PSTAC 02

Chapter 2

Ring-ring-ring!
Ring-ring-ring—!

The loud alarm rang out, and I slowly opened my eyes. I reached out groggily, feeling around for my phone.

“Ugh… where did it go this time…”

Another morning had arrived as always.

I was completely exhausted from yesterday’s company dinner—one of those forced social gatherings that felt like an extension of work.

The aftermath of COVID had finally faded, masks were off, and the skies were open again, which was nice and all… but the return of company dinners was a disaster.

Anyway.

“Yaaawn. That dream again.”

I stretched my neck and slowly opened my eyes.

When I was living in the orphanage, I often went into the forest. That’s where I met a strange boy. All I clearly remember is that he had silver hair and teal-green eyes.

Was he a foreigner? He didn’t look like someone you’d see easily.

I ended up staying there until evening because I couldn’t let go of his hand when he told me not to go. I got scolded so badly by the teacher that day I cried my eyes out.

But when I went back to the forest the next day, he was gone. I was sure I had even heard his name, but I couldn’t remember it.

“What was it again…”

Sigh. If he had grown up with that face, he could’ve taken over Hollywood. He could’ve even gone on a TV show as a chaebol searching for a childhood connection.

Strangely, whenever I had that dream, my financial luck for the day improved a lot. Sometimes I’d find money, and even though it was small, I even won the lottery once. Usually, random pocket money-like luck would come my way.

I suspected that boy might have been the son of a very rich family. And considering he was with a wolf… maybe he was a mountain spirit who lends axes. Maybe I had picked up the gold axe instead of the iron one.

Heh heh. Maybe I should expect a windfall today?

…Wait, no.

“Money isn’t the problem, work is. When is Saturday coming…”

Ugh, my vision is still blurry. Right, I haven’t fully opened my eyes yet.

I flopped out of bed like a jellyfish and landed on the floor.

Thud.

Huh? Soft?

I expected the hard floor of my studio apartment, but what I felt under my butt was something soft and plush.

“What…?”

I snapped awake.

Instead of a hard wooden floor…?

“…A carpet?”

Did my home ever have something this luxurious? Just touching it felt like something I couldn’t afford without maxing out installment payments. And where did my Shin-chan pajamas go?

Is this one of those situations? Where you wake up and you’ve entered a novel?

“Hah, no way.”

What nonsense. I must still be half asleep.

And as always, “no way” was how innocent frogs ended up getting caught.

…Save the innocent frog.

* * *

The innocent frog had possessed a novel. Hahaha.

“Are you insane?! I worked myself to death to pass exams and get into a big company, and now this? What about my car I bought just a month ago?!”

Rage.

“…Well, this is my life. I’ve been unlucky since birth, so why would anything change now?”

Despair.

“Hahahahaha! Hahahaha! Fine! Looks like I’ve got money at least! Who cares about the car—I’ll just get a golden carriage!”

Madness.

And finally…

“…So what novel am I even in?”

Acceptance.

I couldn’t just keep doing nothing forever. As a romance fantasy reader, I could say with certainty—I wasn’t getting out of here.

So I carefully searched the room to understand my situation.

What I discovered during my search was that I was really, really pretty. With this face, I definitely wasn’t just a background extra.

And also—

“Mary…?”

My small, precious, one-and-only Mary.

“Grrk!”

Mary lifted her wet nose and wagged her tail. The bright eyes looking at me, and the way one ear folded like a dumpling when she tilted her head—it was definitely Mary.

Everyone, this is my Mary!

What is going on?

I picked her up quickly.

“Aww, my Mary… did you come here with mommy? Did you follow me because you didn’t want me to be alone? Were you worried about me?”

“Yip!”

As if agreeing, she licked my hand enthusiastically. My adorable Mary.

“But Mary… do you know how I got here?”

Head tilt.

Mary placed her paw on my hand and tilted her head. One ear flopped again. She didn’t know.

Right, you don’t need to know anything! You were born to be cute! That’s your job!

Sigh, what more could I expect? As long as Mary is healthy and adorable, that’s enough.

I’ll handle the hard stuff. You just follow me.

I hugged Mary tightly and leaned back on the bed again. I decided to wait quietly like a fish caught in a net.

Honestly, what’s the point of wandering around? In a luxurious royal mansion like this, someone would come to take care of me. If I wasn’t careful, I might end up with the title of “idiotic heroine who got lost in her own house.”

And just as I expected, the door opened.

“Ah—! D-D-Duke!”

Wait, I’m a duke?

A cute fish swam straight into my net.

“…Excuse me, but who are you?”

I recited my prepared line.

The maid who had been staring blankly at me suddenly burst into tears. She was crying so hard I couldn’t even hear her properly through all the snot and tears.

“Lady Agatha! I’m Emma!”

Agatha? Agatha… Agatha! Lady Agatha… Duke…?

Agatha Lucy Stadion!

The only Duke Agatha I knew of.

The villainess who lost her mother. Then she lost her father too. While returning from her father’s funeral, she gets into a carriage accident. And then she wakes up a month later.

That was from Don’t Be Obsessed with Saint Lucia.

So I had possessed her right at the point where she “wakes up after a month”?

In other words, I had landed in a diamond spoon situation beyond imagination. The kind of family where money only increases no matter how much you spend it.

No wonder everything felt different from the air itself. This was huge.

“Emma… I think I’ve succeeded in life.”

“Pardon?”

Emma, still tearful, tilted her head. I smiled meaningfully at her.

I had no intention of doing social politics or business. I wasn’t the type to bully people like the original villainess and obsess over the male lead.

Haha. I had endless money now—money I could spend freely for life.

Stalking? Being a villainess?

It would be more profitable to count gold coins in the vault instead of chasing men.

Of course, there were things I needed to handle first.

* * *

After crying for a long time, Emma finally calmed down and wiped her tears. While crying, she repeatedly asked whether I had truly lost my memories.

“Do you… really not remember anything?”

“I told you… I didn’t even know my name was Agatha.”

And—

“Sob… then you don’t remember the carriage accident?”

“I think I might… kind of…”

“And you don’t know this is the Stadion ducal house?”

“I just heard it from you.”

We had a very honest conversation.

Since I didn’t know the details of Agatha’s life, pretending to have lost my memory was the best decision.

The Agatha in the novel was a villainess, not the protagonist, so I couldn’t possibly know her habits or daily life.

It took Emma a while to accept my memory loss. She wiped her swollen face with a handkerchief and sniffled.

“Then where did that puppy come from?”

I picked up Mary.

A perfect puppy pose.

Just look at her. So obedient. So cute. Perfect.

“Hmm. I think this puppy is the one who woke me up.”

Pretending ignorance fit the situation.

“Oh my! Then this puppy is a benefactor! Where did it come from?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it was sent by God?”

“Seriously… when the doctor said you might never wake up…”

Emma almost started crying again. Watching her fan herself to dry her tears, I sighed in relief.

Thankfully, she accepted the existence of the dog naturally. This world likely had a divine-beast system.

“I’ve heard divine beasts used to save human lives… how noble. What should we name it?”

Right. Animals really are better than humans sometimes.

And the name… there was only one choice.

Since we met on Christmas—it was a gift-like puppy.

“Mary. Let’s name her Mary.”

“Grrk!”