“Playing the role of a prince on a white horse doesn’t suit you.”

At Princess Silvia, the first imperial princess’s playful rebuke, Kaien let out a chuckle. Even he thought his behavior had been out of character.

“It seems my meddling tendencies have grown.”

Silvia silently smiled at Kaien’s retort. The two, who were cousins and childhood friends, understood each other without detailed explanations.

She too found the behavior of the young nobles tormenting a powerless lady for entertainment repulsive, but feared being noticed by Imperial Consort Marilyn and couldn’t intervene rashly. Perhaps Kaien had stepped in on behalf of her hesitation.

“Did you know who you were helping?”

“That pale woman? Her actions were as foolish as her appearance.”

Kaien recalled the woman with white silver hair and a face even whiter with fear, trembling violently.

She had desperately looked around for help, but when she seemed to have given up everything, her fading eyes troubled him enough that he ended up helping her.

Though he had acted impulsively, he was equally displeased with the woman’s pathetic response.

“Sharnia White. The eldest daughter of the White comital family.”

Silvia kindly explained for Kaien, who was unfamiliar with the capital’s social circles, but he shrugged his shoulders in response.

“Do I need to know that?”

“And she’s also Pedro’s fiancée.”

However, at Silvia’s additional information, Kaien’s face froze coldly.

“……I did something unnecessary.”

As someone who harbored great hostility toward Imperial Consort Marilyn, he couldn’t help but be indignant at the fact that he had helped her future daughter-in-law with his own hands.

When a grinding sound of teeth was heard, Silvia hurriedly tried to soothe Kaien.

“Just forget about it. You won’t have any further involvement with her……”

But before she could finish,

“Y-Your Grace the Grand Duke!”

Shasha appeared from somewhere and blocked Kaien and Silvia’s path.

She bent over to catch her breath, having apparently run quite a distance. Beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Her face was filled with joy and delight at not having lost Kaien.

‘Of all times……’

The timing couldn’t have been worse. They might encounter each other by chance someday, but it shouldn’t have been now.

Indeed, seeing Kaien’s lips twisted with anger, Silvia let out a deep sigh.

“Thank you so much for helping me. I don’t know how to repay this favor……”

“And?”

Detecting the ominous atmosphere from Kaien’s cold tone, Shasha’s eyes trembled violently.

“I-I just wanted to thank you……”

Her voice grew increasingly small as she lost confidence.

Shasha tried to maintain a smiling face, but her stiff expression and trembling lips only created an awkward smile.

“You’re doing something unnecessary.”

“Did I…… make some mistake?”

At Shasha’s cautious question, Kaien shook his head with a wry laugh.

“No, I was the one who made the mistake.”

Only then could Shasha read the deep contempt embedded in Kaien’s eyes as he stared at her.

“I should have let your hair—or your head—just be cut off.”

※※※

Standing on the bridge, Shasha stared blankly at the moon reflected in the pond.

It was her first time. Receiving help from someone.

She felt happy just knowing there was at least one person in the world who would extend a hand to her. It felt reassuring, as if she had gained an ‘ally.’

But everything had been an illusion.

More painful than Kaien’s harsh words was the terrible loneliness of feeling abandoned in the world once again.

Just then, clouds covered the moon, darkening everything around her.

Shasha had been staring glumly at the water’s surface when she lowered her head. The moment she decided to go home and tried to move, she misstepped.

Her body lost balance and fell off the bridge.

Splash.

Falling into the pond, Shasha screamed in terror at the bone-chilling cold that penetrated her.

“H-help……!”

But water rushed into her nose and mouth, preventing her from calling out properly. The more she struggled, the more her water-soaked dress wrapped around her body.

The movement of her flailing arms and legs gradually subsided. She had swallowed too much water to breathe. Her consciousness slowly faded.

‘Maybe…… this is for the best.’

The thought suddenly occurred to her. Perhaps death would be better than struggling through life.

At some point, Shasha closed her eyes and relaxed her body. The pond pulled its prey, who had lost the will to survive, deeper into its depths.

She dreamed a deep dream.

The world in her dream was unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar. Shasha watched the life of a girl named Park Hayan.¹T/N: fun fact: 하얀 (Hayan) means white

An alcoholic father, a mother who left home, terrible financial circumstances.

Hayan was born and raised in a well of misfortune.

[Won 1 share of OO Electronics!]

The stock she received from a bank account opening event was similar. The value of one share in a company she’d never even heard of was worth mere coins, not even paper money. She decided to write it off since it wasn’t worth the effort to cash it out.

[OO Electronics, record performance with daily all-time highs]

Some time later, Hayan spotted the familiar name in the newspaper and checked the account she had forgotten about.

Surprisingly, the stock’s value had multiplied several times in just one year. Hayan’s eyes widened at this unexpected profit.

From that day on, she immersed herself in studying stocks.

She sat in the local bookstore every day, reading every investment-related book she could find. While her peers were interpreting English passages, she analyzed corporate financial statements. Instead of mathematical graphs, she studied stock price charts, and rather than college entrance exam trends, she focused on economic trends.

Then one day, her father died.

It happened around the time Hayan graduated from high school. Her father, who had been moving from one construction site to another to pay for the alcohol he poured down his throat daily, was reportedly crushed under collapsed steel reinforcement bars.

The funeral, which she expected to be quiet with no relatives attending, was unexpectedly crowded with mourners.

[The worst disaster caused by a major corporation’s safety negligence]

The media flooded with articles demanding legal punishment and moral responsibility from the major construction company. Even politicians facing elections flocked to the funeral home, holding Hayan’s hands and shedding tears in front of cameras.

As nationwide sympathy boiled over, the construction company reluctantly offered a large sum of consolation money. After paying off all her old debts, Hayan was left with just over one hundred million won.

Her deliberation was brief. She invested all of this money in stocks.

During this period, the world economy had deteriorated to what could be called a Great Depression. Various indices plummeted to the bottom, and with multiple adverse factors such as interest rate hikes, the prevailing opinion was that the economic crisis would continue for some time.

People around her criticized her for wasting the compensation for her father’s death. But Hayan remained steadfast. According to her thinking, while success couldn’t be guaranteed in the volatile stock market, she was confident that at least she wouldn’t fail.

A year later, the investment of 100 million achieved an astonishing return of 3,000%, coming back as 3 billion.

“It was just luck. They say beginners have good fortune.”

Some people envied Hayan’s success and belittled her achievements. They spewed malicious comments disguised as concern, saying money easily earned would be easily spent.

However, a few years later, Hayan became what people called a «super ant», managing hundreds of billions in funds.

After spending her intense twenties working hard, Hayan decided to welcome her thirties at a famous overseas resort. It was her first trip ever and her first vacation.

Time spent on the private beach was peaceful. Floating in the sea made all her accumulated fatigue seem to melt away.

But the calm sea suddenly changed. Waves that suddenly turned angry swallowed Hayan in an instant.

As she struggled, continuously swallowing salt water, Hayan’s body eventually went limp.

And so Hayan died.

And Shasha woke up.

※※※

Bang!

Jenny, a maid belonging to the White’s household, threw the door open without knocking. Seeing Shasha still in bed, she twisted her face in disgust.

‘Lucky b*tch.’

She wanted to run to the Countess White and tattle about Shasha’s lazy behavior, but the Countess had already gone out.

“The Count wants you to come downstairs.”

Jenny banged on the door with her palm. Her curt tone and stance with one leg cocked was excessively disrespectful for a maid addressing her master’s daughter.

Shasha, who had been lying in bed, slowly raised herself. She was still wearing the dress from last night’s party without changing, and for some reason, her entire body was soaking wet.

Sitting on the bed with a vacant expression, Shasha’s concerning appearance suggested something had happened at the party.

But Jenny wasn’t one to care about such circumstances. When Shasha, who would normally have jumped out of bed while watching her reaction, was taking her time, an angry Jenny stomped her feet.

“Can’t you move a little fas—!”

As Jenny was shouting, her eyes met Shasha’s, and she unconsciously closed her mouth. The green eyes that were always dull were now gleaming coldly.

“……Get ready and come out quickly.”

Jenny tried to hide her confusion as she barely managed to finish her sentence. But she couldn’t conceal her trembling voice.

Escaping from the room like she was fleeing, Jenny belatedly reviewed the situation.

‘Did she eat something weird?’

She couldn’t say exactly what, but something was definitely off. Remembering Shasha’s gaze as she stared at her expressionlessly, Jenny felt a chill run down her spine.

‘Right, I need to clean the room before the Mistress returns.’

Rubbing her goosebump-covered forearms, Jenny ultimately used work as an excuse to hurry away.