chapter 09
“Then, I should probably head back now. Who knows what kind of trouble my family might get into.”
Quite some time had passed.
If any major incident had happened, it probably would have already—but even now, she needed to go back to monitor things and manage the situation.
The thought made Serena even more anxious.
As she hurriedly turned around, worried that something serious might have happened, a boy with a sullen expression suddenly appeared right in front of her.
“Hey, who are you?”
Even without introductions, Serena immediately recognized him.
Brown hair, green eyes, a neat and proper appearance reminiscent of Jeremy.
‘Harpe Roselantis.’
The devil among devils who always made her older sisters cry. No, the king of devils.
“Didn’t you hear me? I said, who are you?”
Harpe, bristling with anger, shoved Serena’s shoulder.
Or at least, he tried to—but just then, Carlos, who had crept up unnoticed, swatted Harpe’s hand away.
“Serena Roselantis.”
“…What?”
Harpe asked in disbelief. Carlos replied in a cold tone.
“I asked who you are. Serena Roselantis, that’s who.”
“No, I mean… why are you answering that?”
“Does it matter who answers? Now you know, that’s enough.”
“That’s…”
Right. Once he said it like that, she had nothing more to say.
‘Wait… did he just help me?’
Serena glanced up at Carlos, who was standing right behind her. His red eyes blinked slowly, as if to ask if she was okay.
She nodded.
Seeing her nod, his red eyes blinked long and deliberately, as if acknowledging.
Serena felt a sense of reassurance, as though she’d gained a reliable friend.
“What the hell… Carlos, are you insane?”
Harpe was utterly bewildered by the unexpected friendly interaction between the stranger and his supposed friend.
Annoyed, Harpe shifted his target and flicked the book Serena was holding.
The old, worn book fell again, tearing out a page in the process.
“What are you doing?”
“It’s torn now!”
“Ah, my bad.”
As Carlos and Serena each muttered a word, Harpe crossed his arms and pretended not to care.
Serena furrowed her brows, glaring at her troublesome cousin.
‘Is childishness genetic in this family or what?’
He hadn’t even revealed his name yet started a fight and resorted to violence.
Though she wanted to pull his hair out, doing so would defeat the purpose of coming here.
‘Just wait. Once I get back, I’ll send him a ton of letters full of misfortune.’
Since a direct confrontation wasn’t worth it, she planned to curse him after returning home.
One letter would be just a prank, but a hundred? That would be impossible to ignore.
As she picked up the fallen book and page, a large word at the top caught her attention:
[Gift]
The letters were absurdly large, as if pleading not to be ignored.
Naturally, she shifted her gaze downward to read the content. The text was bizarrely crooked, as if written deliberately.
‘Did someone slip this paper in as a joke?’
Thinking it was insignificant, Serena began to read—and her eyes widened as her expression froze.
“What’s wrong?”
Even as Carlos asked, Serena remained motionless.
Harpe snatched it from her hands and began reading aloud dramatically while running around.
“To the one who discovers this certificate, I will grant the Rosegold Estate and its title, carrying the legend of the Golden Rose. Julia Roselantis… great-grandmother Julia?”
At that moment, Serena recalled something.
She remembered her father going berserk when the transfer papers for her great-grandmother’s inheritance were found.
‘Damn it! Why! Why do only the lucky ones get more! You said the estate was worthless—so why does the one who was going to discard it get it?!’
Rosegold had belonged to Serena’s great-grandmother, Julia Roselantis, even before her marriage.
When a woman married and changed her family and surname, it was customary to report and revise property records. However, Julia secretly altered the records to hide her ownership of Rosegold.
The reason was simple: she wanted to surprise people in the future by secretly keeping transfer papers and revealing them later.
In reality, hiding such a large estate was nearly impossible, but Rosegold was a desolate, neglected land no one cared about, making it feasible.
Even if the secret were discovered, it was worthless enough to avoid suspicion or reprimand.
Over time, the person who eventually found Julia’s papers was none other than Harpe.
He had been napping in the library when a book fell on him—and inside was the document.
However, as the next-in-line Roselantis Count, Rosegold was useless to Harpe.
He renounced the claim, and Rosegold was absorbed into the Roselantis family holdings, leaving Julia’s prank as a delightful gossip.
Now, Serena had discovered it.
A document transferring inheritance unconditionally to whoever found it—a completely ridiculous arrangement.
‘Is this a dream…? Or a flashback…?’
A plausible thought. She was certain she hadn’t traveled to the past, but perhaps, in the moments before death, she was rapidly recalling the past and imagining, “If only it had been like this.”
‘Focus, Serena! My life isn’t that easy, is it?’
Whap!
Serena slapped her own cheek. The sharp smack jolted her fully awake.
The two boys stared in shock, wide-eyed like startled rabbits.
“…Ouch.”
The pain was real.
This wasn’t a dream.
“Of course it hurts, doesn’t it?”
Harpe laughed at her, looking amused.
“Are you okay?”
Carlos examined her cheek. He brushed back her disheveled hair, checking for injuries, then suddenly asked in a serious tone:
“…What happened here?”
Carlos’ sharp gaze was fixed on her cheek and forehead.
Reflexively touching the spot, the pain was far worse than when she had slapped herself.
“Ah! It hurts—!”
“What happened?”
Harpe approached quickly to examine the injury.
“What is this? Did you just get hit by someone?”
Harpe’s eyes widened. Luckily, hearing him speak snapped Serena back to reality. She tried to compose herself and replied nonchalantly:
“…It’s nothing. Just a bit of bad luck.”
“That’s not nothing. How did this happen? When did it happen?”
Carlos pressed her for details. For a well-bred young man like him, it was shocking.
Yet explaining the truth was troublesome—it wasn’t poverty, but humiliation of a different sort.
After a short pause, Serena reluctantly spoke:
“…Some jerk attacked me. Took all my money… Today wasn’t even the day I was supposed to come here. I came to get living expenses.”
“You were attacked? Lost all your money? Why? Who was it? Do you remember?”
They couldn’t understand why such a situation had occurred.
Exhausted, Serena leaned back against the bookshelf.
“As I explained before, my family is too poor. Of the 50 gold I got from home, only 20 can be used for living expenses—which barely covers a month’s groceries. So I try to save money by walking from home to the busy streets. And in the process, you meet all kinds of people… including bad ones.”
