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Chapter : 5
“Thank you for your help.”
“It’s nothing. Watching it unfold was quite entertaining, too.”
“Even so, I received far too much help from you today.”
“It’s Rakal.”
“Pardon?”
“You keep calling me ‘the lawyer.’”
“But you’re a duke… it feels improper to call you by name so casually…”
“A duke is a title. Not a name.”
It didn’t seem like they were in a position to be addressing each other so informally.
Or was it because of that deep, sensual voice that seemed to melt through her veins?
Just looking at him made her feel like she should call his name properly.
“We’ve arrived, Miss Charlotte.”
Charlotte, who had been somewhat entranced staring at Rakal, snapped back to her senses.
Outside the carriage window, the seven-story mansion she had seen earlier came into view.
“Thank you again for everything today.”
“A cup of tea will do.”
“Pardon?”
“Let’s call it repayment. Have tea with me.”
Rakal stated it as if it were perfectly natural.
A clear give-and-take.
It was actually easier for her—she didn’t have to 고민 about how to repay him.
“Alright. Once I settle in, I’ll invite you over. Let’s have tea then.”
“Good. And…”
Rakal opened the carriage drawer and took out a bright blue ribbon.
Charlotte accepted it a bit dazedly.
“If you ever need my help, tie this ribbon to your letter and write my name on the end.”
A complete aftercare service as well.
A handsome man being this considerate?
It was truly moving.
“Thank you.”
After Charlotte placed the ribbon into her bag, the coachman opened the carriage door.
Charlotte took Rakal’s hand and stepped down.
Behind her, the penguin—now carrying a sparrow and Charlotte’s bag on its head—hopped down as well.
Watching the waddling penguin made Charlotte smile without realizing it.
“Don’t forget the key.”
“Ah, right.”
Charlotte took out the gold bracelet and slipped it onto her wrist.
A faint, luminous glow slid across its surface.
“Oh? It recognizes me.”
“You understand magic?”
A sharp light flashed across Rakal’s silver eyes.
Ah—she had slipped. She had pretended to understand magic that the real, foolish Charlotte wouldn’t know.
She quickly composed herself with an innocent smile.
“I once secretly read an elementary magic book in the library.”
“I see.”
Rakal smiled without suspicion.
But that smile somehow bothered her.
As if he knew she was lying but chose to pretend otherwise.
No—maybe she was just being paranoid because she was afraid of exposing herself as a transmigrator.
“Please go in first.”
“I’ll wait until you’re safely inside.”
It was just a few steps to the door—what danger could there be?
Was this what proper noble etiquette looked like?
“Then…”
She gave a slight curtsy and walked toward the mansion.
At the ordinary entrance, Charlotte’s green eyes sparkled.
This place… is mine.
From now on, this is my house!
Her heart pounded with excitement.
Charlotte, grinning widely, held out her bracelet-wearing arm.
“Open sesame.”
Swoosh—the entrance door opened automatically.
“Wow, it looks like a European-style automatic door system.”
She admired the door with nostalgic awe.
Meanwhile, the sparrow and the penguin, still balancing the bag on its head, slipped inside.
“Wait, I’m coming too.”
Charlotte hurried after them, then paused and looked back.
Rakal was still standing where they had parted, as if he were watching over her.
Like a guardian.
Charlotte let out a self-deprecating smile.
“It’s free to imagine things, but a protector? We only met today. If he heard that, he’d laugh.”
A capable lawyer… and a duke.
Why would someone like that bother protecting her?
Still, as long as Rakal wasn’t the poisoner, that was enough.
That alone was sufficient.
Because right now, she needed to focus on herself.
Rakal Statuar was irrelevant.
Only Charlotte Abel’s reality mattered.
“I’ve got a place to live now. I should stay cautious and avoid dying.”
Charlotte closed the entrance door as she stepped inside the mansion.
The moment she disappeared from sight,
Rakal’s gentle smile vanished completely.
His cold gaze turned toward the right side of the mansion.
The end of a fence made of sharp iron bars.
A man clinging to it like a cicada in summer flinched.
Rakal walked toward him step by step.
“R-Rakal-sama…”
The man barely managed to speak before a heavy force struck him.
Thud.
The hidden man was kicked hard and slammed into the ground.
Rakal turned around expressionlessly.
A tall, muscular man with golden hair like sunset and mysterious blue eyes stood there.
He smiled brightly, like a dog waiting for praise.
Rakal spoke as if dealing with an annoyance.
“I told you not to use your fists carelessly, Talus.”
“There are too many eyes around. Better to use fists than kill someone.”
“……”
“You weren’t actually trying to kill him just now, were you?”
“I’m not some blood-mad murderer. Do you think I’d commit murder in broad daylight like you said?”
“Ah. True.”
Talus scratched his angular chin.
“Talus, I understand your temper, but there’s something called conversation…”
“I know that.”
“Then learn to use it next time.”
“I said I know!”
Rakal shot him a sharp glare.
Talus, who had flared up moments ago, immediately shrank back.
“You’re scary. Stop glaring.”
“Still, that one should be grateful to you.”
“Hm?”
“If it weren’t for you, Lara would have killed him sooner or later.”
Rakal’s gaze drifted toward the mansion, heavy with the weight of time.
Talus followed his gaze.
“Now that the long-living old Abel matriarch is dead, the next owner will be decided soon.”
“It’s already decided.”
“Really? Who’s the unlucky one who became the owner of that insane mansion?”
“A fluffy red fox.”
“Not a person?”
Rakal only smiled meaningfully in response.
“This won’t be easy to kill.”
Charlotte stood still, blinking.
She looked back at the door she had entered through, then forward again.
“Wow… is this real?”
The interior of the old mansion was unexpectedly new.
Even elegant.
A red carpet stretched across the floor.
Marble stairs leading upward.
Paintings and portraits hung on cream-colored walls.
Elegant lighting that shimmered softly.
It looked like a fully renovated building, yet the atmosphere felt strangely mystical.
After looking around the first floor, Charlotte felt a surge of emotion.
“I made the right choice. I’m glad I decided to live here.”
If she ever met Kate again, she would thank her for kicking her out of the count’s estate.
Without Kate, she might not have moved in this quickly.
“But where did the Dowager Countess actually live?”
The late countess owned a grand estate where the will had been read, but she clearly cherished this place too.
There must be a private residence somewhere in the mansion.
If there wasn’t…
“Well, in a seven-story building, there’s bound to be a tenant who hasn’t paid rent for ages, right? I’ll just evict them and live here.”
And if there wasn’t a tenant, she could just waive the rent.
Then someone would probably suggest they live together.
“Alright, let’s start from the second floor.”
Satisfied with her plan, Charlotte suddenly felt a chill at the back of her neck.
She whipped around.
No one.
The entrance was completely empty.
“I felt like someone was watching me…”
As she tilted her head and turned back, the penguin stood in her way.
“Ah! You startled me!”
She patted her chest, then poked the penguin’s beak.
“I thought you went inside first to find a place to rest like in the carriage.”
The penguin flapped its short wings.
It waddled a couple of steps and looked back at her.
“You’re telling me to follow you?”
The penguin bowed politely, then led the way.
“Fine. I don’t know this place anyway.”
Charlotte followed with a small laugh.
The waddling penguin opened a door beside the central staircase.
Charlotte stepped inside and froze.
Her eyes widened.
“Wow.”
A painted ceiling of blue sky.
Golden marble walls and pillars.
Elegant antique sofas and furniture.
She ran straight to the arched balcony.
Terracotta rooftops stretched out under the evening glow.
This was the top floor of the mansion.
She had entered through the first floor… and ended up on the seventh.
“That door… it was enchanted.”
It wasn’t just the door.
Maybe spatial magic?
The seventh floor was as vast as the Dowager Countess’s grand estate.
The entire building was clearly under magic.
Returning to the living room in awe, she saw the penguin’s eyes sparkling.
It walked toward the hallway.
Where are you taking me?
Charlotte followed.
The penguin opened a double door and entered a room.
It was mostly empty, except for a large bed in the center.
A beautiful bed draped with thin silk curtains.
“Wow… a bed… it’s a bed!”
She ran forward and jumped onto it.
Ah… it’s been so long.
That soft, bouncing mattress.
Lavender scent filled her nose.
She hugged the feather pillow tightly and rubbed her face into it again and again.
She forgot everything—poison, danger, everything.
At that moment, she was simply happy just to be on a soft bed.
“Oh God… thank you.”
Charlotte opened her eyes to pouring sunlight.
It was too bright to call it a gentle morning.
She frowned slightly.
Something… was different.
A soft, flowing canopy. A clean, high ceiling.
Not the dark, dirty ceiling of the hut.
“Oh right… I got transmigrated into another novel.”
Realization struck her, and she buried her face in the pillow.
She must have fallen asleep immediately after lying down in a real bed for the first time in a while.
Judging by how long she had slept.
She recalled everything from yesterday.
She inherited a seven-story building, escaped a poisoning attempt, and came here.
She met hostile people—and only the lawyer Rakal had been kind.
Rakal… no, Duke Rakal Statuar.
The more she thought about it, the more familiar the name felt.
She must have seen it in the novel she read.
“Come to think of it… what novel did I get transferred into?”
