She'd drawn the short straw, being assigned as the infamously useless Taur heir's personal maid.
She could have rejected, but this was an opportunity she could not throw away. 'He couldn't be that bad?' she had thought at the time.
Too bad for her; she hadn't known of his shortcomings at the time, and quitting after so eagerly accepting would be a stain on her record.
She had to keep her record clean, at any cost, for her goal. She had to make her way up into that person's clan, no matter the cost.
Laura's eyes sharpened for a moment as these thoughts ran through her mind, but she quickly composed herself once more and looked up at her current master.
'How vile. He won't even bother to hide the disgusting thoughts running through his mind...'
It made her wonder what made him so bold all of a sudden. All this time, he had been nothing but a spineless coward who couldn't even look a lowly maid like her in the face.
After his latest screw-up at the academy, the disdain directed at him only grew, and he was painted as even more of a spineless worm: embarrassing the family, cowering from anyone who so much as raised their voice at him.
His only redeeming quality? He never laid a hand on her, or anyone, for that matter. In fact, he'd flinch at eye contact, shrinking like a kicked dog.
She didn't know what had made him so bold today, but the fact of the matter was that he was still a weakling. That's why she let his touch linger now; she felt no real threat from him.
With her brown mana core strength, she could snap his wrist or pin him to the wall without breaking a sweat.
No one would care; even his own father had grown tired of his antics and overlooked his own son as nothing but trash, much like everyone else.
Still, she would very much prefer to keep such a stain from appearing on her record, but if he did try to force himself on her, Laura would have to show him his place.
The worst that could happen was her getting berated by the madam, who seemed to still love her child regardless of how useless he was.
Meanwhile, Roy's breath quickened eagerly, misreading her stillness as submission.
'Laura.' The name fueled the fire in his loins.
He pursed his lips, leaning in fast, aiming to claim her lips in a forceful kiss. He stuck out his tongue, ready to invade her small mouth, and his hands itching to grope those perky tits.
But, unfortunately, he never got the satisfaction. Laura's instincts flared.
'Who do you think you are!?' she screamed inwardly, her fury boiling at the audacity.
Outwardly, she moved like lightning: her hand slapped his away from her chin with a sharp crack, her palm connecting hard enough to sting his hand.
Then, she shoved his chest with both hands; even without actively augmenting her body with mana, she was still passively powerful. Roy stumbled awkwardly, his feet tangling as he crashed onto the floor in a heap, the breath whooshing from his lungs.
She stepped back, smoothing her white apron with composed grace, though her cheeks flushed slightly with anger.
"I don't know what has come over you, Young Master," she said coolly, voice laced with warning, "but please refrain from touching me. I'm sure you're smart enough not to take my rejection personally."
Her actions might have seemed foolish to outsiders.
As a maid, currying favor with the employer's son, a noble, no less, could elevate her status. Let him grope and play around with her, or even spread her legs for him with no resistance if he so pleased.
Such was the fate of women in this profession. Most who chose this job resigned themselves to such acts.
If she were lucky, she might even climb from the status of a mere servant to concubine, which at least was a step up from scrubbing floors.
But Laura knew secrets the rest didn't.
Even then, her ambitions stretched far beyond this crumbling estate, this backwater clan on the brink of ruin.
She'd overheard the Patriarch Taur and his wife arguing late into the night—the patriarch's voice thunderous, declaring he'd finally disown his only son, Roy, after years of shame.
The academy fiasco had been the final straw; the details were lost on her, but damning enough to break the family head's tolerance of his son's antics.
The Patriarch had decided he would much rather let someone marry into the family and become the next head through his daughter, who was already of age.
What did this all mean for Roy Taur?
Disownment for a noble lineage clan? It was nothing short of a death sentence. Stripped of name and protection, he'd be prey for bandits, debtors, or worse.
Pity flickered in her chest as she looked down at him, sprawled on the rug, and his eyes widened in shock.
He was around her age, and inexplicably handsome in that wasted way, broad shoulders, chiseled features, but now, just a doomed boy.
Even if they tossed him a pittance to survive a year, it'd vanish in weeks with his well-known lavish habits and gambling addiction.
He would soon drown in debt as usual, only this time, there would be no Taur Clan to free him from those debts with their coffers.
She was 99% convinced that he would probably be sold into slavery to pay off the inevitable debts he was soon to accrue and end up in a brothel.
'With those looks,' she mused grimly, 'he might scrape by as a male courtesan in the capital. Pleasing noble women with any luck, if he is not so lucky, he might end up pleasuring twisted old men instead.' Whether his pride would allow it was doubtful.
Maybe he might kill himself before he went through all that. The cruelty of the world they lived in was not lost on her. She had been through worse after all.
Shaking off the momentary sympathy, Laura straightened. It was time to fulfill her duty. Even though she planned to leave this place soon, it no longer deserved her skills as a maid; she still had to finish this job on good terms so that her record looked attractive enough for her next employer.
"Get dressed, Young Master. The Patriarch, your mother, and sister await you in the dining hall. Your presence is requested immediately." Without another word, she turned on her heel and strode out, the door clicking shut behind her.
"Wai—" Roy's call choked off, too stunned to form more. His mind blanked. His ass felt a bit sore from the fall, and a certain member deflated in confusion.
'What the actual fuck?' What kind of maid slaps down her master like that? The disgust in her eyes. It mirrored Megan's sneer, the college girls' laughter, which is why he was so out of it now.
He pushed to his feet, gritting his teeth and clenching his fists in frustration. "Maybe maids don't service their young masters here?" he muttered aloud.
The words were more bitter than he thought, even though they came out of his own mouth. This world wasn't playing by his fantasy rules.
Which meant all that foreign world knowledge he possessed was useless. This world was different. The only similarity between the worlds he read about was the transmigration part. Fine. He'd figure it out. And, he had to put that made in her place on one of these days.
After all, how could she dare to disrespect her master? He had to show her who's the boss; she had simply surprised him, that's all.
As a trasmigrator, he had to have been reborn with overpowered abilities, right? Did this world even have abilities?
Snatching clothes from the wardrobe—breeches, a fitted tunic that hugged his taught muscles—he dressed quickly, as he did so, memories of this body's life trickled in.