Chapter 3

"Reincarnation in another world, huh."

Lying on the bed, Sara slowly recalled her past life and the current situation surrounding her in this new life.

In her past life, Sara was Unno Sana, a woman in her early thirties. She was a career woman working for a trading company, and her job was incredibly fulfilling. As a result, she often put off dating, and for years, she had neither a boyfriend nor any thoughts of marriage.

On her return from a business trip abroad, while taking a taxi from the airport to her home, she was involved in a traffic accident. However, her memories of the moments before and after her death are vague, and she can't recall them clearly.

"I bought a wine that was supposed to be delicious, planning to enjoy it at home. It was expensive, so it's a shame."

Even when she tried to recall her final moments, only trivial things came to mind. There were many other things that should have come to mind, but all she could think of were work-related matters, like "I hadn't prepared the materials for tomorrow's meeting yet."

Her company was not a black company. Her superiors often reminded her to take her paid leave, but she was so engrossed in her work that she often forgot to take it. Sana was simply a workaholic.

In her private life, what she could recall was cleaning her newly purchased 2LDK apartment on weekends, making a simple meal, and enjoying a good drink. "All by myself!"

Her hobbies were limited to reading e-books and web novels during flights and work breaks. She couldn't say she had many friends. She might have been a bit of a drinker, but she didn't drink excessively.

In that sense, her job might have been her greatest hobby.

Moreover, most of her friends from the same generation were already married with families, so she rarely had the opportunity to spend time with them on weekends.

"Well, I'll probably remember more little by little."

Thinking any further would only make her feel increasingly lonely, so she decided to focus on her current life for now.

---

Sara is currently eight years old. She is the only daughter of Arthur, the third son of the Granchester Marquess family, and Adelia, the daughter of a merchant.

Her parents fell in love despite their different social statuses and eloped against the wishes of their families. They settled in a small town near the border and opened a general store. Although they were not particularly wealthy, the three of them lived a relatively happy life.

However, when Sara was seven, her father, who had gone to purchase goods, died in an accident. Since he had been carrying most of the store's cash for the purchase, Adelia and Sara lost both their breadwinner and a significant amount of assets in one fell swoop. In such accidents, it is rare for the cash and possessions to be returned.

Adelia tried to be strong, but without cash or goods, she had no choice but to close the store. To make a living, she started working at a nearby bakery from early in the morning, but the pay was minimal, and she had to work late into the night doing piecework when she returned home.

Their meals became scarce, and a dinner of a thin, salty soup with barely any ingredients and leftover bread was considered a good meal. This harsh lifestyle took a toll on Adelia's health, and she passed away six months later, following in her husband's footsteps.

Realizing her impending death, Adelia had sent a letter to the Granchester Marquess, her father-in-law, entrusting Sara to him. Three days after Adelia's death, the Marquess arrived and took the bedridden Sara, who had no food to eat, back to his mansion in the capital. It was probably bad for his reputation to let his granddaughter starve, so this happened about half a year ago.

In the Granchester mansion in the capital, the Marquess, his eldest son Edward, the young Marquess, and Edward's family all lived together. The Marquess's wife had died before Sara was born, and he had not remarried.

In other words, Sara was suddenly taken in by a household where her grandfather, uncle, aunt, and cousins lived. The Marquess's second son served as a steward in the territory and did not live in the capital mansion.

"My uncle and aunt are real aristocrats. They act nice in front of my grandfather, but behind his back, they say all sorts of terrible things about commoners, like 'commoners have no class' and 'commoners have no education.'"

Naturally, it was only natural that the cousins, raised by such parents, would look down on and bully Sara.

In her past life, Sara, being Japanese, had rarely had to think about "status." She knew that the imperial family existed, but they were distant figures, people she occasionally saw on TV or in magazines.

Due to her job, she had also dealt with foreign royalty and nobility, but absolute monarchies were rare in the modern world. Most of the royalty and nobility she encountered in business settings had a mindset similar to that of corporate executives. They viewed their country as a large corporation, worked to earn foreign currency, enrich the nation, and care for their citizens. They were also well aware of the cultural differences between countries and rarely abused their status when dealing with people from other countries.

She had not been spared from unpleasant experiences with so-called "celebrities," but most of those who acted arrogantly were newly rich, having only become wealthy a few generations ago, and they had delusions of grandeur. Such unpleasant people often caused trouble for others and frequently faced backlash on social media. While the internet could be scary, it was satisfying to see a wealthy heiress who had insulted her apologize in a press conference.

However, in this life, as a blood relative of the Marquess, Sara was now experiencing the full brunt of the authoritarian noble society. Because her mother was a commoner, her uncle, aunt, and cousins saw her as a child of inferior blood and treated her with contempt. The cousins bullied her at every opportunity.

The servants around her also accepted this as normal and rarely intervened unless something truly egregious happened.

"Since they are such noble and prestigious people, they should just leave commoners alone."

Life, however, is not so simple. It seems that this is true even in another world.