> [Ding! Status Window – Quest Initiated: Survive!]
"What the hell… Where am I?"
My head throbbed like I'd just slammed into a wall. My vision blurred, but the floating blue window in front of me was painfully clear.
This… this can't be real.
I looked around. Dusty floorboards. A narrow, cold attic. Rotten smell from the corner. The light barely peeked in from a broken window.
Wait… Betty Volsky.
That name—it clicked. It was from a novel I once read, the one my friend practically forced on me. But what was the name again? And the plot?
Before I could recall, an annoying voice rang out.
"Haaa… What are you mumbling to yourself for? Tsk, tsk. So annoying," the maid spat, clicking her tongue.
She dropped a bowl in front of me with a twisted grin. "Eat this damn food and get lost with it, my lady. Hihihi…" Her creepy laugh echoed.
That was her—Betty Volsky, the sadistic maid. One of the cruelest characters in the novel.
Okay, Soohee, calm down…
Right. I'm Soohee. An assassin in my past life, but now? Somehow, I've been dropped into a damn novel.
This had to be fiction. A game-like system, quests, a status window—this was straight out of those fantasy reincarnation stories I used to binge.
I eyed the "lunch" Betty left behind—if you could even call it that.
Rotten soup. Insects floating on the surface. The smell alone could kill.
"Are you serious…? What kind of Cinderella hell did I drop into?"
At least if I'd been reborn as a villainess, I'd have a luxurious mansion, a diamond spoon in my mouth, and a hundred servants.
But here I was, stuck in a frigid attic like some discarded trash at the edge of a noble mansion.
No—I had to figure out more. Who was I now? Why was I treated this way? What was my identity in this world?
Let's start with the maid.
I stared at Betty, narrowing my eyes.
"What are you looking at, bitch?" she snapped. "I don't like that look in your eyes."
I sat up straighter. "Say my name."
She blinked. "Haa? Seems like you're still not right in the head. Who do you think you are?"
"Just say it."
She scoffed. "Tsk. What a crazy bitch. Fine. Your name's… what was it again…? Oh, right. Mia Luna. Poor little lady of the house."
She snorted. "Quite useless too. Just a burden taking up space. Go do your chores already."
Mia Luna.
So that's the name of this body. Huh.
Betty turned away, cackling to herself, but I was done playing nice.
I grabbed the bowl of soup and hurled it at her feet, the contents splattering with a disgusting splash.
"What the hell!?" she screamed. "Have you finally gone mad!?"
I stood, arms crossed. "This food. do you think even animals could eat this filth? There are literal insects crawling in it! Even a corpse would reject it."
"Hah! And what are you, if not worse than an animal? A disgrace to the family—just like your traitor of a mother!" she hissed. "You think you'll ever be a duchess? You'll never be married to your fiancé! You're filth!"
Why bring my mother into this?
"You should've died with her!" she shrieked. "At least then this house wouldn't have to feed a useless wretch like you!"
I bit down the fury rising in my chest, masking it with cold calm. "What family are you talking about?"
Betty sneered, "Obviously, the esteemed Count's family. Count Alaric von Hohenfeld, fifth pillar of the royal court!"
Count Alaric… the name tickled my memory. So, Mia belonged to one of the highest noble houses?
"You should be grateful the Countess even lets you live here, you ungrateful brat."
I narrowed my eyes. "What about my fiancé?"
Betty smirked cruelly. "You think you'll actually marry him? Please. He's so far above you, he probably doesn't even remember you exist. Give up already. Just die and save us the trouble."
I smiled sweetly, a dangerous glint in my eyes. "I see. Now, get out. Are you planning to loiter here forever?"
"Whatever! Tsk." She slammed the attic door shut behind her, stomping away.
So that's the situation, huh.
Mia Luna.....daughter of the first Countess of the Hohenfeld family.
After her mother's death, a new Countess took over. The classic evil stepmother. Her father? Completely neglectful.
Now, Mia was reduced to nothing more than a servant in her own home.
No wonder her body was so thin. Malnourished. Forgotten. Abused.
But that last bit… "Fiancé"?
If Betty was trying that hard to make me give up on him, he must be someone powerful maybe even famous.
This just got interesting.
I chuckled softly to myself.
"Alright then. Game on."