Chapter 03

Translation

“Phew.”

Leaning my back against the mansion’s outer wall, I let out the breath I’d been holding.

‘No one’s around, right…?’

I cautiously glanced around before lowering myself a little further.

The long, arduous process of sneaking out of the mansion.

Now, all that remained was the front gate leading outside.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“……”

I had never felt my heart beat this fast before.

I was incredibly nervous.

And for good reason.

Not only was this the first time in this life that I’d gone outside alone without a guardian, but if anyone caught me, all my efforts would go to waste.

—Heh, heh. Still, making it all the way here without incident was entirely thanks to this great one…! Hoo, hoo.

The fox perched on my shoulder declared triumphantly.

And that was true.

There had been more than a few heart-stopping moments on my way out of my second-floor bedroom.

But each time, the fox had swished its tail, and something strange had happened.

“I don’t think we need to clean this area right now…”

“You’re right. We can do it this evening instead.”

“By the way, has the young lady gone to her room? I can’t hear any music.”

“Yeah, I guess she’s taking the day off.”

“That’s unusual. Our young lady, of all people.”

The people who had been approaching me would suddenly hesitate, change direction, and walk away.

‘How did you do that?’

—That, huff, is the power of Charm! If you, my contractee, hoo, do well… you’ll soon be able to acquire it yourself!

‘Charm?’

—That’s right! It clouds the target’s judgment and, quite literally, beguiles their heart… Huff, huff.

‘…’

U-Um.

Looking at the fox panting for breath, I cautiously asked,

‘Fox, are you really tired?’

—N-No! This much is nothing… Huff!

Oh, so it was tired.

Despite its bravado, the fox was panting incessantly.

‘Using something called Charm must be really exhausting.’

Come to think of it, the fox had said that it had entered into a contract with me because it wanted to become stronger, too.

If that was the case, perhaps it still couldn’t use its abilities freely.

‘Still, we’re almost there now.’

Thinking that, I peeked toward the front gate again.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t leave just yet.

Of all things, the gardener was near the gate, tending to the flowerbeds.

“……Phew.”

On top of that, I was exhausted, too.

The journey from my bedroom to this spot had been far more grueling than I’d expected.

‘This house is way too big…’

If it were an ordinary house, things might have been different. But this was an enormous mansion.

The house had no fewer than three floors, and the garden looked even bigger than the playground at the elementary school I’d attended in my previous life.

Of course, that was only natural.

‘My family is really, really rich, after all.’

My grandfather was the chairman of Baekgang Group, an enormous conglomerate, and my father was his successor.

And I was my grandfather’s only granddaughter.

‘The chairman…’

For some reason, I found myself turning the word over in my mind.

I hadn’t thought much about it before, but now I felt genuinely relieved by that fact.

Having lots of money meant there wouldn’t be any reason for my parents to fight like my mom and dad in my previous life had.

‘…Even if they’re going to hate it.’

I wasn’t just a seven-year-old child anymore. I was a child who remembered her previous life.

Since I had lived six years longer in my previous life than I had in this one, I knew a great deal more than an ordinary child my age.

And that was precisely why I knew.

Because my family was so wealthy, my mom and dad would hate the idea of me becoming an actress.

‘Then again… Mom and Dad never really liked me in the first place.’

They were always busy, and even when I occasionally saw them, they would ask a few questions about how I was doing in expressionless voices before going on with their lives.

Back then, it had made me terribly sad.

In the fairy tales I read, families were always so warm and affectionate, hugging one another tightly…

But my mom and dad barely seemed to care about me.

Now that I remembered my previous life, however, I understood why.

‘Mom and Dad had an arranged marriage.’

It was an all-too-common trope in dramas about wealthy families.

Two people brought together not by love, but by the benefits their marriage would bring.

So it was only natural that they had no feelings for each other—and that they didn’t love the child born from their union, either.

“……”

Yes. That was only natural.

Reminding myself of that fact sent a sharp ache through my chest.

But I quickly lifted my head again.

‘…Yeah. It’s okay.’

I had already experienced more than enough of what it felt like to be unloved by my parents in my previous life.

‘In this life, I’m not going to worry about that.’

I knew by now that no matter how hard I tried to earn Mom and Dad’s love, I would never be happy that way.

I could only truly be happy if I pursued what I wanted.

—Contractee! The gardener is leaving!

‘…Yeah.’

When I raised my head, I saw that the gardener who had been tending to the garden was finally disappearing toward the back entrance.

My heart pounded even harder than before.

I took a deep breath.

‘…In this life, I’m going to be happy no matter what!’

Renewing my resolve, I dashed toward the front gate with all my might.

My destination was the audition venue the fox had told me about.

If I wanted to survive—and become an actress once again—there was a mountain of things I still had to do.

That afternoon.

Vroom—

The rumble of engines echoed through the underground parking garage of the Baekgang Group mansion.

Before long, two sleek sedans pulled in smoothly and came to a stop side by side.

A man and a woman stepped out of the respective cars and exchanged subtle glances.

But only for a moment. Soon, as though they had rehearsed it, they both turned their heads away.

“…You’re home.”

“Yeah. I finished early today. You’re home early, too.”

“I have a business trip tomorrow.”

“…I see.”

The few words they had managed to exchange quickly brought the conversation to an end.

After a brief silence, they walked side by side toward the mansion.

“……”

As they walked down the corridor, Baek Seunghyuk unconsciously studied his wife, Han Seoeun’s, expression.

The truth was, his decision to return home early had not been solely because of his business trip the next day.

As the heir to the group and an executive director at Baekgang Construction, he had pushed through an overwhelming amount of work—work that could have kept him busy all night—just to come home.

All because he wanted to spend time with his wife and daughter, Yujin.

“How’s Yujin?”

“She’s probably in her room. It’s about the time she usually reads.”

“…I see.”

Yet, despite all his planning, the only words that came out of his mouth were the same perfunctory exchanges they always had.

‘It’s happened again.’

Baek Seunghyuk felt a dull ache deep in his chest.

The two had known each other since childhood. Their families had arranged their engagement, they had married, and eventually, they had a daughter.

It had been nearly ten years since Han Seoeun had become his wife.

And yet, there had always been an invisible line between them.

It wasn’t that they had any serious problems or conflicts.

They simply didn’t know how to improve their dry, distant relationship.

He had made up his mind to change things several times, but because he had never done anything like that before, he could never bring himself to say what he wanted to say.

And so, their relationship had remained frozen at the very moment they had first become engaged.

This can’t go on.

Just as Baek Seunghyuk’s lips began to move after another moment of hesitation, she spoke.

“…Is there something you want to say?”

“…No. Nothing. Let’s just go say hello to Yujin.”

At Han Seoeun’s question, Baek Seunghyuk once again missed his opportunity. He turned his gaze away.

And the moment he looked ahead—

“……”

This time, Han Seoeun’s gaze drifted gently toward his profile.

But Baek Seunghyuk didn’t notice, and Han Seoeun soon turned away as well.

With their timing once again out of sync, a heavy silence settled between them.

A short while later, they arrived in front of Yujin’s bedroom on the second floor.