IOWYC Chapter 09

Chapter 09 

Yuliana’s brows furrowed deeply.

Kallion had called her without explaining anything, only to start questioning her coldly.

“Some parts of the ledger are missing—especially the list with the most important expenses.”

She quickly understood what was going on.

He wasn’t asking for clarification. He was accusing her and testing her.

But Yuliana didn’t panic. She answered calmly:

“If it’s missing, I’ll take a look again and correct it.”

Her tone was steady, her expression unreadable.

Kallion stared at her.

He had expected excuses. Flustered words. Defensiveness.
But she gave none of that. She wasn’t rattled in the slightest.

He didn’t know what to make of her anymore.

***

As Yuliana left the office, she thought:

‘So, Layla made her move.’

It was obvious. The missing part of the ledger wasn’t an accident.
Layla had removed it to make her look careless in front of Kallion.

‘Trying to eat away at my credibility now, are you?’

But Yuliana wouldn’t take the bait.

She had come too far to be shaken by something so small.

Her only goal was to uncover the truth behind Denian’s death—
and protect the child she hoped to meet again.

She thought back to what had brought her here:

In one of her past lives, she had found out that the man who killed Denian was from the Helloica Orphanage.

She’d ordered an investigation, but by then, the orphanage had burned down.
Everything was lost—records, people, leads—reduced to ashes.

Now, by chance, she found that Valdomer was funding Helloica.

‘So it still exists.’

That alone was enough to stir everything back up again.

***

At the Bas Trading Company, the merchant master, Donaldo Bas, looked completely dumbfounded.

“You… want to buy information?”

It wasn’t just a normal trade company.

Behind the scenes, the Bas Trading Company secretly dealt in information—spying, blackmail, secret reports.
But only their most elite clients knew that.

So how did she—a woman from Valdomer—know?

“Where did you hear that?”

Yuliana only smiled slightly.

“Does it matter? I want to buy information. You just need to decide whether you’re selling.”

She had worked with Bas in a past life, as the Lady of Silverstel.
Back then, her husband had opened trade routes with Bas, which gave her access to their secret services.

Bas hesitated.

“To be honest… we’re trying to clean our hands of the shady business now.”

Yuliana raised a brow.

“So you haven’t cleaned them completely.”

Bas sighed. She’s sharp… not easy to handle.

“Fine. Let’s hear what you want.”

Yuliana took a paper from her sleeve and handed it over.

“Everything I want is written there. Also, I want you to send someone to my mansion regularly. Someone you trust. I’ll check trade inventory myself and receive information directly.”

Bas studied her.

She didn’t want to use Valdomer’s people. She didn’t trust them.

Smart, Bas thought.

But… should he even be partnering with someone who isn’t the head of the household?

It was a gamble.

If she lost her place in Valdomer, Bas would lose everything too.

But if she won—if she secured her position as Lady of Valdomer—then the Bas Trading Company could rise with her.

Bas liked gambling.

And right now, she was the only rope he had left to grab.

“Alright,” he said.
‘I’ll bet everything on this daring woman who married into her family’s enemy.’

***

On the way back to the mansion, Yuliana’s thoughts grew heavy.

In a past life, she’d never been able to investigate Helloica because it burned down.

Now, she’d asked Bas to look into two things:

1. The orphanage’s current status.

2. A man in his 30s with a long scar on his face who came from there.

She wasn’t 100% sure that man was the one who killed Denian.

In her first life, she never saw the killer—only Denian’s lifeless body.
He had no wounds, so people believed he died of illness.

He had always been frail.

But in other lives, she had seen it clearly:
Even when Denian hadn’t been born yet, the assassin always appeared.
It was as if the killer was hunting her too.

One day, she used her hidden powers to fight back—and she saw his face.

A mother’s instincts screamed the truth: That man killed her son.

After seeing him in multiple lives again, she had no more doubts.

She also realized something else:

In the lives where she hid her powers, the assassin never came for her.

So someone—someone who feared her powers—was sending the killer.

Until she found out who, she had to keep her powers hidden.

And to do that, she needed to stay as Lady of Valdomer.

Because only with that title could she keep using Bas and uncover the truth.

She would pretend to be the perfect noblewoman.

At least until she had a child—and found a way to escape.

For that child.
For Denian.

For the truth behind both their deaths.

***

As she returned to the mansion, Layla was already waiting for her.

“You’re back.”

Yuliana stared at her with a calm expression.

“Lord Kallion is asking for you.”