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“Please Disappear From My Life”

Prologue

Crash!

A wine bottle rolled out of the basket and shattered, soaking the marble hallway.

“Ah….”

“Gasp.”

A man and a woman on a wide bed, visible right as the door opened, turned toward her. One face was unfamiliar. But the other—she knew all too well.

Too well.

“Li-Linea. This is….”

Caught entangled with the woman, Kadil hastily pushed her away and threw on clothes over his naked body. Linea was too shocked to even scream.

What is this?

‘Your fiancé’s been practically living at the opera house lately, I hear.’

No, no. He’s not that kind of person. Kadil isn’t like that. No, no, no….

Then what is this?

Linea bolted from the scene.

She was never loved by anyone—except by the one person she loved. Her fiancé.

She loved him with all she had, poured her time and effort into becoming someone worthy of him.

So where did it all go wrong?

The only certainty was this: her fiancé had betrayed her twice.

By the time she wandered into the nearby forest as the sun set, Linea’s feet were blistered and raw. Tears streamed down her face without end.

‘Then smile a little more for me?’

‘You’re so beautiful, Linea.’

‘You are mine.’

I’m yours. You’re mine. How often had she thought and engraved those words in her heart?

And in the end, what had she seen?

‘Was it my decision? No, the family decided. And don’t worry. When she’s no longer useful, I’ll throw her away and come to you.’

Whispered words—while holding another woman.

Linea let out a hollow laugh. Her mouth twitched, sore from having laughed like a madwoman earlier.

She thought of her parents, who treated her like a failure for speaking late or not meeting their expectations. Of her siblings, who never saw her as one of them.

So instead of trying to earn their love, she chose to love her fiancé. She gave everything, struggled to be someone he’d be proud of.

And this was the result.

No one loved Linea. The reward for her desperate affection was betrayal.

“Usefulness.”

She mouthed the cold word.

If there’s still something left to use, then fine—use it. From now on, do it yourself.

The fiancée your house forced on you will disappear.

That was all Linea could do now.

The death of Linea Shuhebers, third daughter of Duke Wilson Shuhebers, drew considerable attention in the capital.

“She didn’t die at home but in the forest, right?”

Even in a noblewoman’s salon, the topic came up. A lady hid her face behind a fan and nodded.

“So it seems. But why would she die in the forest, not at home?”

“They say that’s what made the investigation so difficult.”

“And it was raining that day too. Why go somewhere like that in the rain?”

Then a noble known for gossip chimed in.

“I heard—just a rumor—that she visited an opera singer’s house before heading to the forest.”

“An opera singer? Was she a fan?”

“No, apparently she wasn’t into opera at all. And she only stayed briefly—and used a fake name with the maid.”

“My word.”

“What on earth happened?”

The nobles in the salon buzzed with intrigue.

“She was supposed to be married soon. Suddenly dying in the forest—it’s suspicious, isn’t it?”

“Speaking of which, I read the morning paper—they caught the culprit!”

“Really? Who was it?”

“A vagrant from Macerlin Street, apparently.”

When the name Macerlin Street came up, the nobles scowled. It was one of the capital’s most infamous slums.

“So a vagrant followed her to the forest and killed her…”

“They didn’t find her jewelry or the pendant she always wore—so it looks like a robbery.”

“A noble lady, killed for money… How vile.”

“Horrible. That filthy wretch—killing a noble!”

“But still… It was strange of her to go to the forest alone that late.”

One noble offered this thought.

“That sounds like you’re blaming the victim.”

“Do I? I just find it suspicious. I did some digging on this case…”

He lowered his voice.

“There are rumors she took her own life.”

“What? That can’t be. Didn’t she just get proposed to?”

“And her fiancé was famously devoted.”

“Which is why it’s just a rumor.”

A noblewoman shook her head lightly.

“I still think murder is more plausible. The vagrant admitted to stealing the jewelry. He denied killing her, of course.”

“Of course he did. Stealing from a corpse and killing a noble carry vastly different punishments.”

The one who mentioned suicide shrugged.

“She was known to be quiet. If she had worries, she probably never told anyone.”

“But wouldn’t a postmortem have revealed suicide?”

“Maybe the Duke’s family covered it up.”

That suggestion drew an awkward silence. The noble who started the conversation quickly changed the subject.

“Anyway, it’s a tragic event. The Duke and Duchess must be devastated.”

“Yes, certainly.”

Of course, Linea’s death wasn’t particularly tragic to them. The conversation soon shifted elsewhere.

Linea Shuhebers’ death ended as something difficult to understand—but ultimately irrelevant.

“—Gasp.”

It was like breathing for the first time. Linea’s eyes flew open—and she was in her room.

Not that she realized it at first. She simply stared at the canopy overhead, then finally glanced around.

A familiar room.

“…My room?”

She looked around in disbelief. Her body was soaked in cold sweat; her nightgown clung to her skin. Her breath was ragged, like someone who’d run a marathon.

Her eyes were wide with terror. As she slowly grasped her surroundings, her hand reached for her throat. Her neck—smooth and unmarked.

Why?

Her voice was hoarse from sleep but not broken. Strange. Her throat had been—

‘No…’

She had died. She remembered dying. The feeling was so vivid that her body shuddered.

Was it all a dream? Not real? It had felt so real. The pain—both in body and in heart—still lingered.

And then—those final words came to her.

“If you could live again…”

“Then promise—never take your own life.”

“Survive.”

Live.

Tears that had welled at the corners of her eyes finally streamed down.

Linea exhaled raggedly.

“Please Disappear From My Life”

Chapter 1

When she was first born, Linea wasn’t lonely.

She began to understand loneliness around the age of four.

“Say it with me: Mama, Papa.”

“Uh… Muba. Biaf.”

“No, no! That’s not it!”

Her mother—Countess Vitellance by title, but practically the wife of the heir to the Duke Shuhebers—Monica, scolded Linea and shot a glare at the nanny.

“What’s going on? Her brother and sister spoke before they turned two! What have you been doing with her?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am.”

The nanny bowed her head as always in front of the angry mother.

While Monica didn’t yell at Linea directly, she unleashed her full fury on the nanny.

“You’re not neglecting her just because she’s the third child, are you?”

“Of course not, ma’am.”

Compared to her father, her mother was the kinder one. At least Monica had some warmth in her eyes. Her father, however—

“A worthless child. An imbecile.”

“Darling, how can you say that?”

Monica’s face twisted in shock. But her husband remained cold.

“You wasted your efforts. She has no value.”

“She’s your daughter!”

As a baby, Linea didn’t understand rejection. But she felt it. Her father didn’t want her.

But even that didn’t last long. Eventually, he simply stopped appearing before her.

For Linea, that was a relief.

<He doesn’t come anymore.>

She nodded to herself while playing with toys.

No one knew Linea wasn’t stupid or slow. In truth, she was bright—sensitive to people and her surroundings.

She’d just been hearing two languages at once, which delayed her speech. That was all. But her father had written her off. And her mother grew more anxious with each passing day.

<It’s okay. Play with us.>

<We like you, Linea.>

<We won’t yell or curse at you.>

What’s “curse”?

Linea mouthed the word in confusion. The nanny, watching from a distance, shivered.

“There she goes again. Talking to thin air…”

“She’s possessed, isn’t she?”

“Shh! Don’t say that. Remember when Josie got her skin whipped off for saying the same?”

The young maid scoffed.

“Everyone says so. The third young miss is possessed. That’s why she speaks late, stares at nothing, and smiles at walls. Didn’t she spend that whole festival day alone?”

“Don’t remind me. I still get chills. When I opened the door, she was sitting in the dark—just staring at me with blank eyes.”

“Most kids scream when they’re hungry or tired. But her? Nothing. Ever.”

“I mean, I like the easy pay and no trouble, but she’s not… human.”

The two glanced at Linea like she was a monster. She sat on the carpet, laughing at the air.

“What a creepy child. The lady and lord have no luck.”

So no one knew Linea could hear spirits.

Not even Linea herself.