The grand mansion of Ravencroft loomed over Eun-Ji as she stood on the path of gravel, watching her so-called family file inside. Her new parents-the duke and duchess-already made it clear where she stood in their eyes.
No one had waited for her, neither the stern duke, nor the cold duchess; certainly not the twisted psychopath pretending to be her older brother, Damian. The knights standing at the front door didn't bat an eye in her direction. Even the maids hurried to the service of the duchess, without so much as a second thought.
"Right." she mumbled under her breath, "guess I'm on my own.
She sighed and trudged toward the mansion, her small legs fighting the uncomfortably long dress and shoes that were unfamiliar on her feet. Her mind buzzed with all that had happened since the disastrous Awakening to this cold reception by her new family.
"This is almost just like my nightmare I had when I was nine." she whispered.
The air grew dead heavier the moment she stepped through it.
Then, a loud, angry voice bellowed down the hall.
"Of all of classes—Dark Priestess!" The duke's voice boomed from somewhere deeper in the mansion, unmistakably livid.
Eun-Ji froze.
"How could the goddess curse us with such a disgrace? What shame will this bring to my name?!" Duke Ravencroft continued to rage.
Eun-Ji winced. It was all so predictable, yet hearing it in real life made it sting more than she had imagined.
After the duke finished his tirade, he stormed off toward his study, the butler trailing behind wordlessly. The duchess looked thoroughly exhausted and rubbed her temples.
"I need to go to the garden and have some tea," she muttered, icy, "I really cannot deal with this."
With that, she turned on her heel and stormed off, a whirlwind of maids after her, the way shadows fall. None were left to turn a helping hand to the forlorn Eun-ji standing at the door, forgotten in every way.
And that left her alone.
Alone with Damian.
Eun-Ji's heart began to quicken as Damian stepped closer to her, the smirk twisting upwards. His cold, calculating eyes flashed with mirth, seemingly finding her pain extremely amusing.
"Well, well, well," he sneered, tone sopping with disdain. "Dark Priestess, huh? I suppose it does fit you. A failure class on a failure does fit.
Eunji swallowed the knot in her throat as she tried to keep her cool. Damian was as twisted as she remembered from the game; well documented in Saints Chronicles, his experiments on slaves and manipulative nature were now focused on using anyone to further his powers. And now, he saw her as weak prey.
But something in Eun-Ji snapped. Either it was the stress of the day or maybe even just the absurdity of the situation at hand, she found herself talking well before her brain could catch up.
"Excuse me?" she said, raising an eyebrow at him.
Damian blinked, surprised by the unexpected response. "What did you-
"Really? Is that how you should be talking to your older sister?" Eun-Ji cut in, adopting a scolding tone as if she were babysitting unruly kids back in her old life. "You're thirteen, right? You've got plenty of growing up to do before you start throwing around insults like that."
Damian's face turned bright red. "Wh-What—"
"You heard me," Eun-Ji went on, stepping closer and poking him on the forehead, just as she had done with bratty kids before. "If you think bullying people is going to get you anywhere, you've got another thing coming, young man. Do you talk to your parents like this, too? Hm?"
Totally caught off guard by her sudden change in behavior, Damian stuttered, his mouth open in an attempt to say something, yet nothing was forthcoming. Instead, he turned bright red, flustered and embarrassed. After a second failed attempt at a coherent insult, he turned on his heel and strode away, muttering something under his breath.
Crap. Forgot he's actually older than me," Eun-Ji muttered to herself, watching as Damian disappeared down the hall.
With Damian gone, the silence returned, and Eun-Ji let out a long sigh of relief.
Well at least that got him to leave me alone, she thought to herself.
Now, she had a plan to concoct. She was not about to let herself follow after Selene's doomed fate. First, though, she needed to find her room.
The mansion was a maze, and without any helpful maids to act as guides, she was wandering the halls. The old maid who had hurried her down to breakfast had gone so fast that she hadn't been able to commit the path to memory, and now she was reaping the consequences.
As she turned another corner, she froze at the sound of voices nearby.
Curious, Eun-Ji sidled closer, hiding herself behind a column and listened as four serving women gossiped.
"I heard the young lady's a Dark Priestess," a serving woman whispered, tittering behind her hand.
"Good," a second chimed in. "She's always acted so spoiled. It was time she got a little of what was coming to her."
A third maid rolled her eyes. "Honestly, I hate that brat. She's been living in luxury while the rest of us work ourselves to the bone."
Eun-Ji's chest firmed up at the words as she listened. Was this what Selene had to go through?
Miserable wretch that she has now become," said the first waiting-maid, "I declare we might, if we chose, slip into her chamber, and take some of her ornaments, and she would never know it and even if she finds out there's nothing, she can do about it. I'm pretty sure the Duke doesn't care about her anymore."
Eun-Ji's heart pounded in her ears.
Wait. No! Those jewelry are my back up plan, she inner screamed
But before she could make a move, the voice sliced through the conversation. "What are you all whispering about?!"
The four maids jumped in fright as the old maid from earlier who had rushed Eun-Ji to breakfast suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Her sharp eyes cut toward the younger maids, who quivered around her gaze.
"If I find out a single piece of jewelry is missing from Lady Selene's room," the old maid snapped, "I'll report you all to the duke myself!"
The younger maids went pale, bowing quickly as they stammered apologies. "S-Sorry, Head Maid Meryl! We didn't mean it!"
With one last glare, Meryl waved them off, and they scurried away like frightened mice.
The old maid started to turn away, and Eun-Ji's brain was off, racing. This was it.
She emerged from behind the column, sniffing, her eyes welling up with tears. "Meryl!" she exclaimed, running up to the maid and throwing herself into the woman's arms.
Meryl blinked with surprise, then immediately softened, her maternal instincts kicking in as she patted Eun-Ji on the head. "There, there, young lady. It's all right.
Between sobs, Eun-Ji said, "I-I… I want to go to my room…"
Old maid's expression turned even softer. "Oh, poor thing," she cooed. "Let's get you back to your room."
Eun-Ji smiled inwardly as Meryl led her through the mansion. At least Selene had someone by her side.
Upon reaching her room, Eun-ji let herself relax, but her mind had already started reworking the next step of her survival plan.