My appetite just suddenly dropped.
Just because I grumbled a bit about not wanting to go to work, they dropped me in a place like this.
No, any other time would be fine. But does it make sense to come to a place without a single bank when 1.7 billion is right in front of me?
Please send me home.
Those 1.7 billion rabbits are waiting for me, making my neck stretch out in anticipation.
Solea lay on her side on the bed, sighing deeply while looking out the window. Every time Solea sighed, Anne watched her carefully and tried to offer something.
“My lady. Please eat something. You haven’t eaten anything all day. And you’re in poor health.”
“Just how weak do you think my body is?”
Either not hearing properly what Solea muttered quietly to herself or not understanding, Anne asked, “What?” But Solea pretended not to hear and got up from her place.
It wasn’t a lie that my body was weak; my head started spinning, and my vision quickly went dark.
“…Not these cookies. Is there no rice?”
After shouting a few times, my voice had already become hoarse, and a raspy voice escaped my mouth.
Anne, who looked like she was about to cry, politely pushed the teacup on the tray a bit closer to Solea and said.
“Shall I bring you a meal?”
“Rice… No, never mind. I’ll go see for myself. Where’s the kitchen?”
Solea, who had come down from the bed while holding onto the bedpost, sighed again as she looked at the paper in her hand.
Even though it might be useless here, she couldn’t separate herself from the 1.7 billion, thinking she might return someday. It’s not just a small amount; it’s a whopping 1.7 billion.
She had it in her hand before coming here, so she must have brought it with her.
Solea, muttering ‘1.7 billion, 1.7 billion’ to herself, folded the paper twice and clenched it tightly in her left hand as she walked towards the door.
Anne, who followed her, carefully grabbed Solea’s arm to support her.
“My lady. Are you okay? Are you going to the kitchen yourself?”
“Yes. No, I mean, yes.”
“The kitchen is too chaotic, so I’ll take you to the dining room. And please speak comfortably.’
“My mind isn’t in the right state for that. Alright, I understand.”
They say even a rich person can last three years after going bankrupt, but I was originally a pauper, so is this it? Making a person excited with 1.7 billion and then throwing me into this strange fantasy world before even a day has passed?
No matter what, I will return.
Unaware that Solea was internally cursing her damn fate, the loyal maid Anne swallowed her tears.
‘The young lady is in poor health, so I must serve her even more diligently!’
On the way to the dining room, the servants and attendants they encountered greeted Solea with bright smiles.
Unaccustomed to such genuine, clear smiles, Solea awkwardly avoided their gaze and merely bowed her head as she passed. Seeing this, Anne, who was supporting her, whispered quietly:
“My lady, you don’t need to bow your head. You can just smile as usual.”
“That’s even harder.”
How difficult it is to smile.
How hard it was to smile in front of interviewers when repeatedly climbing and slipping, climbing and slipping again in the job market, like a vigorous salmon swimming upstream against the current.
Each time, Ji-yoon would desperately try to think of something else.
‘Those guys sitting in front are all wearing wigs; they’d all fly away in a storm.’
‘When they clip their toenails, the blood rushes to their heads, and they have to rest for 10 minutes after clipping their right foot.’
When she thought of all sorts of ridiculous things like this, a smile would naturally appear on her face.
Sometimes, when tension would overwhelm her uncontrollably, she’d imagine the old man’s wig in the center flying away in the wind and rain. The title: ‘Mary Wigpiece Flies Away.’
With such imagination, an extremely confident smile would spread across her face.
Just once, unable to hold it in, she burst out laughing with a “pfft!” and got kicked out of the interview room with a rejection notice, but it was better than trembling nervously and not being able to do anything.
Since getting her current job, she hadn’t had to use that method for a long time as she no longer went to interviews.
Lost in these old memories as she walked, she encountered the third man.
Gray, short for “you little bastard.” He was the first one whose name she had memorized since coming here.
Gray, upon spotting Solea, approached her with a pleased expression.
“I see you have the strength to walk around?”
“Anne, does this person always talk like this?”
Ignoring Gray’s words and asking Anne, the maid looked back and forth between Gray and Solea with bewildered eyes before lowering her head deeply.
“…Ah, my lady…”
As Solea hadn’t particularly expected an answer from Anne, she walked ahead, leaving the trembling maid behind. Just as she was about to pass Gray, he grabbed her arm to stop her, speaking in a low voice.
“Do you really not remember anything?”
Solea irritably shook off his arm and glared at him, but Gray, unfazed by such a look, glanced down at his rejected hand and muttered softly.
“…What’s this, why have you gotten thinner?”
While Solea didn’t know how she usually treated this guy, Ji-yoon wasn’t Solea. Ji-yoon met his eyes directly.
“Don’t touch me carelessly.”
Gray’s large eyes, containing gray irises, widened for a moment before curving gently.
“You should have reacted like that from the start. Usually, you’d pass by with eyes full of apology, quiet as a mouse. I guess you really don’t remember anything, huh?”
Gray smirked, holding back a laugh.
“My lady. No matter how ill you are, you should eat your meals. You’re a precious person, after all.”
“That’s none of your business.”
“How is it not my concern? I’m to be your knight in shining armor.”
Knight in shining armor? This trash is going to be my knight?
Even in the middle of their power struggle, this statement was so absurd that Solea frowned and turned to look at Anne.
“Are there really no better people around Solea? To assign someone like this?”
While ‘Solea’ was a complete stranger to Ji-yoon, others didn’t see it that way. Unaware that she had referred to herself in the third person, Solea, still in a state of shock, frowned and tilted her head.
Not noticing Gray covering his mouth to laugh, Solea was lost in her own thoughts.
That good-for-nothing punk becoming my knight? Impossible. What protection do I need? I’d be lucky not to get stabbed by his sword.
Just then, Gray broke her reverie with a playful tone. His earlier stern expression was gone, replaced by a mischievous look.
“This ‘that guy’ feels hurt. Does Solea dislike Gray?”
“What?”
Seeing Solea’s disgusted reaction, Gray seemed to think he was onto something and mimicked her even more annoyingly.
“Gray heard it. You just said, ‘Are there really no better people around Solea? To assign someone like this?’ in that cracked, hoarse voice of yours.”
Finally realizing her mistake, Solea’s face turned red as she walked past Gray.
“Solea might dislike this guy, but Gray has to be Solea’s knight.”
“Don’t follow me.”
“Solea must be hungry. Should Gray take care of it?”
“Be quiet!”
“Solea can’t eat greasy food, so Solea should eat something soft!”
“Shut up!”
“Solea is angry!”
“I said shut up!”
“Gray is hearing Solea shout for the first time!”
Even as Solea tried to ignore Gray’s words and keep walking, his booming voice didn’t stop from behind.
“Gray is hearing Solea curse for the first time!”
“Gray wishes Solea would just lie down again!”
“Gray finds Solea too funny!”
“Gray is seeing Solea full of energy for the first time!”
With a red face, Solea walked into the dining room and collapsed into a chair.
“Bring me anything, food or whatever, quickly. No, please bring it.”
At those words, Anne ran towards the kitchen with a determined expression and returned a few minutes later with a warm, thick tea made from milk.
“What’s this?”
“Ah, they said eating a full meal right away might be hard on your stomach, so they told me to bring you milk tea…”
“Who? The chef?”
“…Young Master Gray.”
“What?”
Looking at Anne, who seemed uncomfortable, Solea gripped the lottery paper in her left hand more tightly. But fearing it might tear from her sweat, she quickly loosened her grip.
“I’m not drinking it.”
As soon as she pushed away the teacup, an annoying voice came from the dining room entrance.
“Aww, Gray is sad.”
Seeing him peeking out from behind the door with just his face showing, trying to act cute when he clearly wasn’t, made Solea’s blood boil. It had been just one day, less than 5 minutes of face-to-face interaction, yet he had a real talent for pissing people off.
Lacking the energy to shout like before, Solea ignored him and ordered Anne.
“Not this, please get something else. Tell the chef directly, Anne.”
“Yes, my lady.”
Hearing Solea’s fierce tone, Anne looked around nervously before leaving the dining room. Gray, who held the door for Anne to leave comfortably, strode in and sat opposite Solea.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m going to eat something too.”
“You can eat somewhere else.”
“I’ll feel at ease if the young lady is healthy.”
She couldn’t tell if he was mocking her or what, but his constant use of “young lady” was getting on her nerves. Solea sat up straight and glared at Gray.
In response, Gray slowly leaned back in his chair and smiled, lifting one corner of his mouth.
“You really don’t remember anything, huh? It’s nice to see. Hey.”
“What?”
His thick reddish-brown hair swayed gently with his head movement. His gray eyes, which had seemed empty, now focused sharply on Solea.
His distinct features strangely drew attention.
“But it’s weird how defensive you are. You always seem on edge. Anyone would think you’ve lived your whole life under threat.”
“Ha.”
“Ha?”
Solea let out a hollow laugh without realizing it and quickly erased her self-mocking smile.
I guess some things show even if your body changes.
Her father was a person who might as well not have existed. Once he left the house, it would be at least three days before he returned, sometimes a week or even a month. Whenever he did come back, if there was no one at home, he would kick, throw, and break everything in sight. Not that it was much different when people were around.
Growing up powerless under someone who wielded violence.
Living in fear her whole life, there was one time she pushed her father with all her might as he came at her with a soju bottle.
Her drunken father staggered and fell with a thud, not getting up.
Ji-yoon sprang up like a spring. Her mind was filled with thoughts of running away, but her legs felt heavy. She barely managed to slip on her sneakers and ran outside.
That night, as she ran, the pounding in her ears felt like her heart was beating throughout her entire body. She looked back several times, thinking her father might be chasing her, and even rolled down a hill like a fool, tearing her clothes.
Dad might be dead. No, … Dad might be alive.
The reason for her fear changed every moment, making Ji-yoon even more on edge. She never returned home after that day.
Time passed, and one day, strangers came to the small room behind the restaurant where she was staying.
They said her father had taken out loans in her name and demanded she repay them. They threatened that since the debt was in her name, renouncing inheritance wouldn’t work.
So he was alive.
She couldn’t help but laugh. Ji-yoon desperately asked them.
‘Is that all?’
They exchanged looks with unreadable expressions and nodded roughly.
Their “end” and Ji-yoon’s “end” might have been different, but she thought it would end someday if she kept living.
From that day, she worked tirelessly to earn money. Working twelve-hour shifts at the factory was good because it kept her mind off other things. Then, the factory manager, who had heard her story, offered to help but ran off after taking out a loan in her name, leaving her unsure where the end was.
After that, she went to various interviews but couldn’t get hired anywhere. Then, someone she met at the factory introduced her to a “family-like” company, which turned out to be just a crappy family-run business.
I thought I’d learn what family is like.
Of course. What family for someone like me.
Living like that, … Ah. Wait. My 1.7 billion. Ha, damn.
“Hey!”
Gray, who had been watching Solea frown after a moment of silence, tapped the glass with a spoon.
Clink, clink. The annoying sound made Solea look at Gray with irritated eyes.
“Hey! I told you to eat the soup! Why are you spacing out? If it’s hot, say it’s hot!”
What is he saying? This jerk with fisheyes and a bad attitude.
As Gray said, there was soup in front of Solea. She hadn’t noticed Anne bringing it while she was lost in her thoughts.
Gray continued to speak in an irritable tone.
“If you have the energy to glare, start with the soup! Just because you lost your memory, don’t go wild. Let’s see if you act like this when your memory returns. No, Anne! The soup is hot! That’s why she can’t eat it!”
“I’m sorry, I’ll cool it down and bring it back!”
As Anne reached for the plate, Solea stopped her, and Gray didn’t miss the chance to chime in again.
“I’ve never seen you put anything in your mouth. Finish that today.”
Solea chuckled and took a spoonful of soup, blew on it, and brought it to her mouth. It wasn’t that hot.
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