The next day...
'Oh my goodness.' Catherina surprisingly thought.
Long black hair and two dark brown eyes. The woman who stood in front of Rina was wearing a maid's uniform beside her mother.
"Rina, this is Emma. Starting today, she will be your personal maid." Her mother introduced.
"Greetings, my lady." Emma bowed.
Catherina still couldn't believe it.
'It's starting already..'
Emma, who was assigned to be Rina's personal maid... Was none other than the heroine of the otome game.
"It's nice to meet you. How old are you?" Catherina responded with a question.
"I'm twenty this year, my lady." Emma answered.
'It's really her.'
Suddenly, Rina started to remember about the game.
Emma, the heroine, was a lowly maid in the Dwight mansion. There she will encounter the male lead (Callahan) and their love story will be unfolded by then. It began when Callahan is twenty one and the heroine is twenty years old.
The heroine who is a lowly maid will eventually manage to catch the prince's eye and the love rivalry begins. And starting there, Dorothea the villainess will insert.
There were few twists and turns before Rina achieved the happy ending in the past life and Owen was a part of that twist. Though, she did manage to get the happy ending within five hours.
But now that she's facing the heroine, it felt weird for some reason. To think that this was the woman whom she used as the vessel to achieve the game's ending... It felt incredulous.
"Please take care of my daughter, Emma." Rina's mother patted her shoulder.
Emma was surprised of the slight pat she received. She blushed for a bit then bowed. "I certainly will, madame."
"Then, I will leave you two now. I'll see you later baby." Carla kissed Rina's forehead.
"Okay."
*Clack* The door closed.
"...."
"...."
"Emma-"
"My lady-"
Their words crossed each other.
"You go first, Emma." Rina giggled.
Emma smiled at her.
'She's really beautiful.' Rina thought as she saw her smile.
"I just want my lady to know that I'm really grateful of your family's kindness for accepting someone as low as me. If it weren't for the madame, I would've died of starvation by now." Emma bowed on the floor.
"What? Why? Please get up," Rina curiously asked as she helped her get up.
"I'm homeless. I don't have any relatives and I live by the slums. Then one time, the madame passed by and I was there. All filthy and hopeless. I clinged to her dress which looked so beautiful than anything I've ever seen and I asked for help. But believe me, I didn't know that it was your mother at that time."
"W-What..." Rina couldn't believe it. There was no such thing like the heroine's backstory in the game.
"I already did it to other nobles who passed by but they ignored me. Some even kicked me and spit on me. But your mother.. the madame, she was different." Tears began to flow from her eyes.
"Emma." Rina patted her back as she comforted her.
"As she reached out her hand, she looked like an angel back then. She's the only one who treated me like human. She helped me regain my life's purpose. I'm so grateful my lady. I wonder how I could ever repay you." Emma continued to cry as she clutched on Rina's dress.
"But.. why are you saying this to me?" Catherina was confused.
Carherina didn't know that whilst listening to Emma's backstory, she also shed few tears already. Hearing her story was like watching a tragic movie.
Emma smiled through the sadness. "I asked for her help. And madame told me that she had a daughter. She said that because of her daughter, my life will change. That's why I'm thanking you, my lady. You and madame saved my life."
"It's alright. Please don't cry." Rina continued to comfort Emma.
...
*Sniff* *Sniff*
Emma blew on her handkerchief. She was crying since earlier and the tension finally calmed down.
"I apologize for showing you my ugly side, my lady." Emma bowed out of embarrassment.
"It's not ugly if you express yourself. Crying is one way so that pent-up emotions will be released. If you keep it all inside, you will one day explode."
"Thank you so much once again, my lady. I promise to serve you willingly and heartily." Emma bowed on the floor once again.
Emma didn't know how she could express her gratitude for her family.
"Ah! Don't do that! Please, get up."
"Thank you, my lady." Emma smiled.
"I already heard many 'thank you' from you so it's fine already." Rina chuckled.
"Thank y-"
"Emma, it's fine." Rina interrupted, afraid that she will say thank you once again.
"Okay." Emma finally went silent. "Oh, what were you going to say again, my lady?"
"Pardon?"
"You called my name earlier. Is there anything you want to ask?" She tilted her head.
"Oh, right. I was about to ask where you're from but it seems like my question is already answered."
"I see."
Emma stared at Catherina for a moment while smiling.
"Is something wrong?" Rina asked.
"Nothing. It's just that, my lady is too pretty."
"!!!"
A blush crept up to Rina's face. The heroine was such a smooth talker.
"Thank you.. Emma is pretty- no, even more beautiful." Catherina complimented.
"Pft- you're the real beauty here, my lady." She giggled.
"Haha.. it's true though. Maybe that's why the male leads fell in love..."
"Pardon?"
"O-Oh, it's nothing."
'To experience that kind of thing for twenty years.. it must have been hard.'
Hearing the heroine's backstory made Rina's sympathy towards her grow.
...
Somehwere...
"Oh my, who's that maid?"
"She seems close to Rina."
"She must be a new personal maid."
"Why was she crying earlier?"
"Yeah, she made Rina cry too."
"Maybe she's bad."
"Hmmm.. is she?"
Outside far from Rina's sight, Owen was just observing.
Ever since that black haired maid showed up, he felt unsettled.
There was something about her that made him think suspicious of her.
"As long as she doesn't hurt Rina, everything is fine."
"What happens if she does touch her?"
"Ohhh. Yeah!"
"I wanna know too."
"Yeah, tell us your plans."
"....
If anything bad happens to Rina because of her,
I will kill her."