Cinderella is... the Male Lead? - Chapter 11
Fidgeting, Rona finally got out of bed. She removed the soiled blanket and set it on the floor. As she tidied up, Cinderella stood with her arms crossed, smirking.
“Seeing you move around, you seem fine.”
Cinderella’s clear and pointed voice seemed to be meant for Rona to hear. Rona gritted her teeth, struggling to contain her anger. She acknowledged that before her memories returned, she had tormented Cinderella quite a bit. However, despite her efforts to be friendly, all she got in return was coldness and snide remarks. Her patience was wearing thin.
‘Siiiigh, if only it weren’t for the novel’s ending… I’d really like to hit that smug face.’
What could she do? The wrongs of her past were coming back as karma. As Cinderella turned her back, Rona secretly made a gesture as if hitting her on the head, venting her frustration. Shivering with anger, she walked to the wardrobe.
Crossing her arms, she quickly removed her nightgown, leaving her only in small panties that barely covered her bottom.
As she struggled to pull out a new set of nightgown from the hanger, Cinderella turned around at the rustling sound, her mouth dropping open in shock.
“W-What are you doing?”
“Huh?”
Rona turned around with the new nightgown in her hand.
Gasp!
Cinderella quickly turned her body away and covered her eyes with her hand, her voice rising in pitch from surprise.
“What are you doing?!”
“What else? Changing clothes.”
Rona pouted and nonchalantly put on the new nightgown. Cinderella, still facing away, spoke with a trembling voice.
“Why a-are you changing in front of me?”
“Huh? Because my clothes are dirty?”
Rona answered matter-of-factly and carried the soiled blanket to a corner. She planned to wash it herself since there were no servants and she needed to win Cinderella’s favor, not burden her with more chores.
‘I need to suggest hiring servants to Susan again. It seems like she’s reaching her limit.’
Rona was still carrying out her ghost-wailing operation, and as a result, Susan’s face grew more haggard by the day. Rona’s efforts were bringing her closer to defying her fate and convincing Susan to hire some help.
Cinderella glanced at Rona, now fully dressed, and lowered her hand from her eyes. She muttered gruffly.
“You could have waited until I left to change.”
“Haa, Cinderella. You said you didn’t want to come back to collect the dishes until I finished the stew, right?”
Rona approached Cinderella, who seemed to want to argue. Crossing her arms and standing close, she saw Cinderella flinch and raise her voice, only to quickly lower it.
“I didn’t say I didn’t want to…”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll finish the rest of the stew now.”
Sighing, Rona sat at the edge of the bed. Cinderella, sitting across from her, fidgeted nervously, her eyes fixed on Rona’s thigh exposed by the rolled-up nightgown.
Unaware of anything, Rona finished the stew, her small toes wiggling cutely as she swung her legs. Cinderella remained silent, her face red and her gaze unsteady.
Rona, thinking Cinderella was uncomfortable, wanted to chat since she felt better after eating. Just as she was about to speak, Cinderella suddenly stood up.
“Um…”
Cinderella abruptly reached for the tray on Rona’s thigh, then turned away, speaking in a low voice.
“Well, I’m going now.”
“Wait, Cinderella!”
Cinderella dashed out of the room, closing the door with a bang. Rona alternated her gaze between the laundry on the floor and the spot where Cinderella had been sitting, trying to understand why she left so suddenly.
‘Why did she run off? Was she worried I’d ask her to do the laundry?’
Rona got up and gathered the laundry with her foot. Then, a thought struck her.
Hadn’t Susan said that Cinderella couldn’t cook well? Susan definitely mentioned that she had to cook herself because Cinderella was terrible at it. But the stew Rona just ate was quite tasty.
‘Well, cooking improves with practice. It’s a rare case like Susan’s where no matter how much you cook, you don’t get better… Maybe Cinderella got better because she had to cook on her own.’
