CH 1

She wanted to go and study at a veterinary school, but she failed twice. Their family was neither rich nor poor. Han Yu-Hee grew up without shortage. Then within the two years that she managed to slip into the veterinary school, she promised this herself as she was in her parents’ arms:

‘I’ll make sure you will live in luxury, Mom and Dad. I will definitely let you ride on a plane.’

‘I will definitely be admitted to the veterinary school and send you to the hospital. After that, I will surely build a house to live with my mother and father.’

It was like a dream, just imagining it made her happy. Then the third time, she finally got in. She thought that only a dream college life was waiting for her when she finally went to veterinary school. Once she graduates, she needs to keep the promise she made with her parents, work part-time jobs and go on a trip with them. She was full of dreams. 

But as soon as she entered college, her parents passed away. Han Yu-Hee was powerless to keep her promise to them. As she sat blankly at the funeral hall, none of her relatives and her friends who comforted her, in tears, could take the place of her parents. 

Really. 

‘It was a beggar’s life.’ 

Han Yu-Hee let out a long sigh. 

She was still trying to live – going to school while working a part-time job at night. Wasn’t it the school that her parents sent her for three years? She just couldn’t give up. She promised herself that she would graduate from veterinary school and become a veterinarian herself. 

She believed that it would be a smooth road ahead after graduating from veterinary school. She couldn’t quit the school no matter how hard her student loans were, just for the sake of her future. And then she finally graduated. 

She didn’t know just how many times she had cried in front of her parents’ tombstone. Then as promised to her parents, she became a veterinarian now and thought that she could show them just how well she was doing. 

Being paid by a penny or two as a doctor was also fun. She doesn’t know when she will be able to open a private hospital, but these were the first happy days she had after her parents passed away.

But was the world really not on Han Yu-Hee’s side? When her senior told her that he would like to open up a private hospital and that he would hire her if she invested, she poured all of her money into it.

“You’re trying to run away, you son of a bitch….”

Han Yu-Hee was at the end because of this. She invested all the money from her parents’ death insurance…. Now that there was nothing left for her, no one would think that there is a possibility for her to end up living as a beggar.

At times like these, she needed a family to hug her. She wanted to go to her parents. All of her efforts over the years have gone in vain. She doesn’t have a family to encourage her to start over; she was lonely and tired. 

She took a deep breath as she stepped on the floor. She picked the tallest building among the nearest buildings and climbed on top of it. 

“Sorry, Mom, Dad…….”

At the next moment, Han Yu-Hee threw herself down without any regrets. Her sense of guilt towards her parents was more than her sense of her loss. 

* * *

Is this the underworld?

Han Yu-Hee blinked her eyes. She was swimming alone in pitch-black darkness. There was only a play that was shining in pure white, then she suddenly heard a voice.

“The deceased Han Yu-Hee! Deceased Yu-Hee, can you hear me?”

“Y-yes?”

Startled, Han Yu-Hee nodded her head – no, she felt she did. Who was really here? Whoever called her name must be the Grim Reaper.

“Who are you?”

However, the owner of the voice did not respond to Han Yu-Hee’s call. Then that voice muttered in a low voice as if he was only doing what he was supposed to do.

“According to Article 1 of the Underworld Law, which states that suicide isn’t recognized as death, the Deceased Han Yu-Hee must fulfil the remaining of her life to enter the underworld. Do you agree?”

“Yes?”

He was definitely asking her, however, it was clear that the other party accepted her answer as he wished. The voice, whose gender was ambiguous, brightened remarkably.

“Good consideration. The Deceased Han Yu-Hee had about a year to live, so you are worthy of that position. Well, see you later. Bye.”

“Pardon?”

It was also an informal question this time.…. The voice seemed to accept that Yu-Hee agreed to everything, then her consciousness was cut off immediately.

* * *

“Alexa, this brat! Where are you goofing around?”

“I was cleaning up right now.”

“You’ve only cleaned for a while and now, where have you been gone? When are you going to clean the lobby?”

“I only have one body. Oh my, it’s already time to go to work.”

At Alexa’s casual remarks, Aunt Jane, who was a big person with a big body, trembled. Indeed as Alexa said, it was just past 5 pm so she can’t shove around that foal-like person anymore.

“Aigoo, I can’t believe that I hired you as an errand girl!”

“Who else would work at a country inn like this? I am the only one here.”

Aunt Jane pulled out a small purse from her pocket, glaring at Alexa, who smiled and said everything she had to say. This was Alexa’s first job today.

“Take that and go! If you are late tomorrow morning…”

“Yes, 10 Deons will be deducted from my salary, but as you know, I was never late….”

Bang! The door slammed shut in front of Alexa’s eyes. 

‘Hoo.’

Alexa placed the broom next to the inn and turned around. Goofing around? Of course, I have to play.

She was working here even without getting the basic hourly wage set by the Empire, and it was natural for her to play around for an hour or two. She walked around like a lazy grasshopper to kill time. However, she couldn’t leave the inn as it was the only place that hires a 15-year-old like her and offers room and boarding. 

Alexa straightened her back and lifted her head. In the distance, a blue flag with an eagle embroidered in it fluttered in the wind. It was a pattern that symbolized the Grand Duchy of Thersion. 

‘You can’t find him even though he’s this close?’

Even though the heir lost in the Grand Duchy of Thersion was in a village this close, there was still no news. Alexa let out a deep sigh after staring at the castle for a while.

“This is not the time for me. I need to go back and get some food for that puppy….”

Mumbling loudly, Alexa crumpled the money bag into the pocket of her skirt. She was planning to take the dog to the market tomorrow after work. By now, the puppy should be lying in front of the door, sleeping while waiting for her. 

Alexa quickly ran. When she arrived at her boarding house provided by the inn, the dog was crying loudly that she could hear it outside the door.

“Iing, iing, iing!” 

Tatatatatata! 

Clearly, it was scratching the door with his front paw. In a hurry, Alexa opened the door widely.

“Aigoo, my baby. Our dear prince is crying. Hmm-mm, don’t cry, sister is here. Tuk!”

“Whine, whine! Whine!”

He whined, licking Alexa’s face as if complaining she had come so late.

“Don’t cry. Tuk! Hmm-mm, you’re hungry, right?”

Suddenly, a puppy lying on the floor with its pink belly exposed was panting and looking up at Alexa. She gently stroked the dog’s stomach as if possessed by something, then the dog whacked the floor with its tail as if it was in a good mood while it blinked its eyes. 

When Alexa took off her hand thinking that this much should be fine, “Whining…’

What a bunch of weird stuff. 

There was a clear signal that she should continue stroking it. The puppy didn’t get up and just looked up at Alexa.

In fact, Alexa was thoroughly weak for this little white puppy. She was completely soft against him – because this puppy was the heir the Grand Duke was desperately looking for. Alexa was taken as a prisoner by the puppy and it had re-established itself. 

“Yes? Where, here? Rub you here?”

“Arf!”

She still couldn’t believe the identity of this cute puppy. Of course, it was just a dog now who doesn’t know anything.

* * *

Alexa appeared in this novel only a month ago. It was a novel she read every day during her days as Han Yu-Hee, and the title is ‘The Puppy Grand Duke’s Successor Class’. 

(T/N: I don’t know but I was laughing for a whole five minutes with that novel’s title XD )

The male protagonist of the novel had to live in the form of a wolf until the age of 16, thanks to his birth as a beast race. It wasn’t actually a dog but a wolf.

Since he was the first child born from the Suin Tribe for 150 years, no one knew how to properly take care of him – even if he was born the legitimate heir. There was no such thing as a ‘parenting diary’ among the old books in the library. Usually, things like this are passed on from mouth to mouth.

As a result, the members of the Grand Duke’s family did not take good care of the puppy. Then Alexa happened to discover the hungry puppy that ran away from home.

‘I discovered it intentionally.’

Considering the fact that she had searched within the area of accountability to find this child. 

“Keeping…”

When Alexa stopped, she began to gently rub the dog’s stomach in a grievance. Anyway, she was just a passing extra in the novel – a commoner girl who didn’t know about secrets like the Grand Duke. Of course, the one who picked up the puppy and took care of the male protagonist was none other than ‘Han Yu-Hee’.

As far as she can remember, this body, who was an extra, died the same year the male protagonist returned to the Grand Duchy. She was also stabbed by the swords of the knights who came to pick up the male protagonist. 

‘Even if this body only had one year left, does he really need to put me inside this body for a year?’

(T/N: ‘he’ refers to the grim reaper or whoever was that in the pitch-darkness with her at the start

E/N: mysterious, gender undefined, ambiguous…. The Voice in the dark)

However, since she was alive, shouldn’t she live while she can? Anyway, this place was better than Korea. There were no difficult struggles she had to overcome, nor a jerk senior. Though it was the same that she had no parents….

But at least, there was one misfortune that was relieved. Moreover, being poor here wasn’t a sin. Even if she was poor, she could somehow make ends meet, it was worth living. She felt like she could take a breath seeing the room she has been decorating for the past month.