Chương 2: Something Strange In The Garden Part 1

I woke up the next morning in my large pink canopy bed. White frills adorned the pink mosquito net that surrounded it. A young maid busied herself in my closet as she prepared clothes for me to wear today. Although this has been the same routine for the past five years, I am not sure I can ever get used to this.

In both my previous lives, I have always had to take care of myself, from bathing to dressing, eating, and cleaning up after myself. I think the only time I had it easy during that time was when I left the people I killed lying in a pool of blood on the floor. It never dawned on me until now, but it seems killing another stopped bothering me a long time ago. I wonder if it was human nature that allowed me to get so used to it. We seem to be adaptable creatures, after all.

"Princess, you are awake?" My maid, Mimi, called out to me. I still wonder what she did wrong to get such a name. But I guess you can't pick or choose the name your parents give you. But more than her name, the name she just called me is kind of….

"Mimi, can you not call me princess, please? I am nothing more than just a duke's daughter." I really hated this name. But for some reason, my family has all the servants calling me it.

"I am sorry, Princess, but I can not do that. Master has told everyone to call you Princess. So please, Princess, just put up with it, or does Princess wish to get this little maid in trouble?" I rolled my eyes at the sly smile forming on Mimi's face. She is always like this. Always looking for a way to tease me.

"I guess you don't wish to work there. I will tell Father when I go down for bre….."

"No! Please, Bella, don't do that!" I watched as Mimi began to panic, causing me to laugh. She puffed out her cheeks and turned her face away from me. "So not cute! Why can't you be like other five year olds…."

"I told you I am an old woman in a child's body. So do not expect me to do such things." It's this again! Just believe me already!

"Yes, yes, we all know that Bella is amazing. But I have to say even at your age you are a beauty. Your hair is snow white, and your eyes are like blue gems. With your round face and cute button nose, you will definitely grow up to be a beauty that will destroy the capital. I think Princess Leslie will be jealous again." Mimi praised me yet again. While I can not deny that I was actually quite cute, even though it may sound conceited, but I can not argue with facts.

However, she did mention a person I really dislike. A person I dislike so much that if this was my second past life, I would have offed her a long time ago. "Please do not mention that brat in front of me. The first time she saw me, she ordered her guard to kill me. Luckily my father was standing there, or this pretty head of mine would have been sent flying."

"Humph! If she dares, I will be sure to avenge you with everything I have, and then after she pays me a lump of gold to leave her alone, I will use a single silver to plant flowers at your grave." Looking at Mimi's serious face made me want to pinch her chubby cheeks! But this girl….

"Oi! Your real thoughts are slipping out there, Mimi."

"Hahaha! Were they!?" Mimi is the only one who will talk to me in such a way. She has been like this since the day she arrived at the estate. But it is moments like this that make me realize just how refreshing this new life is because banter like this would not be allowed in my past lives.

When I was the Saintess, people looked up to me and had high expectations for me to follow the path of devoting myself to the water goddess. But in reality, I felt that it was boring, but it was the only life I ever had, and I was very much devoted to the church. But talking like this in such a way was not something you would ever see in a church. They were all serious and stuck up. You had to follow strict doctrine.

As an assassin, such banter would just end up getting you killed. No one at the organization was close, and everyone was also wary of the other. Chatting like this was a big no no because you never know if the one you are being friendly with was waiting for that right moment to end your life and take your ranking within the organization. And even if you were caught killing another member, the organization did not care. They only saw it as a useless tool being disposed of. But I was different. Most were afraid to even approach me. It was only during the time I was sent on a mission to a backwater country that I realized something was wrong. While I put up the best fight I could, in the end, I was killed by the same organization that made me a monster.

But all of that is now in the past. Excluding the annoying system, I have that seems to do nothing, I just want an ordinary life. I stretched and climbed out of bed. My pink nightgown slid down my legs, only allowing my two little white feet to be exposed. I looked up at Mimi, who was still busy getting some clothes out for me. She always took a while to select what I would be wearing every day.

While she was on the chubby side, Mimi was a very pretty girl herself. Short bob cut brown hair and big round green eyes. She was only ten years old, but I heard she started her training as a maid from the day she was able to walk. If anyone should be called a genius, it was this girl here. She was very good at her job. She was someone who could do practically anything you asked of her. And my youngest elder brother also seems to have a small crush on her which I find cute.

Speaking of crushes, I wonder if I will be able to experience love in this new life of mine. I had never thought about it before because I was always preoccupied with the tasks in front of me, but now that I am in a life with no real concerns, will I finally be able to meet that perfect someone?

Not that I am looking to run out and find true love or anything like that. I mean, I am only five and have no idea what will happen in the future. I could die tomorrow or the day after. If I do die, I wonder if that will finally be the end for me. Will I finally get my eternal sleep? But I do wonder if I can even die. Is my current race even able to die?

My eldest brother told me there were a few races in this world that are practically immortal. I think he called one of them Vampire? He said a few other names, but they were hard to pronounce. Vampires stuck out to me due to the fact that they were beings like us humans but survived by drinking the blood of others. He even tried to scare me and tell me that they would sneak into my bedroom at night and suck my blood while I was sleeping. I faked a Kyaaaa! And ran away like a little girl was supposed to. But in truth, I was not scared at all. But if I did not live up to my eldest brother's expectations, he would make a sad face, so I went along with it.

"All done! Just as I thought, Bella, you are just as pretty as you were yesterday." Mimi snapped me out of my thoughts. To be honest, I have no idea how she just dressed me without me even knowing about it. She was just too good at her job.

"Mimi, are you secretly some kind of ninja?" I asked while narrowing my eyes at her.

"Bella, what is this ninja thing?" Mimi's head tilted to the side as she looked at me in confusion. I know she would say that since ninjas are not something from this world, at least I think anyway.

"It's a person who can do things sneakily without being caught," I explained lightly. It was hard to explain something if there was no equivalent in this world.

"Oh! Like a shadow guard!" Mimi nodded her head in understanding. Now it was my turn to be confused, but I will just leave it at that for now. I will learn all of that in the next few months.

"What would you like to do today, Bella?" Mimi asked as she finished adjusting my hair. Even though she said I was all done, she had a habit of redoing things here and there. It was a common morning occurrence.

"I was thinking of taking a stroll in the garden. By the way, Mimi, are you still not willing to get me a book from the library?" I asked. I have been trying to get my hands on at least a history book. I do not know why I have to wait until I am six, when it is just around the corner.

"Bella, you have asked me many times, but I can not. If Master catches me, I will be fired."