Chapter 5: EP 5
A day has passed.
Two days later... before she knew it, a week had gone by. As the days went on, Camilla's face quickly began to decay.
"Why, why…!"
Why isn't she waking up?
This was truly a first for her. Had she ever been in this space for such a long time before?
As time passed, Camilla started to feel increasingly anxious.
"Could it be…?"
No way, right?
"Staying here like this…!"
Camilla shook her head vigorously. Just thinking about it was terrifying because she knew all too well how her life would end in this world.
Camilla repeatedly touched her neck, still intact.
Knock knock.
A moment later, someone entered with a knock. It was her personal maid, Donna.
"Miss?"
Seeing Camilla slumped over with her arms and head drooping, Donna flinched.
"What's wrong?"
But as soon as Camilla slowly lifted her head, Donna let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"The head chef made some snacks himself."
"Snacks?"
"You haven't been able to eat properly lately."
Due to the incident in the dining room, many of the kitchen maids had been replaced. Those who had played tricks were dismissed without receiving any severance pay.
Additionally, the duke had ordered that special attention be paid to the food Camilla consumed.
"I'm not hungry."
However, with no signs of returning to her original self, Camilla had completely lost her appetite and had barely touched her food recently.
No matter how good or delicious the food was, she would take a bite and feel sick several times. That's why the head chef had personally come to bring snacks.
"Please have at least one bite for Chef Gelard's sincerity."
"..."
Donna's voice was filled with concern. As Camilla was about to lower her head again, her gaze shifted to Donna.
If anyone truly cared for Camilla in this duke's household, it would be her.
When Camilla was arrested for attempted murder, Donna had stood by her side until the end. She was also the only one who shed tears over Camilla's death.
"She always got upset over the other maids' mischief."
She would jump around saying they needed to inform the duke immediately but always had to keep quiet out of concern for Camilla's wishes.
Then she fought with the maids, determined to clear Camilla's name. Eventually, she returned with bruises but still smiled and said she had hit one more person.
"Fine."
Ultimately unable to refuse Donna's request, Camilla straightened up. Seeing this, Donna's expression brightened.
Hurriedly exiting, Donna returned with someone who had been waiting outside.
"Excuse me."
It was a man in his mid-forties with a somewhat thin build. He bowed slightly toward Camilla and promptly placed the food he was holding on the table.
"It's apple pie."
The pie was topped with thinly sliced apples that had been well-cooked in sugar.
"Please try it."
The chef's tone was filled with pride—or perhaps arrogance.
Though he didn't say it outright, his gaze toward Camilla wasn't kind. It clearly showed his displeasure at having to cater to someone like her due to the duke's orders.
He felt sick at the thought of his beautiful creation entering the mouth of such a young girl who didn't appreciate it. It was too precious for someone who didn't even know how to appreciate good food.
'She'll just eat whatever is given.'
Seeing that food sent to Camilla had been returned to the kitchen these past few days made Gelard boil with anger.
How dare she leave his food untouched!
'Those maids are also infuriating…'
Recently, maids who had played tricks on the duchess's food were caught and expelled from the mansion.
While he was very angry at those who had tampered with his food, he couldn't entirely understand their feelings either.
After all, she wasn't even a real duchess. It was ridiculous that someone from such a remote area pretended to be picky about food when she wasn't even from here.
If it weren't for the duke's orders, he wouldn't care less if she starved or not.
"I put my heart into making this."
"..."
Camilla's gaze turned back toward Gelard.
*Sigh.*
Facing Gelard's displeased expression, Camilla let out a small sigh. His expression showed he had no intention of hiding his discomfort at all.
*I'm used to it.*
She had learned how to ignore those who disliked her during her long career in show business since childhood.
But that wasn't the issue now.
*It's noisy.*
Her head felt like it would explode given the current situation already.
[You fool! I've told you countless times! Food only shines when someone else eats it!]
What is that noisy old man saying?
[No matter how good it is, if no one eats it, it's just garbage!]
Camilla sighed again as she looked at an old man standing next to Gelard who had been chattering loudly since earlier.
*Why am I seeing this?*
These entities hadn't appeared when she entered this world as an observer but suddenly began showing up now that she seemed fully immersed in it.
This realization plunged Camilla into despair once more. It seemed she had completely entered this place now.
*Damn…*
She wanted to hurl insults at whoever trapped her in this woman's body without knowing who they were.
*What am I supposed to do now?*
[And this pie! You put 1g less cinnamon in it! Even though it's just 1g, do you have any idea how much that affects flavor? And Camilla doesn't like apples! I told you to consider the eater's preferences!]
Ugh, it's maddening!
Furrowing her brow slightly, Camilla decided she needed to get rid of these distractions and brought a piece of pie directly to her mouth before tossing down her fork as if throwing it away.
"What's wrong?"
"Take it away."
"What don't you like about it?"
Gelard frowned at Camilla's unexpected reaction; he had anticipated seeing her marvel at his pie after tasting it.
"It tastes bad."
"What?"
"It tastes bad."
"No way!"
Gelard's face contorted in disbelief. How dare someone who doesn't even know good taste say his food is bad!
"That's impossible! With this pie…"
"There isn't enough cinnamon. Just 1g less. You brought out something that doesn't even meet basic baking standards. Take it away immediately."
"Excuse me?"
Cinnamon?
"And I don't like apples."
"T-That…"
"Shouldn't you understand what your eater likes first? What does it matter if you're satisfied? If no one eats it, it's just trash!"
"...!"
Those were words often spoken by his late mentor.
Staring at Gelard as he looked confused, Camilla glared fiercely at him.
"Aren't you leaving?"
Finally snapping back to reality, Gelard hurriedly gathered up the food he had set down and rushed outside with a flushed face.
*You should go too.*
Camilla waved dismissively at the old man who looked at her with surprise after hearing everything she wanted to say as well.
In an instant, their eyes met. The old man's eyes widened further in shock.
*What? Why? Is this my first time seeing someone who can see ghosts?*
It seemed so indeed!
*Whatever.*
Camilla slumped back onto her bed again.
---
[What happened? Ferrol?]
As the old man left Camilla's room, another ghost approached him—a peer dressed in a neat suit.
[You made eye contact.]
[Eye contact?]
[I really did make eye contact!]
[Calm down and explain slowly; what do you mean by that?]
[I made eye contact with that girl in there.] [Who? Miss Camille?]
[Miss? She still thinks Derin is here as a butler?]
[Just because we're dead doesn't mean we forget our duties.]
The butler ghost Derin smiled wryly.
[Since the duke accepted her as his daughter, we must respect her too. But really, did you make eye contact with her?] [Yes.] [Hmm.]
The two ghosts turned their gazes toward Camille's door simultaneously.
They had watched over her for a long time but hadn't seen any signs of that until now.
[You didn't just imagine things?] [I really made eye contact; she even waved at me.] [Waved?]
Derin raised his chin as if intrigued by what he heard from Ferrol.
[We'll find out if we keep watching slowly; we have nothing but time.]
At those words, Ferrol nodded as well while dressed in his chef's attire. The two ghosts quietly vanished from sight.
---
*Let's live.*
Camilla decided she needed to survive.
Three more days passed after that moment. Ultimately, Camille could only come to one conclusion:
*It's hopeless.*
Returning to her original world seemed impossible now.
She didn't know what would happen later on; however, returning right now seemed problematic. She realized there wasn't much time left for idling around anymore.
*First things first: I need to survive.*
Sitting up from where she lay like a corpse, Camille stood up abruptly; staying like this would lead only to death.
"I need to change my reputation first."
During countless lifetimes lived before this one, there were times when Camilla occasionally participated in Ravi's plan to assassinate their first son Rudville.
*But…*
The results back then hadn't been much different either because there were far too many people who saw her as an eyesore.
The moment Ravi's wrongdoing was exposed; people lumped Camilla together as an accomplice too—falsely testifying against her and framing her alongside him.
Even if she shouted that she hadn't done anything wrong or protested vehemently against these accusations—no one would listen.
Everyone viewed Camilla as guilty...
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