Chapter 1

Everybody would have the last thought before they died. Some would think ' Wait! I don't wanna die!' or ' I haven't done everything I wanted to do yet!', etc. However, all you could think before everything turned black was:

'Ah nuts, I didn't even finish my croissant from Starbucks.'

Yeah, it sucked. Not finishing your last meal before death, is a tragedy. Well, you were wondering what death is like and what will happen to your soul anyway, so you could count this as an opportunity. Would you be judged by the almighty God that will determine if you will go to heaven or hell? Will you go to the underworld where Hades determines where you will be living? Or will you be a wandering soul, your consciousness like a river with no destination?

You were answered with your awareness coming to -which should be impossible since you were supposed to be dead - and your senses coming back. You felt a bit stuffy like someone was on you while your ears caught wisps of voices, your body ached like something heavy fell on you but it wasn't that bad to the point you can't move.

Although you felt stiff, you forced your eyelids to flutter open, eyes being blinded by a bright light. 'Why is it so bright?'

Your eyes roam around, albeit tiredly, taking in your new surroundings. You were in a room with plains painted walls, a window at your side since the light was shining from there, and a row of beds in front of you. "Yuu! You're awake!" a female voice cried from your side.

You slowly turned to meet a dazzling girl with sunset gold curly locks, round eyes with onyx colored irises, fair skin that shone when being kissed by the sunlight, and an air of innocence and joy. She's probably a royal of some kind since she wore a beautiful red dress with golden embroidery that was intricate yet elegant, the neckline is a curve that showed her collarbones and the fitting showed her slender figure.

She looked at you with tears rolling down her face, nose red with pink-tinted eyes filled with worry. "Helios said to leave you alone but how could I when it was my fault that you got hurt!" she hiccuped before burying her face onto your side. You didn't answer her before petting her soft hair in an attempt to comfort, her despite it hurting. However, you did think this when you realized your situation:

'F*ck, I'm in the novel I was reading before I died.'

Yes, you were reincarnated in the novel, Beautiful Star, where the female protagonist, Stella of the Sollar Kingdom, was the holder of the Star dragon - a sacred dragon that only reborn itself every 50 years, although seen as weak, those who have it are said to possess incredible power. The other dragons are based on the planets in your world; Helios - Stella's older brother - holds the Sun dragon, Jacob has the Venus dragon, Perdon has the Earth dragon, and Callos with the Saturn dragon. There are other dragon users, but they're not all given a big role since it's about those five - mostly Stella. The three males who are not relatives to Stella are to compete for her affection but it is Perdon who won her heart, thus ending the story.

To realize that you were reincarnated into the novel you were reading would make you shocked and frightened at the numerous possibilities - normally. However, you were not like the others. After you realized your situation, you reassured the princess that it was an accident until she stopped crying, wiping her tears. Her tears stopped but she was still hiccuping. You gave her your best smile when the door to what you could assume was the servant's quarters burst open.

Stella turned to the loud guest, letting you see an important character in the novel; with pale marigold hair that was styled into a mullet, sharp coal-black eyes, tanned skin from the sun, and a cold stoic expression. He walks to where his sister is before placing a hand on her shoulder. Helios was the first-born prince of the Sollar Kingdom and heir to the throne. A reserved cold brother with a sister complex, he is an obstacle to the love interests pursuit for Stella.

You thought he could've loosened up a bit when you read his character but you support his protective side. Cause, seriously, Stella is gonna be traumatized by the following events that are about to come.

Helios frowns as he looks at you before turning to his sister, his face softening. "Stella, you shouldn't be in the servant's quarters. It's not befitting for a princess."

Stella's bottom lip quivered. "But Yuu-"

"Yuu got hurt on her own accord, so let her rest."

"But I was the reason she got hurt! She was just trying to protect me!"

Helios sighed before gently pulling his sister. "Father won't like it when he finds out you skipped your etiquette lessons for this servant." A flare of annoyance burst inside of you as you watched the prince drag his protesting sister out of the servant's room. You waited three seconds before you couldn't hear their footsteps, slipping out of the bed despite the minor aches from your injuries. When you stood up, you noticed that you wore a Victorian maid's black long-sleeved dress with a white collar at your neck, and a white apron over the dress with pockets. You grimaced at the outfit.

'I'm gonna sweat to death if I wore this in the scorching sun.' You internally groaned. 'At least the maid costumes back home had shorter sleeves to save us from the heat.'

But if you complained about this to a higher authority, they will no doubt punish you, and you don't want that. You just reincarnated!

Deciding to suck it up, you walked to a nearby mirror that was coincidentally beside you. You peered at it and saw shiny dark hair that was parted from the left tied in a low braided ponytail that was over your shoulder, almond-shaped eyes with silver orbs and naturally tan skin. She looked to be around the same age as the prince, a year younger. You saw small bruises on your cheeks and arms. If you didn't have permission to review the body's memories, you would've been lost. Luckily, you reviewed the owner of the body's memories and learned that you were in the body of a maid with the same name as you.

From what you remember from the novel, this Yuu was a soft and patient individual who was Stella's personal maid. She was the mother figure among the other maids but she was never one to talk back at a figure higher than her, even if she wanted to correct them. She dies in the novel after being used by Jacob as means to get to Stella. The last thing you saw from her memories was a bookshelf falling on you, injuring you in the process. It seemed like Stella was playing with you as she put her face in space on one of the shelves, making the whole bookcase fall.

Yuu protected her and got injured in the process. However, when Helios and his friend, Jacob, went to see the commotion, they comforted Stella instead as she was crying. It hurt Yuu as not only was she the injured victim, but Prince Jacob, her love interest, never looked at her and paid attention to the princess.

You felt a tick of annoyance for this poor character. She didn't deserve that. Well, you currently replaced her now and there's no way you're going to act like the old Yuu. The protagonists of stories you read before would try to keep it a secret that their from another world inhabiting a person's body, trying to be sneaky in their act and stuff. But you weren't gonna do such a thing.

You were gonna be you and you only. No act, no secrets being kept, just full-blown truth. And maybe, if you're able to get a reward, you would ask for a home in the countryside, where you would farm your food. That doesn't sound bad.

'Oh wait,' You paused with a deadpanned. 'I forgot sexism was a big thing here.'

The one thing you hate about this world is the huge inequality and inequity between men and women, with men being the subject and women being the object. Though gender equality is being on the works, the nobles think nothing of it.

You sigh, scratching your head. "If I want to be independent, I'll have to prove that women can do what men do." You're not sure where to start, but you could figure it out later after you tend to the princess after her classes. You looked yourself in the mirror again. The bruises weren't very prominent but they were visible.

Shrugging, you walked out of the quarters and navigated your way to the kitchen. You figured that you should make something to make the princess feel better, after all, she acknowledged it was her fault that you got hurt so the least you could do is to soothe her worries. Luckily, your body remembers the way as if it was second nature as you found yourself in a bustling kitchen with chefs cutting, peeling, and cooking food while some dish-duty boys and women were organizing the dishware. One of the chefs noticed you and momentarily stopped what he was doing. "Yuu! What are you doing up from bed!" At this, he caught the attention of the kitchen staff, who directed their eyes to you. "You should be resting after that nasty bookcase fall!"

You waved dismissively at the chef's worries, walking into the kitchen with no care. "It's okay, I feel fine." You heard him protest along with others, but you paid no attention as you got flour, eggs, salt, sugar -both brown and white - butter, and other ingredients. "Miss Yuu," a little girl came up to you, doe-eye eyes looking at you. "What are you doing?"

"I'm gonna make some biscuits for the princess," You replied, mixing the flour, salt, and baking soda in one bowl, letting the butter be at room temperature. "She was very worried when she was at my bedside and I wanted to make her feel better." A dish boy piped up. "You're very caring, Ms. Yuu!"

'Caring? Huh.'

While what you were doing was simply for your benefit and to the benefit of the princess, you were also doing this because you saw her as a little sister. You didn't like trouble, especially when it involves you, so you would do anything to avoid that. And at this moment, the princess is crying worried for you, which would possibly make the love interest, Jacob, and Helios target the blame on you.

You weren't about to let that happen.

"Miss. Yuu, let us take care of that!" a chef stated worriedly next to you, hands hovering till permission was granted. You shook your head. "It's okay chef, " You assured. "You all are working hard so let me do this."

'For I want to do this.'

The kitchen staff left you alone after they saw how adamant you were, letting you continue without a hitch. It was waiting for the biscuits to bake when you had gone out of the kitchen. "Call for me if the biscuits are done, okay?" you told one of the staff before doing your chores.

Your first chore was cleaning the princess's bedroom, even though it's been clean since the beginning. Although, you still have to make sure of any dust mites or pests. You took the feather duster and dusted the room as if your life depended on it. Although it was tiring, it made you a bit nostalgic for your life before.

Once you were done and your arms were aching with nostalgia, you cleaned the west wing where the princess's room resides. Washing the windows from any muck, dusting the candle holders on the walls, sweeping the floor, etc. The other maids helped in some aspects, which you appreciated.

When you were finished cleaning up with the other maids, a dish boy came running to inform you of the biscuits. You speed-walked towards the kitchen, took out the biscuits before they were overbaked, and placed them on a plate with a painted design that was big enough to hold them. You decorated some of the biscuits before preparing water so the sweetness of the biscuits will not overwhelm the princess's throat.

The biscuits were a simple chocolate chip cookie recipe from back home, except since chocolate chips weren't invented in this era, you substitute it with one of the confectionary chocolates that was there. The salt was something to balance the sweetness of the sugar and the chocolate provided a bitterness that satisfied the consumer.

With as much carefulness and elegance you could muster, you walked through the halls toward the princess's room. You passed by busy maids and servants along the way, greeting them with blank politeness. You didn't want to be rude, but right now, you couldn't feel anything besides the feeling of just getting this done. You were halfway to her room when you saw a male that was an inch taller than you with chocolate brown hair tousled into a style that makes him attractive, deep-set peridot green eyes, pale skin as white as snow, and a lithe body. He wore a dress shirt that was under a slightly thick coat with materials that seemed quite expensive around this era, black ankle boots, and a dragon earring colored white, bright yellow, and some brown. The earring is for the dragon of Venus. The holder of the Venus dragon and second prince of Beauténete, Prince Jacob. And your old love interest.

You remembered he was a friend of Helios. He was much laxer than Helios and was quite kind to those around him. Although, he seemed to be trying to avoid your old reincarnation's self, probably because he felt uncomfortable with her affections.

Welp, she's gone now.

And you felt nothing to him.

You continued walking towards the princess's room, watching as Jacob notices you and tries to put on a smile, although you saw it was strained. "Hello Yuu" he greets when you were at arm's length. You internally rolled your eyes as you stopped in front of him. "Greetings, your highness." You bowed your head before resuming your trip to Stella's room, brushing past him. You felt him let out a sharp inhale as you pass by.

Was he expecting your affection?

Was he expecting you to ask him if he could try your baked goods?

Was he expecting you to fawn over him?

You laughed internally at the thoughts.

When you got to her room, you waited till you were permitted to enter before opening the door with as much mobility as you could. When you opened the door, you heard a gasp and saw Stella beam at you with stars in her eyes. "You're better!"

You let a smile on your lips as you walked further into the room. "Yes, your highness." You replied. " I have recovered and made some treats for you."

Stella drooled at the desserts you made. "Wow! I didn't know you could bake!" she exclaimed. You let out a chuckle as you placed a hand on her head, rubbing her head soothingly as you felt her lean into your touch. "There's a lot of things you don't know."

As you watched her munch happily on her snacks, you thought about what will happen next. From your body's old self memories, the princess's debut is in two weeks, that's when she would supposedly be kidnapped by mercenaries from a kingdom noble. She meets the villain from there and unlocks a deadly skill that only a few Star dragon holders unlock. Starburst, is a double edge sword skill that kills everything within 10 meters, but for it to be unlocked, the holder has to experience a great amount of fear and anxiety.

This could traumatize her.

You could do nothing and let her get taken on the faithful day. . . .

But you don't want her to get hurt. You might as well interfere with future events that are supposed to happen in the story, but you don't give a care as this is your life now.

The life as a tired maid.