SWS CH 02

CHAPTER 02

The thought “Maybe my son really did fall for that face…” was still dominating her mind.

“Cough! You’re saying you’re carrying my son’s child?”

Clutching her pounding chest, she asked.

Halara’s expression as she looked back at her was firm.

She looked resolute enough to say, “Yes. It’s true at any moment.

Please say it’s not true. Say you just made it up!

Even though she’d already come this far, Francesca was desperate enough to hope for exactly that.

Halara, whether she sensed her feelings or not, dragged out the silence for quite some time.

And when she finally answered, it was something Francesca had never expected.

“It’s a lie. I’m sorry.”

“…A lie?”

She couldn’t believe the answer she had been desperately wishing for had actually come true.

Before Francesca could say anything more, Halara bowed deeply and fled the room as if running away.

Left stunned, Francesca was struck by a strange sense that things hadn’t really ended cleanly.

“Head butler. Make sure nothing like this happens again. I’m already busy enough with family matters. Do I really need to deal with something this trivial too?”

Her voice came out sharp with fatigue and irritation.

It was disgraceful enough that one of her sons was known as a brute. A child born of a commoner would have been unbearable.

If it had been true, she couldn’t even imagine what kind of punishment her husband, the duke, would have delivered.

“…My apologies, my lady. However, there is something urgent I must report.”

The head butler’s expression was grim.

“Can’t it wait? My head is pounding. I even had a bad dream last night.”

“It concerns Young Master Docep.”

“…Sigh. This isn’t about pregnancy again, is it?”

Surely not.

It felt unsettling, but she had assumed the matter had ended as a simple incident. She hadn’t thought it warranted further attention.

But the head butler stubbornly poked at the dying embers.

“It’s about the woman who just left. Halara.”

“Why bring up that girl again?”

Francesca shot him a sharp look, and he spoke heavily.

“Before speaking with you, I asked her a few questions. There was a specific night she claimed to have spent with the young master.”

That was why he had brought Halara to Francesca in the first place.

She had even specified the exact date she supposedly spent the night with Docep.

“So what?”

After hesitating, the butler spoke carefully.

“That night… I allowed the young master to stay out.”

“…What do you mean?”

“He had fought with Young Master Nikolai and left in a drunken state. I couldn’t bring myself to report it. I have committed an unforgivable sin, my lady!”

The head butler slammed his forehead to the floor.

An overnight stay.

They had assigned knights to watch Docep around the clock in case he caused trouble. How could this have happened?

“Butler.”

“Please kill me!”

“Butler!”

“I will leave the family of my own accord!”

His voice trembled violently.

Francesca was extremely sensitive when it came to her children. Especially Docep, her most painful concern.

There was no way she would forgive such a grave mistake.

Not even from a butler who had devoted his entire life to the family.

“Butler! Carlos! Get a hold of yourself!”

“…Yes? Y-Yes!”

Francesca roughly grabbed his arm. Only then did he cautiously open his tightly shut eyes.

“Even if Docep stayed out that night, that doesn’t mean he spent it with that commoner girl.”

That was true, but still…

“No matter how much of a brute he is, would he really do something like that? And she herself said it was a lie before leaving.”

“I’m sorry, my lady. I’m confused as well. But when I spoke to her, she didn’t seem to be lying.”

From Carlos’s perspective, Halara’s account had been far too detailed and realistic.

“So you’re saying… we should confirm it? That there’s a chance the pregnancy claim might be true?”

The head butler nodded.

To him, the sudden shift in Halara’s attitude in front of Francesca was suspicious.

She had spoken so concretely before him, so why had she suddenly changed her stance and called it a lie in front of the duchess?

If she had been consistent, it wouldn’t have seemed this strange. They could have simply verified the pregnancy and made a decision.

“If that’s the case, investigate thoroughly. Make sure there are no loose ends.”

Francesca gave the order, understanding his intent.

There was no harm in making sure.

***

After cutting off the thread that nearly tied me to the Bloodymary family, I walked away.

Maybe it was because that dreadful in-law household was gone. Or because I’d said goodbye to the original story.

Either way, I found myself humming.

“The weather’s nice.”

It was probably around noon.

Sunlight poured beautifully outside the Bloodymary estate’s southern gate.

Beyond the walls, a bustling market came into view.

In a marketplace full of commoners, the first sounds you heard weren’t sizzling meat or crying children, but bargaining that sounded more like shouting.

“Hey, old lady! If I sell this for eight bronze, you’re telling me to starve to death!”

“That’s practically giving it away! Don’t you know radishes are healthiest right before they rot?”

Good grief.

For a so-called K-fantasy world, everyone sure had earthy mouths.

Strangely enough, this market didn’t feel unfamiliar to me at all. It reminded me of the fish markets and dawn produce markets I used to visit in my old life.

Narrow alleys stacked high with wooden crates.

Mud-covered ground littered with broken bricks and fish scraps.

Shouts and haggling everywhere.

The corners of shops piled with crates and the rotting food crushed under cart wheels all reeked terribly.

But I was smiling.

“This is a real market. This is the smell of people living.”

With light steps, I wandered through the market.

Hmm.

So this is where I’d have to make a living.

As I walked, I planned my future.

What can I do here to survive?

First of all, Halara was unemployed.

She was considered one of the most beautiful women in the village, but instead of working, she lived off the favors of others.

That was why people called her a temptress behind her back.

She hated hard labor, so she chose to take advantage of men who showed interest in her.

That path eventually led to Docep.

It was probably the easiest option for her.

But that had nothing to do with me now.

That kind of personality wasn’t me to begin with.

And men? No thanks.

I’d already had my life ruined once by marrying the wrong man. I had no intention of repeating that mistake.

“Hm. So how should I live?”

I had plenty of information as a transmigrator, but—

No. That could get me killed if I got tangled up with the original story.

On top of that, I was a commoner, easily exposed to danger.

Most of the original story information I knew was directly tied to the protagonist. That made it especially risky.

I didn’t need to make a fortune that badly.

“Alright. Let’s try running a business!”

A dream I never even got to attempt while being buried under clan-house chores.

My dream was to open my own restaurant and serve people food I made myself.

“Yes. Yes!”

Why not start here?

The original story and all that nonsense had nothing to do with me anymore!

***

After finishing my walk through the market, I headed to Halara’s house.

It wasn’t hard to find.

When I asked the villagers if they knew where my house was, everyone immediately pointed it out.

A small, old brick house.

There wasn’t much worth salvaging inside.

So even the ‘living off men’ thing was exaggerated.

There were plenty of clothes and accessories, but they were all flashy and impractical.

I took the clothes and jewelry to a pawnshop.

“Only ten gold, even for all this?”

Selling everything got me ten gold.

Adding the little cash Halara already had, I ended up with about fifteen gold total.

“With this, renting a decent shop and buying supplies seems tough.”

But I didn’t dwell on it long.

You can’t start a business fully prepared from the beginning.

Starting with a tiny shop was more than enough. If that didn’t work, I could always load a big pot onto a cart and run a food stall.

“First, let’s go back to the market and buy something to eat. While I’m at it, I’ll think about dishes to sell.”

I could make plenty with this money.

I turned a blanket lying around the house into a shopping bag.

Perfect size to sling over my shoulder.

As I checked to see if it was sturdy, a full-length mirror in the corner of the shabby room caught my eye.

The cleanest and most expensive-looking item in Halara’s room.

I should’ve sold that too.

Lost in thought, I stood in front of it—and gasped.

“Wow. I really am pretty.”

Her thick, glossy hair flowed naturally, like a model in a shampoo commercial.

Sunset-gold hair framed a small head, growing luxuriously, while a fist-sized face held perfectly arranged features.

She looked like an angel.

“My bald spots!”

The hair loss I’d developed from stress caused by in-laws calling every morning to demand breakfast.

“My eczema!”

The housewife’s eczema I got from a husband who treated me like a maid.

All of it was gone!

Despite being a commoner, Halara’s hands were smooth and glossy, untouched by hardship.

This is insane. Completely insane.

This firmness. How long has it been?

“Being possessed is the best thing ever…”

Tears welled up in my eyes.

Not just because I looked pretty.

Because I missed being young so badly.

“Let’s go! I can do anything now!”

Strength surged through me.

As long as it’s not ancestral ritual food, I can make anything!