Chapter 1
Prologue
I only found out that I was a transmigrator completely by chance.
For example, right after I had just stamped my seal on an employment contract?
“Huh…?”
I blinked once.
“Uh… uh?”
I blinked again.
I lost count of how many times I blinked because the memories flooding into my mind left me completely confused.
Then, a soft yet seductive voice reached my ears.
“Miss Liliana Walker. Then, I look forward to working with you.”
My body flinched at the sound of that voice.
Without thinking, I tightly clenched whatever I was holding in my hand. Seeing that, the other person continued kindly.
“By the way, you don’t have to squeeze the contract that tightly. It won’t tear, so don’t worry.”
I couldn’t regain my senses easily.
The fact that I had transmigrated into another world wasn’t even the most shocking thing.
What shocked me even more was the clearly stamped seal of the Duke of Winsphere’s family on the contract I had just signed.
The seal.
The seal.
And the seal.
“Oh my, Miss Walker. Are you really that moved by the thought of working for the Duke of Winsphere?”
I slowly turned my head, and only then did I properly see the room around me.
Curtains covering the walls, a carpet covering almost the entire floor, the tea that had been brought before me, and even the seal I had stamped onto the contract.
Everything was so blood-red that it looked as though it had been drenched in blood.
This was definitely not a place where normal human beings lived.
“Ha ha.”
I let out a laugh that sounded almost hysterical.
The person sitting across from me, or rather, the devil pretending to be a human, smiled sweetly and asked,
“You aren’t planning to cancel the contract less than a minute after signing it, are you?”
There was a very good reason why I was trembling like this.
This was the home of Roan Winsphere, the final villain of the novel I had possessed.
And it was a den of demons where not a single human being lived!
“If that is what you’re thinking, I’m afraid you’ll have to pay three times the contract amount as a penalty.”
My hands trembled.
I lowered my head and looked through the contract that I had just stamped with my own hands.
The clearly written clause stating that I had received 300 gold coins in advance showed no sign of disappearing.
And right beside it was another clause stating that if I canceled the contract without a special reason, I would have to pay three times the amount as a penalty.
Perhaps the person in front of me couldn’t see how desperately my eyes were shaking, because she casually adjusted her glasses and continued speaking.
Her disgusting smile was still on her face.
“Also, you used a mage’s portal to get here, didn’t you? You’ll have to pay for that as well.”
Of course, I didn’t have enough money to pay the penalty.
Nor did I have enough to pay for the portal.
‘Damn you, Liliana! What on earth were you thinking when you casually signed this contract?!’
I blamed the version of myself from before my memories returned, but it was useless.
What was done was done.
And a check worth 300 gold coins was already sitting in my pocket.
Even though the devil in front of me had clearly noticed my trembling pupils, she casually said,
“Then shall we go meet His Grace the Duke?”
Why did that sound exactly like ‘Shall we go stick our heads into a tiger’s mouth?’
Tears welled up in my eyes.
But there was no way I could run away.
This place was filled with nothing but demons. There wasn’t a single angel or holy knight around who could help me.
“Are you not coming?”
“I-I have to go.”
As I squeezed my eyes shut in this dizzying situation, I thought to myself.
My mind went back to three hours earlier, to the beginning of this ridiculous situation.
It had started like any other ordinary day.
Water was leaking through the ceiling, and loan sharks were pounding on the door outside.
“What a wonderful day.”
I lifted a cracked teacup and took a sip of water.
The moment I placed the cup back on the table, thunder and lightning struck outside.
Rain poured down so heavily that it felt as though the sky itself were about to collapse.
BOOM!
Lightning flashed again behind my pure white hair.
I turned my head and coldly looked over the man sitting across from me.
My father, Baron Walker.
“How much is it this time?”
“100… gold.”
When I said nothing, my father flinched guiltily and quickly corrected himself.
“150!”
His sky-blue eyes, which looked exactly like mine, shook nervously.
“Th-then… 300 gold…”
“What?”
The great Baron Walker had borrowed a whopping 300 gold coins from loan sharks.
Thanks to him, I felt the back of my neck tighten.
Naturally.
The average commoner spent around 10 gold coins a year just to live.
And the Walker Barony was actually worse off than the average commoner.
“Sometimes I really want to open Father’s head and take a look inside.”
I was being completely serious.
If I could, I genuinely wanted to find out what was inside that head that made him keep making my life so miserable.
“How many times has it been already?”
I started counting on my fingers all the times my father had borrowed money from loan sharks.
Each time another finger folded down, my father flinched.
But that wasn’t something I needed to care about.
“Oh my goodness. This is the fifth time already!”
I clapped my hands and smiled brightly.
“Hmm, if we include the money you borrowed this time, wouldn’t this be the sixth?”
I laughed almost hysterically as my father avoided my eyes.
“Do you know how much I’ve paid back on your behalf over the past seven years?”
The smile disappeared from my face at that moment.
“A whopping 1,000 gold coins.”
Yes.
A full 1,000 gold coins.
The barony barely had enough money to survive from month to month.
There was obviously no way we could have that much money, so I had been forced to work.
I cut into my sleeping hours and did jobs that no noble lady would ever be expected to do.
I even willingly endured being laughed at and humiliated.
I earned 12 gold coins a month and barely managed to pay off the debts.
And today was exactly one month since I had finally paid off all of his previous debts.
“This time, I’m not helping you.”
I spoke firmly.
“I think I’ve already done everything I could possibly do as your daughter.”
“Liliana, I needed the money to rebuild the barony. I only borrowed a little.”
“Yes. The money you borrowed from loan sharks because your credit rating had dropped so low that you couldn’t borrow from the banks operated by the state?”
“Ahem.”
“I don’t know when Father will finally admit that he has absolutely no talent for business.”
Despite my harsh criticism, my father just kept picking at his ear.
Seeing him like that reminded me of my mother, who had died from stress seven years ago.
“Even after Mother died from stress because of you, you still haven’t changed. Do I have to die this time before you finally come to your senses?”
At my words, my father finally raised his head and looked at me.
“Liliana! Stop making such disrespectful remarks to your father!”
His face turned red as he huffed angrily.
Looking at him, I realized there was no point in exhausting myself any further.
I stood up and said,
“Fine. Let’s end our relationship as father and daughter. Let’s each go our own way.”
He shouted, veins bulging in his neck.
“Just one last time! This really is the last time!”
“Sigh.”
“If you help me this once, I’ll do whatever you want. If I don’t repay those people, they said they’ll drag me to the salt fields and make me work there until I die.”
My eyes sparkled when I heard that.
‘Not a bad idea.’
Sending my uncontrollable father there might actually be a perfectly legal way to…
Perhaps he read the chilling expression on my face, because my father suddenly shouted,
“If you don’t go out and earn the money, I’ll sell you!”
“What?”
“If I sell you right now, I can get at least 50 gold coins for you. Now, Liliana. Choose.”
There was a reason my father could say something like that so confidently.
Ridiculously enough, in this country, a daughter was considered her father’s property.
That was the reason I had obediently worked and repaid his debts for seven years, no matter how miserable it was.
“Damn this law. I should burn the whole thing down.”
I gritted my teeth and muttered under my breath.
My father then began trying to persuade me.
“If you help me just this once, I’ll grant you anything you want.”
I wasn’t interested at all.
After everything I had gone through, he was asking me to do all of that again?
As he watched my indifferent reaction, my father seemed to make a very serious decision before finally opening his mouth.
“I’ll remove you from the family registry, just as you’ve always wanted.”
Removing me from the family registry.
If that happened, I would no longer have to be threatened or dragged around by my father.
Of course, I would no longer be a noble either.
But living as a commoner might be much happier than living like this.
My father’s offer was honestly tempting.
However, when I thought back on everything he had done until now, there was a good chance this was another lie.
Seeing that I still wasn’t reacting even after using such a powerful bargaining chip, my father hurriedly held something out to me.
“What is this?”
“The document you brought me before when you asked me to remove you from the family registry. I’ll stamp it with my seal and give it to you.”
My father filled out the document right in front of me and handed it over.
“But…”
The moment I reluctantly took the paper he held out, thunder and lightning struck again.
Rumble! Boom!
Immediately after a sound far louder than before shook the room, my father said something absolutely absurd.
“Pay back the 300 gold coins within three days.”
