Chapter 1. The Circumstances of That Woman and That Man

Shimmering platinum blonde hair was the pride of the Langston women. Their bright green eyes and fair skin, even in midsummer, were dazzling.

Especially the eldest, Marianne of the Langston Barony, was famous for being beautiful and lovely, and she was indeed very popular.

Of course, the second daughter, Hailey, was just as beautiful as her sister in terms of appearance.

However, Hailey was not popular. On the contrary, men who met Hailey were often startled and quick to run away.

There were two reasons for this: one was that she was a tall woman, standing at 175cm.

The men imagined the daughters of the Langston family to be dazzlingly beautiful and lovely ‘fairies,’ so they were greatly disappointed when they saw Hailey, who was taller than most men when she wore shoes.

And the second and biggest reason was…

‘Well, shouldn’t the Count wear high heels? You’re much shorter than I heard.’
‘…What…!’
‘Even if I remove the heels from my shoes, I don’t think I would look similar to him?’

Hailey was a woman who did not easily back down from the reactions of men. She had to say what she wanted, and she did not tolerate rude people.

‘What do you mean a woman as big as a cow, what?’

‘…Count? Where are you, Count? You’re so small I can’t see you? Oh, Count?’

After repeating such matchmaking meetings about three times, the praises for Hailey’s beautiful appearance had vanished, and in the capital, ‘Hailey Langston’ became known as the ‘crazy woman who is big and eccentric,’ and marriage proposals stopped coming.

‘Everything is going according to plan.’

Hailey was very satisfied with the current situation.

The Langston Baron couple, who were trying to marry Hailey off to a good family to help their business, were getting increasingly frustrated.

To the Baron couple, Hailey was excessively smart, excessively articulate, and excessively tall. They couldn’t understand how she grew up like this when they didn’t raise her that way.

In fact, Hailey had a secret that no one knew about: she remembered her past life.

In her past life, she was an ordinary office worker in South Korea who died from overwork after working all night at the company.

On the outside, she was a common noble lady of the Kingdom of Zenovia, but inside, she was a single woman in her 20s from South Korea. No matter how much the Baron couple tried to brainwash her, it was not going to work.

‘What on earth did you do?’
‘That man was too small and rude. He said I was like a cow. Of course, cows are good livestock that provide us with daily food, but he meant it in a bad way.’
‘It’s true that you are excessively tall. Did you really insult the Count for such a trivial reason?’
‘I have no apologies for a short, ugly man with unnecessary pride. Do you know how bad his breath was? It smelled like he was pooping from his mouth.’
‘Hailey!’

Hailey was practically an outcast in the Langston family.

Unlike the eldest, Marianne, who was sent to the academy, Hailey was not even given a tutor for basic education.

While the Baroness and Marianne bought new dresses and accessories, Hailey wore their old, out-of-fashion, worn-out clothes.

Naturally, the dresses were short on Hailey, who was more than a head taller than them, and she was always mocked by her peers when she went out.

Even though the Langston family was a lower noble family and not wealthy, the Baroness was very extravagant. She didn’t even have money to hire a maid, so she dragged Hailey around like one.

Hailey, tired of this life, attempted to run away several times, but she was always caught by people sent by her parents. When caught, Hailey was punished by being locked in the attic for days.

After repeated failures, Hailey stopped the inefficient attempts to run away.

‘Will there ever be a day when I can leave this house?’ She felt hopeless but kept thinking of ways to escape from the Baron couple while planning for the future.

No matter how dirty and humiliating it was, she decided to stay in this dreadful house until she found a way out.

The situation changed when Marianne, who was about to graduate from the academy, suddenly returned to the capital’s mansion with a newborn baby.

Marianne remained silent about the baby’s father until the end.

The Baron couple, who couldn’t give up on Marianne, didn’t register the baby in the family registry. The baby had to be non-existent for Marianne to have value in the marriage market.

‘Hailey, dear. I’ll find a way soon, so please take care of the baby. The baby only follows you, so there’s no other choice.’
‘Of course, the baby only follows me since neither you nor sister spend more than five minutes a day with him. Is that even a question? Fine, I’ll take care of him. This poor child is not at fault.’

From the beginning, childcare was Hailey’s responsibility.

Having lived a single life in her previous life, she had never had or raised a child, so she was initially flustered but soon made up her mind. She was the only one who could take care of this poor child.

In place of Marianne, who didn’t even name the baby, she named him ‘Theodore.’

While Hailey was busy taking care of Theo at home all day, the Baroness continued her extravagant lifestyle and parties. The only fortunate thing was that Hailey, busy with childcare, was no longer dragged around like a maid.

The Baroness was busy attending parties with Marianne, trying to quickly marry her off to a good family before Theo’s existence was discovered.

To my beloved Hailey,
Hailey, please forgive your foolish sister. I am leaving to be with my destined person. Please take care of the baby.
—With much love,
Your only sister, Marianne.

When Theo turned three, Marianne ran away, leaving behind only a letter and taking all the valuables she could.

‘If you can’t forget that person, why don’t you take the baby and be happy together!’

Hailey was furious. Her heartless sister didn’t even mention her son, Theo’s name in her final letter.

The Baron couple searched everywhere, but Marianne’s whereabouts remained unknown, and in their desperation, they decided to sell Hailey to raise funds for their business.

However, Hailey did not move according to their wishes at all.

‘I can’t leave Theo behind and go out alone.’

She had planned to leave the house when she became an adult, but that was when she was alone. She couldn’t leave Theo behind and go out to live on her own.

She thought of leaving with Theo, but she could easily imagine the hardships that awaited a poor, unmarried woman and a crawling baby outside.

Time passed as she hesitated.

Two more years passed, Theo turned five, and Hailey turned twenty-one.

‘If this continues, Theo will be trapped here for life. I must become independent with Theo.’

Hailey Langston, who was staring at the small back that was clinging to the window and only rolling his eyes towards the outside, clenched her fists in the narrow attic and made a resolution.

* * *

“I have something to say to you both.”

After putting Theo to bed early, Hailey sought out the Baron couple. She hadn’t even had dinner yet, but that wasn’t important.

She said something that the Baron couple couldn’t have imagined.

“I will leave this house with Theo.”

The Baron couple blinked in disbelief, as if they had heard a foreign language they couldn’t understand from Hailey.

“Leave the house?”

“Exactly. I will leave this house and live separately with him.”

Only then did the Baron couple jump up in surprise.

“A maiden who isn’t even married, what nonsense is this?”

“Prepare my dowry. I’ll give you about a month. I can’t wait any longer than that.”

“…What, what? Dowry? If you leave this house, there won’t be a single penny for you!”