Chapter 1
-
Dolls Don’t Have Nostrils
“Don’t die!”
My body was rotting from the inside out. Blood flowed from my mouth, pus from my eyes.
It was a miracle I’d lived this long.
The plague had claimed many lives, and now it was my turn.
The young master’s eyes were brimming with tears. I wanted to comfort him, but I couldn’t speak. My throat was filled with blood.
This is the end.
“Please, no, Anna. Wake up… I did something wrong. It’s all my fault.”
None of this was the young master’s fault. His usually irritable face was stained with tears.
He lifted my hand and placed it against his warm cheek. His large, elegant hand was pale.
Everyone thought of him as an irritable and spoiled nobleman. They were wrong. He was so kind.
When I accompanied him to town, I often stopped by the cathedral. I offered the same prayer every day to the unseen Goddess.
Please let me always stay by the young master’s side.
Perhaps I was dying so young because my prayers weren’t enough.
“Young… master…”
“Anna, you don’t have to talk. It’s okay. A new doctor will be here soon. You’ll be fine…”
“In the cupboard…”
“Anna, yes, I’m listening.”
“The pigment receipts… give them… to the head butler…”
“Anna?”
With a smile on my lips, I closed my eyes. Slowly, sleep overtook me.
I’m dying now. Goodbye, world. Goodbye, receipts… I hope you reach the head butler and make it to the year-end settlement.
“Anna? Anna! You’re joking, right? How can you even… at a time like this… Anna!”
***
My eyes snapped open.
The world was vividly clear. The sunlight was hot.
Sunlight?
I stretched out my arm. A long, white arm came into view. Pure white and clean. And very stiff.
I couldn’t move anything other than my arm. I couldn’t even lift my head. I rolled my eyes. A lot of people were lying face down around me.
“Aaaaaaaaaah!”
I couldn’t help but scream! I must have been buried alive. The young master, after looking at me so pitifully, must have abandoned me like this.
Even so, couldn’t he have buried me in a sunny spot, for old times’ sake! And patted the soil down nicely!
Of course, it was warm and sunny here, warm and sunny!
I wanted to cry, but no tears came. Come to think of it, my body felt very dry.
“No time to hesitate. Wake them all up.”
The young master? That was his voice.
I wanted to shout. I’m alive!
Huh? My voice wouldn’t come out. It felt like I’d forgotten how to speak.
Something was strange. The sound should come from my throat, but it didn’t feel that way.
It felt like I had to speak with my mind? Ahem, I composed myself and shouted.
“Young master! Young master!”
Didn’t he hear me? My voice sounded a little strange. Like it was echoing in an empty can.
I struggled for a moment. There was a clinking sound, like porcelain hitting porcelain. That’s odd.
I gave up and just lay there, and then I heard footsteps.
“Young master! Young master!”
My stomach caved in. It seemed like I’d been stepped on. A shadow fell over my eyes. I looked up and saw an impassive face looking down at me.
“It’s the young master! Young master, I’m alive! It’s Anna! Please get me out of here.”
The young master stared at me for a moment, then casually brushed aside the people around me.
“Oh my, our young master is always cooped up in the workshop, he can’t lift heavy things! I should help him! Oh wait, I’m trapped! Young master, help!”
The people covering me were tossed aside. There was a shattering sound. I couldn’t understand. The young master grabbed me under my arms and lifted me up.
“Say that again.”
“Young master.”
“Again.”
The young master sometimes made that expression when he was angry or displeased.
I rolled my eyes and avoided his gaze. I thought he’d be happy to hear I was alive…
“Of all things, for my magic to flow into… this doll…”
“Doll?”
I am Anna, though? I could only ask back like an idiot.
I’m a doll?
I discreetly looked around and it seemed like the young master was thinking of breaking me. Wait a minute!
“Wait a moment!”
“What?”
I can’t die again without knowing anything!
“You’ll regret it if you break me like this. You don’t know how excellent a maid I am! I’m incredibly diligent and meticulous, and I’m good at organizing receipts…”
I tried to persuade him, but it was a disaster. The young master frowned.
“Where did you even get such shoddy cognitive abilities? My magic is leaking out like this…”
“No! You’ve already used up all your magic, there’s no more room for it to leak! You don’t exercise, you don’t eat properly, so where would this magic suddenly spring from…”
“Don’t act like Anna.”
The young master closed his eyes. He looked like he was trying to suppress his boiling anger.
Then he dropped me. I felt my back crack.
I felt wronged. I just woke up, and I’d already lost a finger, and now my back was broken. I’m doomed.
“Don’t act like Anna in front of me!”
It was almost a shriek. The young master covered his face with his hands and staggered.
The young master was as light as a feather; if he fell, he might break a bone!
Without realizing it, I shouted.
“Young master, no! You’re already anemic, and if you shout, your head will ring!”
The young master stopped moving. He murmured, as if casting a spell on himself.
“I really want to talk to the real Anna.”
“I am Anna.”
The young master dropped to his knees. Then he slowly lifted my head. I felt parts of my body crumble into dust. Wow, this is weird.
“Anna.”
“Hello, young master.”
The young master cupped my head in his hands. His long eyelashes fluttered. He was a beautiful man.
He slowly brought his face closer. And kissed me.
It was my first kiss. I had never been kissed when I was human, and as a doll, I was just born, so it was my first time.
Oh my! The young master took my first kiss.
This is bad.
The young master kissed a doll. Could it be that our young master had a rather peculiar taste? Is that why he hasn’t had a girlfriend and refused to get married?
The young master pulled away and looked at me with a wistful expression. I was frozen and could only stay still.
Our young master is a pervert…
With a chuckle, the young master put me down.
“Goodbye, Anna.”
Wait, are you just leaving me like this? Leaving a kiss as a last gift? Isn’t that a bit much?
“Young master? Is that all?”
The young master, who was about to stand up, stopped. He turned back to me with a creak. His eyes were filled with shock.
“How…?”
“As for what you should do, it would be best if you helped me up.”
“But I clearly deactivated the movement spell?”
“Do you have no intention of helping me up?”
The young master plopped down in front of me. He then lifted my cheeks with both hands.
“Um, if you lift me like this, I think I’ll shatter.”
Ignoring my words, the young master kissed me again.
I realized the young master’s problem. He can’t read the room. That’s why he doesn’t have a lover.
I actually thought he might bring home a boyfriend. I cried a little at night.
Our young master now has to fight against the public eye without even a Countess.
That’s not it. No one, male or female, would date someone this clueless.
The young master pulled away and stared intently at me. I sighed.
“Young master, with this lack of atmosphere, how are you ever going to get married? You won’t get a lover!”
“I don’t need a lover. The person I love is already… Wait, you can still talk? This can’t be happening!”
👀👀