Chapter 1: There’s No Easy Way to Make Money in This World (1)

Earning other people’s money is no easy feat.

“So what did you do after forgetting your fiancée’s birthday?” she asked.

“I apologized.”

Tap, tap. The sound of the fancy feathered fan tapping against her pale palm was a sign that she was beginning to feel annoyed.

“And the gift?”

“She said she didn’t need one!” he said cluelessly.

“You took that at face value and didn’t give her one...?”

A deep furrow creased the woman's brow. The fan, falling faster and faster into the palm of her hand, hinted at the seething frustration within, but she managed to keep a mechanical smile on her face. He was a valued client after all.

“Yes,” the man replied.

“And how long ago was that?”

“About a week ago?”

The woman, Elena Taylor, finally gave in and snapped at the clueless man.

“What were you thinking, not giving her a gift just because she said she didn’t need one?!” Elena yelled, thinking that she would have hit him on the head if he had not been a nobleman.

“Well... I asked her a few times but she said she didn’t want anything, so...” the man trailed off, now sounding unsure of himself.

“Are you joking right now?”

Elena wondered where she should even begin to explain the concept. After a moment of deliberation, she began to point out his ignorance.

“Now, your fiancée was upset because you forgot her birthday, right?” she started patiently.

“Y-yes.”

Elena patiently explained that when his fiancée said I don’t need a gift, it did not really mean that he should not bother getting her a gift. She was just that angry. This man needed to get her a gift right away and apologize for having waited so long to send her one.

“I understand! Then I shall have a hundred red roses, which will signify my love for her, sent to her residence!!” the young man exclaimed.

Elena leaned her head back against the backrest of the sofa and let out a heavy sigh.

***

“Sigh, I feel as though I could die at this rate...”

Elena was not even able to have lunch because of all the people who had come streaming in for counseling today.

A maid clucked her tongue as she watched Elena shove a sandwich into her mouth, filling it until her cheeks were about to bust.

“My lady, I told you to watch your table manners.”

“It’s just me and you, Deedee, so what’s the matter?!”

With her cheeks sticking out like a hamster’s as she gulped down chilled black tea, the young lady did not look like a noble in the least. But this young woman was, in fact, Elena Christina Taylor, the precious only child of the Duchy of Taylor which was famous for its wealth. At the tender age of thirteen, she carried her family name on her shoulders and became the Prince's fiancée.

But as fate would have it, what should have been an easy life took a strange twist, and she was now working in this tiny little office as a relationship counselor, a concept very foreign in this world.

***

As usual, trouble began in the smallest of ways.

Lian Harrington was the Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Norton with flawless looks and impeccable dignity as a member of the royal family. Then there was Astel Fraser, the commoner Academy girl who spilled her drink on him.

At a certain point, people began to see Astel, a commoner, frequently interacting with the Crown Prince. And rumors, both true and false, quickly spread throughout the tiny kingdom of Norton.

When Elena first heard the rumors, she simply scoffed at them. It was not that she trusted Lian's heart; she and Lian were not in a loving relationship. Elena had fallen in love with him from the moment she laid eyes on him, but Lian had not.

He had only complied with her request for a betrothal because of pressure from the nobility and the interests of the royal family. Elena was very well aware of the position Lian was in, but even in a loveless engagement, he was a rational, calculating man.

It must simply be a frivolous love affair before our marriage, Elena assumed, but her assumption was shattered one day when Lian bluntly asked, “Elena Taylor, how do you feel about breaking our engagement off?”

Elena tried to laugh it off as a silly idea, but Lian was unusually adamant.

“I believe it will be best for the both of us not to be married. I will not be able to give you the love you are looking for,” he said.

Elena went to visit the Academy to see for herself what this woman in question was like to make those words come out of Lian’s mouth, and the moment she saw the two of them, she realized that the stories she had heard were not just rumors.

I didn’t know he was capable of having that kind of look on his face... Elena thought, watching as Lian looked at Astel with a look in his eyes she had never seen before.

He was looking at Astel with the same kind of emotion that blossomed in Elena’s heart whenever she looked at him.

Elena had been optimistic that Lian, who had never shown her the slightest bit of affection, would one day change if he became her husband. However, the look she had seen on his face at the Academy was clear. He had the kind of affection for Astel that Elena had longed for, but had never received.

The reality that Elena would never be loved by him, no matter how hard she tried, was too harsh for her to accept.

“Why, Lian, why? What about me wasn’t good enough?” Elena hysterically asked and demanded that Astel be dragged out of the Academy, refusing to break off the engagement. Eventually, she collapsed and was taken home.

Normally, Duke Taylor would have protested to the royal court about the indignities his daughter had suffered. However, it was during this time that a second son was born to the Taylor family, and all the family's attention was focused on the heir.

After suffering from a week-long fever, the first thing she did when she awoke was to visit the Crown Prince.

“Let’s break off the engagement as you wished, as quickly as possible,” Elena said to him, as pale as a ghost.

The kingdom was rocked by one scandal after another.

***

Less than a year later, Lian married the rumored Astel Fraser in a grand ceremony over the fierce objections of the royal family and nobility.

The fact that he married Astel as soon as he was crowned King and invited everyone in the kingdom to the wedding was a testament to the depth of his love for her.

People were busy gossiping over the King’s former fiancée, Elena, who had attended the wedding looking rather gaunt. They believed that Elena might not be able to put aside her anger and sadness and ruin the wedding.

Elena's possessiveness of Lian was well known in high society, as she was often seen clinging to him at social gatherings and glaring at any women who approached.

The crowd glanced in Elena's direction, but much to their concern, she merely watched the newlyweds with a faint smile.

“Has she gone mad from the shock?” Elena heard someone mutter, but she simply smiled thinking, They're right. Maybe I am out of my mind.

If she told them about the memories that had come to her as she lay in bed with a high fever, they would surely think her mad.

In what seemed like the memories of a past life, Elena was a student studying to become a civil servant and used to read romance fantasy novels to relieve her stress.

I can’t believe those two were the main characters in the last novel I was reading before I died, and I was the main villain, Elena. This is such a cliché, she thought, bursting into a high-pitched giggle.

People around her gave her uneasy glances.

At the end of the day, Elena did not want to be a part of such a cliché love story any longer.

So while she would originally have interfered in Lian and Astel's relationship, she graciously stepped aside and allowed them to tie the knot much earlier than planned.

Now that they were married, the original story was complete, and Elena’s role was finished.

She had been bound by her love for Lian all her life, and now she felt both lost and free.

Running her fingers over the lace hem of her dress, she turned to a man nearby, her eyes curving into crescents, a sweet smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, and said, “Hello, I'm Elena Taylor.”

Uncaring how taken aback the man looked, she added a brief explanation. “I'm that groom's ex-fiancée.”

She decided to take advantage of her newfound freedom, and the first thing she noticed were the handsome men that filled the wedding hall. It was a fictional world, and while there were some differences based on status, most of them had long hair and prominent features.

In her previous life, she was too busy studying to fall in love. In this life, she had been betrothed to Lian from a very young age and had remained a chaste woman. When she remembered this, she was understandably motivated to make up for the lack of romance in her previous two lives.

Though Elena lacked the vulnerable charm of the original heroine, Astel, she was once Astel’s main rival and was thus described as being quite beautiful. Her jet-black hair and golden eyes attracted the attention of a prominent bard, who even wrote a poem dedicated to her. Elena enjoyed the flattery and courtship.

Viva, life!

Unfortunately, it was not all plain sailing: the aristocratic society of this world had very conservative values about love and sex. For a young lady to be actively seeking out courtship was a direct violation of these values.

Because Norton was such a small kingdom, word traveled fast. Elena was soon dubbed Lady Casanova, and was frequently the subject of gossip.

Embarrassed by their daughter, Duke and Duchess Taylor demanded that Elena quickly marry a new fiancé of their choosing.

To that, Elena declared, “I’d like to move out.”

For Elena, it was just as well, as life as a lady had been stifling. Elena immediately left the family home with her closest maid, Deedee.

The only problem was that there was not much for Elena to do as a noble woman who had declared independence. She thought about taking the civil service exam she had prepared for in her previous life, but in this world, bureaucracy was reserved for men.

As she struggled to find a way to make a living, an idea struck her. Someone once said that notoriety is better than nothing, so why not capitalize on the notoriety of being a philanderer?

Elena Taylor's Relationship Counseling Center

The business name scrawled across the sign was enough to pique the curiosity of the people of the realm.

“I heard there’s not a young unwed nobleman in this kingdom she has not dated!” some whispered.

“I heard she could make any man fall for her in the blink of an eye,” others suggested.

The concept of relationship counseling was new to the kingdom, but it was something that attracted people's attention. And the exaggerated rumors about Elena attracted young women who hoped she might have the answer to their love lives. Soon, even married women and men began to come to her for answers.

The success of the counseling center was ironic, considering Elena had only been in relationships for a fairly short period of time. But despite her lack of practical experience, she was confident in her ability to offer plausible advice, having enjoyed reading romance books in her previous life. She was also skilled at dealing with clients, thanks to her training as a prospective Queen.

And so the counseling center welcomed an ever-increasing number of clients.

***

Deedee, who had gone to check the door when she heard someone arrive, came back and asked Elena, “My lady, there's a client who’s come without an appointment. What shall I do?”

Elena waved her hand in the air as she came out of her reminiscing, unable to keep the tire look off her face.

“Tell them to come by at another time. I’m exhausted after dealing with that clueless man earlier. I’d like to close up shop for the day.”

“But it’s the Dowager Duchess Godwin,” answered Deedee.

“What?”

“GOD. WIN,” Deedee repeated, enunciating every syllable, wondering if her lady’s ears were plugged.

"Hurry up and welcome her in! And make sure to serve the best quality tea. Oh, do we still have the sweets from Honeydew Confectionery?” Elena said, sounding flustered.

“No, you ate them all because you said you were hungry last night—” Deedee said, but was soon interrupted.

“Then bring out the best we have!” Elena yelled, hastily rearranging her hair and doing her best not to panic.

Soon, a haughty old woman walked in and Elena greeted her calmly as if she had never been flustered.

“Welcome to Elena Taylor's Relationship Counseling Center. How can I help you?”

The Dowager Duchess’s cold blue-gray eyes were a far cry from romance. The elderly woman stared at Elena for a moment, and hesitantly asked, “could you still give counseling, even if the person in question is not present themselves?”

“Pardon?” Elena said, unable to understand what the Dowager Duchess was asking.

With an earth-shaking sigh, the Dowager Duchess Godwin took out a fan and waved it in front of her face.

“I would like to talk to you about my son, Hugh.”