Chapter 2: New Maid, New Beginning?

A week had passed since Sayo entered the world of ‘Minorus Academy’.

During this week, she felt it became increasingly difficult to control her emotions as she assimilated more with ‘Sayoreinne’s’ memories.

Simply irritated and displeased for no reason.

And a vicious cycle of getting even more irritated at herself for being unable to control it.

She thought it might be better if she just stayed holed up alone in her room, but the maids popping in unexpectedly and the people from the Marquis’s household annoyingly summoning her made that impossible.

‘Unpleasant.’

‘Irritating.’

‘Sad.’

‘Don’t look at me.’

‘I don’t want to see the likes of you.’

Sayo snapped her fan shut with a loud Tak!

The clock hands keep moving, albeit slowly.
Even the hellish time at the Marquis’s house has an end.

The time to return to ‘Minorus Academy’, the game’s main stage and its namesake, is approaching.

Sayo stood before the carriage, pulling a suitcase.

The start of Minorus’s second semester was less than seven days away, so it was time to depart for the academy.

The game ‘Minorus Academy’ unusually started from the second semester of the first year.

No one, not even Sayo, knew why.Only the game’s developers would know the reason.

“My lady, please give me your luggage.”

Taking Sayo’s luggage and struggling to load it onto the carriage’s luggage compartment was Ahrin, who became Sayo’s new ladies’ maid three days ago and would attend to her at the academy.

The previous exclusive maid had simply disappeared without a word, but Sayo wasn’t interested since she only existed in ‘memory’.

Ahrin was the cute girl who appeared faintly beside Sayoreinne in the game illustrations.

Sayo greeted the finally familiar face with a feeling of welcome.

“Is this clumsy-looking and young maid supposed to attend to me from now on?”
‘…As soon as I relaxed, this came out.’

“Thank you, Ahrin.”

The fact that Sayo had just readily handed over the luggage and said thank you was only possible because she had paid considerable attention.

Otherwise, she would have probably done a no-look pass with the suitcase to Ahrin and thrown a tantrum.

It takes a lot of effort to speak and act like this, making her head throb.

She’s always angry and irritated, but it gets worse at times like these, making it hard for Sayo.

‘This is tiring.’

‘I should close my eyes as soon as I get into the carriage.’

Sayo boarded the carriage, taking Ahrin’s hand who had boarded first, and immediately closed her eyes.

It wasn’t far to the train station, but she desperately needed even that little bit of rest.

“Please wake me when we arrive at the station.”

“Yes, my lady.”

Although the carriage rattled and shook, Sayo, who was always sleep-deprived, quickly fell asleep.

It was about a 30-minute carriage ride, so Sayo felt even more tired, as if she had just closed her eyes and immediately opened them again.

She borrowed Ahrin’s hand once more to descend from the carriage.

“Hmm… Car A-2, seats 3 and 4. Ah, this way!”

The train they reached, pulling their suitcases, looked like a steam train without the steam vent, the kind Sayo had only seen in pictures, except that it used magic stones.

Sayo really liked that this ‘Minorus Academy’ was a convenience-oriented fantasy world.

Things like modern-style bathrooms and toilets, or being able to travel long distances quickly and comfortably by train instead of carriage.

Such things greatly helped Sayo adapt to this world.

‘Should I be thankful I didn’t end up in a place like the actual Middle Ages?’

She didn’t even want to think about the sanitary conditions of the Middle Ages, overflowing with excrement and stench in the streets.

Car A was for people with money, simply put, the equivalent of modern first class.
It provided each person with a seat large and soft enough to lie down and sleep comfortably.

“The seats are huge and so fluffy! My lady.”

The 15-year-old maid was excited about her first-ever train ride.

She seemed to be trying to look composed, but her voice and face betrayed her excitement.
Her cute appearance brought a natural smile to Sayo’s face.

“Don’t act undignified, be quiet.”

‘…But to Sayoreinne, it was just an irritating sight that made her frown, so she snapped at her, hitting her fan with a Tak!’

‘No, that’s not what I meant to say.’

“S-Sorry.”

Seeing the crestfallen Ahrin made her feel sorry and angry at the same time.

Feeling like she might do something drastic if she stayed like this, Sayo sank deep into her seat.

“Huu, don’t mind me, just rest comfortably. Seven hours is a long time.”

“Yes… my lady.”

Even Ahrin’s unusually subdued voice grated on her nerves.

Suppressing the rising irritation, Sayo closed her eyes.

‘Is it because… I left the Marquis’s house…? Sleep… comes… easily……’

Ahrin woke her up around lunchtime. After finishing the meal, reading the book she brought, and sleeping some more, the seven hours passed quickly, and they arrived at the academy station.

Drrrrrk

Ahrin offered to pull both suitcases, but Sayo refused, thinking the small girl couldn’t possibly manage, and pulled her own suitcase.

‘Sayoreinne’ wouldn’t have cared, but I’m not Sayoreinne.

“Wow… It’s huge and wide.”

The academy was an institution established in each country to educate magic users.

Magic users were naturally a rare talent, but on a national scale, their numbers were certainly not small.

Furthermore, the vast training grounds required for training meant the academy’s scale could only be described as enormous.

‘It certainly is huge.’

‘Isn’t it the size of two or three decent universities combined?’

She hadn’t felt it through the game graphics, but seeing it in person, it was incredibly vast.

Sayo unfurled her fan with a chwak sound, covering her mouth, and briefly took in the sight of the academy she would attend for four years.

The thought that this was the beginning brought a complex mix of excitement, tension, anxiety, and irritation.

“Ahrin. Let’s go now.”

‘For now, the goal is… to live as quietly as possible and make it to graduation safely.’
‘I’m sick and tired of difficult and painful things now.’

With that resolve, she walked forward briskly.

“First, let’s go to your room, my lady, and unpack together…”

“No. I’ll do it myself. Ahrin, you should go to your room, tidy up, and then come.”

“Ooh… Then I’ll finish tidying up as quickly as possible and come straight to your room, my lady.”

Having reached the first-year dormitory area, Sayo and Ahrin parted ways for the time being, as the floors for students and servants were separate.

“Indeed, it looks exactly like the room that appeared in the background.”

That was Sayo’s first impression upon finding her room number from Sayoreinne’s memory and entering.

The dormitory room came with a bed, desk and chair, vanity, wardrobe, and even a small attached toilet and bathroom.

‘Are the other students’ or servants’ rooms the same?’

‘Or is this a special suite given to me as a high noble?’

Mulling over such thoughts, she opened her suitcase and began organizing her belongings.

There weren’t many clothes besides the uniform, and few cosmetics either.

After organizing her flats, heels, comfortable sneakers, toiletries, and various hygiene products, the unpacking was finished in no time.

Looking at the clock, evening was approaching.

For the next week, she would have to buy meals or cook for herself.

‘I need to eat dinner soon, I should wait for Ahrin.’

Ahrin had said she’d come right away, but there was no sign of her. Waiting, Sayo sat on the vanity chair and looked in the mirror.

“Hmm……”

She could feel herself assimilating with Sayoreinne as time passed.

This body now felt like her own rather than someone else’s, but looking in the mirror, her appearance still felt new each time.

It was strange that the reflection staring back was an incredibly beautiful girl.

But she never tired of looking, so she often found herself staring into the mirror when spacing out in her room.

‘Is this how Narcissus felt?’

In reality, Sayoreinne was purely a villainous character known only for causing frustration, but she had gained some popularity solely based on her appearance.

As she blankly admired her own face, her mother’s face came to mind.
‘Sayoreinne’s’ mother.

As expected of a mother-daughter relationship, her appearance strongly resembled the ‘mother’ in ‘Sayoreinne’s’ memory.

Sayoreinne loved her mother very much.
She loved her as her only remaining family.
Because of that, she loved her own face, which resembled her mother’s, as if proving their mother-daughter bond.

‘Mother… is it.’

As Sayo murmured the word, tears welled up and streamed down her cheeks.

‘It hasn’t even been a month since Mother passed away.’

Emotions surge.

Her head spins.

Resentment builds.

Tears flow freely.

Her heart pounds fiercely.

Her chest aches.
She misses her mother.

‘Calm down.’

‘Those feelings aren’t mine.’

‘Miss Mother?’

‘Are you serious?’

Her head cools.

Her heartbeat slows.

The endlessly flowing tears stop.

‘Thinking of ‘Mother’ and shedding tears?’
‘I could never do that.’

“Sorry I’m laaate. My lady. The room was dirty, so I started cleaning for a bit and lost track of time….”

After Sayo calmed down, wiped her tears, and even washed her face, she waited a little longer before Ahrin finally arrived, stammering out her reason for being late.

It seemed she had leisurely finished cleaning despite saying she’d come right away.

‘I knew she was a bit clumsy… but no, this must be why she became my exclusive maid.’

“…I’ll let it slide this once. But please don’t mumble, speak clearly so I can hear you properly. Also, don’t drag out your words, it’s undignified.”

Sayo vented a little of her rising irritation and anger onto Ahrin.

There was a reason to scold her, and she couldn’t just keep bottling up these surging emotions.

“Yes. Sorrryy…. My lady.”

Ahrin looked crestfallen again.

‘She’s doing exactly what I told her not to.’

‘It’s a relief that this anger probably won’t just keep piling up.’