Chapter 3: Hyejin's Bizarre Adventure

I woke up in a typical medieval room, with a chandelier hanging above me, its lights glimmering like a cluster of stars in the night sky.

'Oh right… This must be Silvia's house.' I touched my neck, there were no scars or any cuts whatsoever.

'Oh God, [Return By Death]?' My face turned pale as the last person I knew who had this ability died at least a hundred times. I can only hope I am not a danger magnet like him.

Before I could lament further, Silvia walked into the chamber.

"Oh, Lee, you are awake?" She let out a sigh of relief and sat beside me.

"Yeah, sorry about that, Silvia." I rubbed my neck as I laughed.

"Don't worry about it, anyway if you don't mind telling me. Why did you faint abruptly?" She leaned in closer, her head tilted and brows raised, eager for an explanation.

I debated whether I should tell her, but then it hit me.

'What if I will die if I tell her the truth?' I hesitated and was not willing to fuck around and find out. So I took the safest route.

"I was just super hungry." I locked in and hoped that she would just leave it as that.

"... Well, alright, I will ask a servant to bring some food to you then, just let me or the servants know if you need anything else, okay?" she left and mumbled something on the way out.

Alright..." I lay back down on the fluffy bed and looked at the intricate patterns on the carefully crafted ceiling.

My stomach growled in rebellion as I was lost in thought.

'Well, I only ate a cup of instant noodles in the morning… and emptied everything earlier.' I let out a breath of exhaustion.

'What is even going on anymore, why was I given this ability? Is this a sign or something?' A headache crept up at me from all of the thousands of thoughts running through my already stressed brain.

'I'd never thought I would possess the power of an anime protagonist that I didn't want the most. Well, at least something similar.' I decided to stop being lazy and stood up and dragged my feet to the window and let the air flow inside. I looked at the landscape below me. A fresh evening breeze brushed against my face. 

'I am surprisingly calm about this shenanigan, maybe it's because I died once?' I spoke to no one in particular, just gazing at the starry sky that I rarely get to see anymore since I live in the big city.

'Wow, dying can really change someone a lot huh?' I stepped away from the window and closed the window. Since I was a bit bored with the view now, I decided to explore the mansion a bit. 

But, just as I was about to step outside, a knock on my door could be heard.

"Come in." I opened the door for them, which I'd admit wasn't smart as that could be anyone. 

"Oh my, you shouldn't be moving around my lady." A sophisticated man with long jet-black hair tied into a ponytail walked in with a tray of food.

"My lady?" I repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"Apologies, Lady Silvia instructed us to address you the same way as we would to her." I simply nodded after hearing this.

"Umm, by any chance, is your name Sebastian?" I decided to go with the classic butler name.

He was taken aback by that, but quickly regained his composure. He set the platter of food on the sturdy oaken table beside the window 

"No, my name is Henry Florence. A pleasure to make your acquaintance, my lady." He dipped into a graceful bow, his movements smooth and polished, as if he'd spent a lifetime perfecting the gesture.

'See? This is why I don't talk to people!' My social battery was draining way faster compared to when I was with Silvia. I guess love can cure even introversion huh?

"However, my little brother is Sebastian, do you perhaps know him?" His eyes flickered with intensity, a hint of desperation hid beneath his composed expression.

"N-No, sorry, it's just I know a lot of butlers named Sebastian, I'm sorry if I offended you. A-Anyway, it is a pleasure to meet you as well, Se-, Henry." 

Henry noticing my discomfort quickly apologized as well.

"Forgive me, that was unbecoming and unprofessional of me." 

"No, it was my fault to begin with." There is now a suffocating silence lurking in the room.

1 second, 2 second, 3 sec… Time was ticking in slow motion, which didn't help with the awkwardness!

Henry broke the silence by giving a small graceful bow.

"I shall take my leave, my lady."

With that, he turned and exited the room, leaving me alone once again.

I stared at the door after he left.

"I really need to work on my social skills outside of Silvia…" I walked to the platter of food and decided to eat before exploring cuz I was famished.

I took a good whiff of the food and stress instantly melted.

'When was the last time I ate such good food?' I cursed under my breath about student loan debt. I shouldn't have moved to the U.S. for my major. I now owe the government way too much money, that I will not pay back.

'Haha, suck it government, I'm not paying you guys a cent!' I stuck a middle finger at them in my imagination because I was too busy eating food in reality.

After a few heavenly minutes, I finished my food and took the tray with me to explore the mansion. Reason being? Habits, I'd always clean up after myself, so it felt weird to leave it to the servants.

I saw an unnatural colored-haired maid walking down the hall. She was wearing a classic maid uniform and her pink hair wobbling in the air as she walked.

Do I:

Option A: Strike up a conversation and ask for directions.

Option B: Pretend I don't exist.

That was a trick question because she was already in my face before I could even decide!

"Who are you?!" Despite her short stature, her stare and aura sure were deadly. It was like her eyes could pierce a hole straight through me.

I put my hand up by instinct.

"I'm Lee Hyejin, Ma'am!" 

"Lee.. Hyejin? LEE?! Please punish me for not recognizing you, my lady!" Her tone took a 180 and without hesitation, she dropped to the floor, performing a perfect Dogeza, her forehead came crashing against the ground with a resounding smack. A tiny crack could be seen on the floor at the place where her forehead landed.

"..." I was too stunned to even breathe.

"Please punish me!" She repeated louder this time.

Maybe it was just my imagination, but isn't she... getting a little too enthusiastic about this? A gleeful smile spread across her pinkish face as she drooled a bit onto the floor.

A shiver crawled through my spine as I saw her predatory smile.

"U-Umm, it's fine… really… so, uh… do you know where the kitchen is?" I asked her cautiously as if I was talking to a feral beast.

"No please my lady, I insist, I committed a grave sin for not recognizing you and acting rudely against you!" It was at that moment I knew words were not getting through to her, so I just bolted out of there as fast as I could down the hall, never looking back.

I found myself in an empty room and rested there with the tray of dishes still at hand. I sank to the floor, breathing heavily as I tried to catch my breath.

"Well, at least she's not a Yandere." 

'Actually? Why does a lot of Yandere have pink hair anyway?' I distracted myself with useless thoughts as I took a break for a few minutes.

"Phew, I hope that she's gone now. I did see a staircase a bit further down the hall. God this is like university all over again!" Taking a deep breath, I peeked outside the room. Coast clear? Hopefully. I slowly crept down the hall to see a grand staircase.

'Welcome back, my lovely university.' I cried a little from the inside about how similar this staircase was to my overpriced university's grand staircase.

'Good thing student debt can't follow me to another world.' I walked down the stairs and smelt a delicious aroma. The scent was rich, savory, and comforting, a perfect mix of herbs and spices that seemed to have locked me in a chokehold.

'Must be the kitchen then.' I followed the mouthwatering trail of fragrance that guided me to its source. As I turned the corner, I found myself standing at the entrance to a large, room made out of stone to probably prevent any sort of fire from spreading. 

I reached for the door—THUNK. A kitchen knife embedded itself right where my face would've been.

"Open that door and you will die on the spot, uninvited guest…" A deep voice echoed through the room. His tone is sharp and threatening, I can tell he is not kidding about his threat. 

"I-I just want to wash some dishes." I cried inwardly. Why is washing a few plates so damn hard?!

"Wash dishes?" The man seemed intrigued now considering his tone. 

"Ah… You must be the new servant, come on in. You should've started with that. Did Henry not fill you in with the details?" His tone is severely less ominous and threatening now. I opened the door to see…

"A cat girl?" I blurted.

"How rude." He… She huffed. Her deep voice is making me confused about her gender and reality.

'Cat girl = Deep Voice?' My brain short-circuited from this fluffy mystery. 

"I have a name you know? Did that bastard Henry not tell you anything?" She crossed her arms in annoyance as she slammed the kitchen knife she was holding into the cutting board, creating a loud THUD.

"Listen well, my name is-"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________

I walked down the hall to Lee's room. 

"Hey, Lee, did you eat yet?"I called out softly, tapping my knuckles against the heavy wooden door.

Silence.

I frowned.

'Maybe she's asleep.' But something felt off so I decided to check on her, just in case. I turn the doorknob. The door creaked open.

"Please pardon me," I whispered and entered her room. 

To my absolute horror, she wasn't there. 

"Her bedsheet was ruffled and a faint smell of food lingers in the room, which mean she was still in the room recently.

'This must mean she went out to explore the mansion!' I felt my stomach churning as I spun on my heels and rushed out of the room, my footsteps echoing through the quiet corridors. I darted past towering paintings of my ancestors whom I had no time to pay respect to. 

'I absolutely cannot let her find out those crazy servants my stupid father hired!' I increased my paces and my race against time had officially begun.