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Chapter 2: The Grim Reality of Self-Employment
In my past life, I was a cafe owner. As someone who has experienced the joys and horrors of self-employment, let me say just one thing:
It hurts, therefore I am a boss…
Right as I stepped inside, the square, sunlit shop greeted me. The counter was directly opposite the entrance, flanked by rows of completely empty display shelves lining the walls. Behind the counter was a separate space resembling a pharmacist’s dispensary—a magic potion-making room complete with a massive iron cauldron and rows of drawers. Beside it were stairs leading up to the second floor and a side door opening out to the backyard. The second floor held a three-room living space, while the backyard featured a small plot of land. A small vegetable garden enclosed by a white fence, choked with overgrown weeds, and right beside it, a single, withered lemon tree…
It was certain now. The “means by which I can live comfortably on my own” provided by my brother wasn’t a boarding house to collect rent on, nor was it farmland to lease out. It was a magic shop. = Self-Employment.
Preparing ingredients all by yourself, brewing potions all by yourself, greeting customers, keeping the ledger, paying taxes…
“Ha. Haha.” I stopped in my tracks and laughed. “Hahaha. Haha.” Hahahahaha. Hahahahaha. Hahaha… “Uwaaaah!”
People who have never tried it always think self-employment is easy! “Aah! Uwaah! Eek!” “Young Lady?!”
Someone reacted to my desperate cries. “Oh my goodness! Young Lady!” Wearing a headscarf and an apron, holding a broom and a mop… “Nanny? Ian?”
The nanny who raised my brother and me, and her son. The burly nanny and her slender son—two people who looked completely different from one another—stumbled inside carrying luggage and cleaning tools.
“How did you find this place?” To my wide-eyed stare, Nanny answered with a triumphant look. “Young Master gave us the address a few years ago. He said he bought a building for Young Lady Riche, but that you wouldn’t even bother to take a look at it.”
Hearing the news that I had successfully fled, they had immediately packed up, slipped out of the estate, and taken the portal.
“Don’t worry. No one knows that we came here following you. And nobody else knows this address either.” The butler, the head maid, the chef—even if a knife were held to their throats, they would keep the secret. Nanny said this with a deeply resolute expression.
Before she could finish speaking, she started wiping away tears. “Our Young Lady, running away all by herself with such grit… If the late Count and Young Master Leon could see this right now, how proud they would be…”
My brother isn’t even dead.
“Sit down right now, Young Lady. Just rest for a moment while we quickly clean up—” “No.” I flatly refused. “Go back.”
Because. “I have no money.”
The family’s assets were frozen. My entire share of property consisted of this shop and a few items in my skirt pockets. Just in case, I had checked my account at the Royal Bank earlier, and there wasn’t a single gold coin in it. Up until now, whenever I needed money, I just wrote a check using the family name, so I had no idea.
I was in a state where I couldn’t even afford to buy a loaf of bread for dinner tonight. “I don’t have the luxury to feed Nanny and Ian, let alone pay salaries.” “We don’t need things like salaries!” “Stop talking nonsense.”
A salary is something you pay on time, even if you have to take out a loan to do it. Right now, they were saying those things out of loyalty to my late parents, but give it just a single day and things wouldn’t be okay anymore. If you’re hungry and have no money, you have to starve.
“So go back.” I waved my hand. “The family’s assets are frozen, but the servants’ wages are operated out of a separate fund, so they get paid on time every month.”
You don’t need to throw away a stable job to go on an adventure following me. “Go back, cling tenaciously to the family, and when my brother comes back alive, open the city gates.” So that my brother can sneak into the city unseen by the mercenaries who have seized control of the estate.
“Young Lady…” At my words, Nanny really started crying this time. At that moment, Nanny’s son, Ian, raised his hand. “Then I will stay behind.” “Why you?” “Because I’ve been fired.” “Th-that’s right!”
Nanny quickly wiped her tears with her apron and pushed Ian forward in front of me. “This boy was already chased away by that Iris man before you even returned, Young Lady. He said the brat’s eyes looked too cheeky already.”
The “Iris man” was my uncle. Lacking a noble title, he was simply called the “Iris man.” “That Iris man even threatened that if anyone in the county dares to employ this kid, they’ll pay dearly. So please, at least let Ian stay here.” “……” “Please don’t refuse, Young Lady. If we leave just you here like this, we won’t even be able to sleep at night worrying…” If you don’t sleep, your muscle mass decreases… “Then even if the Young Master returns, your hands might be too weak to open the city gates…”
To that extent?
I alternated looking between Nanny, who was sobbing again, and Ian, who stood there nonchalantly. Cherry-colored eyes caught my gaze and stared back at me unblinkingly. “……”
I thought to myself:He deserved to get fired.
Tall enough that you’d spot him instantly even from afar, with a pale, handsome face. An audacious attitude that didn’t avoid eye contact, paired with strikingly pretty lips. In short…He looks like the kind of guy who would seduce a cousin and run away with her.
Strictly speaking, he wasn’t Nanny’s biological son. He was a kid I had picked up from the market when I was little. I felt like he was mentioned with some important role later in the original novel, but I couldn’t remember. Despite looking like that, he was surprisingly diligent and loved reading.
Though I was the one who picked him up, he was a servant, so our paths rarely crossed… but I had run into him several times in the library, which my mother always kept open for the staff. I remembered seeing him sitting by the window in a white shirt every time, completely engrossed in his books.
Yet, he got fired. What should I do? As I hesitated, Ian drove the final nail in.
“Since Young Lady picked me up, I am Young Lady’s property.” “My property…?” “Yes. So if Young Lady throws me away, I’ll have to end up in a dumpster.” I probably won’t even be recyclable; I’ll be headed straight for the incinerator. “If I get burned, it looks like it would hurt a lot.” “No…”
Why is he so extreme?
Sigh. I let out a heavy breath and said: “…I can only pay you a tiny salary.” “Young Lady!” “And Nanny stays too.” We couldn’t have a minor lady and two male servants living in the same house alone. “Don’t come complaining to me later that Nanny’s son couldn’t get married because of this. Just have Nanny stay too.” “Y-Young Ladiiiiie!”
I patted Nanny’s back as she hugged me tightly, calculating inwardly:My brother’s return is roughly one year from now. My uncle, realizing I’ve vanished from the estate, will rush to the Academy, but he’ll only find out that I disappeared after submitting a leave of absence instead of a withdrawal notice. He won’t know where I went, of course. He’d never imagine I was right under his nose.
I just need to hold out for one year. I don’t even need to live lavishly. Just scraping by to keep body and soul together until my brother comes back.Let’s do this.
Reaching a conclusion, I looked around the shop. Neatly arranged but dust-covered display shelves. Brand new yet unorganized reagents and empty scrolls. That insane signboard with my face plastered on it…That signboard has got to come down, no exceptions.
Because if I leave it as it is, my uncle will find me and kill me, or I’ll die of embarrassment. So, what’s the very first thing to do?
Taking down the signboard… no. “Young Lady, where are you going?” “To the Commercial Administration Bureau to submit the business registration form.” “Hurry back! I’ll do some cleaning in the meantime. Ian, open the door for the Young Lady.” “Yes.”
As Ian saw me off, I asked him: “Did you really get fired? By my uncle?” “Yes.” “Precisely how did that happen?” “I smiled at the Young Lady’s cousin.” “You just smiled?” “I pretended to wipe my face with my shirt and showed my stomach, too.” “…You did that on purpose to get kicked out, didn’t you?” “Yes.” “……”
Please don’t answer so proudly.
“You don’t need to worry about the person who will open the city gates. I took care of it before I left.” “The city gates?” “The person who will open the gates when Young Master Leon returns.” “…You really believe my brother is alive, don’t you?” “Because he is alive.” “……” “Be safe on your way, Young Lady.” “Yeah.”
As I turned and walked away, tears welled up in my eyes before I knew it.No. If I cry, I’ll get hungry.
I had no money to buy bread. I quickly wiped them away, but all along the way, I had to stop several times and look up at the sky. It was the first time. The first time anyone had asserted so firmly that my brother was alive.
“Maple Street Number 36… Ah, it is already registered as a shop. If you apply for a business resumption permit, it will be processed within a week. Let’s see, the business category is… a magic shop?”
Commercial Administration Bureau. The civil servant stamping my business registration form tilted his head. “Is something wrong?” “Ah, well. Lately, the condition of the herb farms near the capital hasn’t been very good.”
Even existing shops are struggling to secure ingredients, so many are taking breaks or closing down altogether, the official explained. “If it’s a magic shop, it must come with a vegetable garden—did you check the soil condition?”
Now that I think about it, maybe that lemon tree was sickly for a reason. “You should check it out. I’ll go ahead and process the registration for you anyway.”
Hmm.
Tilting my head, I returned to the shop. “Young Lady! You’re back!” Leaving Nanny, who welcomed me, the empty shelves, and Ian, who was scrubbing furiously, behind me, I headed to the backyard garden. Sure enough, the state of the soil was far from normal.
Hmm. “Nanny, can I use this purple cabbage?” “Yes! I figured we might need it for dinner tonight, so I brought it from the estate kitchen!” “Good job.”
I tossed the purple cabbage from Nanny’s luggage into a pot of boiling water. Then, I scooped a handful of soil from the garden and dropped it into the boiling water. “Young Lady, what are you doing?” “They said the soil condition at the farms near the capital is bad lately. That’s why magic shops are going out of business one after another.” “What?! Then what about us…!” “Exactly. We’ve been handed a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The most important thing for a newly opened store is publicity—letting people know we’re here. If I solve this problem facing the magic shops…Our shop will get free publicity.
Observing the discolored, muddy water from this angle and that, the corners of my lips curved upward.
At this point, I suppose I ought to reveal what kind of funds made me a boss in my past life. I opened a cafe using the money I saved up while working on a Working Holiday in Australia. A manic farmer-cum-barista-cum-cleaner who worked like a madman and saved 80 million won in two years… Blueberry, orange, grape farm, let’s go.
