Chapter 27 – Carefully Reviewing the Contract Terms (1)
Lady Studebach tightened her lips as if she had made a firm decision and gripped my hand tightly.
Then, slowly, she opened her mouth.
“It wasn’t Lady Snifter. That person was a man.”
“A man?”
Ginger responded, pretending to be surprised.
You bastard…
I shot him a sharp glare, telling him silently to shut it, then met Lady Studebach’s eyes again.
Trembling slightly as if frightened, she insisted she wasn’t lying.
“It’s true! He was prettier than most women—I remember it clearly!”
“I believe you. Take your time—what did he look like? Have you seen him before?”
“No, I hadn’t seen him before. But I’m sure he was beautiful.”
When I pressed her to describe more precisely, she closed her eyes, as if digging through her memory, and spoke.
“He was a man in his mid-twenties, with short blond hair and red eyes. He appeared out of nowhere and asked if I wanted to be the main character.”
“Did he say anything else? Like ‘original work,’ or maybe something about ‘what’s left in the hand that plucked the flower’?”
The phrase “main character” triggered a hunch, so I asked, but Lady Studebach shook her head.
“No, he didn’t say anything like that. He just told me to impersonate Lady Snifter from now on. That I’d get what I wanted if I did.”
“He’s the one who told you my real identity, right?”
“…Yes.”
She nodded and fell silent, as if that was all she knew.
It was frustratingly fragmentary.
No information about the other world, nor a clear reason how she got my face.
A hollow feeling of despair crept in—like I had wasted too much time on something useless.
“Ah! Now that I think about it, he did say something like this.”
As if remembering something, Lady Studebach grabbed my hand again.
“When I asked whose face this was, he said it was the face of the person he loved most.”
“He said he knew me?”
“Not in so many words, but it felt like he did.”
“Could you draw him if you had to?”
“Well…”
“I’m not asking for a perfect portrait. Just some key features, even roughly!”
I pulled at her hand, nearly pleading, but she shook her head.
“I’m sorry. Honestly, I don’t remember that clearly.”
“What do you mean…?”
“No matter how hard I try, I can remember the general impression, but not the detailed features.”
Seeing her clutch her head like she was trying to remember, I could tell she wasn’t lying.
“Even vague details are fine.”
Clutching her hand like I was grabbing at straws, she nodded.
“He wore a black robe. He was slightly shorter than Your Grace and had blue eyes.”
“Didn’t you say earlier his eyes were red?”
When Ginger countered, she flinched and tugged at her hair.
“Did I say that? No! I’m sure they were blue. And his height… was he shorter?”
“Shorter than me isn’t exactly short.”
“No, that’s not right… Was it a woman? The voice was deep, and then…”
Lady Studebach, flustered, began spewing all kinds of incoherent descriptions.
But it didn’t seem like she was lying.
Unlike earlier, when she had deliberately lied, now her babbling was unfiltered—her eyes were sincere.
She squeezed my hand tighter.
“I’m not lying!”
“I know. Calm down, it’s okay.”
“It’s true, I swear… That man… ugh…”
“Seems like a memory disruption spell,” Ginger offered simply.
I had suspected as much.
But in the end, I hadn’t really learned anything new.
I patted her back, judging that there was no point continuing the conversation.
“It’s fine now. This isn’t something you can force to remember.”
“I’m sorry! I’ll try to remember, please…!”
Tears welled up again in her eyes, and I felt myself soften.
I never intended to let her die, anyway.
“Oh, dear. I’m not going to kill you. I wasn’t planning to. Not everyone in the world is a psychopath.”
“I just don’t plan to let you go.”
“Eeek…!”
I sighed as Ginger tossed in his joke. It was obviously a tease, but I didn’t want to scare Lady Studebach further.
Ugh, I’m weak to crying people.
Wiping away her tears gently with my fingers and patting her comfortingly, she finally leaned into my arms like she was hiding.
It seemed she now firmly believed Ginger was the real threat here.
“But I remember that clearly. He said he loved you.”
“…That’s enough. If he knows me, then he’ll come find me someday.”
If it wasn’t something I could deal with right now, then all I could do was wait.
He had already approached me once through Lady Studebach. Someday, he’d come directly.
With a deep sigh, thinking I might get a little peace for a while, I noticed Lady Studebach biting her lip again.
“You don’t need to be so afraid. I’ll make sure the Duke can’t touch you.”
“Who said you could decide that?”
“Ugh, then draft a contract or something!”
I snapped, annoyed by Ginger’s sly tone.
Half-serious, half-joking to lighten the mood, but Lady Studebach was far from calming down.
“No, it’s not that… Actually, before you got trapped here, I went to the Snifter Marquisate…”
…
My thoughts blanked out for a moment.
Was my brain malfunctioning? I couldn’t quite process her words.
So she… went to the Snifter Marquisate? Meaning—
“Ah…”
“Jin, Jinah…?”
“Aaaaaaaaahhh!!!!”
Realization exploded in my head, and I screamed.
Oh my God!! You girl!!
Banging my head on the marble floor, I let out a wail. Lady Studebach, flustered, looked like she might cry again.
But I didn’t have the mental capacity to comfort her now.
So she had been running around, trying to prove I wasn’t Odelia.
She couldn’t enter the Imperial Palace without status verification, didn’t know where the Mage Tower was, so she went to the marquisate first—someplace with a known location and loose entrance restrictions.
And there, she confessed everything.
“You shouted several times as the carriage headed to the Duke’s estate.”
“What did you say?”
“…”
When she hesitated, I gently patted her hand, telling her it was okay.
Even if her words endangered me, I promised I wouldn’t hurt her, and only then did she speak.
“Don’t go. Who are you? If you’re not Odelia, then who are you really?”
“….”
“That’s what I said.”
So that’s what Visen meant when I saw him through the carriage window. I sighed deeply.
And in that situation, I didn’t even return home, nor sent a message. It was a disaster.
It had only been a day, but the situation was dire.
…What am I going to say when I get home?
This feels just like—
Failing grades mailed home, staying out drinking, and your phone is dead.
The kind of situation where you’re sure you’re dead meat.
As I covered my face in despair, Visen’s face vividly appeared in my mind.
…He must be furious.
Even in this mess, the fact that I was thinking about how to explain things when I got home made me laugh at myself.
“I’m sorry…”
Lady Studebach, on the verge of tears, knelt before me.
But the damage was already done. What was there to say?
After all, it started with me not being the real Odelia.
It was all my original sin, I thought, smiling faintly.
“Well, what can you do. You should go back now, milady. Time to go home.”
“…Thank you, Jinah.”
Seeing her off, I stepped outside.
She would return to her family now. And with a different face and name, live a new life.
…She wouldn’t actually live under the name “Jinah,” right?
“Well then, is it my turn now?”
Ginger, still in the room, looked at me and asked.
His twisted smirk told me he had a lot he wanted from me.
“Alright. Shall we talk, Ginger, my Duke?”
“At this point, titles don’t matter.”
“Fine. Then, Ginger.”
Apparently pleased, he chuckled.
With his long legs, he strode over and sat on the sofa, pointing at me.
I wanted to break that finger, but I was the disadvantaged one here.
I had to behave.
Still, what exactly is this guy after?
Why is he smiling at me like this, even though I’m no longer Odelia?
After today, I might get kicked out of the Snifter Marquisate.
My life as a commoner might start any moment.
Or maybe… as he said earlier, does he want my face and body—Odelia’s—for himself?
“Sit. Would you like tea?”
“My head’s pounding from the alcohol. Just water.”
“Oh dear, I didn’t know you couldn’t handle your drink.”
Ginger poured me a glass of water, his smile as insincere as ever.
In the original work, Ginger could be summed up in one sentence:
The kingpin of the black market, the epitome of decadent charm.
That was all you needed to know—he was never a smiley character.
There was even a line in the novel that said, “The lips that had never known how to move twitched before Odelia’s pure whiteness.”
And yet now, here he was, smiling like a fool in front of me.
“You must really like my face, huh?”
“I’m only making that face because your smirk is so annoying. So stop.”
I glared at him as he stroked his chin arrogantly, but he just shrugged.
“Let’s start with introductions. As you know, I’m Ginger Stoud. Pleased to meet you.”
“I don’t plan to be pleased. All I want is a contract to sort out this situation.”
“…Planning to become business partners?”
He whispered—not a question, more like a suggestion.
And honestly, maybe becoming business partners wouldn’t be such a bad move.
“If you want a partnership, I can connect you with the marquisate’s trading company. With my brother’s brain and the company’s capabilities, making money wouldn’t be hard.”
“For someone supposedly smart, you’re missing a lot.”
Pouring water into his wine glass, Ginger curled his lips.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t start with the main point. I’d analyze the other person, figure out what they want, then find their deepest weakness and take what I wanted.”
“…I’m not here for a lecture. If you want something from me, shut up and bring out the contract—”
I didn’t plan to waste any more time, so I raised my voice, sharp and threatening.
At that moment, Ginger reached out, cupping my cheek, and leaned in close.
His red eyes right in front of mine—my breath caught in my throat.
