The Heroines Are After My Fortune

1 – You are a Noble

About a month had passed since Yulne-man and Aiden parted ways beneath the ash tree. For some reason, Yulne-man, who had always come at least once a week, stopped visiting altogether.

“Not coming again today, is he.”

Leaning against the tree, a bitterness swallowed, the young man’s eyes caught sight of something that didn’t belong in this village.

‘A car…?’

A luxurious car, a rare sight in the outskirts, had stopped near the tree.

And out of it stepped a middle-aged man, impeccably dressed in a fine suit, with a well-groomed mustache that made a deep impression.

“Are you Mr. Aiden?”

“Yes, I am, but who are you…?”

“Someone is looking for you, Mr. Aiden. Please come with me.”

“Me?”

He was dumbfounded. Why would someone driving such a fancy car want to see *him*? He was worried that it might be something dangerous, but,

“Let’s go.”

Instinctively, he felt it was related to the old man, and he got into the car without hesitation. As the car left the outskirts and entered the capital, his eyes were glued to the city’s splendor. But there were heavens above heavens, and soon, upon arriving at a mansion, he was more than twice as astonished as before.

‘This is really just a noble’s mansion…?’

The scale and magnificence made him think it could easily be a palace, his mouth hanging agape as his eyes darted this way and that. Upon reaching the front of the house, at the butler’s beckoning, he followed as if in a trance, reaching a large hall. And there, he saw it.

“What in the……”

A massive coffin, and the corpse of an old man, covered in flowers.

It was a face the young man knew well.

It was the ‘old man’ he’d been sharing stories with under the tree, just a month ago.

“This is a letter from the head of the family, for Mr. Aiden.”

The head butler’s letter, Aiden took it with a trembling hand.

“This letter, even the head butler who was ordered to deliver it, was told not to read, so don’t worry about the story leaking. You might be a little surprised, but everything you read from here on is the truth. The old man you’ve been chatting with under the ash tree, that was me, Yulne-man Roen.”

“No way…”

As if utterly unable to believe it, the youth’s pupils trembled wildly. Yulne-man Roen? Wasn’t he a colossal figure of the Imperial high society, someone an ordinary person might never meet in their entire life?

“You might be thinking, why would a man with so much money go to such a shabby place, but that was my hometown. Since I was young until my hair went white, I’ve always loved getting some air under that tree. And since I met you there, perhaps it is fate.

As you’ve likely heard from the newspapers or rumors, until recently, I was planning to marry a young noble lady and have an heir. I thought that was the way to leave my mark on this world, the way to not waste the achievements I had built up. But all of that was just my greed. What was the fault of the young lady, who was sent to me as if sold by her parents, and what was the fault of the child who would come to realize they had no father once they learned how to speak? I’m truly ashamed that I, who has lived my whole life looking only forward, had such a narrow view that I couldn’t even grasp such a simple principle.

But thankfully, on this, my last journey, I found the most meaningful thing I could do. Do you remember when I asked you what you’d like to do if you became a noble?”

Aiden vaguely remembered that day. It must have been a day with unusually thick storm clouds.

###

“A noble?”

“Yes, if you were to become a noble, what would you like to do?”

“Hmm…”

Aiden, who usually answered these silly ‘what if’ questions easily, for some reason on this day, after much contemplation, gave a short answer.

“There’s nothing I want to do, but there’s something I don’t want to do.”

“Ha! That’s peculiar. Isn’t it normal that wanting to become something means that you want to do something when you become that?”

The old man stroked his chin as if the young man’s answer was intriguing, and the young man answered, embarrassed.

“Haha, it’s nothing much, I just don’t want to regret losing my loved ones. That sense of powerlessness, that I could have done more, I never get used to it, no matter how many times I experience it. I was thinking that maybe the barrier of nobility could help a little in protecting those around me?”

Yulne-man remembered Aiden saying that he had lost his parents in an accident when he was young. It was generally best to avoid digging up painful memories. The old man asked carefully.

“…Being a noble doesn’t mean you won’t lose loved ones, does it? The higher the noble, the more likely they are to be caught up in their status and face danger.”

“Then I’d just give up the status, I wanted to become one to protect them, so if it just puts them in danger? I wouldn’t do it then.”

“Mmm…”

The old man nearly uttered, ‘That’s because you’ve never held power.’ but managed to swallow the words back down his throat. And for not saying them, for not becoming a shameful elder, he was truly thankful.

###

“I’ve spent most of my life not protecting others, but rather, seizing and stealing what belonged to them. Surely, money and status were meant to be mere tools to achieve happiness, yet I’ve come to realize I’ve been living for them as an end in themselves. It might be shameful for a commoner like myself to discuss what a noble should be, but lately, it’s hard to find one who truly lives up to the title. They’re all like blind men, chasing after higher power and more wealth, with barely any who use their status to protect what’s precious. But Aiden, you are different. After hearing your story back then, I was certain of it.”

The young man, upon reading the following line, could only stare, his eyes wide with disbelief at the words he was taking in.

“Become a noble. It’s not necessary for my blood to carry on my will. From the moment you read this letter, you are my son. I told the retainers that I caused a bit of trouble when I was middle-aged, so no one will question it. Go on, live as you wish. And show that even a commoner can be more noble than a noble.”

‘Me, a noble…?’

In this era where the walls of social class were as solid as iron, only a tiny fraction of people could escape the yoke of the commoner. Yet the idea that he was to be among them was something Aiden could scarcely believe.

“I had wanted to see you one last time, but I couldn’t bear to show you my deteriorating state. Though we may not share blood, I believe that something much deeper flows between us. Even if we couldn’t share my final moments, I believe the heart I wish to convey to you will be felt. “

“Ah…”

Tears began to fall, one or two at a time, from the corners of his eyes. Reading the final lines of the letter, growing ever more damp, Aiden finally broke down.

“Be happy, I have always thought of you as a true son.”

– Yulneman Roen

To Aiden Roen

Tears dripped steadily onto the letter.

“Father—————————!!!”

The young man collapsed onto the floor, wailing loud enough to shake the very foundations of the mansion. The retainers, their eyes reddened, could only look up at the ceiling, barely managing to swallow back their own tears.

####

“Father, hwaah, huhuhuhh…”

“…Young Master, I understand your grief for the Lord, but I worry you will harm yourself. Please collect yourself and rest.”

A male servant practically dragged Aiden from the spot where he’d been weeping until sunset, finally getting him to his chambers. The door hadn’t even fully closed before he was sobbing again, great wracking sobs. It was maybe a few minutes, face buried in the mattress, still leaking tears.

“Is he gone?”

Aiden, eyes still glistening, sat up, glancing at the spot where the servant had exited. He roughly rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

“Agh, fucking exhausting.”

Even his retainers, initially impressed, now muttered ‘that tough b*stard…’ with genuine awe at his eight-hour weeping show. Aiden’s shoulders were stiff, he rubbed them, grumbling. He’d been sucked into this fantasy novel he used to love reading, a full seven years ago now.

###

My college life, it was just ‘booze’ every single day. If there was a department gathering, I’d go out and drink, every day. If my friends called, I’d go out and drink. If I had a free day, I’d go clubbing and drink. I was drunk more than I was sober, so when would I even have time to read something? I never even touched web novels, but then a book came into my life like it was destiny.

“‘The Lady Dreams Sweet Dreams,’ it’s called, it’s really good, you know?”

“Nah, you can read that as much as you want if it’s so good.”

“Just trust me and try it once, please?”

I’d gotten friendly with this girl while drinking, and she’d been pushing me to read it like crazy. So, I figured, what the hell? I’d read the first bit, easy. But then, bam! It sucked me right in with incredible power. To be honest, it was a bit of a hurdle at first.

‘What the hell? This is supposed to be a romance fantasy, so it’s a medieval setting. But there’s cars and flush toilets?’

The author took things that should only exist with modern technology and wrapped it up in ‘magic powers!’ called ‘magic engineering.’ At the time I read it, that detail annoyed me, but now that I’m stuck here, it’s the only thing that’s nice. Flush toilets, man, can’t say enough good about them.

Anyway, I really got into it, and the character I was most obsessed with was the main character, Elena.

“Elena, please just be happy…”

Elena, the main character of ‘Lady Dream,’ was always miserable. She was a commoner who got into the academy and had to endure constant ostracization and scorn. Yet, she stubbornly held on, only to get tangled in political webs, kidnapped, tortured, constantly witnessing the death of people she loved…

“The next chapter, the next chapter, Elena’s got to be able to achieve her dream…!”

Elena’s story of hardship and despair had me, a guy who knew nothing about feelings, sweating bullets. Repeating, ‘she’ll be happy next time…?’ I finally reached the last chapter and was struck by horror.

‘I just, I can’t endure this anymore….’

Elena, who had only known suffering, finally gave up on her grim reality and took her own life. The coroners who recovered her body noticed something and exclaimed.

“Hyung, ain’t she look like she’s smilin’?”

“Well, damn, you’re right. Must’ve gone out dreamin’ somethin’ sweet.”

“NIMMA, SHIBAAL——!!!!”

I spat out the rage that’d been clawin’ up from my gut, chucking my phone – still got payments left on it – against the wall. Could there be a more dog-shit ending than this? Fuming, I yanked the Absolut vodka I’d stashed away from that sculpting thing a while back and started gulping it down, tryin’ to bury the feeling. But no matter how much I drank, it wouldn’t let up.

“Huu, can’t take this…”

I hammered out a solid 5700 words and forced myself to send it to the author. Too drunk to really remember what I wrote. Just, considerin’ my usual drunken dog-mode, it’s probably filled with stuff that makes my own mouth go dry just thinkin’ about it. And seems my gut was right, cause not long after I sent that note, one day…

“…is this for real?”

I was inside the story, possessed the body of Elena’s brother from “The Lady Dreams a Sweet Dream.”

An extra, no less, who gets one measly line about dyin’ young in some accident.