I had lived a perfect life.



Born into wealth, raised in luxury, and pampered beyond belief, I, Thalia Windrose, had never lifted a finger in my entire existence. I had maids to dress me, chefs to cook for me, and assistants to handle every minor inconvenience.



Life was good. Perfect, even.



Until a mystery truck decided to ruin everything.



The moment I opened my eyes, I immediately knew something was wrong.



The silk canopy of my king-sized bed? Gone.



The soothing scent of expensive lavender candles? Nonexistent.



The familiar hum of my personal assistant updating me on my stock portfolio? Replaced with the distant mooing of a cow.



I jolted upright. My head hit something hard.



"Ow—what the—?!"



I clutched my forehead and blinked. I wasn't in my penthouse. I was in a dusty, tiny wooden room with a slanted ceiling and a rickety bed.



No. No, no, no. This must be a dream.



I scrambled out of bed and rushed to a small, cracked mirror against the wall. The reflection staring back at me wasn't my face.



Well... it was, but also wasn't.



My perfectly styled, platinum-blonde hair was now a tangled mess of dull brown strands. My usual clear, glowing skin had a smudge of dirt on my cheek. And worst of all—my silk pajamas were gone, replaced by a rough, shapeless dress that looked like it had never seen a luxury brand in its life.



What. The. Hell.



A loud knock on the door snapped me out of my panic.



"Thalia! Hurry up!" a woman's voice called. "You're going to be late for your first day at the palace!"



My first day at the what?



Before I could respond, a glowing blue screen popped up in front of me.



[SYSTEM ACTIVATED!]

Welcome, Trainee! Your journey to becoming a Proper Maid begins now!



I stared at it. The screen stared back.



A system. Like in those isekai novels.



Oh no.



No, no, no. I had read way too many stories like this. I knew exactly what this meant.



I had reincarnated.



And apparently, I was now a poor noble forced to work as a palace maid.



I nearly fainted on the spot.



~~~



After five full minutes of denial, I was practically dragged out of the house and shoved into a carriage headed straight for the palace.



And that was how I, Thalia Windrose—once a billionaire heiress—became Thalia Windrose, the struggling noble-turned-maid.



When we arrived, the head maid barely spared me a glance before thrusting a broom into my hands.



[New Task Assigned: Sweep the floor properly (Difficulty: Beginner)]



...Excuse me?



I stared at the ancient, splintered broom in my hands. Its bristles were crooked, and I was fairly certain it had been used as a weapon at some point in history.



They expected me to... clean?



I had never held a broom in my entire life!



This had to be some kind of joke. I turned to the head maid, a severe-looking woman with an expression that could freeze lava.



"There must be a mistake," I said sweetly. "I think I was assigned the wrong position. Perhaps a noble guest? Or a—"



"Less talking, more sweeping," she snapped before walking away.



I blinked.



What... what just happened?



I turned to the other maids, hoping one of them would protest this madness. Instead, they looked at me with pity before continuing their work.



My eye twitched. Fine. Whatever. How hard could sweeping be?



I lifted the broom and... swung it like a golf club.



Dust exploded into the air.



The maid nearest to me coughed violently, waving a hand in front of her face. "What in the—?! Are you trying to kill me?!"



"Oops," I said innocently.



[Reminder: Failure to complete your task will result in a penalty.]



I rolled my eyes. What penalty? A slap on the wrist? A bad performance review? Please. I used to fire people for less.



"I don't do manual labor," I muttered under my breath. "Pass."



[Daily Task Failed!

Applying Penalty...]



I froze. "Wait—what do you mean applying—"



My vision went dark.



~~~



I couldn't see.



I panicked. "HEY! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!"



My arms flailed wildly, hitting something—or someone.



"Ow!" a maid yelped.



[Penalty: Temporary Blindness – Duration: 1 Minute]



I screamed. "WHAT KIND OF SYSTEM PUNISHES PEOPLE LIKE THIS?!"



Someone snickered nearby. "Are you alright, my lady?"



A voice. A very amused voice.



I turned my head in the general direction of the speaker. "WHO SAID THAT?! SHOW YOURSELF!"



A few seconds later, my vision snapped back into focus.



And the first thing I saw was a young man in a crisp uniform, leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed.



Golden eyes. Amused smirk.



And—oh no.



He was too handsome.



I immediately knew two things:

1. This man was bad news.

2. He had seen EVERYTHING.



I straightened my back and tried to salvage what little dignity I had left. "That was, um, just a test!"



The man raised an eyebrow. "A test?"



"Yes! A test! I was, uh, checking for... palace security breaches! You never know when an invisible assassin might strike!"



"Ah. Of course." His smirk deepened. "That must be why you were screaming about a system punishment."



I paled. "Y-You heard that?"



"Hard not to," he mused. "You were quite loud."



Kill me now.



Just then, another system notification popped up.



[New Task Assigned: Fetch water for laundry (Difficulty: Beginner)]

Reminder: Failure to complete your task will result in a penalty.



I had a very bad feeling about this.



The man seemed to notice my distress and chuckled. "Good luck, my lady. I'll be watching."



Watching?!



Oh, this was going to be a disaster.