Chapter 2

The Baron's mansion is a one-story building. The walls are falling apart and have some cracks in some places. It was old and cramped.

"I'm home." Citrina greeted as she entered the room.

"Citrina, come over here. Elena just sent a letter!"

"From Elena?"

"Yes. My daughter, aren't you happy?"

The baroness lovingly stroked the letter, an expression that she never showed towards Citrina. That's natural, though, since Citrina and Elena are different.

Elena Foluin, the second daughter, is the family's pride and hope.

Since Citrina was 13 years old she's been working non-stop for 3 years, and most of the money she earned was used to assist Elena, which she can tolerate.

'I am the first daughter, It's only natural to try my best and wish Elena success, because her success is the family's success.'

"Elena said she needs several necessities. Are you going to the Duke's house next week?"

"Yes," Citrina softly replied.

"Are you sick? Be careful. You need to take care of yourself to be able to go to work. If you get sick, who will work in your stead?"

"I will."

She has to endure in order for the family to succeed. She just can't help but feel that something's wrong, but she pressed down the uncomfortable feeling.

The baroness's hand reached for her tea as she carefully reread the letter. She thought of something and opened her mouth while having a sad look on her face.

"Oh. Elena's coming, we need to change the sheets. It's all right even if it's a little expensive since she's gotten bigger. Isn't it, CItrina?"

"...Yes. Let's do that."

Later that night, Citrina rose from her seat and quietly left the room. It's against etiquette to leave the dinner table when the elders are still seated, but her head was continuously ringing.

The Baron's mansion is a one-story building. The walls are falling apart and have some cracks in some places. It was old and cramped.

"I'm home." Citrina greeted as she entered the room.

"Citrina, come over here. Elena just sent a letter!"

"From Elena?"

"Yes. My daughter, aren't you happy?"

The baroness lovingly stroked the letter, an expression that she never showed towards Citrina. That's natural, though, since Citrina and Elena are different.

Elena Foluin, the second daughter, is the family's pride and hope.

Since Citrina was 13 years old she's been working non-stop for 3 years, and most of the money she earned was used to assist Elena, which she can tolerate.

'I am the first daughter, It's only natural to try my best and wish Elena success, because her success is the family's success.'

"Elena said she needs several necessities. Are you going to the Duke's house next week?"

"Yes," Citrina softly replied.

"Are you sick? Be careful. You need to take care of yourself to be able to go to work. If you get sick, who will work in your stead?"

"I will."

She has to endure in order for the family to succeed. She just can't help but feel that something's wrong, but she pressed down the uncomfortable feeling.

The baroness's hand reached for her tea as she carefully reread the letter. She thought of something and opened her mouth while having a sad look on her face.

"Oh. Elena's coming, we need to change the sheets. It's all right even if it's a little expensive since she's gotten bigger. Isn't it, CItrina?"

"...Yes. Let's do that."

Later that night, Citrina rose from her seat and quietly left the room. It's against etiquette to leave the dinner table when the elders are still seated, but her head was continuously ringing.

Whether or not the couple will be displeased, it doesn't matter since they are too engrossed talking about Elena that they didn't notice her leaving.

Upon entering her room, the oldest room in the mansion, Citrina laid down on her squeaky bed and closed her eyes. She felt really nauseous, it seems like she caught a terrible cold.

It's better to go to sleep, it's going to get better when she wakes up.

On the night Citrina closed her eyes, thousands of meteors fell. She hasn't opened her eyes for three days and three nights straight since then.

"We don't have money to call a doctor. I think her temperature will gradually go down. Please, take care of her.

"Isn't it contagious? I'll leave her to you, Mrs. Mack. She needs to go to the House of Duke a week later, that's why she needs to get better."

It was the voice of the baroness who left like smoke right after placing the water on the side table.

Meanwhile, Citrina was recalling her previous life that was passing by in a flash.

She had been a perfectionist, proud, and an indifferent person. In her past life, she was a jewel designer and had been stressing herself to make the design as per that man's request, which was impossible to finish in a week.

Cirtrina recalled the time when she read "The Garden of Elena."

'Am I in a novel now?'

Elena Foluin was the heroine of the book. Who ran to the house of Duke Pietro, in Aron Pietro's arm. And as their beautiful love story began at Knight's Academy.

Cetrina was Elena's older sister, who worked hard so that her family can live, but died in the hands of the male lead's brother, Desian Pietro. Because he thought Elena was annoying, he decided to deal with Citrina first.

Thanks to a beautiful jewel and two years of love story, they finally got their happy ending with the villain's intervention.

'Am I going to die just like in the novel?'

Since Citrina was not the main character, the story went on after she died. She knew that Citrina's family cried, but after Elena became successful, she was eventually forgotten.

Even when the novel ended, no one mentioned nor even remembered her.

'Today's weather is perfect, isn't it?'

'Shall we go on a picnic, Elena?'

'That'll be great.'

The baron, baroness, and Elena laughed.

Everyone had a happy ending.

So far, Citrina, who sacrificed a lot for her family, has no place to go. She felt betrayed.

"What have I been doing?"

So she was just a tool for their happiness, the family she worked too hard for.

Citrina slowly opened her eyes, and recalled the decades of her life after suffering from a fever. When she woke up, her life as Citrina was faint, and remembered more of the life she lived as a designer.

The content of shocked her so much so that it was embedded in her mind.

"You're awake! I was so worried!"

Next to her was the Baron house's maid, Mrs. Mack. When Elena got sick in the book, she was the one who took care of her.

Citrina sighed slowly. It seems like the body she possessed wasn't good.

"The baroness would be happy. It's already morning, would you want to eat first?"

"...Okay. I'll eat first," Citrina replied.

She was just at death's door yesterday, so Mrs. Mac said hesitantly, "Oh! I was told that the Duke's carriage will come today. You haven't been excused."

Even if she had a severe fever, her family didn't miss the chance to earn money from the Duke.

Citrina unenthusiastically laughed.

The day she goes inside the carriage would be her turning point. Citrina thought about running away, but the underlying problem would not be solved.

'I'm going to live properly, as the main character in my own story.' Citrina put her thoughts together.

'If I had such a stroke of bad luck for someone to want to kill me, then I can turn that around. That's my specialty.'

Being a playmate, she had made a lot of noble children open their hearts to her, and Destian Pietro is still just a young villain.

'I will rebuild my own future my way, and I will succeed. Citrina's life is now mine.'

***

When Citrina arrived in the kitchen, she noticed the old oven and the cobweb under the chair that stretched down to its legs.

"There's a spider."

She sat on the chair and pushed the cobweb with her foot.

Objectively, the situation of the Baron house is not good. The Baron was addicted to gambling, and her sister's education was absurdly expensive.

As she heard the squeaking of the chair and dining table, she noticed someone coming over. It was the baroness, walking in a relaxed manner.

"Good morning. Mrs. Mack, prepare me breakfast."

"Yes." Citrina responded modestly.

A slightly burnt bread with an old-fashioned bacon and the best fried egg. Citrina slowly spoke a sentence she never spoke before, "My meal seems different from Elena's."

She didn't know before, but Elena's meal has more than her. After knowing this, her heart went cold.

"What? What did you say was different?" The baroness asked with a slightly higher voice.

Citrina looked down and answered, "Nothing."

She decided to accept the fact. She went to the Duke's house right away and decided to cut her ties off with the Baron House. She knew about the future and had a loud wake-up call from her dream, so she made a rough plan.

She'll a genius jewel designer, with the help of a dwarf and a gem spirit.

As she thought of the future, her heart started to beat wildly. Yes, the baron house is not the limit.

"Will the Duke give you more salary than the countess gave you?"

"They will pay more but- "

"...?"

"Can I ask you one thing?" Citrina asked softly.

From her unexpected question, a question mark appeared on top of the baroness's head. Still, she wasn't worried about the question, though. To her, Citrina was a good daughter, although she still fell a little short.

Citrina, who knew her mother well, asked once again, "Is that really what you want to say?"

Before leaving for the Duke's house, she really wants to know if that's all her mother has to say. She waited for the answer with trembling eyes.

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