As she flipped through the diary with a blank stare, different contents unfolded.
Send me home. The rabbit-like 1.7 billion is waiting for me, neck stretched out.
Wait, is that gray fish-eyed guy’s full name ‘Gray, you bastard?’ His vibes are warm-toned. Did he hold a grudge against me? Why is he pretending to be cute? If his face was just a bit less handsome, I would’ve fought him.
Why is the pink-haired one acting so sketchy?
The uniquely Korean sentiment of ‘That’s science’ still remains in me, is he living up to his looks?
The thoughts Ji-yoon had after entering Solea’s body were written down as they were.
But she swore she had never written in a place like this. She hadn’t been here for more than a few days, and this was her first time in this study.
She didn’t even know she could write until she read the list Duke Diego had just handed her, so there was no way she could have written this.
Solea’s face turned pale as she read the diary.
“…Could it be that future events are written down too?”
With trembling hands, she carefully turned the page, but the next pages were blank.
She grabbed the paper with her fingers and flipped through from the very back, but they were all empty pages. Then, something fell to the floor.
It was a black pen.
“What’s this?”
Could it be that I can only write on this paper with this pen? If I write about future events here, can I go back?
With an excited heart, Solea picked up the pen and held it to the paper. There was only one phrase she wanted to write.
‘Safely return to the original world holding the 1.7 billion won lottery ticket’
Just as the pen tip was about to touch the paper, it felt as if some force was pushing the pen tip away, making it impossible to even make a single dot.
It was like the force of two magnets with the same pole repelling each other.
Solea put the diary on the floor and held the pen with both hands. She temporarily tucked the precious lottery ticket between her sleeves, took a deep breath, and with renewed determination, she tried to put the pen to the paper with a ‘hup’ sound.
“…Ugh, ah… Come on, please…!”
She groaned, putting her whole body weight on the pen, trying to drop even a single drop of ink on the paper, but no matter how hard she tried, it wouldn’t touch.
“Twang!”
Despite exerting so much force that she broke a sweat, it was useless. Angry, she threw the pen, and the black pen rolled into a corner.
Ah, no matter how angry I am, I shouldn’t throw the pen. In this situation, that damn pen is my only hope.
Her fingers tingled from the effort. Moreover, her muscles from her shoulder to her arm felt torn and painful.
If someone saw me, they’d think I did 50 push-ups.
Solea crawled on her knees and picked up the pen again.
She didn’t know exactly what it was, but it was definitely a necessary item. After inserting the pen into the diary, Solea stood up.
She slipped out from between the bookshelves and approached the desk. Solea tried to bring many pens on the desk close to the diary, but when they got too close, the pens would split with a cracking sound.
“What, is this all there is?”
They just don’t want to give away 1.7 billion for free. Damn this world. Is this their way of saying nothing is free?
With a very angry expression, Solea gathered the diary and the black pen and left the study.
As soon as she exited the study, she heard the worried voices of people.
“The young lady is missing!”
“Anne! Weren’t you with the young lady when she finished talking with the Duke and left the room?”
“I just went to the bathroom for a moment, really just a moment!”
Amidst the voices of Anne and the other maids, there was an unwelcome voice, breathless as if he had been running.
“Did she faint somewhere again? Did you check the back garden?”
“Yes, young master. I checked thoroughly…”
“I’ll go check again.”
As Gray crossed the hallway with strong steps and turned the corner, he collided with Solea.
“Ah!”
“Wow, you scared me!”
She was about to say, ‘Im here.’ If only this buffalo-like guy hadn’t suddenly rammed into her.
As Gray, who was running, kicked her leg with his outstretched foot, Solea’s forehead slammed into his chest, and she fell backward.
“…You, fish-eyed bas…”
Before she could finish her curse, Solea fainted.
Before opening her eyes, Solea prayed earnestly.
Please. Let it be home. I won’t complain about it being a semi-basement. If you just return the 1.7 billion intact, I promise to live quietly and well. I won’t curse my life anymore and will gratefully live the rest of my life thrillingly with the given 1.7 billion. Please. Really, please.
Unknowingly, she mouthed ‘please, please,’ and a nervous voice popped out.
“Are you awake?”
With a voice full of irritation, Solea glared at the owner of the voice with wide eyes.
“Why are you snapping at me? You’re the one who—ouch!”
As she tried to sit up, a wave of pain hit her, and Solea fell back again. Just as her head was about to hit the headboard, Gray, who was standing by the window, quickly approached and supported her head with his hand.
“Are you okay? Your leg is broken.”
“What?”
“…Your leg is broken.”
Even if the leg pain was because of that, her head, which Gray was supporting, also hurt, as did her stomach, chest, shoulders—there wasn’t a place that didn’t hurt. It felt like someone had beaten her up.
In a cold voice, Solea spoke to Gray.
“Did you hit me?”
“No!”
Startled, Gray let go of her head as if tossing it, causing Solea to be thrown back onto the bed.
“Ouch! You damn bastard!”
“Why would I hit you!”
“Then why does my whole body hurt like this!”
Maybe it was because he was acting so casually first. For some reason, it was easy to speak harshly to Gray. As Solea questioned him with an indignant voice, Gray, who had been looking at her with a sullen expression, turned his eyes elsewhere.
“…It’s because you’re weak.”
“What did you say, jerk?”
“Jerk?”
“Yeah, jerk!”
You wouldn’t know how tough one has to be to survive in South Korea as a young person with nothing but debt. You silver-spooned, fish-eyed bastard.
Solea gritted her teeth and shouted.
“Where are you looking when you walk! Call the insurance company!”
“In-insurance?”
“…H-hospital!”
“The doctor already came and left. They’ve immobilized your leg, so stop moving. They said that because you’re so weak, you seem to have been more severely impacted than a normal person when you collided with me. Other areas should heal in a few days, but your leg will need at least two months of rest to heal without magic.”
“Two months?”
The period to claim lottery winnings is one year. To waste two months when every day is precious…
Who’s going to compensate for the time lost while lying still in bed?
As Solea remained still with her mouth wide open in shock, Gray stood awkwardly for a moment, then approached her with a thin book he picked up from the table.
“…If you’re going to the study, tell someone before you go. You know everyone in this mansion is watching you, so why did you do that? … Jerk.”
That petty gray fish-eyed bastard.
Grinding her teeth internally, Solea reached out to receive the diary. However, as Gray was about to hand over the diary to Solea, he suddenly pulled it back towards himself.
“Is this so important? Important enough that you couldn’t hear my footsteps because you were hugging it to your chest?”
“It’s important… yeah. And I did hear your footsteps. I just couldn’t gauge the distance because you came running like a herd of cattle.”
Solea was about to ask if Gray had read the contents of the diary when she noticed his face turning bright red.
“Why is your face like that?”
Gray turned his reddened face to the side and stammered.
“…You’re an adult now, uh, I get it, but looking for, uh, such things, no. I didn’t even know there were such books in the study.”
“…What do you mean?”
Before Solea could finish her sentence, Gray spoke up first.
“I hid it and brought it here because I thought it might be embarrassing for the maids to see, but don’t look at it too often.”
“What, what do you think it is?”
No matter how she thought about it, his reaction was strange.
If he had read the contents of the diary, the normal reaction would be to ask what it meant. Even if he were simple-minded, he should be asking, ‘Is the gray fish-eyed person in the diary talking about me?’
In response to Solea’s question, Gray’s face turned red, and even his fingertips holding the diary blushed.
“…It’s ‘Madame Remsha’s Secret Affairs,’ isn’t it?”
“Huh?”
Gray couldn’t bring himself to look at Solea, his eyes darting left and right as he did his best to avoid her gaze.
“I understand. It can happen. Being in the mansion all day, such, uh… books, yeah. You might get curious. It’s okay.”
“Wait, wait. Read it. Is that what it says?”
“Stop pretending you don’t know! Hey!”
“No, I’m telling you to read it!”
“This? Read this? Now? Here? In front of you?”
Gray, who had been half-turned away since handing over the book, jumped in surprise and stood straight facing Solea.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry for bumping into you! Hey! But that doesn’t mean you need to make me do this!”
“I said read it!”
Seeing Solea genuinely shouting for the first time, Gray couldn’t refuse.
Moreover, the large purple lump on Solea’s forehead and the ice pack she was holding to the back of her head, its temperature regulated by magic, further stimulated his guilt.
“O-okay. Don’t go around telling people I read this kind of stuff.”
“Oh, come on…”
“…Really, don’t tell anyone.”
“I said okay!”
Biting his lower lip and flipping through the pages, Gray cautiously asked Solea.
“Um, where should I start reading?”
Oh, this frustrating idiot. As Solea glared at him as if to pierce through him, Gray hastily continued.
“I mean, since you’re hurt and can’t read, I’m reading it for you. So, you need to tell me where to start. Should I, uh, just open it randomly and read? Yeah, let’s do that.”
Gray tried to act calm and bold as he opened the book. Then, letting out a short groan of ‘ugh,’ he began to read the erotic book in his pleasant low voice.
“…A moan escaped through Madame Remsha’s teeth. …Should I continue reading?”
As Solea glared without answering, Gray adjusted his grip on the book with trembling hands, squinting his reddened eyes tightly shut and then opening them.
“…Madame, aren’t you being too hasty? Hearing Erasto’s low moan, Madame Remsha chuckled softly. Heheh. Then she kissed him passionately as if to swallow his excited breath.”
“Is that really what it says?”
“Yes, it’s true!”
With a face that looked like it was about to explode, Gray tossed the book onto the bedside table and retreated as if fleeing.
“How can I read this! I’m not doing it! I’m not reading it! Once you’re better, you read it! Read it alone! I’m done! You crazy person!”
“Crazy person? You said I’m your sister!”
“You don’t even call me brother, so what kind of brother am I!”
Gray shouted and was about to head towards the door when a knock was heard.
Gray jumped in place like a startled deer, then quickly returned, shoved the book into the bottom drawer, and said calmly.
“Come in.”
“Anyone would think this is your room.”
The person who entered was Anne.
“What is it?”
“The young lady’s friends have come to visit. They only heard that the fever had subsided and didn’t know about the leg injury. What should we do, my lady? Can you meet them?”
Solea, with a large lump on her forehead, was shocked to hear herself referred to in the third person again.
“Solea has friends?”
Gray shook his head and told Anne.
“Cover the wound on her face roughly and call them in. Solea couldn’t refuse when friends came to visit. …Though I don’t know if she liked it.”
After instructing Anne, Gray turned to Solea and smiled.
“Gray will leave. Solea didn’t like it when Gray was around when she met her friends.”
“Solea?”
Still not realizing the oddity and referring to herself in the third person, Solea saw Gray smile more gently than before. It was a somewhat bittersweet smile but still full of mischief.
“If your friends bother you, call your brother.”
“Brother, my foot.”
“Right. I do sound like a brother. I do.”
After Gray left, Anne and the other maids quickly came in to tidy up Solea’s face as she lay there.
What kind of friends are they that I have to meet them even at a time like this?
Leave a Reply