She said goodbye to the cute, clumsy self she used to be.

She ambled along, and the scenery she’d missed more than once in her memories appeared around her, then vanished in a flash.

All to the tune of midsummer’s breath.

She looked up. The sky was cloudless, and only the massive camphor tree beside her cast a shadow. Its lush green leaves rustled in the breeze, carrying the faint, pleasant scent of fresh plants—a fragrance that would disappear in the heavily polluted era of the future.

Su Tong narrowed her eyes and walked with her hands behind her back, hopping along like she was playing hopscotch. As she went, she silently greeted everything that, in her memories, should have vanished during the city’s redevelopment.

Hello, the traces of my childhood mischief scribbled on the wall.

Hello, the old locust tree where I used to sit in the shade.

Hello, this towering European-style wall…

Wait.

Since when was there a European-style wall near her home? And where had this huge detached mansion come from?

In her memory, this was supposed to be a desolate place—a gloomy, dilapidated courtyard. It would’ve been perfect for rounding up a few friends to play hide-and-seek in summer, or even setting off on a spontaneous adventure…

But it shouldn’t have looked like this.

No.

Or maybe it was supposed to look like this?

Su Tong stopped in front of the mansion’s gate, narrowed her eyes, and tilted her head cutely like a cat as she peered through the gaps in the wrought-iron gate.

It was a rather lavish Western-style mansion.

It had elegant, pointed spires, and the whole place was built around a graceful white palette, with just a few decorative touches. One glance was enough to tell it was the work of a master. Su Tong had spent some time in the architecture world in her previous life, after all, so she could easily recognize the sense of refinement in this simple design.

Could this one difference from her memories have something to do with the body she was in?

Only one way to find out.

That was what she thought as she rose onto her tiptoes and pressed the doorbell.

“Ding-dong—”

The clear chime rang on and on.

At first, no one answered. Then, after about half a minute, a slightly flustered, cute girl’s voice finally came through the speaker beneath the doorbell:

“W-welcome! How may I help you?”

Oh?

Su Tong raised an eyebrow, her feelings complicated.

They actually had a girl acting as the gatekeeper… And from her voice, she sounded pretty young?

How interesting.

“Su Tong.”

Still, she gave her name honestly.

“E-eh!” The girl on the other end let out a soft gasp. “Miss, you’re finally back! The master’s been looking for you for ages!”

M-Miss?

Su Tong furrowed her brow.

That title had such a faint whiff of feudalism from a bygone era… Shouldn’t it have been abolished by now?

She’d grown up under the red flag, raised in the light of communism—a successor to socialism. How could anyone call her that? If they had to call her something, it should be “Comrade.”

Oh, my dear comrade!

Now that was more like it.

While her mind wandered, a flurry of hurried, nervous footsteps came from inside.

The sharp taps of little heels on hard ground.

Su Tong instinctively looked up—and froze.

Two little maids with ponytails had appeared before her.

They wore Russian-style maid uniforms, but their skirts had been rather curiously shortened to a dozen or so centimeters above the knee. White stockings held up by garters showed off a dazzling stretch of pale skin.

They had little round-toed leather shoes with heels and straps, and delicate tassels woven into their hair. They were so young, and when they lowered their heads, their exquisite little faces were filled with apprehension. Both little maids were adorable, each a rare beauty.

What a decadent, luxurious little bourgeois life.

Su Tong sighed inwardly.

Who could resist capitalism’s sugar-coated bullets…? Even as a fearless proletarian fighter, she could barely resist the charms of these two little maids. In her heart, she decided she’d find a way to overthrow the mansion’s owner and send the whole bourgeois family to Siberia to dig potatoes, helping build the great socialist cause.

Oh, wait…

The two little maids had called her “Miss.” Didn’t that mean she was one of the mansion’s owners herself?

I see.

It’s mine?

Well, in that case, never mind.

If it was her family’s property, then she could accept being one of the wicked little bourgeois, too. As for sending them to Siberia to dig potatoes… They could talk about that later.

Su Tong didn’t blush in the slightest. Having lived two lives, she shamelessly accepted the situation before her as the two little maids hurried to open the wrought-iron gate and approached her with elegant little steps. The smaller maid leading the way was so clumsy she nearly fell, catching her left foot on her right and losing her balance right in front of Su Tong—then pitching neatly into her arms.

And Su Tong caught her.

Whether she’d dyed it or was wearing a wig, the little maid in her arms had soft, gleaming silver hair. It carried the cool, delicate fragrance of a night-blooming cereus. It smelled lovely.

How nice. How nice.

Su Tong sighed to herself, then helped the little maid in her arms back to her feet.

The silver-haired maid, whose name she didn’t know, immediately looked terrified and uneasy, as if she were about to drop to her knees and beg for forgiveness. Pitifully, she repeated her apology like a broken record:

“I’m sorry, Miss! I’m sorry, Miss! Nia didn’t mean to! Please forgive Nia…”

Enough to make men fall silent and women weep.

Su Tong could hardly stop herself from criticizing her own behavior as the mistress of the house, but in the end she held back and tried her best to put on a kind, gentle expression.

“It’s all right. You didn’t mean to.”

But who knew? The moment she tried to be gentle, the little maid looked even more frightened. Her whole body trembled, pitiful as a little white rabbit snatched up by a big grizzly bear to wipe its butt. You’d think Su Tong had said those words as some unforgivable villain.

Oh dear…

She thought she understood.

Su Tong narrowed her eyes and sighed inwardly.

What a mess.

It was probably another tired old scene: a rich young lady throwing her weight around and bullying a poor little maid… So she couldn’t use that tone.

She raised an eyebrow, her tone turning cold in an instant.

“Wasn’t my father looking for me? Take me to him.”

Only then did the two little maids finally snap out of it. They got to their feet, timidly took their places on either side of her, and led her through the gate and slowly into the mansion.

Su Tong calmly observed her surroundings as they walked. Only the two little maids looked frightened. She noticed that the older of them, the blonde maid, was moving her lips as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, she held back.

Then they arrived at the mansion’s entrance.

The older maid raised her voice slightly and respectfully announced to those inside:

“Master… We’ve found the Young Lady!”

“Then tell that good-for-nothing to get in here!” A stern, violent middle-aged man’s voice rang out at once. “I didn’t raise her all these years so she could throw a tantrum and cause trouble! She won’t even agree to a marriage alliance—what use is she to me?”

Oh?

Su Tong narrowed her eyes.

A marriage alliance… Now that was interesting.

[To be continued]