If I'm Found Dead
Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook
“I can’t believe you tried to impersonate a dead person. How could you…!”
The butler yelled at Rena with a low voice, all the while glaring at her. Rena took the gaze in annoyance and quickly clarified.
“Butler, it’s me.”
“Hey, look here! Why are you doing this kind of thing! Is it for money?”
“You really, don’t recognize me?”
Rena’s eyes shook under the constant criticism.
It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be like this.
6 years was quite a long time. However, it shouldn’t be enough to forget those who had lived with us once. Moreover, Rena’s face had not changed that much since she was a child. It would be weird for him not to recognize her.
“You really can’t recognize me?”
“That’s why you should just stop…!”
“By the way, do you remember? The carpet next to my bedroom?”
The butler sighed, while Rena spoke louder.
“When I was seven, I kept falling down the stairs. For that reason, Butler placed two layers of carpet next to my room, so that if I fell, I wouldn’t get hurt. But because the surface suddenly became higher, many people fell around that area.”
When Rena was searching through her memories, a sad smile fell on her lips.
“Nevertheless, Butler still used the carpets, just so I didn’t get hurt. You still don’t remember?”
“Where did you hear all of this?”
“Butler…”
“I’m asking you to stop. I don’t know where you hear all these things, but my young lady has passed away. If only you knew how sad Master was at that time, you wouldn’t dare to do this!”
In the time Rena was busy proving herself with warm memories, the butler shrieked in discontent.
Rena’s pain gradually subsided from her eyes.
At that time.
A court staff opened the door to the reception room. When a servant gave him a tip, he immediately put tea and some refreshments onto a tray.
“Thank you, leave us alone.”
The butler stood up and received the tray, before sending the servant back.
Up until now, he had been acting properly, fit to be a genuine butler of a household. However, what came next was different.
‘What a poor woman…’
The butler murmured behind Rena’s back. Then he took out the watch from under his sleeve. This was a pocket watch that was commonly used by old gentlemen of that age.
The butler tilted the clock a little, acting like he was checking the time. But then, liquid dripped from the clock’s mainspring hole and fell into the cup.
This was a mild poison. The kind that killed silently by stopping your breath, as if falling into a deep sleep.
“Why did you come back…”
The butler felt his throat had dried, and swallowed his saliva.
In fact, he had recognized Rena at a first glance. How could he not? She was the bright and pretty young lady whom he had seen since the moment she was born.
And when Rena mentioned the matter about the carpet, it was as if his heart had been broken into pieces.
It seemed that she was still not aware. It wasn’t because of the carpet that the servants fell all over the place. But for the girl who often fell and felt embarrassed, they deliberately pretended to fall. Everyone acted for the clumsy and cute little girl.
Remembering those days were painful, but the butler had made up his mind.
‘Forgive me, my Lady. Otherwise, everyone will die.’
The butler turned around and asked for forgiveness inside his heart.
Rena had been waiting with a dejected feeling. Her body had suffered from injuries, but the butler turned a blind eye even to her feelings and presented her a cup of poison instead.
Rena received the teacup happily. Looking at the dark tea, she said.
“I believe whatever I say won’t matter now.”
The gloomy whisper pierced through the butler’s heart.
“I won’t ask you to believe me anymore. But do send Father my sincerest greeting. Ask him if he’s been well.”
The butler could not utter a reply to that.
At the same time Rena lifted the teacup, the butler held his breath.
Rena blew at the tea to lower the temperature, then touched the teacup with her lips.
It’s done. The moment the butler thought so, the teacup stopped tilting.
“Still, Butler.”
Rena suddenly stopped drinking the tea and said with the teacup under her chin.
“What if, just what if I’m found dead tomorrow?”
The butler’s heart sunk, and he simultaneously felt like the blood on his whole body had run cold.
Upon seeing his abrupt change, Rena laughed heartily.
“I was just saying that…”
Said Rena playfully before she drank from the cup.
The next time it was put down, the bottom of the teacup could be seen.
Rena, who had swallowed the poison, smiled with moistened lips.
“It was nice to see you. And so, goodbye.”
Rena said her farewell and left the reception room.
The butler, who was left alone foolishly, threw up soon after.
‘So, you have noticed? No, there’s no way…’
He touched his forehead with a trembling hand and found that it was covered in a cold sweat.
The old butler shuddered from unknown dread, then he threw the teacup Rena had used to break it.
***
At the sound of the door opening, Uni lifted up her head instead of tidying the wardrobe.
“You’re back already? I didn’t expect it to be so soon…”
Upon returning to their room, instead of replying, Rena went past Uni, opened the door to the bathroom, and threw up into the sink.
“Uuub!”
When the nauseated voice was let out, Uni was surprised and immediately ran over.
“My Lady, are you okay?”
And saw Rena retching.
Uni patted Rena’s back without fully understanding the situation. Not long after, Rena vomited out some liquid.
“What is that? What happened?”
Uni asked with her rabbit-like eyes wide open, and Rena answered with a weary face.
“Can you help me stand? It seems like some kind of neurotoxin. My toes are starting to feel numb.”
“Huh?”
Uni stared at Rena in surprise. There was a faint smile on Rena’s face, which looked paler than usual.
Still in astonishment, Uni supported Rena up.
“Wait a second, how long has it been since you drank the poison before you came back!?”
“It was from a nice person, but shouldn’t have to suffer from it.”
Rena went to the living room with Uni’s assistance. By the time she sat on the sofa to check her condition, her toes had become completely numb. There was no pain, only some light stinging sensation.
It was a quiet, yet strong poison. Had she let it be, she would’ve gotten paralyzed and died silently.
“Pft.”
Rena, who was checking out her condition, suddenly let out a laugh. Afterward, she held her belly and started laughing heartily.
“Has she gone mad…?”
Uni muttered in complaint at Rena’s strange action.
After that laugh, Rena grabbed her arms.
“Ah, it’s because things are amusing. Really, how amusing.”
What was so amusing about almost getting killed by poison? Uni’s expression seemed to ask.
“My Lady, did you see your father?”
“No, a butler met me instead.”
Said Rena. Then she handed over a sheet of paper.
“He didn’t come out when I visited, but he did send me a note.”
“So?”
“I’m quite excited.”
Uni took the paper and opened it with a perplexed face.
—Do not use a father’s scar. I will let it pass this time, but not the next time.
Uni, who had read the content, asked back with eyes filled with tension.
“That’s it?”
“Look here, he’s telling me not to use his scar.”
“I think this is the part where you should get angry, my Lady.”
“Think about it. If a wound was left, it means that there were injuries. It implies that he was hurting at some point, and also regretting.”
Rena muttered in an innocent tone.
“Therefore, I thought that perhaps he regrets the things he had done to me.”
“Do you truly believe these words?”
“It’s not like that. There’s one more thing. I’m a bit confused as to why did the butler stew the poison at the tram? It’s so funny…”
In fact, she was a bit surprised when the servant brought in the tram. They were treating her as a scammer but served her with tea.
She had thought that it was strange, so she looked more carefully. Then, there came a faint sound of liquid, and after that, the teacup was served in a scheduled motion.
Up until then, she was still not convinced. Thus, she picked up the cup and moved it a little closer, but then the blood drained from the butler’s face.
Rena, who was finally convinced by his action, drank the tea as if she was looking forward to it. In response to her inexorable father.
After knowing the entire story, Uni frowned and mumbled to herself.
“Then what would happen if the poison worked as it was intended?”
“I drank it because I felt like challenging myself. I shouldn’t die from just this much.”
“Even though you shouldn’t die…”
Falling ill is the same thing.
When trying to say this, Uni swallowed the words back. Then she changed her expression again and sighed.
“In any case, my Lady, who says that the situation is amusing, is weird, but your father’s side is also great. How did he just get the poison right away?”
“He’s always been a resolute man in the first place.”
Rena replied with a smile. Personally, she was glad to be able to know her father’s thoughts.
Uni stared at Rena, who was contemplating, and afterward sat by her side, like a cat that’s trying to comfort someone.
She was said to be a little servant, but she was a bit too plump for the title.
“Someone should come to check my Lady’s life and death tomorrow.”
“Hence, I should go and greet them first.”
“That’s a great idea. Then I supposed the assassins will come next, right?”
“Probably.”
“I should give notes to them first. Which one is Rena’s bed, which one is Uni’s bed…”
“Would you like to live alone?”
“I’m still young.”
Uni betrayed her without any feelings of guilt. Then she stared at the lady with cat-like eyes.
Rena laughed because of the sweetness and the poison both.
***
That night, Rena didn’t sleep much.
‘So hot.’
It felt like there was charcoal burning in the stomach. Perhaps because she was feeling weak, the burning sensation within felt like it was changing shape every minute and licked the inside of the body.
Rena had been tossing from side to side because of the heat before she finally got up. She heard the sound of Uni’s breath in the darkness.
Rena walked to the balcony on her heels, so that Uni would not wake up. There, she took a deep breath.
“Haa…”
The night air in early spring was cold, as the result, she was able to cool off the heat within her body.
As she breathed in the air, the unfamiliar scene of the Imperial Palace caught her eyes. Even past midnight, there were quite a few windows with bright windows, which was the sign of young nobles who liked to socialize and play until dawn.
‘It looks fun.’
Rena leaned against the banister while looking at the flickering lights and the shadows that came and went. As well as the sound of the music that came as she wished.
If everything is as it should be, I would be there too.
It was as it should be, but then my father sold me.
Rena, the gifted young artist, had waited for the day to debut in the social world. She had wanted to greet the emperor when she looked the prettiest, received congratulations from the people, and danced with the gentlemen.
How could she be so greedy?
No, those were the things that should have happened under normal circumstances.
Normal.
“Normally…”
Rena, who was thinking about her situation, shifted her gaze consciously.
Under the twinkling lights, she saw the lake that was sleeping silently.
Rena thought about going over there. She looked around, then lightly jumped from the second-floor balcony.
‘It’s dark.’
When she came down, the garden was darker than she had thought.
‘Is the garden a place for late-night secret meetings?’
She remembered a section of the novel she had secretly read in her childhood. She couldn’t remember the details, but it was about a man and a woman who couldn’t love each other for some tragic reason, so they secretly make love in the garden late at night.
Rena walked through the dark garden while searching through her memories about the details of the story.
At that time.
A hidden presence was felt right behind.
Simultaneously, she recalled Uni’s voice that said that assassins would probably come.
‘So soon?’
Rena turned in reflex and struck the opponent with her elbow.
Tak!
However, her arm was caught and forced to stop in the air. Rena pulled back her arm with gritted teeth.
The other person said at that time.
“Calm down.”
It was an ordinary warm voice.
Rena’s eyes widened at the unexpected, yet familiar voice.
“Mr. Lynn?”
She was right.
The young man, who had always been called the evil tyrant, nodded his head at Rena’s call.
The author’s words:
Lynn. 20 years old. Having the appearance of a suspicious person.
If I'm Found Dead
Translated by Wook
Edited by Wook
“I can’t believe you tried to impersonate a dead person. How could you…!”
The butler yelled at Rena with a low voice, all the while glaring at her. Rena took the gaze in annoyance and quickly clarified.
“Butler, it’s me.”
“Hey, look here! Why are you doing this kind of thing! Is it for money?”
“You really, don’t recognize me?”
Rena’s eyes shook under the constant criticism.
It couldn’t be. It shouldn’t be like this.
6 years was quite a long time. However, it shouldn’t be enough to forget those who had lived with us once. Moreover, Rena’s face had not changed that much since she was a child. It would be weird for him not to recognize her.
“You really can’t recognize me?”
“That’s why you should just stop…!”
“By the way, do you remember? The carpet next to my bedroom?”
The butler sighed, while Rena spoke louder.
“When I was seven, I kept falling down the stairs. For that reason, Butler placed two layers of carpet next to my room, so that if I fell, I wouldn’t get hurt. But because the surface suddenly became higher, many people fell around that area.”
When Rena was searching through her memories, a sad smile fell on her lips.
“Nevertheless, Butler still used the carpets, just so I didn’t get hurt. You still don’t remember?”
“Where did you hear all of this?”
“Butler…”
“I’m asking you to stop. I don’t know where you hear all these things, but my young lady has passed away. If only you knew how sad Master was at that time, you wouldn’t dare to do this!”
In the time Rena was busy proving herself with warm memories, the butler shrieked in discontent.
Rena’s pain gradually subsided from her eyes.
At that time.
A court staff opened the door to the reception room. When a servant gave him a tip, he immediately put tea and some refreshments onto a tray.
“Thank you, leave us alone.”
The butler stood up and received the tray, before sending the servant back.
Up until now, he had been acting properly, fit to be a genuine butler of a household. However, what came next was different.
‘What a poor woman…’
The butler murmured behind Rena’s back. Then he took out the watch from under his sleeve. This was a pocket watch that was commonly used by old gentlemen of that age.
The butler tilted the clock a little, acting like he was checking the time. But then, liquid dripped from the clock’s mainspring hole and fell into the cup.
This was a mild poison. The kind that killed silently by stopping your breath, as if falling into a deep sleep.
“Why did you come back…”
The butler felt his throat had dried, and swallowed his saliva.
In fact, he had recognized Rena at a first glance. How could he not? She was the bright and pretty young lady whom he had seen since the moment she was born.
And when Rena mentioned the matter about the carpet, it was as if his heart had been broken into pieces.
It seemed that she was still not aware. It wasn’t because of the carpet that the servants fell all over the place. But for the girl who often fell and felt embarrassed, they deliberately pretended to fall. Everyone acted for the clumsy and cute little girl.
Remembering those days were painful, but the butler had made up his mind.
‘Forgive me, my Lady. Otherwise, everyone will die.’
The butler turned around and asked for forgiveness inside his heart.
Rena had been waiting with a dejected feeling. Her body had suffered from injuries, but the butler turned a blind eye even to her feelings and presented her a cup of poison instead.
Rena received the teacup happily. Looking at the dark tea, she said.
“I believe whatever I say won’t matter now.”
The gloomy whisper pierced through the butler’s heart.
“I won’t ask you to believe me anymore. But do send Father my sincerest greeting. Ask him if he’s been well.”
The butler could not utter a reply to that.
At the same time Rena lifted the teacup, the butler held his breath.
Rena blew at the tea to lower the temperature, then touched the teacup with her lips.
It’s done. The moment the butler thought so, the teacup stopped tilting.
“Still, Butler.”
Rena suddenly stopped drinking the tea and said with the teacup under her chin.
“What if, just what if I’m found dead tomorrow?”
The butler’s heart sunk, and he simultaneously felt like the blood on his whole body had run cold.
Upon seeing his abrupt change, Rena laughed heartily.
“I was just saying that…”
Said Rena playfully before she drank from the cup.
The next time it was put down, the bottom of the teacup could be seen.
Rena, who had swallowed the poison, smiled with moistened lips.
“It was nice to see you. And so, goodbye.”
Rena said her farewell and left the reception room.
The butler, who was left alone foolishly, threw up soon after.
‘So, you have noticed? No, there’s no way…’
He touched his forehead with a trembling hand and found that it was covered in a cold sweat.
The old butler shuddered from unknown dread, then he threw the teacup Rena had used to break it.
***
At the sound of the door opening, Uni lifted up her head instead of tidying the wardrobe.
“You’re back already? I didn’t expect it to be so soon…”
Upon returning to their room, instead of replying, Rena went past Uni, opened the door to the bathroom, and threw up into the sink.
“Uuub!”
When the nauseated voice was let out, Uni was surprised and immediately ran over.
“My Lady, are you okay?”
And saw Rena retching.
Uni patted Rena’s back without fully understanding the situation. Not long after, Rena vomited out some liquid.
“What is that? What happened?”
Uni asked with her rabbit-like eyes wide open, and Rena answered with a weary face.
“Can you help me stand? It seems like some kind of neurotoxin. My toes are starting to feel numb.”
“Huh?”
Uni stared at Rena in surprise. There was a faint smile on Rena’s face, which looked paler than usual.
Still in astonishment, Uni supported Rena up.
“Wait a second, how long has it been since you drank the poison before you came back!?”
“It was from a nice person, but shouldn’t have to suffer from it.”
Rena went to the living room with Uni’s assistance. By the time she sat on the sofa to check her condition, her toes had become completely numb. There was no pain, only some light stinging sensation.
It was a quiet, yet strong poison. Had she let it be, she would’ve gotten paralyzed and died silently.
“Pft.”
Rena, who was checking out her condition, suddenly let out a laugh. Afterward, she held her belly and started laughing heartily.
“Has she gone mad…?”
Uni muttered in complaint at Rena’s strange action.
After that laugh, Rena grabbed her arms.
“Ah, it’s because things are amusing. Really, how amusing.”
What was so amusing about almost getting killed by poison? Uni’s expression seemed to ask.
“My Lady, did you see your father?”
“No, a butler met me instead.”
Said Rena. Then she handed over a sheet of paper.
“He didn’t come out when I visited, but he did send me a note.”
“So?”
“I’m quite excited.”
Uni took the paper and opened it with a perplexed face.
—Do not use a father’s scar. I will let it pass this time, but not the next time.
Uni, who had read the content, asked back with eyes filled with tension.
“That’s it?”
“Look here, he’s telling me not to use his scar.”
“I think this is the part where you should get angry, my Lady.”
“Think about it. If a wound was left, it means that there were injuries. It implies that he was hurting at some point, and also regretting.”
Rena muttered in an innocent tone.
“Therefore, I thought that perhaps he regrets the things he had done to me.”
“Do you truly believe these words?”
“It’s not like that. There’s one more thing. I’m a bit confused as to why did the butler stew the poison at the tram? It’s so funny…”
In fact, she was a bit surprised when the servant brought in the tram. They were treating her as a scammer but served her with tea.
She had thought that it was strange, so she looked more carefully. Then, there came a faint sound of liquid, and after that, the teacup was served in a scheduled motion.
Up until then, she was still not convinced. Thus, she picked up the cup and moved it a little closer, but then the blood drained from the butler’s face.
Rena, who was finally convinced by his action, drank the tea as if she was looking forward to it. In response to her inexorable father.
After knowing the entire story, Uni frowned and mumbled to herself.
“Then what would happen if the poison worked as it was intended?”
“I drank it because I felt like challenging myself. I shouldn’t die from just this much.”
“Even though you shouldn’t die…”
Falling ill is the same thing.
When trying to say this, Uni swallowed the words back. Then she changed her expression again and sighed.
“In any case, my Lady, who says that the situation is amusing, is weird, but your father’s side is also great. How did he just get the poison right away?”
“He’s always been a resolute man in the first place.”
Rena replied with a smile. Personally, she was glad to be able to know her father’s thoughts.
Uni stared at Rena, who was contemplating, and afterward sat by her side, like a cat that’s trying to comfort someone.
She was said to be a little servant, but she was a bit too plump for the title.
“Someone should come to check my Lady’s life and death tomorrow.”
“Hence, I should go and greet them first.”
“That’s a great idea. Then I supposed the assassins will come next, right?”
“Probably.”
“I should give notes to them first. Which one is Rena’s bed, which one is Uni’s bed…”
“Would you like to live alone?”
“I’m still young.”
Uni betrayed her without any feelings of guilt. Then she stared at the lady with cat-like eyes.
Rena laughed because of the sweetness and the poison both.
***
That night, Rena didn’t sleep much.
‘So hot.’
It felt like there was charcoal burning in the stomach. Perhaps because she was feeling weak, the burning sensation within felt like it was changing shape every minute and licked the inside of the body.
Rena had been tossing from side to side because of the heat before she finally got up. She heard the sound of Uni’s breath in the darkness.
Rena walked to the balcony on her heels, so that Uni would not wake up. There, she took a deep breath.
“Haa…”
The night air in early spring was cold, as the result, she was able to cool off the heat within her body.
As she breathed in the air, the unfamiliar scene of the Imperial Palace caught her eyes. Even past midnight, there were quite a few windows with bright windows, which was the sign of young nobles who liked to socialize and play until dawn.
‘It looks fun.’
Rena leaned against the banister while looking at the flickering lights and the shadows that came and went. As well as the sound of the music that came as she wished.
If everything is as it should be, I would be there too.
It was as it should be, but then my father sold me.
Rena, the gifted young artist, had waited for the day to debut in the social world. She had wanted to greet the emperor when she looked the prettiest, received congratulations from the people, and danced with the gentlemen.
How could she be so greedy?
No, those were the things that should have happened under normal circumstances.
Normal.
“Normally…”
Rena, who was thinking about her situation, shifted her gaze consciously.
Under the twinkling lights, she saw the lake that was sleeping silently.
Rena thought about going over there. She looked around, then lightly jumped from the second-floor balcony.
‘It’s dark.’
When she came down, the garden was darker than she had thought.
‘Is the garden a place for late-night secret meetings?’
She remembered a section of the novel she had secretly read in her childhood. She couldn’t remember the details, but it was about a man and a woman who couldn’t love each other for some tragic reason, so they secretly make love in the garden late at night.
Rena walked through the dark garden while searching through her memories about the details of the story.
At that time.
A hidden presence was felt right behind.
Simultaneously, she recalled Uni’s voice that said that assassins would probably come.
‘So soon?’
Rena turned in reflex and struck the opponent with her elbow.
Tak!
However, her arm was caught and forced to stop in the air. Rena pulled back her arm with gritted teeth.
The other person said at that time.
“Calm down.”
It was an ordinary warm voice.
Rena’s eyes widened at the unexpected, yet familiar voice.
“Mr. Lynn?”
She was right.
The young man, who had always been called the evil tyrant, nodded his head at Rena’s call.
The author’s words:
Lynn. 20 years old. Having the appearance of a suspicious person.
