“Meldenique! Something as worthless as you have no place in our family.”

I agree.

Meldenik Vaveloa, the woman whom I possessed not long ago, has already gambled more than a billion bekrel with this hand.

(Note: bekrel is their currency)

Ten billion bekrel.

In this world, 30 million bekrel is the annual income of an average four-member household. Of course, it is understandable that the Duke is angry.

Meldenique had no talent for business at all.

Of course, her poor performance in business was due to her family’s circumstances.

Madame Hildegardt, her stepmother, interferes with everything she does.

But the Duke of Vaveloa, the father of this body, will not take that fact into consideration.

‘Because he hates me.’

I stared at the face of Duke Vaveloa who was sitting opposite to me. Sure enough, his face was redder than a ripe tomato.

I can tell very well what will come next from that venomous look in his eyes.

“Take this money and get the hell out of here. I don’t want to see you again!”

He threw me a big pile of money.

Maybe he was trying to throw it in my face. But luckily, the reflexes of this body were quite good.

I smiled inside and snatched the bundle of money he threw at my face.

Nice catch!

“Yes. I hope I never see you again, too.”

As I said that, I carefully packed the thick bundle of money in my pre-prepared pocket.

‘I knew you’d pay me and kick me out.’

I’ve been waiting for this day!

The Duke of Vaveloa, who had gazed at me for a minute as I quickly grabbed the pile of money and jammed it into my pocket, stammered and asked.

“You… what the hell is that pocket… no, you dare you challenge me?”

Was it because of anger? His green eyes shook relentlessly, and his blond hair, which there wasn’t a lot of, trembled like petals in the wind.

“Are you?”

I shook my head and shrugged.

“No.”

He must be thinking.

His daughter, who would usually turn the floor into a sea of tears, actually left him in such a cold way.

“I’m trying to do what you want me to do.”

Meldenique would have been furious and would not have been kicked out of the family thanks to her crying performance.

But I’ve been eyeing a chance to be kicked out of this family.

I can feel the weight of the pile of money in my arms.

“I also feel extremely indebted for not leading the business properly…”

In fact, there was no huge debt.

I think Mrs. Hildegart is the one responsible for ruining my business.

“Well, you said get out of here, so I’m leaving!”

I turned away from him, who was still staring at me.

The money that my father, the Duke, cherishes more than his bloodline, has already been gambled away. So, it’s better not to show up in front of him until his anger moderately fades.

I’ve been planning to leave this house anyway.

I didn’t want to be tied to this stupid family and die while fighting for the successor position.

Besides, there was something else I wanted to do.

‘Goodbye, Duke.’

Having been distracted for a while, he soon came to his senses and shouted loudly against my back as I left.

‘What funny noises. Even if he comes back and begs with money, I won’t accept it.’

I turned my head and stared at him.

‘Pity? How funny.’

I greeted him with the brightest smile the Duke of Vaveloa had ever seen.

“Yes! Goodbye!”

I had no intention of pleading from the beginning. I grinned and slipped through the crack of the open door.

Now this family is completely insulated!

I hummed, convinced that the Duke of Vaveloa, who abhorred me, would excommunicate me right away.

─── · 。ﾟ☆:.☽.* :☆ﾟ. ───

Although I received money from the Duke Vaveloa, I had to leave this family as soon as possible.

The Duke Vaveloa could say, “No matter how much I think about it, I don’t want to give you the money!” And then Hildegardt, the Duchess and my stepmother, would chase after me, take my money away, and I’d be defeated.

Back in my room, I changed into my lightest outdoor dress.

The dresses of this world were rich and elegant, making it difficult to change without maids. However, I wore a light, fluttery dress that didn’t need a petticoat.

I wore a sky-blue, long-sleeved, muslin dress and buttoned it. I looked in a mirror for the last time.

In front of the mirror stood a young, beautiful woman with a nervous expression.

Glossy, wavy blonde hair that comes down to the waist, pale skin and big, light green eyes that don’t show what they’re thinking.

It’s been months since I became her, but I haven’t adapted to this face yet.

After wiping my face a few times, I packed my things.

The money received from Duke Vaveloa, a pocket containing about 200 million bekrels, and a small gift left by my birth mother after her death, were pressed into a magic bag.

For the time being, I can enjoy his daily life.

‘Now I really have to get out!’

But as I was about to leave straight after all my preparations, I ran into an unexpected difficulty.

“Oh, my lady! Where are you going in this cold weather……!” said Rosalyn, my maid, who looked at me trying to carry a load of luggage.

Rosalyn, who has been by my side since childhood, was the only woman in this family who liked me. I whispered casually, looking down at her gray hair.

“It’s not cold right now. It’s March, when flowers bloom. It’s spring.”

“T-then… where are you going?”

“To make my dream come true.”

It didn’t take very long for Rosalyn’s expression to turn into astonishment.

‘No, I’m trying to make my dream come true. Why are you so upset?’

Rosalyn carefully clutched my dress.

How dare a maid hold their master’s dress. Something like that shouldn’t happen.

But the hand holding my dress did not loosen, and she murmured quietly.

“A-are you going to Duke Hesman? You want to go… marry or propose to him?”

Oh, right.

Come to think of it, people think of my dream as ‘marry the Duke of Hesman and become Duchess.’

I recalled my fiancé, Duke Lenox Hesman.

“How long has it been since you stopped sending letters to Duke Hesman… I-I thought you g-gave up, but…”

I looked down at the crying Rosalyn and wondered how I should explain it.

‘It’s understandable. Meldenique obsession with Lenox was too much.’

The former Meldenique had a pure crush on her fiancé despite her reputation as a cruel woman.

But I’m not her.

The indifferent, chic and cold duke of the North was not my cup of tea.

‘I prefer handsome, younger guys. I won’t take a cold male lead.’

“What do you mean proposal? I’m not interested in Duke Hesman anymore.”

The maid’s face, who was staring at me as I answered carelessly, turned to a confused expression.

“T-then?”

I glanced at the maid.

I’ve been indifferent all along, but I couldn’t hide my nervousness while thinking about “what I really want to do.”

No one knows exactly why the novel romance fantasy novel, lovers Caught in Magic, title was named that. It had nothing to do with the content.

The novel was a harlequin-style, ordinary romance fantasy.

(note: meaning guy x girl story)

The story is about a cold but perfect male lead, Duke Hesman, who had a forbidden romance with a noble lady admired by all, Sheria.

‘It would have been great if I had become the main character or the extras instead.’

But I was Meldenique, the half-sister of the heroine and the fiancée of the male lead. She even tried to kill Sheria out of jealousy, so her neck was cut off.

‘A villainess. I hate this reality, but I can’t help it.’

I fell back into thought, letting out a trembling breath, and made eye contact with the maid who was looking at me.

It was only a few months ago that all kinds of bad modifiers came into Meldenique’s body.

I denied my reality, hitting my head on the desk, but the curse got worse.

But no matter what I did, I wasn’t able to go back to my original body.

So what did I do?

After a few ups and downs, I boldly gave up going back to my original life.

And after organizing the timeline of the original novel, I thought for a long time about what I wanted to do in my second life and what my real dream was.

‘I’m going to do everything I want to do.’

There was someone I envied when I was in elementary school. The owner of the stationery store right in front of my elementary school.

Beer candy, snacks, sweet food!

It was not only once or twice that I was possessed by the magical items they put out.

I carried my bag of money and living necessities like a bundle on my shoulder, and whispered quietly into the ear of my maid, as if it were a secret.

It was cute seeing her swallowing her saliva.

“My dream is to be a stationery store owner.”

Selling school supplies, notebooks, dalgona, and even beer candy.

So that all the children on this continent can use the things I make, and make pleasant memories while eating the sweet junk foods I make!

‘Just you wait, cute kids!’

“M-my lady! I don’t exactly kn-know what that is, but……! It’s a new business item, right?”

Unlike me, who was excited, the maid stood firmly in front of the door.

‘Is there no stationery store for kids in this world?’

I calmly rummaged through Meldenique’s memory with my maid in front of me.

Come to think of it, there was no such thing as a stationery store for children like in Korea.

It seemed that the only real stationery stores were classified as ‘miscellaneous goods stores’.

‘There’s no stationery store. Only miscellaneous goods stores. Isn’t that too vague?’

I think I’m presenting a pretty unfamiliar business item.

Of course, a series of strange and unique business items presented by me and the former Meldenique in the past have been ruined.

So it was understandable that the maid was suddenly scared when I said that I will be presenting items that she had never heard of or seen.

Do you think I’m going to get kicked out of the family because my business has failed every time?

“I-if you leave your family and fail again… you may not be able to wear your favourite satin dress!”

Rosalyn shouted, desperately blocking me.

But I don’t need an uncomfortable satin dress.

“It doesn’t matter.”

I answered, shaking my head.

“You won’t be able to eat the fancy food made by the chief chef from the Imperial Palace! You’ll only be able to eat porridge and whole wheat bread, which are both commoner foods!”

The original Meldenique was an immature villainess, but I am a commoner from Korea. I used to eat rice, kimchi, and ramen.

I passed Rosalyn with a small smile.

“I like porridge and whole wheat bread. They’re healthy food.”

Meldenique was also 25 years old this year. I’m already old enough to take care of myself.

Is her dissuasion almost over now? I brushed past Rosalyn. Then she cried out from behind my back.

Maybe that’s her point.

“What if Mrs. Hildegardt bothers you! Without your family’s protection, you might really die…”

There was nothing wrong with Rosalyn’s words. In the original 『Lovers Caught in Magic』, Duchess Hildegardt Vaveloa ended up killing Meldenique.

I thought about the entire original story, looking at Rosalyn, who was crying with worry.

Let’s get things right.

I was at the bottom, except for my present position.

The woman I possessed was Meldenique Vaveloa, the fiancée of the male lead and the villainess in the romance fantasy novel 『Lovers Caught in Magic』.

Her biological mother was the last direct descendant of the Marquis Kinoa, rumoured to have lost all of their magical powers under the curse of the Dragon.

Perhaps because of that, most of the direct lineage of the Marquis Kinoa died early in life, and so did Meldenique’s mother.

‘And Meldenique was starting to get backed into a corner.’

After her mother died, her stepmother and sister came straight to Duke Vaveloa.

And since then, Meldenique’s wickedness and the bad rumours about her started.

‘There’s a rumour that she’s cursed, and she started losing her business as she grows up, so she deserves to be blamed for being evil…’

The important thing is that Lenox and Meldenique have been engaged since birth in 『Lovers Caught in Magic』.

Nevertheless, Lenox and Meldenique’s half-sister Sheria ignored her and passionately loved each other.

Meldenique, who has been struggling to break up the two, was criticized by people. It’s ridiculous.

‘In the novel, even though they were having an affair, Meldenique would look to be the one interrupting them.’

In the end, Meldenique was killed by Hildegardt, the Duchess Vaveloa and the mother of Sheria, and after her death, the two lovers met a happy ending without hindrance.

Isn’t it an unlucky ending?

I smiled flatly, looking at the maid.

The maid seemed to want me to stay here and get the protection of my family.

But that’s what she says because she doesn’t know how Meldenique falls and dies in the original.

‘Even if I stay here, I’ll die if you disobey Hildegardt.’

I’m afraid that my maid with innocent eyes will cry if I say that…

Instead, I muttered in a low voice.

“Even if you hold me back, do you think I’ll stay?”

I’m leaving for now.

It’s annoying to be a hindrance to the love affair between a man and a woman, and to die for nothing.

‘If I won’t get involved any more, I’m on my way.’

That’s what I would be doing if she wasn’t clingy.

Despite my sincere words, the maid sweated on her forehead and wept.

She seemed to recall the humorous things that Meldenique had been subjected to so far.

“Y-you’ve been beaten every time you…! I’m worried. Please, be careful.”

I walked towards the maid and stroked her lovely hair and said, “Don’t worry. I’ve got everything in mind.”

Hildegardt Vaveloa.

Meldenique’s stepmother and duchess.

If you’re thinking of me as Meldenique Vaveloa so far, you’re mistaken. I know roughly what she will do.

I looked at the maid, recalling the thick, sturdy pile of money in my luggage bag.

“Maybe it’ll be fun.”

“My lady…”

“I’ll call you if it goes well.”

I went out of the mansion once again with my attire and called out a rental carriage, not the carriage of Duke Vaveloa.

It was when I was trying to get on the wagon in my unusual dress.

Perhaps the conversation I had with the Duke quickly spread inside the mansion, and people flocked one by one near the carriage. And they started whispering all around me.

Of course, I could hear their curses one by one.

“Is she finally getting kicked out?”

“And so is the end of the villainess.”

“……yes, which relative would she go to? We all know her blood is cursed.”

Oh, you motherf*cker.

“Unlike madame Hildegardt and the lovely Sheria.”

I ignored those who spoke presumptuously on the subject of me leaving.

The reason why those who dare to swear at a Duke’s daughter can survive in a society of a solid status system is that my mother was the last direct descendant of the late Marquis Kinoa who was cursed.

My stepmother, Duchess Vaveloa, hated me, and my biological father, Duke Vaveloa, didn’t protect me at all.

Meldenique, a poor villainess who had no one on her side and no power, had no choice but to be isolated from her family.

“Her nickname is the Duke’s Ugly Duckling.”

“What does lady Sheria like about her?”

Sheria was as good as an angel. She was also a famous heroine who forgave the original Meldenique for trying to hurt her.

‘So people hated me even more.’

I ignored all of their voices and looked at the horseman of the carriage. I didn’t want to deal with them one by one.

“Where should I take you?”

I opened my mouth at the horseman because there was no servant to explain on my behalf.

“Let’s go to the slums.”

And after that, I got into the carriage without an escort.

I was seen as ignorant and uncultured, so I didn’t care about how clumsy I was.

I’m not even going to see them again anyway, so what’s wrong?

Duke Vaveloa may not think of it as a perfect insulation or scandal, but it was different from my point of view.

I will never come back to the duke family again.

I leaned against the back of the chair with my back against it and opened the window of the carriage.

Furthermore, I could see the mercenaries and some neighbourhood people, who came near the carriage and gossiped about me with perplexed faces.

“Everyone.”

I lifted my middle finger in front of everyone.

They’ll never know what it means. But I know it’s a curse.

I shouted in a very grand, elegant and sweet voice, as if I was reading a majestic Bible.

“Go f*ck yourselves.”

Again, I have no intention of coming back.

I hummed and closed the curtains in the window, which had its own noise-cancelling system.

I hope you all get f*cked.

Furthermore, I’ll eat and live alone!

I was sitting in the carriage thinking about what to do.

Now that I have exited myself, Duchess Vaveloa will pursue the marriage between Lenox and Sheria with great success.

But you never know. The Duchess may try to get rid of me completely.

‘Hm. It’s a possibility.’

I nodded, remembering what she had done to Meldenik.

So before opening the stationary store, it was necessary to select the best escort immediately.

So the first thing I chose to do, in order to avoid death, was to meet Dominic, the sword of the Empire who was called a hero.

Inside the somewhat rattling carriage, I specifically recalled the hero, Dominic, the sword.

Dominic, a boy who saved the Empire at the age of seventeen.

A long time ago, heroic and epic stories about him covered the whole Empire.

About a thousand years ago, Demons exiled from the divine world tried to summon the devil to conquer the human race, as a result, the imperial system was un turmoil.

Then a young knight suddenly appeared on the battlefield.

He found a way to seal the demons at his own expense, which was to seal them with his magic sword.

So the Empire regained peace through Dominic’s sacrifice.

Of course, Dominic had to survive a thousand years in the sword. Looking forward to having someone summon him and to release the seal that held him in.

‘In the original work, Lenox got more praise than Dominic.’

The great hero was summoned from the old sword, and when he was crowned Emperor, it was almost unseemly treason.

So much so, that Dominic was a powerful and symbolic figure.

If I let it be, it would be a chance for Dominic to become a true hero and guardian of the Empire….

‘But now, that Dominic is mine.’

I hummed.

‘If you summon Dominic, who was the strongest knight in the Empire, I won’t die so easily by Hildegart.‘

It’s none of my business whether the glorious future of an infidelity disappears or not.

I have to survive first, don’t I?

Meanwhile, my carriage finally reached the slums.

I grinned inwardly as I saw the space filled with a chilly atmosphere.

Then I tapped on the window of the carriage.’

“I’ll get off here.”

“What?”

When I said ‘I’ll get off here,’ the coachman stopped the carriage, but he seemed flustered.

Standing in front of the window of the carriage, leaving the horse unattended, he whispered with a restless face.

“Lady, do you really want to get off here?”

“Yes.”

“However this is the most humble cemetery, even in the slums……”

It surely was not a place for aristocratic spirits to stop by in the middle of the night. But I grinned at him and looked out the window of the carriage.

A chill that sticks to your cheek, and even weeds that mess up your dress.

“I came perfectly.”

“What?”

This was a cemetery in the slums that has been abandoned due to the famous rumors of ghosts appearing. And if my memory is correct, there will be a big mausoleum with the name ‘Dominic’ in front of the tombstone.

“I know.”

I gave the horseman a chic answer and got off the carriage.

I gave the coachman a wink as if I were great.

“I-It’s already dinner, so…… g-g-ghosts might appear. B-Be careful.”

The coachman got worried again as he drove back.

Seeing the back of the fast-moving carriage, I lifted up my light load on my shoulder.

‘I died and possessed, there’s no way I’m afraid of ghosts.’

I’m a ghost too.

I walked into the cemetery with my luggage in both hands.

Every step of the way, a chill permeated my dress. However, I already died, so the cold was not a big deal.

I enjoyed this gruesome situation and took a leisurely look around.

‘Where are you, Hero Dominic?’

No on would have thought that the sword that sealed the hero was stuck in the cemetery.

Perhaps that’s why in the original version, Dominic’s contract, Lenox, also discovered the sword late.

‘Even after the discovery, it took a long time to summon the sword.’

People think that great things should be gained with difficulty. However, sometime the easiest and simplest solution was the most deliberate solution.

In fact, there was nothing much to do with summoning Dominic for a contract.

‘To summon Dominic from the sword, just pull the sword out.’

You just had to pull the sword out, but Lenox wandered for a long time after learning its location because he didn’t know how to summon Dominic in it.

I, who briefly mourned him in the original, walked through a cold cemetery with no one else in it.

By the time my fingertips got cold and a few laps, I was finally able to stand in front of the biggest tombstone.

‘I found it’

A moss-covered sword was placed in front of the tombstone.

I didn’t care about the moss, so I put my hand on the handle of the sword. Perhaps because of my mood, it felt like there was a mysterious force on my hand.

And I pulled the sword at once without much thought. I had a slight sore wrist, but it was eventually pulled straight out of the black ground.

Before I knew it, a white light began to dominate my vision.

The light that dominated my field of vision turned white in front of my eyes.

Because I couldn’t see anything, I closed my eyes tightly and then opened them again. In front of the tombstone, without a sound, there was a young man who was taller than me.

‘Was the summon successful?’

I handed him the sword I was holding in my hand.

He took up the sword with a displeased face. The sword disappeared from his hand as if it wad been weathering.

“Who are you?”

Listening to his half-locked voice, I was convinced that the summon was successful.

What was in front of me was the appearance of Dominic depicted in the novel.

A handsome man with black hair and blue jewels. He was a young man with a very high nose and soft hair, but he also looked rebellious at first glance because of his stern eyes.

‘Exactly like how the original described him.’

Confident that the man in front of me was Dominic, I opened my mouth.

“I’m Meldenik Vaveloa, Mel for short. You’re Dominic, caked the Sword of Heroes, right? The great hero who sealed the devil.”

His expression, which seemed interested at first glance, cooled down.

“So you know me. You called me for something you want, Mel.”

“Make a contract with me.”

But as soon as Dominic heard the word contract, he lost interest and sat down in front of the large tombstone.

“A contract…… It’s so obvious and boring. You’re obvious too. You’ll try to use me to satisfy your self-interest.”

Dominic was unexpectedly cynical.

I shrugged at him and spoke.

“You’re right.”

“……you’re admitting it right away like this?”

“Yeah.”

Because he’s right that I’m trying to satisfy my self-interests.

Dominic looked up at me with a puzzled look.

“……fine. What’s your wish? I’ll decide whether to make the contract or not.”

Dominic spoke with a puzzled look.

“Protect my life.”

I answered quickly as if I had waited. Protect me from Hildegart!

“……of course I’ll risk my life to protect my contacted. Other than that? What can I give you?”

That was all of my terms and conditions.

“Other than that……”

I tilted my head.

What else do I need?

“Nothing really.”

“……nothing really? Why? You said you were going to satisfy your self-interest.”

He seemed speechless.

It’s no wonder. So far, most of the people who wanted to make a contract with him wanted to conquer the entire continent. But I want to live a quiet life.

“Yeah. That’s why I asked you to protect me, you know?”

He asked, looking at me with a puzzled look.

“What’s with you. You want me to protect you? From who? Is it that you can’t tell me you want to conquer the Empire?”

“No, I don’t need an Empire.”

He looked at me with a glare in his eyes at my decisive answer.

“T-then, what do you want?”

I suddenly thought I had something I wanted.

Come to think of it, there is something I did want.

“In fact, I am rather ambitious.

He laughed cynically as if he knew.

Looking down at Dominic, I delivered what I told my maid earlier.

“I’m going to run a stationary store in front of the Academy. Please be the escort who will protect me at my stationary store.”

A really strong escort.

I smiled with a twinkle.

The boy, who was staring at my smile, soon nodded vigorously.

“A stationary store……? Ah, I see now.”

Oh, as expected. Is it because you’ve lived a long life as a sword, you know what a stationary store is?

I looked at him with glistening eyes of hope.

“I guess your going to call a new built Empire a ‘Stationary Store.’ You have a good sense of naming. Do you have any other name?”

What is he talking about?

You’ve been stuck in a sword for so long you’ve gone crazy. I want to be a stationary store owner, not an Emperor!

Of course, my dream is to be a stationary store owner who will command children from all over the continent.

However, Dominic had a force-oriented ability, so except for basic magic, he had zero points in the sales category.

So even if I make a wish to become God, I won’t be able to achieve it through Dominic.

All I want from his one thing: to save my life!

I answered him with a bright smile.

“A stationary store is like a grocery store. What’s different from a grocery store is that it sells food for children, school supplies for children, and miscellaneous goods. Sounds fun, right?”

“Fun?”

“Yeah.”

I nodded vigorously at him.

“It’s a very easy job for you. And you’ve always wanted to get away from the sword.”

The sword of heroes, Dominic’s dream was to escape the sword. And there was only one condition that let’s Dominic escape from the sword.

To grant a contractor’s wish perfectly.

“I know that if you grant the contractor’s wish perfectly, you can get out of the sword and live as a real human being.”

Dominic asked back with a frown.

“How do you know that.”

……this sword, he’s sharp?

But I can’t say that I read it in the original novel.

I made up my mind to change the subject quickly.

“It’s not important how I know. It’s important that if you keep a good eye on me and my stationary store, you can escape from the sword.”

And my operation worked.

The young hero, who lived in the sword for over a thousand years, came to nod his head vigorously.

“……yeah, that’s right. It’s really an easy and comfortable road. It’s a bit disappointing for some reason……”

He looked at me with a half-dumb face and half-dissatisfied face, then jumped up.

Figures, he did love smashing things in the original.

“Anyway, I look forward to working with you, Mel.”

I was pleased to see the young joy in his bright face.

Then let’s slowly tell him about the stationary store.

“The building for the stationary store is already prepared.”

I scoured the clutch that had been clasped to one side of my arm and handed him a tiny apron.

At my quick hands, Dominic looked at me with a sullen look.

“Here, let’s put on the apron first.”

And that’s how the sword, Dominic, took the apron from my hands, shaking.