Chapter 01
Today was the day when the exhaustion of overworked servants would be washed away completely.
“Ahhh, finally—payday!”
Ruelia beamed as she counted the gold coins inside the pouch placed on her desk.
People often pitied Ruelia for working at House Aber. That was because of the terrifying nickname attached to her superior.
The Righteous Ice.
A hero with a cold heart instead of hot blood.
A master stricter than the law itself.
And the infamous “Collector of Resignation Letters.”
People in the capital even joked that everyone knew at least one servant who had been fired from the Aber ducal estate.
But that was ignorance talking.
House Aber was unquestionably a dream workplace.
High pay, short working hours, and a respectable superior. The duke was a bit meticulous and picky, but for someone competent like Ruelia, that was never a problem.
Just who were the thirteen idiots who quit such a sweet job?
Humming to herself as she counted the coins, Ruelia suddenly widened her eyes.
“Huh? Butler?”
“Did you see it? Last week, His Grace instructed us to give you an extra reward for your hard work.”
And the benefits were this good, too.
—If you become my aide, I’ll make your crimes disappear.—
What a relief that she hadn’t rejected the duke’s offer back then just because it felt suspicious.
She was now receiving a weekly pay pouch worth a hundred times what her previous job had paid.
Ruelia carefully tucked the heavy pouch away.
Just then, the elderly butler Senior placed some refreshments on her desk.
Another reason she felt glad she’d come to House Aber.
All the other servants treated her kindly. And the food was delicious.
“His Grace asked you to organize the documents on candidate sites for the grain storage by tomorrow morning.”
“Understood. But he’s running late today, isn’t he?”
Her lord, Kylas, was attending a regular meeting of the knightly families.
Since Ruelia was an administrative aide, she had no reason to attend and had stayed behind at the estate.
“We haven’t received any notice, but perhaps he’s staying for dinner afterward.”
“Alright. Then I’ll finish early and head home.”
As long as the work was done, flexible hours were allowed!
For Ruelia, who often had to care for her sickly older sister, the more free time, the better.
Great. I should stop by the herbal shop on the way home.
It was payday, after all. She planned to buy medicine and nourishing food for her sister.
She had just settled into work when—
“Someone asked me to deliver this to you, Miss Aide.”
A servant entered the office and handed her a letter.
A pitch-black envelope.
Ruelia stared at the unsealed black envelope for a long moment before carefully opening it.
“Two years ago, we found secret documents from the Bellona Trading Company in the attic of the house you lived in. It would be troublesome if I handed these over to a rival company in your name, wouldn’t it? I would like to meet and resolve this matter.”
A politely worded threat.
* * *
Ruelia immediately went to the commoner district where she had lived two years ago.
The area was still full of life. Narrow and cramped compared to noble estates, yet somehow it felt wider because of the vitality.
It should have been a nostalgic visit—but her heart was heavy as she stepped down from the carriage.
“Please be careful, Miss Aide.”
Senior had arranged a carriage bearing the Aber crest. He’d even sent several knights along.
“Where to?” one of them asked.
“The third floor. My old home.”
“We’ll escort you.”
The knights positioned themselves in front of and behind her—an escort fit for an assassination threat.
They were this thorough entirely because of Kylas.
—Attacking someone of House Aber is the same as attacking me.—
Ruelia lifted her chin proudly as she climbed the stairs, keenly aware of how much her status had changed since two years ago.
It was time to see the face of the blackmailer.
Standing before her old door, she took a deep breath and knocked calmly.
“Who is it?”
A scruffy man limped out.
The moment he spotted the knights flanking Ruelia, his face drained of color.
“I’m Ruelia, aide of House Aber.”
“Ahhh! I’m sorry! Please spare me!”
The blackmailer looked pitiful—far more than expected.
Where was the confidence of someone holding leverage? He folded instantly at the sight of just two knights.
“…”
“I injured my leg and haven’t been able to work for over ten days. My children haven’t eaten properly in three days… I’m sorry. I acted without thinking.”
It was almost anticlimactic.
Even the knights who’d followed her without explanation looked confused.
Ruelia glanced inside the house.
In the corner, two little girls were huddled together, clinging to each other in fear.
It was a sight she knew all too well.
Just like her and Melissa had been.
How could a man with children resort to something like this?
***
—Ruelia, don’t worry about the house. Just study. Your father will protect you.
Her adoptive father, who had taken her in, would never have done this.
He worked himself to death to feed his daughters. Thanks to what he left behind, Ruelia was able to attend the academy and get a job at Bellona Trading Company.
That experience had shaped who she was today.
She took a deep breath, pushing down old memories.
She had come here to ensure House Aber wasn’t implicated. One way or another, she had to settle this.
Her gaze turned cold.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Didn’t you call me because you found something I lost when I moved? You wanted a finder’s fee, right?”
Perhaps this was foolish compassion.
But as far as she knew, this man’s threat couldn’t actually harm her.
I’m not stupid enough to take confidential documents home.
That was one of her core principles as an aide.
So maybe this much mercy was acceptable.
The man was already repentant.
“Th-that is…!”
Ruelia met his eyes calmly, then glanced toward his daughters.
The man swallowed a sob and bowed deeply.
He then gestured inside.
“Hurry, give it to her. The thing this gracious lady was looking for.”
A small girl trotted over to Ruelia. She was thin and frail from hunger.
Just like Melissa had been as a child.
“This. I found it in a crack in the attic.”
“Thank you.”
“I’m sorry—we looked inside to find the owner. It was full of strange scribbles. No one in our family could read it.”
Ruelia looked at what the girl was holding.
A very thin booklet. Cheap paper roughly bound together.
She knew it well.
Now she understood why the man had mistaken it for secret documents.
“It’s a diary. Something I wrote when I was little.”
A chance encounter from the past.
Ruelia had once fallen from a tree and collided with a girl as angelic as Melissa. Her adoptive father, a former mercenary, had taken in Ruelia, who didn’t know her real parents.
She owed them everything.
I wrote this to repay that kindness. Back then, I clearly remembered my past life.
Forgotten memories came rushing back.
She smiled faintly.
The little girl tilted her head in confusion.
“A diary? But these aren’t letters.”
Ruelia took out a small pouch from her clothes—the bonus Kylas had given her today.
“Of course not. Because it isn’t a diary.”
It was something far more secret and important.
Advice written for her future self, in a script no one else could read.
Ruelia exchanged the diary for the pouch.
“Use the money to buy medicine for your father and food you want to eat.”
“Wow! Thank you!”
She smiled back at the girl, gently patting her head.
“But aren’t you going to check it?” the girl asked.
At her prompting, Ruelia opened the booklet.
“Just as I thought…”
It was the script she’d used in her past life.
She’d assumed she wouldn’t be able to read it after growing up.
But she could.
She read and understood it perfectly.
What was written here was the plot of a novel she had read in her previous life.
This world—the one she was living in—was that novel.
“Am I crazy…? How did I forget something like this?”
Her perfect world shattered.
Duke Kylas Aber.
He will be destroyed after plotting rebellion because of the woman he loves.
Never, ever get close to him.』
