June 10th, 10:02 a.m.
When you've been living in this estate long enough, you start noticing the patterns like the schedules, the silences or the steps echoing through the corridors. But this morning? The rhythm was way off.
The head maid — my mother — walked into the servants' quarters with that usual stone-cold face, but her tone was anxious.
"All maids and butlers are to assemble in the East Courtyard immediately," she said. "The heir has called for everyone."
The heir?
That snapped me right awake.
I glanced around at the other maids, half of them already straightening their aprons and fixing their hair like they were going to meet a god. Which, to be fair, wasn't that far from the truth.
The House of Argemenes wasn't just rich. It was old. Ancient, even. And at the top of it all was Phasnovterich Argemenes, the heir. I tugged on my gloves, brushing invisible dust from my skirt, and leaned toward my friend, a chatty maid named Leina, who was always the first to hear any gossip.
"What's going on?" I whispered as we walked through the long corridors.
Leina shrugged. "Apparently, the heir called everyone himself. Not the Head Maid, not Lord Richer Argemenes."
"Did something happen?"
She shook her head, lowering her voice. "No clue. But everyone's saying it's important. He's been… different lately."
Different?
I frowned, trying to remember the last time I'd heard about Phasnovterich. In the game, he was a side character with the personality of a melancholic sunset. He was quiet, kind, and cursed with tragic death flags. He was the older brother of Xaessiarerich, the villainess, and for a while, players shipped him with the heroine because of how damn pretty he was. Pretty didn't even cut it, honestly. Phasnovterich Argemenes was one of those characters that made you wonder if the developers had a personal grudge against your sanity. The crimson hair, the soft eyes and even the voice lines that could make you drop your phone in public.
And apparently, he was calling us to the courtyard.
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The East Courtyard was massive. The morning sun hit the estate at a perfect angle, turning the whole scene golden. Rows and rows of servants stood in formation with maids on the left and butlers on the right. We looked like an army of ants waiting for orders.
The doors opened.
He wasn't wearing the formal uniform I expected. The man strolled in like the sunlight itself bent around him, wearing a simple light white shirt, slightly unbuttoned to reveal the faint curve of a thorned crown tattoo on his collarbone. His long crimson hair was tied into a loose braid but the bangs framed his face in a way that made it nearly impossible not to stare.
Every maid froze. I swear someone behind me actually gasped out loud. I wasn't much better. My brain just short-circuited.
Was he always that handsome?
He didn't even do anything. He just sat down in this ornate chair in the middle of the courtyard, one leg crossed over the other.
"Are you all doing fine?"
We all replied in perfect unison. "Yes, Young Master!"
He smiled faintly. "And do you all follow the orders of the House of Argemenes?"
"Yes, Young Master!"
"Then," he continued, eyes glinting, "will you also listen to my orders… if I ask for your aid?"
"Yes, Young Master!"
His gaze swept across the crowd. For a fleeting moment, I swear his eyes landed on me. He smiled. I forgot how to breathe for half a second.
Then he reached under his chair and pulled out a small, black box. Everyone's attention locked onto him as he opened it and the second the light hit what was inside, I froze.
It was a Black Bleeding Rose, the flower that was the crest of the Argemenes. Why would he show us that?
Even as a servant here, I'd only ever seen it once, from a distance, during greenhouse cleaning duty. That flower was sacred and untouchable. Only the direct bloodline could pluck it without being burned alive by its Xana.
He held it gently, as if it were something fragile, which made it even more terrifying.
"I called you all here to make an announcement. As you all know, I am the heir of this house. But for too long, I have been… silent. Passive as you might call it. That ends today."
Without warning, black energy began to swirl in his palm. It bled into the air, stretching into a dome that swallowed the courtyard whole. Darkness fell over us like ink poured across the sky. I couldn't see, but I could feel it. The weight of Xana pressing down on my chest was suffocating and awe-inspiring all at once.
The dome suddenly vanished, leaving us blinking in the daylight again. Every maid and butler stared at him, wide-eyed. I could feel the same thought echoing through all of us.
He was not weak like we used to think he was.
He looked calm, like he hadn't just warped reality for a few seconds.
"Now that I have your attention, let's return to what I was saying. I want to create a faction that serves me directly, not the House. A personal unit, to be specific, that I can trust beyond politics or bloodline. I will call it the Null Handmaidens."
A murmur rippled through the crowd. He raised a hand, silencing everyone.
"This faction will be composed of maids between the ages of seventeen and twenty-five. I will not force anyone to join. But I can promise better pay, freedom to travel beyond the estate, and the honor of serving me directly."
Freedom. That word echoed in my chest like a bell.
For someone like me, a transmigrator trapped in this estate, it was intoxicating.
"But," Phasnovterich continued, "those who wish to join must pass three trials. Only those who succeed will earn the title of Null Handmaiden."
The Head Butler — my father — raised his hand respectfully.
"Young Master, may I ask why you limit this faction to the maids? Should not the butlers be allowed the same?"
"Because my sister will be angry if I steal her fun. She's already planning to make her own organization of butlers. I'd rather not start a family war before she comes back for summer vacation."
That earned a few nervous laughs from the servants, but I just froze.
His sister? Xaessiarerich Argemenes? The future villainess?
In the storyline, she didn't form her butler faction until way later. This was way too early. This wasn't in the script.
Phasnovterich wasn't following the story and that meant things were changing drastically.
I felt my pulse race. If this was an alternate route or an unscripted path, then maybe this was my chance.
I was just a background character. I'm a maid with borrowed memories. But now?
Now I might become something else.
If I pass those trials and can stand before Phasnovterich Argemenes not as a servant but as one of his chosen, then maybe, just maybe, I could rewrite my role in this world.
And I wasn't about to let that chance slip away.