The brown-haired maid gave a creepy smile that sent chills down my spine. She kindly directed me to the servants’ exclusive shower room.

“Maintaining cleanliness is one of the 99 virtues we vowed to the emperor when entering the palace. His Majesty detests filth. If he sees any dirt, he’d rather have you shower in your own blood. Ah, come to think of it, you’re new. I wonder what our duties will be like now…”

She mumbled to herself and disappeared. Did the old emperor really establish such a rule? I quickly cleaned myself in the shower room. If her words were true, I would face execution daily in this place.

‘Anyway, the 1st floor looks like a golden temple, but the basement is nothing short of a dungeon.’

The shower room was quite literally what you would call a sewer. The floor was crawling with rats, tiles covered in mold, and the rusty faucet only produced cold water.

However, it’s still a reality in this game. Washing off the sticky sweat and the sticky fl*ids from my v*gina. It felt so much better; I regretted not doing it sooner.

After a quick 3-minute shower, another maid handed me a fresh uniform, and I headed to the 1st floor.

Then it happened. As I climbed up the stairs to the first floor, a waiting servant slapped me across the face. It wasn’t particularly strong, but the humiliation stung deeply.

Who dares to slap me, who has never even been disciplined by my own mother?

“What was that for?”

When I asked, blatantly and defensively, he crossed his arms. He looked offended.

“Huh? What happened to the respectful language? You dared to shower when a senior was waiting?”

Looking at him closely, he wasn’t a good-looking character by game standards. With a protruding forehead and chin, his skin was full of acne scars. So not all characters in the game are as handsome as the main villains, huh? My anger boiled.

There wasn’t any mention of him waiting. He just told me to change and wait in front of the conference room. I arrived in less than 10 minutes and given the strict hygiene rules, it required the players to maintain cleanliness, thus the situation didn’t make any sense. And he wasn’t even a main character, just a minor one. Ho could he still dare?

“What do you mean wait? Why are you being so impatient, the meeting hasn’t even started yet.”

I raised an eyebrow and responded in the same informal tone. Then he said,

“Wow. After getting the favor of the Lord, you think you’re someone special now?”

“Favor of the Lord?”

“You seduced him with your body, didn’t you? How could a bitch like you even dream of being promoted? How will you even attend the meeting?”

“…”

I felt a rush of humiliation. What’s this about a promotion as a court lady?

“It’s because girls like you aren’t kept in check.”

When he tapped my forehead, I swiftly grabbed his wrist.

Despite his relentless hostility, I calmly kept my head down. Suddenly, I recalled what Archduke Karzan had said about making me wait on him. I wondered what had angered this servant before me. Ah, so this servant and I are both low-ranking employees, but am I the only one who got assigned to a good place?

While it was true that I had had a close relationship with the Archduke, not all of it was by my own will, and I had no desire to wait on anyone. In other words, it was a situation where my back was against the wall due to his intense outburst.

“Still, I have seniority, so behave properly in front of me.”

When he tapped my forehead with his finger, I grabbed his wrist firmly.

“…What’s your name?”

“Why do you ask? Such an impudent girl.”

“Ronald.”

His name tag, pinned to his chest caught my eyes. It clearly read “Ronald.”

“What do you want?”

As he tried to pull his arm away, I kicked him squarely in the gr*in. As he buckled and screamed due to pain, I raised my hand and slapped him across the face.

Thud-! He crumpled to the ground, his face turning beet red.

“Ronald. If you’re nothing, act like it… This is hard enough without dealing with the likes of you.”

His face turned red as if was about to explode, Moaning, Ronald clutched his lower abdomen.

After all, this isn’t even the real world. I didn’t want to cower in the face of an unreasonable situation. Whatever the case, I felt like an innocent shrimp being grilled from both sides. If this situation was so unjust, I should have taken it up with the Duke.

“If you’re so envious of someone who seduced the Lord, then you try it. From now on, when you see me, just keep your eyes on the floor. It’ll be better for you not to irritate me.”

I walked past him, speaking nonchalantly.

In any situation, those who bully others, because they see them as weak, will only back down when confronted strongly. If you let them push you around, they will continue. The best way to deal with them is to stand your ground and show strength.

The entrance to the underground first floor was tucked in a corner where the sun rarely reached.

Thanks to its obscurity, no one had seen us, and I confidently approached the conference room near the lobby. The marble corridor was adorned with stone arches and statues depicting deities. Directly opposite, an indoor fountain gushed with water.

The grand conference room, with its snake-tongued carpet stretching out, drew my attention, but I couldn’t help but glance around the grand palace interior.

A vast, square-shaped atrium opened above. Looking up, corridors stacked upon each other for the first, second, and third floors. Due to the impressive height, floors beyond the second were barely visible. The dome seemed so far away that I imagined one could die of old age just attempting to climb it up.

Where was the exit? I couldn’t find a main door, only hundreds of smaller intermediate doors densely packed on each floor.

‘So far it looks more like an imperial palace than a labyrinth. Is one of those doors the entrance to the labyrinth…?’

Just then, a massive quest window popped up in front of me.