[Blurb]
I was reborn in the body of a maidservant I had beaten to death when I was seventeen.
In my previous life, I was foolish, stupid, arrogant, overbearing, and wicked.
Those were the words my good older brother, the crown prince, used to pass judgment on me as I lay dying, looking down at my pale face.
I admit I was stupid.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have let that bastard, who should have been deposed long ago, climb to power by stepping on my face.
I admit I was wicked, too.
Otherwise, I wouldn't have resented this maidservant for having a pretty face that caught the crown prince's eye. I found an excuse to punish her and insisted she be thrown into the pond.
The burly matrons shoved me to the ground, crushing my face until it was misshapen. I struggled to turn my head and glanced at the sky.
If I remembered correctly, my seventeen-year-old self would be along any moment now. She'd sit beside the lake, sipping tea and enjoying the breeze as she watched the execution with relish.
I stopped struggling and waited quietly. Sure enough, she came, though her expression was a little strange.
I didn't pay it any mind and focused on rehearsing what I was going to say.
No one knew her better than I did. With that foolish girl, whose heart was entirely devoted to that bastard, I could get her to let me go in three sentences or less.
"Miss, this wretched maid hasn't even looked at you. Why don't we slash her eyes first? Let's see if she still dares to ignore you!"
I sneered inwardly. What a stupid bootlicker, always sucking up to whoever was in power. In my previous life, when she saw my fortunes declining, she switched sides and went to serve the Noble Consort. A couple of days later, they fished her out of a well.
The matron gripped my face and turned it around, waiting for my seventeen-year-old self to slash my eyes and vent her anger.
I closed my eyes and took a moment to gather myself. Just as I was about to deliver the speech I'd prepared, the girl's hesitant voice interrupted me.
"D-Do we have to kill her?"
I opened my eyes.
Her face was full of hesitation. She tilted her head slightly to the left, as though talking to someone invisible. "Inciting someone to murder carries a prison sentence of at least three years..."
*The main story is told in third person.
Theme: Everyone is the protagonist of their own life.
