2 BEWARE OF THE UNHINGED

[I'M NEVER eating mushrooms again.]

When Zoe opened her eyes, as cliché as it may sound, she found herself in a different body. Judging by the extravagant painting on the ceiling, she was pretty sure that she wasn't in her room either.

[It seems like I really entered the novel, huh?]

Thank goodness she had a laid-back personality.

But it wasn't like she was being reckless or suicidal.

She lost both of her parents in a car accident when she was twenty years old.

Since their family was well-off and she received a hefty inheritance from her parents, she didn't struggle financially. She wasn't proud of what her mother and father used to do for a living. But she had to survive and used the money she inherited from them.

Although she lived comfortably, that didn't mean she never felt loneliness.

The only precious thing that she had in her life was her Korean barbecue restaurant. It helped her feel accomplished. In fact, running her barbecue restaurant helped stabilize her mental health more than the anti-depressant pills that used to take.

The barbecue restaurant was so important to her that when Liane turned back time to save her restaurant and her customers, she had been too overjoyed that she ended up trusting the heroine too much.

[But I have so many questions that I wanted to ask her first!]

Did Liane kill her because she knew that she would ask questions that the heroine might not have wanted to answer?

[Am I really dead though?]

What was the point of saving her restaurant if she died?

[Wait…]

If people back in her world find out that she died in her restaurant, wouldn't that also result in having her restaurant closed? Authorities would definitely investigate her death. If that happened, she would lose her patrons and customers again!

[This is a scam!]

God, why was she born stupid?

She rolled on the bed, then she buried her face in the pillow and screamed. It was a muffled scream, so she hoped nobody heard her.

[Getting angry won't change my situation.]

She screamed for three more minutes before she finally calmed down. Then she rolled on the bed once more until she was lying on her back and staring at the ceiling again.

[Oh, well. I'm stupid, but I know how to judge people well. Despite everything, I still believe that Liane is a good person. I don't think she'd betray me like this. Maybe she'll show up again once I saved Runa.]

Yep, time to work.

She got up and was pleasantly surprised when she saw her lucky charm carefully placed on the bedside table.

"Pinky!" she exclaimed happily, then she pleasantly picked up the pastel pink chef's knife that she fondly named 'Pinky.' She hugged it carefully. Although her knife looked pretty because of its color, it was still as sharp as any knife. "Thank you for coming with me here."

She carefully placed Pinky back on the bedside table.

Then, she stood up and walked towards the mirror that she saw while appreciating the elegant interior of the spacious bedroom. The earth colors that dominated the furniture weren't her style, though. She was more of a 'pastel-kind-of-girl.'

But Zoanne Rochester's bedroom reminded her of a plate of steak with no greens or puree to add color to it. In short, it looked 'unappetizing.'

[Woah!]

She flinched and almost jumped backwards when she saw her reflection in the full-length mirror in front of her.

[Omo, who's this beautiful girl?]

The young woman in the mirror had long and straight coral pink hair. She also had eyes with the same colors as marigold flowers that she would brew to alleviate her cramps.

Plus, the girlie in the mirror was as white as milk. But thankfully, her rosy cheeks and thin, pinkish lips added life to her otherwise pale face.

Since the woman wore a pristine white nightgown, she somehow looked like an angel.

[Is this… me?]

She tilted her head to one side, and the reflection mirrored her action.

"Omo," she said, surprised. "This is Zoanne Rochester?"

She was confident with her looks because she knew that she was pretty. Plus, she was proud of her fit body.

But Zoanne Rochester's face and body were no joke.

Liane told her that the noble lady that she would possess had a weak body. So she expected Zoanne Rochester to be skinny. But now that she was closely looking at the body that she possessed, she realized that they had the same build.

[Is it because magic exists in this world?]

"Lady Rochester?"

She flinched and turned to the owner of the voice.

A woman who looked younger than her stood by the door. The stranger had a bob, hazelnut blonde hair, and a pair of light brown eyes. She was also petite and a little skinny. But despite her small stature, the younger woman's eyes told her that she wasn't a pushover.

[She's not wearing a maid's uniform. But if she has access in 'my' room, then she must be Zoanne's personal maid.]

If she remembered it correctly, the younger woman's name was 'Dal.'

[And Dal is only posing as a personal maid. The truth is, she's a trained female knight. Her skills were only revealed when she tried to protect Zoanne from getting killed by Isaak Viotto. Unfortunately, she died at the hands of the ghoul duke.]

"Aw," Zoe said when she felt a pang in her head after trying to remember the events in the novel. "What the..."

Then, suddenly, strange images flooded her mind.

She was so shocked that the next thing she knew, she was already on the floor while clutching her head tight.

"My lady!"

She shut her eyes tight while trying to hold herself together.

When she calmed down, the pain in her head subsided. The images in her head got clearer. And she realized that the center of all the images she saw was a certain pink-haired lady.

[Ah, these are Zoanne's memories.]

Although the images were flashing in her mind like a movie in a fast-forward mode, her small brain somehow absorbed them just fine. She was glad that she wasn't overwhelmed, even though she had seen Zoanne grow up in her head.

Yes, the memories that she saw began when the pink-haired lady was born.

It ended when Zoanne fell unconscious after having dinner with another lady.

"What happened to me?" Zoe asked when she opened her eyes, then she turned to Dal, who was now kneeling beside her. "Why did I faint?" When Dal looked confused as to why she didn't know why she fainted, she made up an excuse. "My memory is hazy ever since I started feeling sick back then."

Dal's face turned sour for a moment before she smiled sympathetically at her. "My lady, you fainted because of mushroom allergy."

[What?! Mushroom?! Even in this world, I'm being plagued by a damn mushroom?!]

That made her blood boil.

"But why did I eat mushrooms if I'm allergic to them? Am I not aware of it?" she asked, confused. [Or was Zoanne a dummy like me?]

She used past tense because she had a feeling that Zoanne Rochester was already dead.

That was the only way she could have possessed the noble lady's body, anyway.

Was she sad for Zoanne? Well, not really. She hadn't met the noble lady personally, so she didn't have the chance to get attached to her. But most of all, she was a self-centered person.

[And that means I only care about my survival in this strange world.]

"My lady, you didn't know that the head chef prepared a mushroom puree for your steak instead of the standard sauce," Dal explained hesitantly. "It was too late when you realized it."

"Does the head chef know that I'm allergic to mushrooms?"

The young maid nodded. "Everyone in the mansion knows about your allergy, my lady."

Hah!

A chef that served poison to a 'customer?'

Unforgivable!

[But, come to think of it, the one who 'decides' the menu of this mansion is that 'thot'– the bitch who got Zoanne and her family dead at the hands of Isaak Viotto.]

She smirked when her mind came up with a conclusion. "It's that bitch, isn't it?"

The younger woman blushed because of the vulgar word that she used.

[Ah, right. Zoanne was an elegant lady.]

But elegance was something that she couldn't imitate, even if she had Zoanne's memories.

"I'm talking about the pregnant bitch who claims that the fetus in her womb is my father's child," she explained to the maid. "She was the one who told the head chef to serve that mushroom puree to me, right?"

Dal lowered her gaze. "My lady, the head chef denied it and claimed that it was an honest mistake when I confronted him." She paused hesitantly before she continued. "Madam Rochester scolded me when she heard that I confronted the head chef."

"Dal, look at me."

The young maid raised her head to meet her gaze.

"Don't call that bitch 'Madam Rochester,'" she said firmly. "She will never be the marchioness of House Rochester."

The younger woman looked confused by her statement.

"You also don't have to hold back anymore, Dal," she said, then she patted the maid's head. "If someone tries to bite us, we will bite back. Understood?"

Dal's face lit up, her light brown eyes turned sinisterly.

[That's my girl.]

"Let's go," Zoe said, then she stood up and extended her hand to Dal who was looking up at her with admiration in her eyes. "It's payback time, bestie."

***

"I'M FAMISHED," Zoe declared when she entered the dining hall, still in her nightgown, while hugging a pillow. She wasn't trying to act cute. The pillow was needed because she used it as sheathe for her lovely pastel pink chef's knife. "I want to eat steak."

Everyone in the luxurious dining hall fell silent.

And seated at the center of the long dining table was her first target: Millicent Ashmore.

She almost laughed when she saw the sumptuous dishes served on the table when only that bitch was eating.

[Millicent Ashmore was sent to the mansion to serve Zoanne. But one night, she sneaked into Zoanne's father's room when the marquis was wasted. Then, two months later, Millicent announced that she was pregnant.]

The marquis said nothing about the news. Instead, he left the mansion to inspect his territory. It had been a month since Zoanne's father left.

And during that entire month, Millicent had been acting as if she was the new marchioness.

Since Zoanne wasn't a materialistic person, she didn't care, even though Millicent stole the management of the mansion's finances from her. Zoanne also agreed to register Millicent's child in the family. Then she locked herself up in the room.

Based on Zoanne's memories, the servants of the mansion, except for Dal, treated her poorly. They probably thought that Millicent would be the madam of House Rochester, and her child would become the heiress instead of Zoanne.

"Zoe, I'm relieved to see that you've recovered well," Millicent (brunette, green eyes) said with a fakeass smile on her face. "Welcome back."

Even though the bitch wore a fancy moss green dress, she still looked cheap.

Maybe it was because Millicent was trying to look more mature than her age by wearing heavy makeup and dark clothes. After all, this bitch was only twenty years old.

"But you need to rest more," Millicent said, acting sympathetic to her. "Why don't you return to your room? I'll have someone send your favorite soup."

The three minds and three butlers behind the bitch snickered.

She knew why.

Ever since the marquis left the mansion, the kitchen stopped making quality meals for her. Zoanne didn't complain because she was used to eating a negligible amount of food after spending her youth in the temple.

So the first time that Zoanne had steak again after a long time was when she was served a mushroom puree.

[Ah, these bitches…]

"Soup won't do," Zoe said cheerfully. "I'm craving steak."

Millicent looked surprised by what she said. But it seemed like the bitch was good at acting. She maintained a calm appearance, after all. "I'm sorry, dear," she said. "The kitchen just ran out of meat. But I already sent the servants to the market and– ahh!"

The bitch screamed when Zoe pulled Pinky, her lovely pastel pink chef's knife, out of the pillow. Even the servants behind Millicent suddenly looked nervous.

"Look, there's steak here," she said brightly to the now pale Millicent.

Then, without breaking eye contact with the bitch, she stabbed the filet mignon on the plate with her lovely pastel pink chef's knife.

After that, she brought the steak– still skewered in the sharp blade of her knife– near her mouth and took a bite. The meat was tender, but that was it.

"Does the head chef not know how to use seasoning?" Zoe complained. "God, this tastes as bland as your personality, Millicent."

The servants who heard her gasped aloud.

Millicent's face turned red. But she wasn't sure if it was from anger or embarrassment. Well, maybe both.

"Zoanne, I know that you haven't accepted me yet as your father's future wife," she said, her voice trembling from controlled anger. "But let's not forget our manners. You can't just casually address the future marchioness by her name."

"You should say that to yourself," she said with a smirk. "I'm the future marchioness because I'm the one who's going to inherit my father's title."

The bitch looked shocked.

Even the servants looked nervous by now.

"What are you saying? We have a deal," Millicent said in a panicked voice. "You said you'll give up your right to your father's title!"

It wasn't in Zoanne's memories that she received a while ago.

[This bitch is trying to trick me, huh?]

"Well, I changed my mind," she said with a shrug. "Ah, I also won't register your baby as a child of this house. You know that the head of the family and his successor need to sign the registration documents for your child to be a Rochester officially, don't you?"

She smirked when the bitch turned pale.

"Unfortunately for you, I'm still my father's official heiress," she reminded the bitch. "You can't do anything if I don't register your child as a part of our family."

She picked up a fork and used it to remove the skewered steak from her knife.

"But before that, let me ask you a question…" Zoe said, then she raised her head to savor the fear and panic in Millicent's eyes. "Is that baby really my father's child?"

Everyone fell silent.

The heavy silence was broken when the bitch screamed, though.

"What are you doing?!" Millicent yelled at her servants. "Zoanne obviously isn't feeling well, so lock her up in her room!"

Blood was spilled at that moment.

[Call an ambulance… but not for me!]

***

NOTE: Hi! Please consider ADDING 'I Won't Let The Ghoul Duke Go Hungry!' to your LIBRARY. Thank you! <3