Chapter 0: Prologue

A mixture of awe, surprise, and bewilderment was clearly etched on Han Siyun’s face as she looked at the buildings right before her eyes.

She was left speechless by the sight that appeared after walking along the path for about fifteen minutes from where the sedan sent for her had stopped.

Could there really be a place like this in Seoul?

There were three palace-like buildings constructed in the traditional hanok style, visible just beneath the mountain.

For a moment, she felt like she had somehow jumped across time and space and dropped straight into a different world.

Han Siyun shook her head, thinking that it truly wouldn’t be strange at all if a court lady, a eunuch, a subject, or for that matter, a king were to appear right here.

“Ms. Han Siyun?”

At the middle-aged woman’s voice, Han Siyun’s head whipped around quickly.

Standing with neat, proper posture, unsure of when she had arrived, the woman gave Han Siyun a professional, perfunctory smile.

“I have been waiting. Right this way, please.”

Before Han Siyun could open her mouth to reply, the woman turned on her heel and began to walk.

Following behind her at a set distance, Han Siyun glanced around out of the corner of her eye.

It was dead silent.

It wasn’t as if there were no people around, yet not a single sound could be heard.

Feeling a strange sensation creep over her, she rubbed her forearm with her hand.

Following the woman, she entered the hanok on the right and took off her shoes.

Stepping onto the glossy wooden floors felt awkward.

Inside the interior—which wasn’t entirely traditional, yet not entirely modern either—there was a faint, lingering scent of dried wood.

The woman caught the ring handle, opened the door, and turned her body at an angle to signal for her to go in first.

Stepping cautiously into the room, she saw several desks and a sofa, and the window on one side of the wall was wide open.

The door closed behind her back.

Someone stood up from in front of a desk that appeared to be the upper seat of honor.

“Sit down.”

A woman of a similar age to the one from earlier approached, pushing up her gold-rimmed glasses.

With her hair neatly pinned up and wearing neutral, modest attire, she gave off a strict and stern impression.

“Hello. I am Han Siyun.”

Feeling that she should at least offer a greeting, she bowed politely and planted herself on the edge of the sofa the woman had indicated.

The woman looked over some document-like papers before raising her eyes to look at Han Siyun.

A flash of subtle displeasure lingered in that gaze before quickly vanishing.

“I am Jeong Minju. You may call me Manager Jeong.”

Introducing herself briefly, Manager Jeong pushed the paper in her hand forward toward Han Siyun.

“I assume you came knowing this is a live-in helper position, but just because the tasks are simple doesn’t mean your responsibilities are. There’s a reason the pay is high. There is only one condition: absolutely no disclosing anything you see or hear here.”

Stating that the details were written right there, Manager Jeong handed a pen to Han Siyun.

Han Siyun nodded and quickly skimmed through the contract, then raised her head with a somewhat startled expression.

“This is…”

Seeing Han Siyun trail off, Manager Jeong didn’t even look at the document and immediately grasped her question.

“As for breaching the conditions, penalties and things like that are far too simple and easy. If you keep them, there won’t be any problems.”

Manager Jeong explained stiffly, staring at Han Siyun as she gave a small nod.

Among those who lent a hand here at the Gu family estate, nobody was as young as this.

She had heard that the child’s circumstances were difficult and urgent, but that was none of Manager Jeong’s concern.

However, having heard that she was dexterous, persevering, and tight-lipped, she had granted permission for now.

She would have to wait and see, but judging purely by outward appearances, she wondered just how long she would actually last.

“As you know from reading it, any smart devices you own must be handed over here.”

“Then phone calls…”

“There is a telephone in your room. You may make calls as much as you like.”

“…Yes. I just need to sign here, right?”

“That’s right.”

Han Siyun let out a small sigh, signed her name, and handed the paper back.

Her own cell phone was an old folder phone anyway, so as long as she could make calls, she didn’t mind handing it over here.

Besides, the conditions she had to keep weren’t difficult, and keeping quiet about what she saw and heard was, in a way, only natural, so Han Siyun only thought about the salary she would receive.

“When you go out, the person who guided you earlier will give you detailed explanations. If you have any other questions or things to say, come here and talk to me.”

“Yes. Thank you, Manager Jeong.”

When the rare, old-fashioned folder phone emerged from Han Siyun’s pocket, Manager Jeong’s eyebrows rose as if she found it unexpected.

“People who work here almost never talk to each other.”

When she asked what she should call the woman, the woman walking ahead replied.

Her tone was polite, but a sense of distance could be felt.

“You must have heard it from Manager Jeong, but whatever you see, pretend you didn’t see it; whatever you hear, pretend you didn’t hear it. Living that way is best for you.”

“Yes.”

“Your paths won’t cross very often.”

The accommodation she was assigned to was a small hanok at the far right end.

Han Siyun’s eyes grew round at the size of the room, which was three times larger than the monthly rental room she had previously lived in.

Everything necessary, including a clean bathroom, was located right inside the room.

It felt as though both the high pay and the exceptionally nice accommodations were far too undeserved for her.

“All the tasks you need to do for the day come down in documents like this.”

The woman headed back outside the room and pointed to the wall beside the door.

Han Siyun answered “Yes” as if she understood and carefully jotted down what the woman was explaining.

Seemingly pleased with Han Siyun’s attitude, the woman let out a brief, silent laugh.

“There aren’t any terribly difficult tasks. The things you have to follow are unusual, but you’ll get used to them too. The pay here is high, but I guarantee you won’t find employee benefits anywhere else as good as this place.”

“…I only came knowing that this is a chaebol household, so is there anything I should know? What are the family members like…”

“Hm, shall we sit down for a moment?”

The woman sat down on a chair in front of a small tea table inside the room.

“Sorry for cutting off your question. The answer to your unfinished question is: only the Representative lives here.”

The spots wiped down by the dry rag shone with a glossy sheen.

Han Siyun checked the places she had wiped over and over again, putting genuine care into her dusting.

It wasn’t as though there were people making a mess, nor was there an overwhelming amount of work to do since cleaning was done every day, but Han Siyun never did a half-hearted job.

‘…Only the Representative lives here.’

At the woman’s words, Han Siyun had been too shocked to even ask further.

The hanok mansions were of an absurd scale.

That all of this was for a single person?

Han Siyun was left speechless by a world she had never known and could not possibly fathom.

‘Have you ever heard of the Gu family lineage?’

There was no one in Korea who didn’t know of the Gu family.

Their bloodline was intricately spread like a spiderweb across key official positions.

It was a household where wild rumors circulated among people that their ancestors were vampires.

‘The Representative is the head grandson of the Gu family.’

Naturally assuming Han Siyun would know, the woman had continued talking without waiting for an answer, but Han Siyun had no idea.

And so, Han Siyun had simply nodded along.

Even after two weeks had passed, she hadn’t caught so much as a single hair of this Representative fellow.

Although the place Han Siyun cleaned was indeed the mansion where the Representative stayed, bedrooms were excluded, which made traces even scarcer.

It seemed cleaning times were likely scheduled to match times when the Representative was absent.

Some days it was early morning, some days it was evening, and today it was much later at night than that.

Having wiped down every hidden nook and cranny imaginable, Han Siyun finished her work by closing the open window.

Every time she walked down the long, stretching hallway, she had to tense her whole body and stay alert.

Because the wooden floors were slippery, if she walked carelessly and casually, slipping was all too easy.

Having learned how to walk only after nearly falling several times in the first few days, Han Siyun grumblingly fussed with the skirt, which was by no means comfortable for cleaning, as she put on her shoes.

When she stepped outside, the chilled autumn breeze made the back of her neck feel brisk.

The scenery illuminated by lights scattered here and there was surreal enough to draw admiration.

Han Siyun paused for a moment and gazed blankly at the view.

It was a landscape she felt she would never truly get used to, no matter how much time passed.

The blowing autumn breeze smelled and felt completely different from the air outside this mansion.

Inhaling that air deeply, Han Siyun turned her body in the opposite direction of where she had intended to go.

There was no rule saying she couldn’t take this path.

Even though it was a roundabout way back to her quarters, she decided to indulge herself in a brief stroll, drawn in by the autumn breeze and the atmosphere that felt like a different world altogether.

She had already called her grandmother’s caregiver before leaving her room, so there was no reason to rush back immediately.

‘If you happen to run into the Representative, do not make eye contact, lower your head, and do not say a word.’

“…Assuming I ever see him, that is.”

It was the moment she muttered those words to herself and turned a corner.

The very instant her field of vision seemed to open up wide, Han Siyun froze dead in her tracks at the figure visible right before her.

The figure, who had been showing his back, seemed to sense the faint presence and slowly turned around.

Thump!

Along with the sensation of something inside her body collapsing, her ears went muffled and numb.

Her mind went completely blank, momentarily making her forget even where she stood.

The figure turned before her eyes—the man—did not look human at all.