ITSM 01

Prologue

I found out that I was a transmigrator purely by chance.

For example—right after I had just stamped a seal on a work contract.

“Huh…?”

I blinked once.

“Huhh?”

I blinked again.

Memories came rushing in chaotically, and I had no idea how many times I blinked in confusion.

That was when I heard a soft yet captivating voice.

“Miss Lilliana Walker. I look forward to working with you from now on.”

At that voice, my body flinched.

I reflexively clenched whatever I was holding. Seeing that, the other party kindly continued.

“For reference, even if you grip the contract that tightly, it won’t be torn—so don’t worry.”

I couldn’t collect my thoughts easily. Something even more shocking than the fact that I’d transmigrated had just happened.

Namely, the clearly stamped ducal seal of House Winspear on the contract I had just signed.
That seal.
That seal again.
That seal.

“Oh my, Miss Walker. Are you that moved to be working for House Winspear?”

As I stiffly turned my head, the scenery of the reception room finally came into focus.

The curtains spread across the walls, the carpet covering the entire floor, the tea placed in front of me, even the stamp I’d pressed—all of it was vivid red, as if drenched in blood.

It was not a place where humans should be living.

“Ha ha.”

When I let out a deranged laugh, the person in front of me—no, the demon pretending to be a person—smiled faintly and asked,

“Surely you’re not saying you want to terminate the contract when it hasn’t even been a full minute since you signed it?”

There was a very good reason I was trembling like this.

This was the home of Roan Winspear, the final hidden villain of the novel I’d transmigrated into—and a demon’s lair where not a single human lived!

“If that’s what you’re thinking, I’m afraid you’ll have to pay triple the signing bonus as a penalty.”

My hands began to shake violently.

Lowering my head, I scanned the contract that I had just—personally—signed.

The clause stating 300 gold paid in advance showed no sign of disappearing. Neither did the next clause, which stated that terminating the contract without special cause would require paying a penalty three times that amount.

Perhaps he didn’t notice me gaping in shock, because the man adjusted his glasses slightly and spoke again, an unpleasant smile on his face.

“Additionally, you used a mage’s portal to get here, didn’t you? You’ll need to pay that cost as well.”

Of course, I had neither the money to pay the penalty nor the money to pay for the portal.

‘Damn it, Lilliana! What were you thinking, signing a contract like that so recklessly?!’

I cursed my pre-memory self, but it was pointless. What was done was done—and a 300-gold check was already sitting in my pocket.

Despite clearly seeing the earthquake shaking my pupils, the demon before me spoke calmly.

“Shall we go meet the Duke, then?”

Why did that sound like an invitation to walk straight into a tiger’s jaws?

My eyes welled up with tears.

But there was no way to run. This place was full of demons, and there was not a single angel or holy knight who might help me.

“Aren’t you coming?”
“I-I am.”

Squeezing my eyes shut in dizziness, I thought back to three hours earlier—the starting point and cause of this absurd situation.

It had begun as an utterly ordinary day.

Water was leaking from the ceiling, and loan sharks were pounding on the door outside.

“Another wonderful day,” I muttered.

I lifted a chipped teacup and took a small sip of water.

The moment I set the cup down on the table, thunder and lightning struck outside. Rain poured down as if the sky had split open.

KRAAANG!

Lightning flashed again behind a head of pure white hair.

Turning my head, I coldly scanned the man sitting across from me—my father, Baron Walker.

“How much is it this time?”
“100… gold.”

When I said nothing, Father flinched guiltily and spoke again.

“150!”

The sky-blue eyes so similar to mine wavered.

“Th-then… 300 gold…”
“Hah?”

The illustrious Baron Walker had borrowed a full 300 gold from loan sharks.

Naturally, the back of my neck tightened.

A commoner’s annual living expenses averaged around 10 gold. And House Walker lived worse than commoners.

“Sometimes, I really want to crack open Father’s head and see what’s inside.”

I meant it. If I could, I wanted to know what on earth was in that head to make him torment us like this.

“How many times is this already?”

I folded my fingers one by one, counting the times he’d borrowed money.

Each finger that folded made his body twitch, but that wasn’t my concern.

“My goodness—five times already!”

I clapped my hands and smiled brightly.

“Hmm, including this one, would that make it six?”

As I laughed like a madwoman, Father avoided my gaze.

“Do you know how much I’ve paid back on your behalf over the past seven years?”

That was when the smile vanished from my face.

“A full 1,000 gold.”

Yes—1,000 gold.

House Walker could barely make ends meet each month. There was no way we had that kind of money, so naturally, I had to work.

I cut into my sleeping hours and did jobs no noble lady should ever do—voluntarily becoming a laughingstock.

Earning 12 gold a month, I barely managed to repay the debt. And today marked exactly one month since I’d finally finished paying it all off.

“I’m not helping you this time.”

I said firmly.

“I think I’ve done everything I possibly could as your daughter.”
“Lilliana, I needed capital to rebuild House Walker. I only borrowed a small amount.”
“Yes. That ‘small amount’ you couldn’t borrow from a state bank because your credit rating tanked, so you went to loan sharks instead?”
“Ahem.”
“I wonder when you’ll finally admit that you have no talent for business.”

Despite my scathing criticism, Father merely picked at his ears. Seeing that, I couldn’t help but think of Mother, who had died of stress seven years ago.

“Mother died from stress, and you still didn’t change. Should I die next for you to come to your senses?”

At that, Father finally looked up at me.

“Lilliana! That’s an unfilial thing to say!”

Seeing his face red with rage, I realized there was no point wasting more energy.

I stood up and said,

“Fine. Let’s end this father–daughter relationship here. Let’s each go our separate ways, cleanly.”

Veins bulging in his neck, he shouted,

“This is the last time—truly the last time!”
“Haah.”
“If you help me just this once, I’ll do everything you say. If I don’t repay them, they’ll drag me to the salt fields and make me work until I die.”

At that, my eyes lit up.

‘That’s… not bad?’

Sending an uncontrollable father off that way might even be… legally acceptable—

Perhaps he sensed my chilling expression, because Father snapped angrily,

“If you don’t earn the money, I’ll sell you!”
“What?”
“If I sell you right now, I could get at least 50 gold. Now, Lilliana—choose.”

There was a reason he could say that so boldly.

Absurdly enough, in this country, a daughter was considered her father’s property. The reason I’d quietly worked and paid off debts for seven years was because of that very law.

“Damn law. It should all be burned down.”

As I muttered through clenched teeth, Father began to placate me.

“If you help me just this once, I’ll give you everything you want.”

I didn’t want to. After everything I’d been through, asking me to do it again was absurd.

Seeing my lukewarm response, Father seemed to steel himself and spoke.

“I’ll remove you from the family registry—the thing you’ve always wanted.”

Family registry removal.

If that happened, he’d no longer be able to threaten me or drag me around.

I wouldn’t be a noble anymore, but living as a commoner might be far happier than this.

His offer was tempting. But considering his past behavior, there was a high chance this, too, was a lie.

When I showed no reaction even after that, Father hurriedly held something out to me.

“What’s this?”
“The documents you brought before, asking to be removed from the registry. I’ll stamp them with my seal and give them to you.”

He filled out the papers right in front of me and handed them over.

“But.”

The moment I took the paper hesitantly, thunder and lightning struck again.

Ruuumble—KRAASH!

Right after an even louder crash than before, Father said something utterly absurd.

“Pay back 300 gold within three days.”