TCBUP 30

Episode 30: A Welcome Guest

“Oh, right. I remember now—I can check my status too, can’t I?”

I’d never opened it before.

Since I had nothing else to do, I figured I might as well take a look at the system.

Without much thought, I opened the status window.

[ABOUT YOU]

Name: Sienna Hagrives
Age: 21
Occupation: Semi-unemployed
Assets: -200,000,000G
Current Status: ☺
Current Possessions: None
Public Opinion: “Still shamelessly hanging around Duke Ortiz, huh?”
Currently Available Male Leads:

✤ Damian Ortiz: No more coincidences, please.
♦ Nox Green: High maintenance, but kind of into it.
♠ Leon/?: Why are you even being nice to me?

“….”

Who is this status screen even for?

Ha. Semi-unemployed?

Should I be glad it’s not full unemployment?

And what’s with the minus two hundred million?

I didn’t need it in numbers to know how badly the building disaster hit me.

Already on edge because of Leon, and now this just pushed my mood over the cliff.

“Shouldn’t have looked at it.”

As if I needed a reminder of how miserable things were. Opening it only ruined my mood.

I lowered my head, only to see the box Leon had given me.

Maybe opening a present would make me feel a little better.

I began to unwrap the box Leon had handed me.

“…Oh.”

He said he got a bunch of different types, so I figured maybe five or so—but there were way more.

I picked up the scarves one by one, over half-filling the box.

The soft textures, bright colors, and pretty patterns all lifted my mood instantly.

I hurried over to the mirror and started trying them on, one after another.

“Wow, this one’s nice! Oh—this one too!”

Just like that, the afternoon flew by.

Before I knew it, I’d forgotten all about the bad feelings from earlier.

The next day, a welcome visitor came by.

“Wow, Miss, have you been well?”

“Mary?”

“Sorry for dropping by unannounced. I’ve barely had time to take any leave.”

“No worries. We’re not strangers. Come in.”

As she stepped inside, Mary glanced at the garden bed.

“They’re growing well, huh?”

“Yeah. The teacher helped.”

“Huh. So that teacher is good for something.”

Mary didn’t seem to trust Nox much since moving day.

But he’s got some amazing skills, aside from being strong.

Trying to defend him, I brought Mary inside.

“Does that teacher come by often?”

“No, not often. And he collapsed from exhaustion recently. I even visited him this morning.”

“He’s frail too? Miss, maybe you should reconsider…”

“He just worked himself too hard. But he looked much better today.”

He was fired up again, saying the second investment project had to succeed.

I appreciated the effort, but he had clearly overdone it.

The past few days, I’d been cooking for him, giving him medicine, and nursing him—barely had time to rest.

But it paid off—his affection level rose to 44%.

Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about the scar beneath his right eye.

A deep, old scar—looked like it came from childhood.

Since I also had a rough childhood, it struck a chord with me.

Now that I think about it, he doesn’t talk much about his past.

But from the little he’s let slip, it’s obvious he didn’t have an easy time.

Maybe he too…

“Miss? What are you thinking about?”

“Oh, nothing. Actually, you’re just in time, Mary. I need a favor.”

“What is it?”

“Wait right here.”

I handed her something to drink and hurried upstairs.

Then I came back down quickly, holding a bundle of pinkish-red fabric.

“A dress? Haven’t seen this one before.”

“Borrowed it by chance. More importantly—look here.”

I showed Mary the torn hem at the bottom of the dress from the salon incident.

“Think you can fix it?”

“Let me see.”

Mary carefully examined the dress with great attention.

“The fabric is top quality from Adion, and these embellishments—wow, all handcrafted. Miss, these aren’t real gems, are they?”

“They can’t be.”

No way Damian would lend me a dress with real jewels.

Why would he trust me with something so expensive?

“More importantly, can you fix it? Like you said, it’s insanely pricey, and if I try to pay for it, it’ll bankrupt me.”

I asked, hoping Mary could fix it so well no one would notice—an embarrassingly shallow and shameless hope.

Why do things always get so pathetic when it comes to Damian?

You’d think I’d be used to it by now, but it’s always awkward and heavy.

“No extra fabric, right?”

“Yeah.”

Mary held up the hem, tilted and lifted it, carefully studying the tear and how the material sat.

She was serious—her hands, her expression—totally focused.

“It’s torn horizontally, not vertically, which is lucky. I’ll trim it and layer it like a soft drape. It’ll look intentional.”

“Please do. And make it as unnoticeable as possible.”

“Of course. Leave it to me.”

She grinned confidently, hands on her hips.

Mary laid out her sewing tools and began the repair immediately, which I really appreciated.

Sitting quietly next to her, watching, I suddenly got curious about her household.

How were my parents doing since I left?

“Everything okay at home?”

“Oh, Miss. Of course not.”

“What? What happened?”

“Well, the Count had been going out so often lately that the Madam started suspecting he had a mistress. And then—boom. She exploded.”

“Wow. I didn’t think Mother had the kind of personality to stand up to him.”

“Right? I was shocked too.”

Mary shook her head, clearly exhausted just remembering it.

“Rather than standing up to him, she said she’d end it all and tried to jump off the balcony.”

It was just the second floor, so she probably wouldn’t have been hurt badly.

Still, for the Countess to go that far, the Count must’ve been doing more than just disappearing for a couple days.

He really hadn’t come home for several nights and looked wrecked.

“Turns out, it wasn’t a mistress—he got hooked on gambling. Even stayed out overnight for it.”

“……”

So even the Count fell into the clutches of Prince Withrow’s faction?

And then that money the Count handed over got stolen by someone mysterious…

‘Well… at least it didn’t end up with Prince Withrow.’

But who could it have been? That bold thief?

Maybe Prince Aiden, Withrow’s rival for the throne?

But Aiden has weak support. People say he’s only still alive because of the Empress’s “mercy.”

He couldn’t have pulled off such a bold heist right under Withrow’s nose.

“All done! What do you think, Miss?”

“Oh, wow. Perfect. Your sewing skills are the best, as always.”

I happily touched the newly layered hem of the dress.

This should be good enough, right?

It’s been worn once anyway, so it’s basically secondhand.

And Damian’s the type who’d rather toss it than resell it—so whatever.

“Let’s send this back to the Ortiz household.”

“Huh? You borrowed it from the Duke?”

“It was a special case.”

“……”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. It’s not the rosy thing you’re imagining—it was just a miserable situation.”

I cut her off firmly. Mary looked disappointed but began carefully packing the dress.

“Oh, Mary. Can I ask one more favor?”

“Of course, Miss. Anything.”

After spending several days practically living at Nox’s place to nurse him, I finally returned home—and Leon came to visit.

He scolded me, asking where I’d been and warning me—again—not to wander off alone.

I barely reacted, just quietly listened.

Leon clicked his tongue.

Was that the end of it?

I smiled sheepishly. He looked at me like I was hopeless and smiled back.

“But Sienna… do you still get scared sometimes?”

“Yes, sometimes. I really don’t know why. I look around and there’s nothing there.”

That creepy sensation felt so real—but when I checked, there was never anything there.

I thought it was all in my head… but it kept happening. Too many times to ignore.

Unless I really was going crazy.