you’re almost twenty, and you’re still being picky with food? I’ve told you many times.”

She paused, then looked at me as if she couldn’t believe she had to say this again.

“…You’re practically the one who killed the Duchess—the woman the Duke loved. Eating well once a week is more than enough. Should a criminal get to eat well every day? Should they or not?”

“…I’m a criminal?”

“Yes. And yet, you take out your anger on a maid in the dining hall… That maid is still crying because of you.”

“I see.”

“Yes. After you finish this meal, we’ll go apologize to her again. And don’t give a half-hearted apology like before—you should kneel and beg. Maybe then she’ll forgive you.”

“…Kneel? I’m a noble lady.”

“Of course. I’ve told you again and again—you should feel sorry for everyone in this household. I didn’t want to say something like this in case it hurt you… but why won’t you understand my sincerity?”

Even as she belittled me, I simply looked at her with a blank expression.

All her life, Marin had hurt the heroine like this.

For someone who longed for her family’s love, words like these had been deeply painful. The heroine had lived believing she was a sinner.

If it were the original heroine, she might have apologized—and even knelt. But I wasn’t her.

I hardened my face. I wasn’t the type to be hurt by such words. Instead, I felt a bubbling anger that wanted to turn the tables.

‘…Alright then. What should I do with Marin?’

After a brief moment of thought, I spoke.

“Fine. Let’s go.”

“That’s more like it. You made the right decision, Young Lady. Now, eat before it gets cold. After that, we’ll take the dishes and go apologize.”

Satisfied, Marin urged me to eat the rotten food.

I smiled at her.

“…Okay. Thanks for always taking care of me, Marin.”

“Oh, it’s nothing. Of course I do. I’m your only personal maid. It’s my duty to handle even the smallest things for you.”

“Right. But… I really can’t eat this. Just this once, could you change it? It smells strange, and I don’t want to eat it.”

I spoke hesitantly, imitating the heroine’s timid personality.

Marin looked at me like I was a childish nuisance and sighed deeply.

“Haah… Young Lady, I told you, that’s not possible. You’re not leaving until you finish this meal.”

“…Is that so?”

“This is all to fix your picky eating habits. You understand, right? It’s a sin to waste perfectly good food. Do you think I would bring you something you couldn’t eat?”

‘Yeah… it really seems like you did.’

Holding back a scoff, I picked up the tray and slowly stood up.