The Marquis Next Door’s Beloved Slave – Chapter 002
“Please, if anything happens, make sure to testify for us!”
The investigators grabbed the hand of the man next door and pleaded with him repeatedly.
“I told you, I didn’t borrow that money!”
But the investigators ignored Ella completely. After getting the man’s agreement to be a witness, they ran off before Ella could stop them.
“Hey.”
“Yes?”
“Why are you so sure? I really didn’t borrow any money!”
Ella wasn’t stupid enough to borrow money with her only property as guarantee. She had no memory of borrowing such a large amount. If the investigators weren’t scammers, then she should have found out the truth properly.
But that man next door messed everything up by getting involved without knowing anything.
The man, after staring at her for a while, said bluntly:
“Your mail was in my mailbox.”
“What?”
Ella looked toward the old mailbox in front of the neighbor’s house. It looked like it hadn’t been touched in years.
“I didn’t know whose it was, so I left it. But now it seems it was yours.”
Still suspicious, Ella walked to the neighbor’s mailbox. It was full of bugs and cobwebs, just like he said.
“Ugh.”
As she pulled out the mail, spider webs came out with it. Disgusted, she shook the mail off and checked it.
Case No: 0000-0000
Creditor: Central Bank
Debtor: Laviela Oncidium
Property to be seized: No. 7, 23-1 Mabrang Street
Please vacate the property voluntarily by Sept 13, Imperial Year 877, as a seizure request has been filed by the creditor. If not, it will be seized without further notice and you will bear all costs.
Unpaid Amount: 9,860,000 gold
Investigator OOO, Mabrang District Court
Ella stared at the notice for a long time.
The address listed was her home.
The debt listed—9,860,000 gold—was a ridiculous amount and not something she had ever borrowed.
“Many debtors say that. That it’s not their debt.”
At the man’s voice, Ella turned to him and finally saw his face clearly. It was so flawless that it looked like a perfectly crafted porcelain doll. His features were so striking, she found it hard to look directly at him.
Too bad that stunning face came with a rude attitude and arrogant tone.
“Can you tell just by looking at someone whether they’re in debt?”
“Let’s just say I can.”
“If I suffer financial losses because of you, I’ll sue you and take everything you have.”
“Go ahead.”
Ella was left speechless. How could someone be so shameless?
She was about to lose her one and only property—her home!
“Fine. Just wait. I’ll prove I didn’t borrow any money. And when I do, you’ll have to kneel before me!”
The man muttered, “Kneel?” and then smirked.
“Sure, why not.”
***
Living peacefully in this house for years, and suddenly a forced seizure notice?
“It seems the loan was registered about 3 years ago.”
“That means someone used the house as collateral for a loan from our bank.”
“Since the loan wasn’t paid, the house is being seized.”
“We should have sent warnings. Didn’t you receive them?”
Something was definitely wrong.
Ella walked home slowly, her mind was blank with shock. The house was clearly in her name—so who used it as collateral?
“Maybe you lent out your seal or gave someone power of attorney, or maybe something was stolen?”
The bank staff asked about identity theft. But that couldn’t be. There had been no break-ins in this countryside village, and Ella had never handed over any legal documents.
“There’s no sign of forgery or document tampering. Unfortunately, there’s nothing else we can do.”
In short, Ella would have to bear the loss.
She desperately wished the staff would say this was all a mistake and offer a solution.
“Unless you find whoever used your name and sue them for damages, I don’t think there’s another way.”
Tears welled up in her eyes. That house was her only property. The reason she believed this new life was better than her past life was because of that one small home in her name.
In her previous life, she didn’t even have her own place. Her name was Han Yeonwoo.
She struggled every month to pay rent. She feared being pushed aside by well-connected new hires and took on tons of work. She stayed late at the office for a bit more pay.
That was her life.
Then one ordinary day, maybe due to days of overtime, her body tingled as she stretched. Her limbs lost strength, and a humming sound filled her ears.
Just like that, Yeonwoo died.
And woke up in this new world.
At first, she denied the situation, thinking it was a dream or the afterlife. But she eventually realized it was neither.
She remembered all the fantasy web novels she used to read—stories about reincarnating in another world with memories of a past life and rising to power.
She’d read countless such stories.
But unlike those heroines, she had no special memories or help. The name “Ella” might have come from one of those stories, but she wasn’t even sure.
Still, the one advantage she had here was a house in her name.
And now, even that was about to be taken away.
“Haah…”
Ella sighed and kept walking.
First, she had to report this to the police, as the bank employee said.
9,860,000 gold.
It was a sum she could never earn in her lifetime.
How could she pay it back in a week?
If she couldn’t?
She’d lose her home and be left with nothing. She’d end up wandering the streets, starving to death.
No. That couldn’t happen.
Ella grabbed her head, desperately trying to come up with a plan.
They said the loan was taken out three years ago.
Three years ago, she had been sick in bed with a high fever.
When she woke up in this world, the first thing she did was figure out who she was.
People in the village called her Ella. The items in the house had that name written on them too.
So she accepted this new life and spent days checking every corner of the house.
In a drawer, she found a resident registration card—with a photo that matched her new face—and the house deed.
In the novels she used to read, maids or parents would explain everything with love and affection.
But not Yeonwoo.
She had to figure everything out alone.
Just as she was finally settling into this new life, another crisis had come.
If she couldn’t pay off the loan in a week, she’d be kicked out.
Lost in thought, she found herself back in the village.
It was quiet as usual. The chaos from earlier had passed, and the neighbor’s moving seemed to be finished.
“Haah…”
Ella sighed again. A scammer had taken a loan using her house, and a rude man had moved in next door.
Just thinking about him gave her a headache—wait, what was that?
Ella squinted her eyes and noticed a figure standing hesitantly in front of her door.
ha ha ha ha ha, It sounds legal~