Episode 2 — The 24-Hour Regression Counseling Center
“……”
In the end, Benjamin said nothing.
Ever since Laura’s grandfather passed away, Benjamin—the real estate agent—kept showing up to pressure her into selling the mansion. And lately, his attempts had crossed the line.
‘He must be relying on someone powerful behind the scenes. There’s no way he’s doing this on his own.’
Countless people were likely eyeing the Lien family estate, which stood in the second-best location in the capital—right next to the Imperial Palace.
“You may leave now.”
Laura turned her back on Benjamin. She had no intention of continuing the conversation.
“Ha!”
Benjamin scoffed, as if stunned, then glared at her retreating figure with a smirk.
“I’ll enjoy watching how long you can hold out! The next noble assembly is coming up soon. Do you really think you’ll keep your noble seat?”
Crack.
Laura’s fist clenched tightly.
‘Should I just punch him?’
Just as she was debating it—
Thud—!
A sudden loud noise made Laura turn her head.
‘Ah!’
With a loud crash, the signboard hanging on the pillar by the gate had fallen to the ground.
“Click!”
Benjamin clucked his tongue in annoyance and said,
“You should really get rid of that old sign with the strange markings before you sell the house. It might raise the property value if you do.”
As he moved to clear it away with his foot—
“Benjamin.”
A low voice stopped him. Benjamin flinched and looked up.
‘…!’
The moment his eyes met Laura’s, he was suddenly reminded of the old Count of Lien—the stubborn geezer’s gaze flashed through his mind.
“Benjamin. I will not be selling this estate.”
The old man’s voice echoed in his head like a phantom.
‘No, he’s dead.’
That pompous old man who clung to his pride despite having nothing—he was gone.
A founding family? What a joke. Take away his friendship with the first emperor, and the Lien family was nothing but ruins.
As Benjamin tried to shake off the memory, he noticed a faint smile forming on Laura’s lips.
“You should go now, Benjamin.”
Benjamin, realizing he had hesitated in front of a girl far younger than him, frowned and forced a sneer.
“Fine. Just let me know when you change your mind. I’ll get you the highest price.”
He cast one last mocking glance at the massive, crumbling mansion, then turned and walked away.
“That bastard… one day, I’ll slam a door in his face,” Laura muttered coldly, then opened the front gate.
Creeeak.
The hinges moaned eerily—it had been too long since she could afford oil.
Unbothered, Laura picked up the fallen signboard from the ground.
[OOO Specialty Counseling Center]
Most people can’t read what “OOO” says.
Only a few can.
Her grandfather once told her—
“Laura, long before our family became nobles, the House of Lien was entrusted with one sacred duty, carried out through the ages.”
[Regression–Possession–Reincarnation Counseling Center]
“It’s our divine mission, inherited from Lilien, the god of time and fate: to help special clients with their burdens. Of course, we’ve always been compensated, too.”
There are three types of special clients:
“Regressors, Possessors, and Reincarnators. One of the three will come to us every hundred years by Lilien’s will.”
Her grandfather had taught her not just the history of the Lien nobility, but the deeper legacy of the Lien bloodline.
“You, Laura, are the next head of the Lien family.”
“This contains the records of every special client our family has counseled for thousands of years.”
Laura once asked him:
“Grandpa… did you ever meet a client yourself?”
He fell silent for a moment before answering:
“The last client of the Lien family… was His Majesty, Emperor Ren.”
“That was… 500 years ago.”
“And since then?”
“None.”
“Is that… okay?”
“I don’t know.”
Laura brushed off the dust from the signboard, hung it back on the pillar, and locked the gate.
Then she passed the cracked fountain and weed-filled garden, walking back into the house.
“…Grandpa, I’m sorry.”
Truthfully, Laura did want to sell the house.
As rundown as it was, it was massive—bigger than the Crown Prince’s palace, even. The estates of dukes and marquises didn’t compare. It had been gifted to the Lien family by the first emperor himself.
Still—
“It just costs too much to maintain!”
If she sold this house, she would have nothing left. And soon, she might lose her noble title in the upcoming noble assembly.
It was time to decide.
“I’ve done everything I could.”
Despite being a noble and a family head, she had worked nonstop for two years, secretly holding multiple part-time jobs.
She had knocked on every door—civil offices, military posts—trying to restore her house’s honor.
“But now, I need to survive too.”
Standing alone in the giant, empty mansion, Laura spoke to her late grandfather.
“I’m putting the estate up for sale tomorrow.”
Then she would head to the countryside and find a way to keep the family name alive.
Though it wouldn’t be easy, not with the other founding families constantly suppressing her.
“It’s strange… why do they go out of their way to keep our family down?”
Even her grandfather hadn’t known the answer.
“Hmm.”
As she stepped into the only usable room in the house—her bedroom—Laura gave a tired, bitter smile.
“…No. I still have one thing left.”
Her eyes landed on the white orb atop her desk.
It contained the detailed records of the regression, possession, and reincarnation clients the Lien family had served over the centuries.
She recalled her grandfather’s words—
“Laura. No matter where you go, always keep the signboard from the front gate with you.”
Even after 500 years of silence, her grandfather had never lost hope.
Hope that a client might still arrive.
“…Empty hope.”
Laura had long since given up on that.
“Besides, the capital’s a mess lately. Maybe living quietly in the provinces won’t be so bad.”
Last year, the emperor collapsed.
Then the crown prince fell into a coma after an attempted poisoning.
Now the empress and second prince are suspected of the crime.
“A civil war’s basically inevitable.”
She sighed.
“And I swear, this place is cursed.”
The House of Chayers, another founding family, was right next door—and their eldest son was a notorious menace who caused constant chaos.
They said he was a “troublemaker among troublemakers.”
Yeah. Time to get out of here.
Laura stared at the setting sun outside her window and made up her mind.
“Tonight… I’ll treat myself to a sausage.”
She had brought it home from a restaurant where she secretly worked part-time.
Then—
Weeoo, weeoo—
“…!”
A sudden alarm blared from outside. Laura rushed to the window.
“Why’s the alarm going off all of a sudden?”
The last time that sound rang, it was after the crown prince had been poisoned.
That day, the capital went into lockdown. Guards and knights had flooded the streets, forbidding people from going outside.
What now? Something must have happened at the palace again.
“Yeah… I need to get out of this place ASAP.”
Almost instinctively, Laura clutched the white orb to her chest and turned away from the window.
No matter what chaos erupted in the capital—
“It has nothing to do with me.”
After all, the Lien family was a relic of the past—practically dead already.
Right after deciding to sell the house, Laura ate dinner with a strangely peaceful—if slightly bitter—heart.
She went to bed early that night.
Flash—!
She activated the white orb.
It only responded to those of true Lien blood.
[……The 11th Possessor client is said to have been a “Heavenly Demon” from a land called Zhongyuan. After being possessed into the body of a slave, the client escaped captivity and sought me out, the family head…]
“This is more entertaining than any novel.”
The records were so fascinating that Laura was able to fall asleep without overthinking anything else.
Ding.
“Hmm?”
Then—
Ding.
The enchanted magic doorbell on her desk rang.
Ding, ding.
Someone was pressing it.
At this hour? And during a lockdown?!
Laura grabbed the axe she kept hidden under the bed.
Her noble dignity had been tossed aside long ago.
Ever since the last servant left, she had always kept a blade or axe close—there were plenty who’d want to break into this house.
And Laura was more than capable of handling most intruders.
Ding, ding, ding, ding—
The ringing continued—steady and relentless.
It was somehow even creepier that way.
She leaned toward the golden chime’s wing and spoke:
“Who’s there?”
What kind of lunatic comes to a noblewoman’s house alone, in the middle of the night, during a citywide lockdown?
Do they have a death wish?
Laura held back her grumbling thoughts.
Then—
A male voice came through the opposite wing.
—…Regression-Possession-Reincarnation…?
“…!”
