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“I lived my whole life solely for my people. I believed that I existed to dedicate my entire life and my intelligence to defend them. But now that I look back, I think it was all for naught.”
You have many grievances. Think carefully of what you’ll have to offer and what you’ll gain.
“I’ll give myself a trim and fatten up for them. That alone will get me what I want.”
I pray for you, that this time, you may put down the heavy golden throne and enjoy a trivial and insignificant life.
***
Whoosh.
At the sound of the kettle boiling, she quickly picked up the thick dishcloth and put the kettle on the fire.
It was quite a heavy weight for a 10-year-old to lift, but now she was convinced that humans were animals of adaptation.
After pouring the steaming water into a coarse cup, she added more tea leaves to the kettle and boiled it. The tea, which looked thick and flavorful, was poured into a pretty, gold-rimmed, porcelain teacup. She put them on a tray and headed straight to the restaurant.
“It’s cold, so warm up with some tea.”
“Oh, Betty, thank you.”
“Great. I felt like my stomach was freezing.”
“Shh, shh.”
People who are busy with their lives would happily receive a cup of warm tea.
The front of the table, which was noisy for a while at the stern maid’s eyes, became quiet again.
The maidservant didn’t like it when maids made a fuss during the meal.
The butler, who only had a light breakfast, was reading the newspaper. She peeked at the newspaper he was reading, pretending to be carrying her cup of tea.
A picture of the young princess, which stood out in black and white in her eyes, almost filled the entire page.
It appeared that there was an accident at the coronation ceremony. She had already met the world’s ‘Female Lead’, ‘Male Lead’, and ‘Villain’ in the blink of an eye.
The ‘original plot’ of this story would going smoothly regardless of how she acted.
“Oh, the tea’s a little cold.”
When she tried to sit at the end of the table, which was her reserved seat, the maid, Anne, who oversaw customer service, gave her a sharp lecture.
Nothing would escape the chef’s eyes. She cleared her throat with a light cough and came to her, speaking in a solemn voice, “Betty, on such a cold winter day, you have to boil more tea before you bring it. It’s going to get cold on your way here.” She eyed her. “You should try your tea first.”
She took a sip of the tea while having Meg’s permission and sat next to her.
“Yes, indeed.” She laughed. “I’m sorry, Chef Ann.”
“You have to put in your best effort to boil it. The tea was ice-cold.  How would you think the recipient of such a tea would react?”
She nodded gently to the chef’s words. “The tea is very cold and would startle the one receiving it. I’ll be careful next time.”
“Okay, it’s your first-time spending winter here, so you might not know. But be more careful next time.”
“Yes.”
Usually, she was the type that would prepare verse 2, verse 3, and verse 4 for the nagging, but she ended it at this point since the maid seemed to be aware of her mistake.
She scoured the table quickly. The duke’s people, who rarely visit guests as the owner, left the maids alone and ate an excessively luxurious meal.
Even if there was a lot of expensive food for the nobles, they didn’t require all of it. So most of the food ended up with the servants. However, it was up to the high-ranked servants.
All that remained on the table was a few slices of bread and fruit jam, as if everything else had been eaten up in a short time, just when the tea was being made.
The only thing that was left for her to eat was a piece of crumbly bread that she didn’t even know when was baked. However, she ate it in a hurry. This was because she had to eat a lot to do the day’s work properly.
‘Let’s clean this up. Everyone seems to have had enough.’
Not long after she attached her butt on the seat, she had to get up again to start working.
She was about to walk in with a number of plates stacked up like a tower, when Meg, who worked in the kitchen, put all kinds of fruits, desserts, and coffee on a large tray. The two of them walked past each other with familiarity.
Coming down to the kitchen, she headed towards the well to get some water to wash the dishes. This was a fairly developed world with water and sewage facilities that were just as good as modern times, but she always had to draw water from the well.
This was because, when the chef used to be in charge of washing dishes like her, she had always brought water from the well every morning and washed the dishes with it. So, no matter how many years passed, she would always have to draw water from the well and wash the dishes until her position changed.
If she was just a normal ten-year-old, she would have been sad and secretly weeping. But she was a woman who had learned how to deal with unfair events, just like an ordinary citizen.
When she had to endure hardships, it was important to keep her mind as light and positive as possible. Even if she didn’t want to think about it, her blood pressure would rise because she was alone. And it wasn’t worth it.
She just thought, ‘Oh, my professor is talking nonsense again. Haha, I can’t stop him.’ It was best for her mental health to deal with it in some way and move on.
“Betty, are you carrying water? Give it to me.”
“Oh, it’s alright.”
“How will you carry it?” He asked with a smile.  “Give it to me.”
Gilbert, a footman in charge of serving guests, appeared out of nowhere, took the large tin kettle from her hands and tried to climb the stairs.
Helping other employees’ work was strictly prohibited in any mansion as it would actually bend the rules of discipline in the mansion. But Gilbert often helped her with her work when no one was around. He might have been feeling sorry for her, but she was more afraid that they would be caught by others.
In addition, Gilbert was a footman, so he wore an expensive uniform. Perhaps, a day would come when his clothes got spoiled while helping her. The very thought frightened Betty.
She said in a panicked voice, “Well then, put it in front of the back door.”
“Are you saying that I should just leave it there?”
“Yes, it’s not far from the well anyway. Hurry, go up and eat your dessert.”
“I understand, Betty. Good luck.”
There was no harm in being tall and strong.
If she was alone, she would have climbed up a few steps, rested, then climbed up and rested again, but Gilbert went all the way up the stairs in a few strides with the large tin kettle.
She was stunned and hurried to express her gratitude. “Yes, thank you!”
Gilbert, who was trying to go up, stuck his face out in between the railings and smiled.
Gilbert was the most handsome among the Duke’s footmen. Anne had once said that Tony, who had a thicker body line, was more handsome than Gilbert, but Gilbert was the best in her opinion.
How desirable it was for him to smile like that at times. If she was ten years older, she would have gobbled him up.
‘Get your act together! I’m 10 years old now.’ She reprimanded herself.
While drooling, she woke herself up, climbed the stairs and headed to the well with the kettle.
Even the extras that are not even mentioned in the story are so pretty, but how pretty are the main characters in the original plot? She didn’t care if it was from afar, but she wanted to see their faces and compare. She let out a deep sigh.
In many stories, even if the others were reincarnated as extras, they were well involved with the main characters of the original story, but all she could do was to get a job using the knowledge she had.
Duke Bernhard Lilier Janus, who later grew up to be the darkest villain of the world, inherited his title as the duke at the tender age of twelve. Since then, he had bided his time outside and did not pay much attention to household activities.
As a large number of employees with the breath of the retainers were purged, the craftsmanship, which was full of high-quality employees, suffered from unprecedented manpower shortages.
Even if it was a castle that was left unattended due to people’s disconnection, basic manpower was needed. However, hiring employees on a large scale would require a big budget, and increasing the budget would need the owner’s permission, so who would want to volunteer to do such a scary thing?
She was able to take advantage of such circumstances because she wanted to secure the position of the duke’s maid at a young age without a letter of recommendation.
At the orphanage, she lied and said that she was 14 years old without any hints of getting caught among children in their mid to late teens, but the maid turned a blind eye. She acted friendly, moved quickly, and received a small salary.
‘First, I needed to build up a career here, get a letter of recommendation and search for employment elsewhere.’
Within just one year, she could land the position as a “duke’s maid.” Even if it was small in size, if she looked into the kitchen work in a proper household and built her career step by step there, she may be able to aim for the position of a chef.
If she got married on the way, she would have to apply for the position of nanny. Then, she could apply to be a tutor by studying during her spare time while working as a nanny.
She had a simple, well-rounded plan. That’s why she didn’t care if her small hands were red and itchy, because of the dishes she was washing the whole day.
Look, didn’t she already arrive at the well?
She didn’t even know her hands were cold as she walked here, whilst coming up with a plan for the future. She gathered her red, swollen hands and blew on them to soothe the pain.
Then, she connected the wooden bucket to the pulley to draw water into the kettle.
“Oh, my.”
For a moment, she felt like it was like a scene from a horror movie – a human hand suddenly stretched out from the well, then came the gray figure.
Surprised, she almost threw the wooden bucket into the well. The boy, who has been hit by the bucket, fell again.
It was only after she heard the splash that she was able to come to her senses.
That gray-haired boy she just hit and dropped back into the well was obviously
 It was definitely

The Duke of Janus, the owner of the estate and the villain of the original story.