TSKSML 02

Chapter 2

However, Helene’s inflated dreams burst with the sound of Shakia’s clapping.

Clap! …Clap! …Clap!

The slow, deliberate clapping was mocking, condescending.

“You should’ve saved the bluffing for the gambling house.”

It takes a con artist to see through another.

Shakia didn’t believe a word of Helene’s story—she who lied every time she opened her mouth.

But he couldn’t just stand by and watch her fingers get cut off.

At this point, it was all or nothing.

“This mansion, no matter how well you sell it, won’t fetch more than 200,000 gold.”

“What?”

“Have you thought about how you’re going to pay off 100,000 gold? You’re just going to throw it away?”

“Haaah?”

“If you cut off my finger, the marriage with that high-ranking noble will fall through. What then?”

At the edge of death, humans reveal their many colors.

For Shakia, torturing debtors was also a form of studying human nature.

Some begged with tears and snot, then suddenly launched into vile curses or threats.

Shakia thought he understood people like Helene well—but the woman in front of him now felt unfamiliar.

“Go ahead, cut off my finger. I’ll report you to the Imperial Inspectorate and say you did it. No matter how much debt I owe you, I’m still a noble! Do you want to be chased as a noble killer?”

Contrary to expectations, Helene’s response was logical. Shakia scratched his head with the handle of the knife, looking troubled.

He hadn’t expected a street rat like Helene to wield noble privilege.

Stupid nobles made the best prey.

And yet… suddenly, she had changed.

“I don’t plan on running away from the 300,000 gold. Didn’t I say I’d pay you back double—600,000? So think carefully. Do you want the 600,000 gold, or do you want to be hunted down by the Inspectorate and end your reign as the underworld boss?”

Shakia had planned to cut off her finger, scare her into submission, and then blackmail her for the full 300,000 gold.

But now Helene was saying she’d report him to the authorities.

He could just kill her outright, but that would make things complicated.

Helene was infamous throughout the empire, and even though the fallen Count Emeldia family had declined, their name still held some weight.

Her sudden disappearance would be noticed quickly.

The Emeldia mansion was old. As Helene said, 200,000 gold was generous, and its disrepair meant even more would be needed in renovations.

Helene was a terrible gambler, with no knack for deceit.

Had she suddenly developed one?

Or… had he underestimated her all along?

Aside from Shakia’s bias against her, what she was saying actually made a lot of sense.

So should he believe the words of this “Red Witch”?

Shakia had become a boss of the underworld at the young age of twenty because of his flexibility and quick thinking.

You had to know when to go all in, and when to fold. This seemed like the time to fold.

Besides, someone like Helene could always be brought back under his control again.

“…Three months.”

“Are you kidding? You think marriage is a child’s game? Don’t you know big money requires big patience?”

Helene’s heart was pounding.

Shakia must’ve dealt with countless liars.

Trying too hard to appease him would only make her look like a desperate con artist or amateur.

Helene fully intended to pay him the 600,000 gold.

Of course, assuming all her plans succeeded.

That’s why, to make those plans work, she had to boldly and shamelessly name her terms—no matter how nervous she was.

“Six months. I can’t do more than that.”

“300,000 in six months. 600,000 within a year. If I make profit sooner, I’ll pay right away.”

Most debtors, when given a chance, only cared about grabbing it.

They jumped at any condition, without having any actual plan to pay the debt.

And they usually chose gambling again to solve it.

But Helene was speaking with calculated numbers—different from typical gamblers.

Was the sun rising in the west? Shakia found himself wavering, wondering if she might actually repay him.

Still, the deal had to be clear.

“What if you don’t pay?”

“…Then you can take my wrists. Not just fingers—my whole wrists.”

Helene held out both arms.

It was reckless, but she couldn’t live her whole life being chased by loan sharks.

The old Helene might’ve tried to run. But in her past life as Han Yena, she had learned that loan sharks always found you in the end.

If she, the “Red Witch,” and the “Disgrace of the Empire,” wanted a fresh start—she had to take this risk.

Maybe because she’d failed once in her past life, she wanted to live this life right, even if the difficulty was extreme.

Being a Countess was still better than being a blacklisted job seeker.

Her memory of the original novel didn’t come back by accident.

‘This is the real gamble.’

Helene moistened her dry lips.

“…Did you really think you’d walk away from this alive?”

Shakia’s eyes narrowed again, revealing the whites of his shark-like eyes.

A chill ran down her spine.

Had she been too complacent?

Maybe it would be better to lose a finger than be killed…

Just then—

“If you don’t pay… be my lover.”

“…What?”

Did she hear that right?

Not “Join my crew!” like in a boy’s comic, but “Be my lover”?

The lover of an underworld boss?

Nothing could ruin her life more.

“My body’s reacting strangely to you. I’m curious what a Red Witch Countess is like in bed…”

Shakia smiled contentedly, imagining who knows what.

‘Which is worse: being his lover or dying?’

It was becoming impossible to calculate.

But there was no turning back now.

If she could pair the eldest daughter with the perfect male lead candidate in six months, this would all be over.

“…Fine.”

As soon as Helene answered, Shakia motioned to his men with a flick of his fingers.

Apparently, they had already drafted the contract.

Despite their brutish looks, they were surprisingly efficient.

Helene read the contract carefully, in case there was a trap—fortunately, there wasn’t.

Not that it mattered. It was already a deeply unfair contract.

“Sign.”

Shakia pointed to the signature line with the knife still in hand.

Helene signed clearly: Helene Emeldia.

“Ow!”

Suddenly, Shakia sliced her thumb with the knife.

He wasn’t called a legendary lunatic for nothing.

Blood gushed from her thumb.

“It would’ve hurt more if I’d cut your finger. Now, leave a thumbprint.”

Shakia smiled with those same squinty eyes.

‘You psycho bastard…’

Helene barely suppressed her rage and pressed her bloody thumb onto the paper.

What kind of chaos would await her as this guy’s lover?

Whether he intended it or not, he’d made her more determined than ever to repay the debt.

“If you need anything, contact me. I’ll drop by if I miss you.”

‘Don’t come! NEVER come again!!’

But as the debtor, Helene could only fake a smile and wave until Shakia and his men finally left the mansion.

Helene let out a deep sigh.

Strangely, as soon as Shakia left, her stomach felt as if she’d taken a digestive tonic.

Still, she had earned at least six months to a year!

She was finally exhaling in relief when—

The three sisters appeared, having stepped out of their rooms, surrounding her.

The second sister, Jaina—the one who had pinned Helene earlier—walked toward her.

When the tall Jaina stood in front of her, a shadow fell across Helene’s face.

“We heard everything you said.”

Helene stepped back, but only a few steps in, she hit a dead end.

It seemed the crisis wasn’t over just yet.