"Ahh!"
"Are you finally awake? Tch. It's your fault why you got wet, understand?"
A young girl who is curling her thin body at the corner blinks her eyes and looks around. She currently ignores the cold sensation coming from her wet clothes that is sticking to her body and tries to recall the events that happened before she closed her eyes. The young girl noticed the room where she was staying is dark and full of thick dust and cobwebs.
"Where... Where am I?"
"Stop being lazy and start cleaning the chimney now!"
A maid throws a broom and an empty pail in the young girl's direction. Because she just woke up when the maid poured a pail of dirty water on her body, her mind is still disoriented and confused about what is happening right now.
"Why are you still not moving? Do you really want Madam Nora to starve you later?!"
Getting annoyed by the young girl's slow movements, the maid walks towards her and pulls her hair. But the moment her hand touches her head, the young girl suddenly screams. The maid gets startled and quickly lets go of her hair.
"W-What is happening to you?" the maid asked in a nervous voice.
But the young girl has no time to answer the maid's question. Right now, her head is hurting so much because of the memories that keep pouring on her. These memories feel unfamiliar but at the same time not.
'Daddy, where are you?'
'Brother, please believe me...'
'Louise, I'm here! Please unlock the door!'
'I'm scared!"
'Stop it.'
'It hurts!'
'Please...'
'Please, help me!'
"A-Are you crying?! I haven't done anything to you!"
The young girl keeps curling her small body while clutching her head. Her eyes are also filled with tears as those memories keep pouring down her head. Those are not hers to begin with. It belongs to the owner of this body.
"What is happening here?"
"Y-Young master!"
The maid quickly bows her head when a young man enters the room. He scans the place with his eyes quietly before it lands on the young girl who looks like she's trying to make her existence small and unnoticed. The young man lifts his foot as if he's trying to approach the young girl but decides not to do it anymore.
"Answer my question. What is happening here?" the young man asked again.
"I apologize for the ruckus, Young Master. It's just this child accidentally poured dirty water on herself and made a mess in this room. And now she's scared that Madam Nora will scold her."
Finnick, the First Young Master in this household, turns his gaze back to the crying young girl at the corner. He can indeed see the mess that she made inside the room. Before Finnick can say something, he is surprised to see the young girl lifting her head and looking straight at him.
How long since he got a good look at this child? Finnick cannot remember clearly anymore. He almost forgets that they share the same sunset eyes although hers are on the softer side. He can see how much weight she lost in just a few months. The clothes that the young girl is wearing don't fit her well and he knows there are times when she falls on the floor because it is bigger and longer than her size.
"Cordelia." Finnick called her name.
Cordelia, the eight-year-old girl who is still sitting on the floor, did not answer his call. Or rather, she refuses to do it. After she experienced a temporary headache just a while ago, she can now easily tell her current situation. Right now, Cordelia is serving as a maid in this massive mansion owned by the Demitria Family.
"Are you alright?" Finnick asked.
The young girl remains silent as she keeps staring at him. If she recalls it correctly, this young man is turning fourteen this year. He is also the oldest son of the Demitria Family and a future Marquis. Most importantly, Finnick Demitria used to be her oldest brother.
But now, he treats her as the lowest servant in this mansion who cleans the chimney and removes the wild weeds in their grassland.
"Cordelia, where are your manners? The Young Master is talking to you!" Cordelia heard the maid said to her.
But she pays no mind to it. Cordelia keeps staring at Finnick as if she's memorizing his face. The young man does not refuse her gaze. Just like the young girl, he is also trying to remember how different she is from the last time he saw her. They remain staring at each other until the butler arrives and informs Finnick that his swordsmanship teacher has arrived.
"I see. Then I'll go now." Finnick said.
He gives Cordelia a last glance before he turns around and leaves. When the butler sees the young girl, a frown appears on his face before he follows the First Young Master from behind. When they are no longer around, Cordelia is surprised when the maid kicks the pail and it hits her leg.
"You really dare to look at the First Young Master like that? Do you need a reminder that you are just a filthy child in this mansion?" The maid scolded her. "You should be grateful they didn't kick you out and let you die in hunger outside!"
Cordelia wants to scoff when she hears those words. Why does she need to be grateful for them? Life outside is much better than continuing to live in this mansion. All the people in this mansion—The Demitria Family, servants, butlers, and even the guards, are all treating her like a disgusting bug. None of them treated her with kindness ever since the Paladin visited this place a year ago.
"Tch. Talking to you is such a waste of time. Start cleaning the chimney before the Marquis arrives. If you don't do it, then stop dreaming of eating something for lunch!"
Before the maid leaves the room, she kicks the pail again and it hits her knee this time. But Cordelia remains quiet until she can no longer hear the maid's footsteps. After making sure that she's finally alone, the young girl lays her small body on the floor. She doesn't care anymore whether it's cold, wet, and covered in dirt.
Not when her situation is much worse than that.
"I guess I was really born with an unlucky star, huh." Cordelia softly mutters to herself.
The moment Finnick called her name earlier, Cordelia quickly realized she transmigrated in a book that she read before dying in the hospital. It was a book that was given by the nurse who was in charge of checking up on her. She simply read it to pass the time or whenever she wanted to distract herself.
She used to be a child who came from an orphanage. But after turning seven, she fell sick and was diagnosed with a terminal disease. Since then, she spent her life in a public hospital and died at the age of eighteen. She never had any fond memories or held anything special in life until her last breath.
She doesn't have any attachment to her past life so discovering her new identity as Cordelia has no impact on her either. Although she thinks that her past life is a bit better also the pain from the injections and different apparatuses always made her feel weak and nauseous. In her new life, she will suffer a lot of physical and mental abuse every day from different people.
Letting out a sigh, Cordelia stands up and starts picking up the cleaning tools. The young girl does not bother finding new clothes to wear since she will just get dirty after cleaning the chimney and simply squeezes the excess water in her clothes. If she's a real child, Cordelia will start crying why ask anyone for help? But as a person who already enjoyed a lot of pain in the past, she knows that there are times when asking for help will never give a solution to our problems.
After tying her hair with a torn cloth, Cordelia leaves her room to start cleaning the chimneys. Thanks to the memories of this small body, Cordelia doesn't face any difficulties in locating the living room she needs to clean today. She first covers half of her face with a towel before starting to clean the ashes and burn charcoals in the chimney.
While she's busy cleaning the chimney, Cordelia fails to notice that two people enter the living room and see what she's doing. The man in his thirties stares at her small form that is busy cleaning right now while the ten-year-old boy is stopping his urge to startle Cordelia with what she's doing. Since none of them speak a word, the young girl continues cleaning the chimney and making sure no dust will remain on its corners.
"Marquis Fernando and Young Master Leandre, welcome back."
Because Cordelia is surprised after hearing the butler's loud voice, she hits the back of her head and lets out a pained sound. Letting go of her cleaning tools, Cordelia rubs the back of her head while softly hissing in pain. She's very sure a bump will appear at the back of her head later.
Remembering that she's not alone in this room, Cordelia turns around and looks at the people who startled her. Aside from the butler that she already met earlier, there are two new faces in front of her right now. Based on this body's memories, they are the Marquis and the Second Young Master of this mansion.
Pursing her lips, Cordelia tries to greet them when Marquis Fernando glares at her before turning his back. Leandre, the second son of the Marquis, just gives her a look before following his father with quick steps. Cordelia can only stare at their retreating figures before letting out a sigh.