Chapter 2: Why is it so bad?

Having a bad attitude was actually understandable.

In fact, Lilian wasn’t exactly a qualified maid.

She had originally been a physician and had never received any maid-related training.

Before awakening her memories, she was always clumsy in her maid duties.

Whether it was trembling hands while pouring tea or hurting Eleanora when combing her hair—these mistakes had become commonplace over the past two weeks.

And every time Lilian made a mistake, she would be scolded by Eleanora.

Usually being called stupid and clumsy.

But it wasn’t really Lilian’s fault; whenever she worked, Eleanora would stare at her with a strange look that made it impossible for her to focus on her tasks.

At first, Lilian would look back at Eleanora with confusion.

Only to be glared at fiercely in return.

“Who allowed you to look me straight in the eyes!”

Lilian’s heart sank, and she became even less able to concentrate on her work.

Mistakes led to scolding, and scolding led to more mistakes.

She feared her family.

A few days ago, Lilian spilled a little more tea than usual because of Eleanora’s intimidating gaze.

This time, Eleanora made Lilian hold a tray with both hands at chest level, the tray carrying a teapot and cups.

It was corporal punishment.

Although Lilian had dealt with all kinds of people and situations as a physician, this was the first time she had been treated like this.

Standing behind Eleanora, Lilian began reflecting on herself.

She wondered why she had broken that Antique Vase.

If she hadn’t broken it, she wouldn’t be in this predicament at all.

The more she thought about it, the angrier she became; a knot of frustration welled up in her chest.

Then, thinking about the Debt Repayment that seemed endless, the possibility of spending her entire life being scolded and mistreated by Eleanora, even punished physically, tears began to stream down her cheeks.

This time, Eleanora surprisingly didn’t scold her but coldly told her to put the tray down and leave.

That was surprising to Lilian now.

Before, Lilian would have interpreted that as being told to get lost, so after leaving, she cried even harder and was comforted by the other maids.

Lilian looked at herself in the mirror and thought back on her earlier behavior, unable to stop herself from wanting to punch herself.

What a disgrace—crying over such a small matter.

She covered her face with her hands and took a deep breath.

Before awakening her memories, Lilian was inexperienced and narrow-minded.

After awakening her memories, with more than twenty years of life experience from her past life, she was now acutely aware of many things that didn’t add up.

First was Eleanora’s thoughts.

Even if Lilian wasn’t a qualified maid, Eleanora still kept her nearby and made her carry out all her orders.

In theory, a maid was supposed to provide convenience for her mistress.

If Eleanora simply wanted to pick faults with Lilian, there was no reason to have her do things that obviously affected Eleanora personally, like combing her hair.

Then there were the other maids’ attitudes.

If a maid wasn’t liked by the mistress, other maids would naturally reject her.

But Lilian was the opposite; she had gotten along very well with the other maids in the past two weeks, and they even took good care of her.

The day she cried, many maids came to comfort her, giving her several loving hugs and telling her not to mind the Young Miss’s words, that the Young Miss was actually nice but for some unknown reason only treated her that way.

Hearing that she was being singled out made Lilian cry even harder.

Finally, there was her treatment.

Who in their right mind gave a maid her own guest room?

Lilian got out of bed and looked around her small room.

The elegant chandelier, the soft bed, the reading area enclosed by desks, the wardrobe area surrounded by closets, and a small tea table and sofa forming a tiny reception space in the middle.

Every day after work, this room was cleaned and tidied by the other maids without her having to lift a finger.

She didn’t eat with the other maids either but with Eleanora!

Though the meals weren’t quite like normal meals, she did eat the same food as Eleanora.

Lilian sat on the soft bed, stroking her chin and sinking into thought.

Strange.

Very strange.

Too strange, seriously.

Eleanora was clearly attacking Lilian’s mind from both sides.

On one hand, treating her well; on the other, constantly making trouble for her, verbally provoking her, and showing disdain and a sense of condescension in her behavior.

From Lilian’s combined life experience of over thirty years, this was definitely a scheme.

From this perspective, even the circumstances surrounding the contract she had signed began to seem suspicious.

More than half a month ago, Lilian was suddenly summoned to treat Eleanora.

Supposedly for feeling unwell.

At the time, Lilian wondered why she had been chosen—she was just an obscure little physician in the Imperial Capital.

“The Young Miss heard your name and knows that people highly praise your medical skills, so she asked us to bring you here for treatment.”

Lilian was brought to the Count’s Mansion in a heady mood of “The Count’s Daughter actually knows my name?” and “Everyone praises my medical skills!”

In the Dining Room, she was told she could look around but was soon left alone.

Then, in a daze, she accidentally broke an Antique Vase.

A maid opening the door saw it happen.

The maid’s startled exclamation happened to attract Eleanora.

Eleanora, who showed no sign of illness, saw the broken vase and suddenly teared up.

The vase had been a Countess’s Birthday Gift from Eleanora’s mother when she was a child.

Who in their right mind gave their daughter an Antique Vase as a birthday present?

Wracked with guilt and unable to sit still, Lilian kept apologizing and promised to find a way to compensate for the loss.

Eleanora said the vase was worth 300 gold coins, and since she happened to need a maid, Lilian could work off the debt.

Three hundred gold coins, from Lilian’s past life memory, roughly equated to over 2.4 million yuan.

Lilian was stunned by such an enormous sum and nervously agreed to Eleanora’s terms.

Eleanora pulled out a contract that had been dried for many days; conveniently, Lilian’s name had also been dried for days.

The contract already had “Lilian Elward” written in the name blank, and all Lilian had to do was sign her name.

Unfortunately, Lilian didn’t notice any of this.

She was still caught up in feelings of “I actually broke a vase worth 300 gold coins!?”, “Young Miss Eleanora is so pitiful…”, and “I must make it up to her!”

I can’t breathe!

Recalling everything, Lilian gasped.

How could the Count’s Mansion be so cruel as to trap a young girl like this?

And Eleanora—what exactly are you after?

First, discounting the idea that she wanted Lilian’s body, even if Eleanora truly liked girls, with the power of the Count’s Mansion, there was no need for all these convoluted schemes.

She could have simply forced herself on Lilian with no one saying a word.

Lilian wasn’t a noble; no one would care.

And there were no secrets on Lilian’s side.

Her parents were ordinary physicians with no ancient legacies or legendary potion formulas.

Her bloodline was completely normal, with no legendary ancestors.

Lilian frowned.

She simply couldn’t analyze Eleanora’s motive.

Closing her eyes, she patted her soft cheeks.

Fine, she decided, just forget all that.

A quick glance around her room revealed many business opportunities.

If she could get out successfully and use the savings her parents left her, paying off the Antique Vase debt would be easy.

From Eleanora’s behavior, it seemed she didn’t dislike her.

As long as she did her maid duties well and didn’t give her reason to complain, getting permission to leave shouldn’t be a problem.

Lilian pursed her lips, clenched her fists over her chest, and cheered herself on.

Then, blushing, she quickly put her hands down.

How could she casually make such a gesture?

“Knock, knock.”

There was a knock on the door.

A young maid spoke softly, “Lilian, the Young Miss says, ‘I’m going to have dinner now.’”

Clearly, she was being called to eat.

Just as well, Lilian wanted to meet with Eleanora anyway.