"I'm alive everyone."

Before she fell asleep the words uttered by the young lady Arianne echoed throughout the heads of everyone in the room.

The servants of this palace were all silent at first before someone finally broke it.

"She...she..." It's the redheaded maid. "The young lady all thought of us first before her own…!" Shedding tears she went and try to hold the young lady's hand before—

"Stop right there." Someone else came in.

"H-head butler!" Someone muttered and indeed.

White fluffy hair that reaches down to his neck and equally white beard that reaches his torso. That is the Head butler. Although very wild looking, nonetheless this elder with a mane that doesn't fit his age at all kept those bundles of hair so neatly maintained that he doesn't look barbaric at all. It was also known he has physical strength rivaling knights despite his age.

With that all said, there is a reason why the servants and beyond calls this head butler the 'White Lion of the Geistein family.'

Of course the redheaded maid bowed immediately to his superior.

"Oh no need to be so stiff, I'm just warning you so that you couldn't wake up the young lady." He calmly explained. "Unlike before, she seems to be regularly sleeping this time so she'll wake up in a few hours." And then before turning around, "All of you! Go back to your duties, only me and this maid right here can be within the young lady's sleeping quarters!" He shouted and everyone immediately complied to his orders. As he directly serves the patriarch they knew one word from him could get them called upon.

"W-why me…?" The red headed maid was confused but the head butler answered right away.

"It is unofficial but you were always by the young lady's side right?" His words made the maid flinch but he only chuckled and continued on. "I'm the head butler so of course I know but anyways, you have a kind heart miss, a lot of servants we try to assign to Lady Arianne do not stay long so it is invaluable to have someone like you by her side." His words this time made the redheaded maid blush.

"T-thank you, no one has ever said that to me before." She fervently bows her head to him.

"No need, I do not believe such rumors about you and now that I've clearly looked at you all of those were clearly false." The butler stays professional as he turns around. "I will immediately go to his grace and tell the news, as well as getting a physician in to help her condition improve. So your job as of right now will be to monitor the young lady when she wakes up." 

"Yes!"

And he left, just before he could leave he sensed a tingling feeling again and turned around, seeing that everything looked fine he ran towards his master this time.

"....A magician is also needed right now." The butler has also sensed it earlier when the lady just woke up. "I dunno why but there's something very strange to the lady right now…." He couldn't hear what she said but he definitely heard her speaking to herself.

"No matter, she's still the proud lady of house Geistein." As the head butler that's all that matters.

•••

"I was asleep for a whole week?" I repeated what the physician told me.

I woke up a couple of hours later and saw a physician, the doctors of this world, in front of me as well as the redhead maid, a fancy old man with hair and beard together looking like a white mane, and a strange cloaked man at the far end. The physician was the first to talk to me as he explained the entire situation.

Apparently because of my various ailments and my own magic awakening late, my whole body went into shock and I was in a comatose  state for an entire week.

Looking down in shame, "Yes, my lady." With a nervous voice he continues. "We did our best to find a way to wake you up my lady. Your father hired other physicians, magicians, and many priests to improve your condition." And then bowed down to me.

Right now though the people here have given me plenty of water to drink so right now, "Pardon?" I feel a little better now but still have a dry voice, it doesn't hurt now though.

Though my focus right now is, "So they couldn't even wake a little girl up?" Threaten him a little.

I can understand the difficult situation he's in but the fact that my family spent so much for me and they showed nothing is pissing me off. My own family did not do that for me when I was severely sick.

The physician panics. "T-they all said that there was no solution to the lady's problem and we just have to wait till she wakes up and then left!" He quickly moves on. "But as the Geistein family's personal physician I couldn't dare give up on Sir Albrecht's daughter so I worked tirelessly and was at my office when the the servants all—!" He was losing breath so I made him stop.

"Enough." I look at him in the eye. "I see that you were truly working hard for my sake." Looking at him like this I noticed the many dark bags under his eyes. So I can at least feel that he's speaking the truth.

"Oh thank you Lady Arianne! Your truly the kind flower of the—"

But, "But you still failed your duty to me sir, I woke up with my own willpower did you know?"  I have to stop him here before he gets too full of himself.

I gave my most innocent smile to totally not expose myself, but seeing his own smile break is the reaction I needed him to have. Since this type of person will be most useful when there's something subtlety threatening his back.

The reason I know this is there was a time where I was merciful to these types of people. The employees that mean well but fall off the mark, when I forgave them it meant I validated their failure, thus becoming shit and making light of me.

But not this time.

"....Y-yes, my lady, excuse this lowly servant's failure." He bowed down.

This is something within my expectation. "Why are you like that sir? Please don't sell yourself short, you are this family's physician after all. You failed this time but I'm sure you won't disappoint me in the future okay?" I have to praise him again. It's not too good if you rule him with fear like this, he won't be able to do his job properly and plus, I hate submissive types.

"Of course my Lady! I swear on God's name to never fail you again!" He hold his palm to his heart and bowed to me, that must be the form of a pinky promise in this world.

"Make sure you won't disappoint me in the future okay?" I reinstate the what I said earlier and moved on from this topic.

"Then sir, with you tirelessly working for my sake every night, surely you have found something that may have been a cause or at least a contributing factor to me going to slumber for a week right?" I wanna ask in my opinion is the more important question.

I mean why did this happened to me in the first place? If I know the answer then it might be a clue as to how I went to this body of a little girl in the first place.

"Yes my lady! I am not incompetent enough to just give up for your sake my lady, this is where he comes in, excuse me if you please." He enthusiastically said.

Hey I know you want to redeem yourself but don't be to energetic. I thought while he is going in the direction of a cloaked man in the far end of the room.

I'm thirsty now, so I look beside me to see the redhead maid eagerly awaiting her orders. 

"I want a cup of coffee please." I ask but she politely refuse. "Coffee is out of season right now my lady, and your father has explicitly said we should focus on recovering your health for now." She seems nervous but did not  hide anything for me.

"I see." I have to give up here. "Just water for now." 

"Yes my lady." She happily received her order.

Drinking water in this world. Maybe it was because my mouth was so dry it hurts but I never thought in my life that drinking water could be so enjoyable.

But anyways enough of me being happy in this world, now I need to threaten this redhead.

"Acting like this, you seem to be something like my personal maid right?" Afterwards I'll ask her about why I was here alone for a long time.

I have no personal animosity with these people but with what happened to me in my last life, I could not carelessly trust anyone from now on.

But the reaction I got was unexpected. "....I truly wish that was the case my lady." She was sad for some reason.

"Mm?" Other than me going to this world in the first place this was the first time I got confused in this life. "What do you mean?" I ask.

"Well uhm....I thought we already talked about this my lady but you see...." Not only was her hair red but also her face, and she struggles to explain to me the reason why.

This is making me frown, if betrayal is the number one thing I hate the most the second and former number one is how much I hate people not talking to me straight or being vague to me. It causes miscommunication and misunderstandings which are two things that piss me off.

"C'mon tell me—" I raise my voice to squeeze an answer from her but,

It was the first time I was interrupted. "I sincerely apologize for interrupting your conversation my lady, but I will be the one to explain in place of her for the time being." 

"Why is that?" I don't like it.

"Well it really is a complicated matter—" The lion man tried to explain but I am having none of it.

"Shut it." The butler's eyes widened and the redhead covered her mouth, I also saw the physician and the cloaked man stop at their tracks.

I looked at the redhead again and decided to concede. "Fine, tell me what's going on." Looking at the redhead u realized that she'll be the type of person I was to pressure much before she could say anything. 

She'll be my personal maid so I don't want to bully her too much.

Sensing the tense atmosphere. "My lady, we will be going outside for now, please tell us when we are able to go here again." The physician and the cloaked man decided to take a leave for now and didn't mind them at all.

"M-my lady…." The redhead maid vainly tried to stop me but to no avail.

"Start from the beginning."

•••

So basically from what the head butler said….

"You're telling me that because of a damn relative, I can't have her, the daughter of this house?" This situation is seriously pissing me off.

"No my lady, he isn't just any relative, he is the master's younger brother so it—" I had enough of these excuses.

"So what? My uncle is not the main Geistein family but only a branch." You're basically telling me that the children of the direct head of the family are inferior to a relative?

"But he was the one that found her and brought her to this manor." So he's bringing that up again?

Once again, "I do not care. My uncle should be grateful to have her as my personal servant." I had this argument with the head butler now. I also realized he was the head butler and my family name is Geistein in this conversation.

So basically, the redhead that I want as my personal maid was actually just a poor serf that my uncle found as a child. As the Geistein's were a high ranking noble family not many of the servants came from the peasants. It was all thanks to my uncle that she was bright to the Geistein palace and became a maid. 

She is also the favored servant of that uncle as well, but in an unofficial capacity as she belongs to the main branch and not his. Because she always gets summoned whenever he comes to the palace, although he didn't tell me there must be a lot of bad rumors floating about her.

This whole situation is pissing me off.

"But my lady..." He gave up after seeing my glare.

"Do not dare speak of me lightly, head butler." I had enough excuses. "Why must people only be tied to their past? My uncle may have been the one that brought her to this palace but she now belongs in the main Geistein family, and as the daughter of the main Geistein family I desire her to be my personal maid. If he wanted her to be his servant he should have brought her to his own manor and not ours." 

You think I will let this slide? I finally realized my position in this world as the daughter of a powerful noble, and now this man tries to question my newfound authority? If I have to survive in this world without being looked down upon I need to assert dominance here and now.

I am starting to hate you.

I am starting to despise you.

I am remembering those five betrayers of mine and I'm really starting to rage.

My eyes turns like ice as I look at him like the lowest of insects. I saw him flinch for a moment there.

This redhead is mine, I will tell.

I declare, "Tell father to grant me his permission to have the redhead maid as my personal maid. As per my right as the daughter of this family." And also, "I do not like stuff being taken from what's mine. This girl will be my servant, only I will decide if she's fit or not to be one, so no one should take that decision away from me."

"...." The butler was stunned. "...Yes my lady, I will immediately head over to master Albrecht's office to tell him of this right." But as expected he composed himself clearly and went off.

Now, "..." It's just me and the maid.

"..." The maid was entirely silent this whole time.

"Hey." I do not like this silence.

"Y-yes?!" The maid was surprised.

But I do not care. "What is your name?"

"Huh?" The maid was confused.

"I argued hard against that old man, I at least wanna know the name of the servant I worked so hard for to get." 

"..." She was silent but this time she's blushing. "...It's Miriam, my lady." She finally told me her name.

"Hello Miriam." I greeted her.

"..." She was silent once more. "Uhm my lady…?" Although nervous she boldly asks me a question.

"Speak, also call my name as well." Might as well reward her for that.

"Yes lady Arianne!" Miriam was excited for a moment before continuing to ask.

"...Why didn't you know my name, Lady Arianne?" She asks. "It was strange when you asked me about why I wasn't your servant because I already explained it to you in the past. And now…" She looks at me for an answer.

"Oh that…" I ponder to myself.

I am not the Arianne that they know  and I have no memories that I inherited from her either.

I am now in a conundrum.