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Chapter 95
Fourteen Breads. Life Is a Series of Tests (1)
Ellie stood by the window. The evening sky, as the sun began to set, was tinged red.
“At twenty years old, I’ve lost everything and now stand alone in a distant land…”
It sounded dramatic.
“So, a con artist driven out of their homeland arrives in a land of new opportunities, right?”
“I’ve never scammed anyone.”
“If others see it as a scam, even if it isn’t a crime, you’re still a con artist. Don’t you understand the world yet?”
“Mr. Demian’s world is harsh and cold…”
From the outside, he looked like an angel guiding people to paradise, but inside, he was a demon smiling as he pushed them into the fires of hell. Ellie closed the window. She had tried to ventilate the room, but he had complained it was cold. Compared to her thin dress, Demian even had a thick knitted shawl wrapped around him.
No wonder he’s sensitive to the cold… not exactly a prince who grew up pampered.
He had been fussed over a lot.
Just before dawn, when Ellie boarded the carriage, she met Demian immediately after crossing the border. For some reason, Demian greeted her warmly, but after crying through half a day in the carriage and only just collapsing into sleep before arriving, Ellie saw him as a grim reaper waving at her.
“Am I… dead?”
“What?”
“I haven’t done many good deeds, but I also haven’t committed any crimes. Do I have to go to hell?”
Demian looked at her, seeing her tearful, trembling face as if she were crazy. Ellie, suppressing her unjust tears, couldn’t even look at him.
“Do I have to see that scary face even after I die?!”
“Ellie, you won’t be leaving my side until you die, you know.”
“No! I don’t want to go to hell!”
“Shall I make it real hell for you?”
If she were to make an excuse, it would be that she was hungry.
Before arriving at the McClure mansion, she hadn’t eaten anything and had been fasting for two full days. After Seth Hastings caused chaos, she had lost her appetite entirely, eating little to nothing.
Only after filling her stomach did Ellie regain her senses.
People are shallow creatures. Once the stomach is full, even a complicated mind becomes simple. If one can eat well and sleep well, they can be somewhat happy. She even found the strength to bury her painful thoughts, like turning pages in a book.
“But why are you here, Mr. Demian?”
“Now that you’re curious, I suppose your stomach is full.”
Demian looked at the empty plates in disbelief.
Ellie had eaten everything, including the courses prepared for him. She couldn’t wait for the next dish and grabbed the forks in anticipation, so Demian even gave her his plate.
Seeing her devour food that had already been on someone else’s plate, Demian ordered the remaining dishes to be brought at once, leaving the table full of empty plates.
“People think clearer when their stomachs are full.”
“I prefer not to be sluggish from overeating.”
“You’re weak. You’re losing to food.”
“…I’ve never thought of it that way. Interesting perspective.”
“You must eat only as much as your body needs and digest it to stay healthy. Your digestive system is weak, Mr. Demian.”
Demian suddenly laughed. Ellie looked at him with a brazen, concerned gaze, confident that he wouldn’t get angry at this point.
“Waiting for you was worth it. I need your thinking. Don’t disappoint me in the future.”
Ellie hesitated and didn’t answer immediately.
“Haven’t I already disappointed you?”
“Oh, because you failed and ran away crying?”
“….”
Does this man have no consideration for others? Ellie wondered if this world had laws against defamation. If so, she wanted to file a lawsuit immediately.
“I said it wouldn’t count as success or failure. If you had somehow achieved great success despite that, it would’ve been boring.”
“What would be boring?”
“I like unexpected people, but I hate humans who interfere with my plans.”
It was strange nonsense. Ellie decided it simply meant he liked fun things as long as they didn’t disrupt his mood. That interpretation was probably close enough.
“To think you aimed for success in your first business, you’re ambitious.”
“My life was ruined from the start by bad parents. Is it really wrong if I get an easy win with a business?”
“Birth and business are separate matters.”
“It’s not very convincing when said by someone born into the best family in this world.”
“I’m lucky.”
To dismiss being born into the imperial family as mere luck was not something just anyone could say. Ellie muttered inwardly. So, it’s natural for them to have everything, but not for me…
“If it weren’t for the debts, I wouldn’t have been dragged here.”
“Now I see, not only are you ambitious, but you also dream big. Do you think you could hide from my eyes anywhere on this continent?”
“…Please, don’t talk like that. It’s scary…”
She had reluctantly accepted that this world wasn’t a novel, yet looking at a protagonist drawn in such detail gave her chills.
“What’s a ‘guang-gong’?”
“….”
A naive Muggle tried to kill an otaku.
“It’s a man who’s obsessive and possessive, capable of anything. Usually, his target is the same sex. Wherever his prey runs, he will find and imprison them.”
“Then I guess I’m a guang-gong.”
“…Maybe…”
Though it wasn’t a compliment, Demian didn’t seem displeased. He smirked crookedly.
“If you had dared to escape after receiving my investment, I would’ve chased you to the ends of hell and made you pay.”
“Please, don’t say that. I wouldn’t even dream of it.”
“You did dream a little, Ellie. You intended to hide if I hadn’t sent the rent and equipment invoices for the building.”
“….”
That’s why the perceptive ones…
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch.”
“You said investment is at one’s own risk.”
“Should I even charge you a penalty?”
“You said it wouldn’t count as failure or success, but now you’re charging a penalty for failure?”
“You have to calculate things accurately.”
“Rich people really are worse.”
Ellie muttered.
Demian had accurately read Ellie’s actions to the end—she wouldn’t endure the next situation, she’d abandon it all rather than rely on help, and if she ran, she’d hide somewhere unrelated to her past.
Above all, Demian had deliberately manipulated Ellie to run toward him, so he wanted to avoid it if possible.
Bread could be made anywhere—she could survive on that, right?
But Demian knew this well and had attached a liability statement. If she ran away, she would be charged for construction, equipment, and material costs several times over.
Demonic.
Ellie couldn’t cause such trouble to Malina and the bakery staff who had helped her. With a feeling of being bound by both hands, she held Demian’s hand.
How long had it been since she paid off her debts, only to fail at business and fall into debt again?
“What will happen to me now…?”
How could she pay back all that money by selling bread? She swallowed her tears. She no longer had Malina, Edmund’s dough mixer and whisk, or the oven. Not even the sourdough starter remained.
“I don’t think I could repay that money even if I sold all my organs.”
Having escaped the moneylender, she was caught by the lender’s employer. Pathetic. A life constantly chased by debt. Demian frowned and spoke.
“Do I look like a fool who would cut up a golden goose? If I were going to sell your organs, I wouldn’t have gone through this troublesome business.”
“A golden goose, me?”
Ellie nodded. She must have been heartless for feeling happy about that.
“I’ve already decided how to use you. For now, focus on recovering your strength.”
“Can’t I prepare mentally first?”
“You can do that after arriving in Crant. Until then, eat well and gain weight. You’ve become half what you were.”
“Me?”
Life was long, indeed. After dying once and living twenty more years, she was told she’d become half herself. Ellie looked at her empty plate once, then at Demian as he stood.
Crant was the capital of the Yan Empire.
“We’ll depart early tomorrow. Get some sleep.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Your reply was vigorous; I like that.”
As Demian gestured, the servants cleared the empty plates from the room. In no time, only Ellie was left.
Truly in an instant.
Ellie sat in the chair, blinking a few times.
Now I’m truly alone…
Her abusive father, her innocent but manipulative half-sister, the maternal family who ignored child abuse but offered money—completely gone.
No persistent, kind moneylender; no handsome, delicate-hearted knight; no sensitive, spoiled yet surprisingly tolerant mage.
She was alone.
