Chapter 05
But then my heart started pounding.
As soon as my frozen feet began moving again, I hurried toward the window.
“Mas!”
The moment I saw the white mask glowing under the moonlight, I was overwhelmed with joy.
If it weren’t for that new friend I made—even though they weren’t from the village… I might have cried from loneliness every single day.
After all the villagers disappeared, leaving me alone in the empty village, a boy with brown hair and black eyes had appeared one day.
He was a little taller than me and always wore a white mask.
With nowhere else to go, he stayed in the village and helped me with my work.
If it hadn’t been for him during that lonely year, I might not have been able to endure living there by myself.
Now that we’d met again, emotions so strong they made my chest ache overflowed all at once.
“…Ugh…”
I immediately threw myself into Mas’s arms and hugged him tightly.
I felt his small but firm body stiffen in surprise.
As all the tension that had built up throughout the day finally melted away, I spoke.
“I missed you so, so much.”
When we first met, Mas hadn’t seemed to have a very good personality.
Even when I greeted him, he wouldn’t look at me.
While we were both living in the abandoned village, we’d constantly competed with each other.
Once, he had even climbed a tree and put my red sugar beets up there just to annoy me.
But…
He never took off his mask.
He stayed in the deserted village, yet no one ever came looking for him.
And…
He couldn’t speak.
I figured there had to be a reason he’d become the way he was.
Just like in those stories where children always had a good reason for becoming withdrawn.
So I decided to be understanding and accept him.
I regularly called him over to eat.
If he got hurt, I treated his wounds.
Since he never told me his name—or perhaps couldn’t speak at all—I gave him one.
“Mas.”
It came from the English word “mask,” but I also liked that “Mars” was the name of a planet.
I told him it suited him—a friend who resembled a dry, lonely planet.
For just a moment after hearing that, I thought his eyes shimmered like the reddish glow of a sunset.
Like ice melting in spring, our relationship slowly changed.
Before long, we began spending time together.
Holding Mas’s hand tightly, I grinned.
“We’re friends now, right?”
“Did you follow me?”
Still holding his hand tightly like I had that day, I asked.
Mas lowered his gaze to our joined hands for a moment before looking back into my eyes.
In the silence, his black eyes stared at me.
I hurriedly spoke.
“I… I got kidnapped. But…”
How was I supposed to explain this?
“It turns out my father was a Grand Spirit Master, I’m actually from a Grand Duke’s family, and the innocent man next door was secretly the Emperor…”
“…”
I stopped talking.
For some reason, Mas was looking at me like I was some delusional fanatic making up fantasies.
Honestly, I could hardly believe it myself!
Yesterday I was burying dried red sugar beet slices in the countryside after catching rabbits.
Now I was suddenly the heir to a marquis’s house.
“Anyway… it’s like I won the lottery by accident.”
Naturally, Mas had no idea what a lottery was.
He narrowed his eyes.
This huge room…
The perfectly quiet surroundings without even the sound of insects…
I couldn’t get used to any of it.
What was going to happen to me?
“…”
Just then, Mas placed a hand on my shoulder.
I looked into his black eyes.
I couldn’t see his expression behind the mask.
But somehow, it felt like he was saying the same thing he always did.
You’ll be okay.
The reassurance in his eyes slowly calmed my restless heart.
I nodded.
Suddenly, Mas reached behind his back and held something out to me.
“This is…”
It was a bundle of belongings.
My diary, which I’d been writing in for years.
The wooden toy Uncle Zimmer had carved for me.
Even the doll that had been by my side since childhood.
Everything was something precious I’d treasured back in Galnem.
“You brought these for me?”
Mas answered with silence.
Holding my treasured memories in my small hands, I looked at him for a moment before speaking.
“Thank you.”
My chest tightened.
If my hands hadn’t been full, I would’ve hugged him again.
But I couldn’t just leave him standing there.
“Wait here for a minute. I’ll have them prepare a room for you right away.”
I set the bundle down and turned to run off.
At that moment, Mas grabbed my thin wrist.
When I turned back, he slowly shook his head.
“…”
“But… you don’t have anywhere to go. There are plenty of rooms here. Hmm. Believe it or not, I’m the owner of this enormous mansion now!”
Pointing proudly at myself with my thumb, I puffed out my chest.
Mas simply shook his head again.
Did he actually have somewhere to go?
“Then… will you come back?”
I asked.
The year we’d spent together in Galnem was precious to me.
Even if I’d moved to the Capital, I didn’t want to lose our friendship.
“You’re my only friend, so you can visit anytime. No, you have to come visit often. Okay?”
I didn’t want us to part like this…
But it seemed Mas had somewhere he needed to return to.
Mas nodded once.
He climbed onto the windowsill and looked back at me.
Although only his eyes were visible beneath the mask, somehow I felt like one corner of his mouth had lifted into a smile.
A moment later…
Mas disappeared.
I stared at the heavy diary in my hands before placing it carefully inside a drawer.
The next morning.
The maids dressed me up as though I were a doll.
They carefully put me into an elegant dress made of stiff, luxurious fabric.
A dress with this many frills…
I really felt like a noble lady now.
Feeling embarrassed, I absentmindedly played with the ribbon on my dress.
“Miss.”
At that moment, Adam knocked politely before entering.
“The bank has come to see you.”
“The bank?”
“Yes. Someone from Hugobrint Bank says they’d like to discuss your inheritance.”
The word inheritance immediately caught my attention.
Hugobrint Bank…
Somehow, I remembered it not having a very good reputation in the original story.
Still, I’d only been here for a day.
And I already had business involving the Marquis’s estate.
I couldn’t help feeling a little nervous.
“Before Marquis Myla left with your mother, he entrusted the family’s assets to Hugobrint Bank.”
A few moments later, I entered the reception room.
A man in a formal suit immediately stood and bowed politely.
“Good day, Miss Myla.”
I sat across from him.
The maids served tea.
The man adjusted his glasses and introduced himself.
“My name is Rails Breck. I work for Hugobrint Bank’s Western Division.”
“Hello. I’m Arinel Myla.”
When I greeted him confidently, he smiled and looked around the room.
“Before we begin, would you mind asking everyone else to leave? As a rule, we only discuss financial matters directly with our clients.”
Hmm.
“Miss.”
“It’s alright, Adam. If anything happens, I’ll call you.”
Adam still looked unconvinced, but I reassured him.
He was a bank employee, not some suspicious stranger.
Before reluctantly leaving, Adam leaned over and whispered into my ear.
“Be careful. They’re obsessed with sales.”
Only after Adam left did Rails continue.
“The late Marquis Myla purchased one of our bank’s trust products. I’ve come to explain the investment returns and the amount you’re entitled to receive.”
As he spoke, he handed me a document.
The number written there was astonishing.
“T-Ten million Bring?”
My eyes widened as I looked at the figure again.
One Bring was roughly equivalent to one thousand won in modern currency.
That meant…
Ten million Bring was worth around ten billion won.
It was an unimaginable fortune.
The inheritance my father had left behind was enormous.
I’d heard rebuilding the Marquis’s house would cost a great deal of money.
First, the mansion needed repairs and workers.
Then we’d have to host parties to reintroduce House Myla to noble society.
With ten million Bring…
I could even flee—
No, move—
to another country before Albreon fell into brutal tyranny and famine.
Not that I’d definitely do that.
“Yes. Ten million Bring.”
“Jackpot!”
Right.
A hidden birth and a massive inheritance.
Those always came together in stories.
Thinking I’d officially become the heroine of a wealthy romance fantasy, my eyes sparkled.
“Sir, where do I sign?”
An inheritance!
Dad, thank you!
God, I’m sorry for complaining that you reincarnated me as an insignificant country girl.
Smacking my lips in anticipation, I firmly picked up a pen.
But Rails simply grinned and shook his head while keeping a hand on the documents.
Then he said,
“Unfortunately, Miss…”
“You cannot receive your inheritance at this time.”
