“System, give me the basic character info!”
“Host Xiliya is seventeen years old this year, her hobbies are…”
“Forget about your Xiliya. I mean Ximo, Ximo! Introduce her to me!”
“…Dear, I am the Sickly Young Lady Plot System. Introducing other characters is outside my functions.”
Ximo nearly choked on her words. She hadn’t expected her transmigration to end in failure before it even began. As a modern person who had transmigrated, she now stood in this Western-style mansion and felt utterly intimidated, not even knowing which way to go.
Fortunately, she ran into a little maid hurrying toward her. The maid’s eyes lit up when she saw Ximo.
“Ximo! Why are you just standing here like an idiot? Lady Annaer has been looking for you all morning. Go find her quick—she’s in the kitchen right now.”
“Oh, right, remember to change your clothes!” The little maid looked Ximo up and down. “Where did you even get those clothes? Are you okay? You look all dazed and lost.”
Thanks to this little interlude, Ximo managed to figure out that she was probably a maid in this mansion. Seeing her off state, the little maid kindly escorted her back to her room.
Standing in the room, Ximo let out a sigh of relief. She hadn’t expected the place to treat servants so well—even a little maid had her own private room. This was good, at least it gave her some space to catch her breath alone.
Ximo didn’t know that this wasn’t because the Camberlan Family cared that much about its servants. It was just that Xiliya’s father, Dos Camberlan, had been mediocre and incompetent. During his lifetime, the family’s fortunes had steadily declined, and after his unexpected death, the Camberlan Family had dismissed most of the servants.
The rooms originally meant for servants in this mansion sat empty anyway, so there was no need to cram the remaining ones together. One could say that the current Camberlan Family exuded an air of decay from top to bottom.
Ximo rummaged through the room for a while and, sure enough, found a clean maid uniform in the wardrobe. So now she needed to change into this and go find that head maid Annaer, right?
Ximo glanced at the full-length mirror in the room. The girl in the mirror had a sweet and cute appearance, with ink-black long hair cascading down and emerald-green eyes like those of a wild fawn, stirring an irresistible urge in anyone who saw her to “bully” her a little.
This was the first time Ximo had seriously examined her appearance since transmigrating. Yesterday, she had only checked out Xiliya’s looks before the transmigration. Now, it was fine—what the original owner looked like had nothing to do with her anymore.
That wasn’t her? Then it wasn’t her!
However, to Ximo’s surprise, this body’s looks were no inferior to Xiliya’s. In fact, just based on that sweet appearance, it was hard to imagine her as just an ordinary maid in the mansion.
Thinking of the maid uniform, Ximo suddenly realized something. She hurriedly pulled the maid outfit from the wardrobe.
It was a crisp black-and-white ensemble, nothing like those modified, fanservice versions from anime that invited imagination. This one… well, at least Ximo had no idea how to put it on.
Setting aside the fact that she was being forced into women’s clothing for the moment, she had never even seen a traditional maid uniform like this before. How was she supposed to wear it?!
Anyway, first, pull on the skirt. This apron ties up, right? And this headpiece… Damn, how do you even wear this thing?!
It took about half an hour before Ximo finally appeared at the kitchen door.
Changing clothes and finding her way had wasted a lot of time. Even so, her outfit was a mess. She didn’t look like a maid at all—more like a Disney princess on the run.
“Ximo, where have you been? Do you know this counts as unauthorized absence?”
A stern voice rang out. Annaer, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, immediately noticed Ximo peeking timidly through the doorway. This made it easy, at least—Ximo didn’t have to guess who Xiliya had meant by “head maid.”
Annaer had neat gray short hair and black eyes that stared severely at Ximo. Her serious expression reminded Ximo of her strict homeroom teacher from her previous life.
The biggest difference was that the forty-something menopausal hothead of a teacher hadn’t been nearly as young and pretty as Annaer.
“Last night… I was thinking of cleaning the basement and ended up falling asleep in there by accident. I didn’t wake up until now…”
Ximo had been brainstorming excuses while changing. Unfortunately, after racking her brain, all she could come up with was this lame one.
“Don’t give me such a pathetic excuse. Half your pay for this month is deducted. Tomorrow, hand me a self-criticism in front of all the servants.”
Ximo had no idea how much a month’s wages even were, so Annaer’s words didn’t ripple her much. Still, that stern expression made her bow her head involuntarily.
“You’re confined to kitchen duty today. Those dishes,” Annaer pointed to the mountain in the sink, “clean them all up. Don’t think you can slack off just because you’re chummy with the other maids. Got it?”
This revealed a second difference between Annaer and the homeroom teacher—Annaer was efficient and result-oriented, unlike the teacher who loved endless scoldings.
Thinking of the new task System had given her earlier, Ximo felt it would be impossible.
This head maid seemed plenty strict with her subordinates. Right now, Ximo was just a wayward little maid in her eyes. Completing the plot task by getting Annaer to care for her? She’d have better luck summoning a ghost!
As if caring for her—Ximo would thank the heavens if Annaer didn’t chew her out.
“And your clothes,” the sharp-eyed Annaer spotted the new issue right away. “A mess like that. Is this how I taught you to wear the uniform?”
“I’ll fix it right now. I was rushing to find you, so it got a bit messy.”
“No need. You won’t be seen by anyone in the kitchen for now.” Annaer didn’t make things harder for her. “I have to prepare morning tea for the second… madam first. I’ll check back later.”
Annaer turned and hurried away, but after just two steps, a crash sounded from behind as a plate shattered on the floor.
What’s with Ximo today, so clumsy… Annaer turned back to scold her, only to see the timid little maid suddenly bend over in pain, clutching her mouth as she coughed. A streak of crimson blood trickled through her fingers.
Ximo had just picked up a plate when a wave of dizziness hit her. A sharp pain twisted in her chest, causing her to drop the plate. With a “crash,” she couldn’t hold back a cough, and a strange sensation surged up from her throat.
Huh, what’s… this?
Staring dazedly at the blood she’d coughed into her palm, Ximo felt her vision blur. Her legs nearly gave out, and she almost collapsed.
Damn it, she thought, being screwed over by this crappy system into transmigrating feels less worthwhile than just restarting right now.
