Before it all changed!

Just moments ago, I was a maid in Duke Snider’s mansion.

Before that, I was Lady Ruby, the daughter of a ruined noble family. But no one ever called me that. Instead, I was known as the ugliest noble lady in the entire kingdom.

I was a stain on my family’s name, a reminder of their disgrace. And I was treated as such.

My mother died when I was young, and my father never wanted me.

I was his illegitimate daughter — a mistake, a burden, a secret he could never acknowledge.

My stepmother made it clear from the beginning that I was nothing more than an inconvenience to their well-ordered life. They left me to rot in the shadows, ignored, unloved, and constantly humiliated.

The only ones who ever showed me kindness were my maid, Helena, and Duke Snider. For a brief moment, they made me believe that I had value.

Helena, with her soft voice and gentle hands, whispered comforting words into my ear, telling me that one day, my life would change.

And Duke Snider… He treated me with respect, with admiration — at least that’s how I saw it. He would visit the estate on occasion, and when he did, his gaze lingered on me, not with scorn, but with something like interest.

But the truth was, they were both deceiving me…

Helena, the one person I trusted more than anyone, was using me. She accused me of being a witch, of casting dark spells to ensnare noblemen.

She claimed that I had seduced men of high rank, giving my body to them in exchange for their favor.

Helena didn’t care about me — she only saw a way to climb the social ladder. She spread vicious rumors, ruining my name, all for her own gain.

As for Duke Snider, his betrayal was even worse…

He took Helena’s lies as truth, using them as a justification to sue my family into ruin.

The baron’s estate, already hanging by a thread, was destroyed entirely by his legal actions.

His excuse? That I had “cheated” on him, tarnishing his honor and causing him public shame. But it was all a lie. He never loved me — I was just another pawn in his cruel game.

With nothing left, I was cast out into the world. But fate had one more cruel twist in store for me.

I was made a maid in Duke Snider’s mansion. The very place that had once been a symbol of my fleeting hope now became my prison.

The maids treated me like dirt — I was their punching bag, their scapegoat. If something went wrong, it was my fault. If the food was cold, it was my fault. If the Duke was in a bad mood, it was always my fault.

And the Duke himself? He would beat me without hesitation. His anger, so cold and detached, would lash out without reason.

The blows didn’t hurt nearly as much as the disdain in his eyes…

I wasn’t even human to him anymore. I was less than an insect to be squashed underfoot.

I tried to endure. But the humiliation, the pain — it broke me. I could feel my soul withering, piece by piece, until one day, I couldn’t take it anymore. I made a decision. I chose to end my suffering.

And that’s when I died.

Or so I thought.

I woke up.

Not in the cold, broken body I left behind, but in someone else’s. A stranger’s body. In a time I didn’t recognize. The future.

At first, I thought I was dreaming — some kind of cruel trick. But when I looked in the mirror, I saw someone completely different.

A woman, yes, but with features so delicate, so beautiful, that it almost hurt to look at her.

This was not my body. This wasn’t the body of the ugly, worthless Ruby that had been abandoned by the world.

I was in a different place entirely, surrounded by technology and buildings that were nothing like the world I had known.

The landscape was strange, yet familiar. There was a sense of power in the air, a hum of something new, something dangerous.

For the first time in years, I felt a flicker of hope. But it was quickly replaced by suspicion.

What if this is just another form of punishment?

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