Chapter 40
Late in the afternoon, Monica awoke under the warm sunlight.
She still couldn’t believe what had happened yesterday, so she reached for the notebook lying nearby. Inside it, the words she had written yesterday were still there.
“Ebasso, if this so-called gift you’re giving me is really this, I’m going to be so disappointed.”
Her gaze fixed on the letters in the notebook as she muttered resentfully to herself.
When Ebasso had told her to “wait and see,” she had expected some amazing power—like supernatural abilities or magic.
But the only thing she got was the ability to make words appear on Liam’s body.
Monica sat up in bed. Yesterday, she had hit her limit and had been completely exhausted. Perhaps because she had poured everything out to Liam in that moment, her heart now felt a little calmer.
Wanting to talk to him again, she shook the bell beside her.
Ding-ling.
Almost instantly, Peter, the butler who had been waiting outside the room, opened the door and stepped in. For some reason, he looked to be in a good mood, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes deepening as he smiled.
“Ma’am, you’re awake?”
“Peter, did something good happen?”
“Oh, come now. What good could possibly happen to an old man like me?”
“Where’s Liam?”
“The Duke stepped out for a bit. He said he’ll be back this evening, and that you can talk then… and also, he asked that you refrain from doodling.”
Hearing that Liam had gone to the temple, Monica fell briefly into thought.
Why would he go to the temple?
She slowly retraced yesterday’s conversation, wondering if there was something she had overlooked. Then the butler’s voice called her back.
“Ma’am, is there anything you need?”
“Bring me some breakfast. And also some fruit that Lucky can eat.”
“Right away. Please wait just a moment.”
As the butler bowed and left the room, Lucky emerged from under the bed, jumped into Monica’s arms, and wagged his tail enthusiastically.
“Lucky, did you sleep well?”
She greeted him briefly and stroked the pink ball of fur from head to tail.
Her hand moved in rhythm, and her thoughts turned. No matter how much she thought about it, it still felt strange—so strange that she couldn’t understand her own feelings.
Without any real evidence, she trusted Liam. Even now, knowing he had gone to the temple, she felt no suspicion.
She could even guess why he had gone there.
It must be because of the letters on his body…
She could easily distrust him for going to the temple without fully believing her words, yet all she wanted was for him to come home quickly.
When she had been writing the original novel, there was no other character Monica had put as much effort into as Liam.
Is that why?
For no solid reason, she trusted him.
Is it really okay to just… believe?
The imbalance between her feelings and his left her feeling uneasy and wronged. She felt a sudden urge to scribble something in her notebook just to make Korean letters appear on his body.
Just then, Peter came back into the room carrying breakfast.
“Ma’am, your breakfast. We have strawberries for fruit, but they’re not in the best condition.”
“Thanks, Peter.”
The butler carefully set the plate down on the table.
“Ma’am, Alex sent a letter. He’s a little concerned about what you plan to do about the couples counseling going forward… It’s not just because he’s my friend, but he’s really not a bad person—just a bit nosy and talkative.”
“I’ll have to ask Liam. I think he mentioned before about inviting the counselor to the house. I’ll talk to him about it tonight.”
“And also, ma’am, I was thinking—how about hiring a lady’s maid? Not just for assistance, but also for companionship. I’m getting older, and I don’t really understand women’s affairs, so I think it would be good for you to have a dependable maid at your side.”
It seemed the butler was still troubled by what had happened with Angela, and he offered his suggestion very cautiously.
“…A lady’s maid, huh?”
Noticing her somewhat positive reaction, Peter continued,
“If you like, I can choose someone capable. It might be hard to hire a young lady from the mid-ranking nobility right away, but among the lower-rank noblewomen, there should be someone suitable who could keep you company.”
In that moment, a good idea struck Monica. Without hesitation, she replied,
“I’ll think about it a bit more.”
Peter bowed lightly at her answer and left the room.
For some reason, Monica had a feeling things might work out well.
If only Liam would completely help and trust me…
She started to write a letter to the Riat Trading Company, but stopped almost immediately. What if writing on paper made Korean words appear on Liam’s body?
If that happened, and a priest read her letter…
She didn’t want to imagine it. She picked up the notebook again, sat down on the sofa, and thought,
I wish they’d just disappear.
Pressing her fingertip over the letters in the notebook, she slowly dragged it across. Suddenly, the black ink began to vanish from the page.
“Oh—oh!”
A gasp of awe escaped her lips. With trembling fingers, she ran her hand over the next word.
Again, the letters dissolved into nothing.
She froze.
For a long moment, she simply stared at the notebook before finally running her fingertip over the last remaining word—Liam.
At last, the notebook returned to its pristine state, with not a single letter remaining.
She stared wide-eyed at the blank paper.
“There’s nothing written anymore!”
If that was the case, had the letters disappeared from Liam’s body as well? She wanted to check immediately.
“Wait a second…”
She realized a pattern—only Korean letters had appeared on Liam’s body before. Maybe words written in the Empire’s language wouldn’t appear at all.
Suddenly, curiosity bubbled up inside her.
“Should I test it?”
She briefly recalled the message Peter had delivered from Liam:
“Please refrain from doodling.”
She hesitated. It would be better to wait for Liam and test it together, but she found it hard to resist. Her restless mood didn’t help.
“Even if it does appear on him, I can just erase it with my fingertip.”
She bit her lip lightly and glanced at the time.
It was late afternoon—Liam was probably already on his way back from the temple.
Her deliberation was long, but her decision was quick. She picked up a pen and carefully wrote, stroke by stroke:
〈Duke Liam Orse〉
“That should be fine.”
The neatly written words in the Empire’s language stood clearly on the page. Blowing on them to dry the ink, Monica then ran her fingertip over the writing.
Huh?
No matter how many times she pressed and dragged her finger over it, the words didn’t vanish. She was briefly flustered but quickly thought it through.
If it didn’t disappear, it could mean one of two things:
Either the Empire’s language didn’t appear on Liam’s body at all… or it did appear, but couldn’t be erased.
“Either way, I have to check.”
Since this needed to be solved before she could send a letter to the Riat Trading Company, Monica stood up to ring for the butler.
She intended to ask him to check if Liam had returned to the estate. But before she could, the door creaked open.
“Liam?”
Monica’s eyes darted nervously. Was he angry because the Empire’s words had appeared on his body? The man standing there, looking directly at her, wore an unreadable expression.
Her body stiffened.
Ah… did the Empire’s letters appear on him?
Anxiety rushed through her. Taking a deep breath, she confessed as though making a confession,
“Liam, take off your shirt. I wasn’t trying to doodle on you, exactly—I was testing something. Please don’t take it the wrong way. It might sound like an excuse, but I just felt like you didn’t fully believe me, so I wanted to test it myself. I’m sorry.”
He slowly walked over to the sofa, sat down, and rubbed his face with one hand. The more he looked at her, the more he realized she was nothing like the Monica he had known before.
“The writing’s all gone.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
His cracked voice answered her question.
“Liam, I want to see for myself, so please take off your shirt.”
“I’ve already checked. Sit down first, Susung. I have something to tell you.”
Sensing the unusual atmosphere, Monica quietly sat down and watched him.
“I had a dream. It was so vivid that I want to know if it matches anything from what you wrote.”
“Liam, as I told you yesterday, I don’t remember all the fine details of the original story. And Ebasso said this world has begun to move on its own, so even if I did remember, things might be different now.”
“Just listen.”
Susung nodded heavily. She wasn’t sure if he was testing her, or if something had happened at the temple.
After several long sighs, Liam finally began to recount his dream. As he spoke, the air in the room grew heavier.
Monica had never told him about the other transmigrators before her. Perhaps he had come to the concept on his own—that this was a repeating world, a kind of regression.
She confirmed his words again.
“So… you saw Monica die twice in your dream?”
“Yes. Is it some kind of prophetic dream, or… is it something from your novel?”
Liam was certain she knew the answer, and he looked at her directly, as if demanding she tell him.
Monica quietly listened. Then, as though deciding something, she looked him straight in the eye and prepared to tell him what she knew.
“There’s something I didn’t tell you yesterday. I didn’t think it was important, but I guess I have to say it now. But before that…”
She paused briefly, then spoke.
“There’s something I want you to know.”
He raised his head slightly, his eyes asking, What is it?
“Liam, I want you to trust me completely. And I want you to help me. I don’t know how this will sound, but… you’re the only person in this world I can truly rely on.”
It was selfish, but she desperately wanted him to simply help her. In her eyes, for brief moments, there was a tenacity and desperation that couldn’t be hidden.
Did she want to return to her own world that badly? Or was she simply afraid of dying again?
Liam pondered her emotions for a moment, wondering how he should respond.
