The Heroines Are After My Fortune

4 – For Elena – 1

“Hum, hmm. Hum~♬”

Under the clear blue sky, a girl named Elena, with obsidian eyes and neat black hair, was humming to herself as she hung laundry. Her beauty was impossible to conceal, even in her drab clothes. Men who passed by would glance at her, their eyes lingering in the yard, but never crossed any lines.

*‘Rumor has it that anyone who messes with her vanishes without a trace…’*

*‘And her brother is a madman, too.’*

Her brother, Aiden, was more than a little protective of his sister. Getting involved with them was nothing but a hassle. Men who’d once bragged about getting close to Elena when her brother wasn’t around disappeared without a trace, never to be seen in the village again. It wasn’t just rumor; the number of people who’d vanished was too many to count.

So, there were whispers going around that she was actually a magician, or a spirit user. Of course, Elena was clueless to the rumors, only waiting for her brother, who hadn’t come home yet.

“My brother is a bit late this time…”

Her brother had disappeared, saying there was a matter to deal with, and hadn’t returned for a week now. Though letters came steadily, confirming that he was safe, there were still odd things about their contents.

“Brace yourself, something’s gonna knock your socks off.”

‘What on earth? Something to knock my socks off…?’

A single scenario flashed through her mind.

‘Could it be, has he got a woman he’s gonna marry!?’

It was just a thought, but she felt a weird pang in her chest. It was the future, sure, but her brother, who’d always been at her side, leaving her – she just couldn’t picture it.

Wooo-oom!

Lost in her thoughts, she only just then noticed the heavy rumble of a car engine stopping right in front of their house.

‘Who is it? Nobody in our village drives a car…?’

Cars of this era, powered by ‘mana engines,’ the pinnacle of magic engineering, were luxury items most could only dream of. Even the richer nobles could only manage to rent them for big events, barely keeping up appearances, these machines were real money-guzzlers. She knew some of the property owners in the outskirts, they stuck to horses, not cars. Wondering who it could possibly be, she tilted her head, and then, seeing who stepped out of the car, she couldn’t help but be stunned.

A man wearing a fine suit made of the highest quality wool, his hair neatly swept back, was none other than Aiden.

‘Why’s he…why is *he* there…?’

What had happened in that short span, she couldn’t even begin to guess. Aiden just smiled, a little grin, not bothering to explain his younger sister’s confusion.

“Elena.”

“…Yeah?”

“Let’s move.”

Elena thought,

her brother’s hand, reaching out for her, that day, it looked incredibly big.

##########

“So, the old man who visited sometimes to see you, he’s actually our dad…?”

“Yup, that’s right.”

With ears around, I wrote on paper, ‘It’s a setup,’ then showed her the letter Yul-beoji wrote to me. She, who clearly had memories of her birth father, seemed a bit resistant to the idea that she had to act like another man’s daughter, but after reading the letter, she, too, shed tears of emotion and accepted it.

“You’re a member of the Loen family now, Elena Loen.”

“Hehe, it feels awkward. Having a surname…”

“It’s a relief. I was worried about sending you to the academy as a commoner.”

“What do you mean, Oppa? The class restrictions were changed years ago.”

‘Still so naive, little sister.’

The noble b*stards stick their noses in the air, never looking at commoners who might as well be beggars. Of course, the Elena of the original story was pretty enough to transcend such class walls, which is why she still had men falling for her, but the female community needs more than just looks. Unlike men, whose lower halves might react to a pretty face even if the person is a death row inmate, women, if they consider someone below them in status, would usually just feel jealous of their appearance rather than think of making friends. But this time it’ll be different. She’s a proud member of the nobility now, and she has the solid backing of the Loen family, whose wealth is second to none.

“…It’s just the way it is.”

I didn’t want to explain it all to this naive girl. There’s a difference between knowing something in advance and experiencing it yourself. No need to give her a prejudice that would raise her guard.

“We’ve arrived. We’ll take care of your luggage.”

“Alright, thank you.”

I gave a light bow to the driver, then stepped out of the car with Elena, the door opened for us by a servant. She was overwhelmed the moment she stepped into the mansion, looking around here and there with a spaced-out expression.

“Housekeeper, please show Elena around.”

“Yes, I understand.”

The butler bowed his waist in response to my order and began to show her around. I wanted to see the reactions of Elena, who was a master of dramatic responses, so I followed behind them.

“This is your personal room, miss.”

“Wow…! It’s huge!”

“This is the study. If you see any books you’d like to read, please, feel free to take them.”

“There are so many books, Oppa…!”

After going through over a dozen rooms, the tour finally ended, and she asked, as if she couldn’t quite believe it,

“Oppa, is this really our house…?”

“Yeah, it is. This is our house.”

“I feel like I’m dreaming, it doesn’t feel real at all….”

I felt Elena’s energy plummet suddenly as she said that. Her abrupt shift into a downcast mood, without any warning, caught me off guard.

“I don’t know if I should really stay here.”

“……Elena?”

Her head drooped low. This was bad. She’d sometimes retreat into herself like this before, but this time it seemed particularly severe.

“I can’t do anything for you, but you’ve been sacrificing for me from the start, and this whole thing is, in the end, all thanks to you….”

“Elena!”

I grabbed her shoulders tightly and called out firmly, making her look up at me, startled.

“You deserve to stay here.”

The fact that I could even make it this far was entirely because of her existence.

If Elena hadn’t saved me, I would have crumbled to pieces right then and there.

###

I hated Elena.

Because I pitied her, I sent a message to the author, and that dragged me into this wretched world, and yet this body I possessed didn’t even have some kind of talent to overcome my status. With both my parents dead from illness, I had to be the one providing for the family. Elena, feeling like she couldn’t just sit by, stepped up to work as well, but every time she did, something bad would happen.

*Thwack!*

“Ugh…!”

“Oppa———!!”

I was sprawled on the ground after getting beaten so hard by the neighborhood thugs that it was hard to breathe.

“Just gonna play with my little sister for a bit, why you gotta keep butting in?”

“Don’t you touch Elena…, *krr-hack!*”

Unable to bear it any longer, Elena stepped in front of me, begging.

“Stop it…! I’ll go with you, so please stop…!”

The thug, grinning at that, was about to drag Elena away when,

*Bweeep!*

“You three there, what’s going on…!”

“Tch, consider yourself lucky.”

The thug fled as one of the few patrols in the outskirts showed up. After confirming that everyone around had scattered, I barely pulled my battered body to its feet. And then,

*Smack!*

I raised my hand and slapped Elena across the cheek. She froze, head still turned, seemingly shocked that I had hit her. In that moment, I released the anger that had festered from being beaten by the thug, onto her.

“What did I tell you, Elena?”

“D-Don’t work…”

“Then why—!!!”

Elena flinched at my yell. My voice thick with moisture, I spoke to her.

“If I tell you not to, then just don’t. Please…!”

“…Sorry, oppa.”

My sister and I didn’t exchange another word all the way home. It was because I exuded an aura that screamed, *Don’t talk to me.*

The house we arrived at was dilapidated, cramped, and crawling with mice. I wanted to go back to our original house as soon as possible. For someone who wasn’t special, this world was like hell.

It was so terrifying. Her beauty felt like it was going to kill me. In the original story, Aiden also died, stabbed by a thug while protecting Elena. There was no guarantee I wouldn’t suffer the same fate.

“How do I get back? How, how, how can I…?”

The usual cliché flashed through my mind, the idea that I could return by changing the original story to a happy ending – but I quickly gave up. I was nothing more than a useless commoner A in this world. A mere speck, hardly capable of altering the course of the narrative. So, what could I do? The answer I reached then was ‘There’s nothing I can do.’

‘Maybe I can go back if I die.’

I wanted to let go of everything. Maybe this was all just a bad dream. I was tired of working all day to protect Elena, of getting beaten for her sake, of trembling in fear of death. I just wanted to end it all with my own hands.

‘Anyway, I’m supposed to be a character who died originally. My being here or not won’t make a difference.’

Hoping to wake up in my own room when I opened my eyes again, I kicked off the chair to hang myself.