Episode 128

“A similar concept…?”

I blinked, mouth slightly open at Charlotte’s words.

“Yes!”

Charlotte clenched both fists and started ranting like a rapid-fire cannon.

“I had a bad feeling about it! The interior design looked oddly familiar too…!”

“Let’s go check it out.”

I didn’t wait to hear more. I jumped up from my seat right away.

Even before this, complaints had been trickling in from a few customers due to the construction that had dragged on for over a month.

“M-Miss Belze!”

As I threw open the office door and headed straight down the stairs, Charlotte chased after me in a panic, speaking with worry.

“B-But… is it really okay for just the two of us to go?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I thought maybe… we should wait for the knights to return and go with them…”

Charlotte mumbled nervously.

Of course, it just had to be lunchtime, and the knights the duke had assigned to guard me were all away.

At first, they’d been eating in shifts, but since I rarely left the salon anyway, I’d told them to just all go eat together—it had been like that for a while now.

Still, Charlotte seemed uneasy about a twelve-year-old girl, with no escorts, charging into something like this herself.

“It’s not like I’m going to start a fight… I’m just going to take a quick look.”

I shrugged and responded casually.

It had already been seven years since I opened Belze Beauty Salon.

Up until now, no other shop in the capital had popped up with a concept similar to ours.

That was thanks to the exclusive production of Fairy Herb.

Honestly, without the Fairy Herb, succeeding in the beauty business in this world wouldn’t have been easy.

Shops selling accessories and dresses were already oversaturated.

Of course, the only reason our salon survived in that cutthroat market wasn’t just because of the Fairy Herb.

Even dramatic effects become dull when you see them every day.

Plus, the number of rich noble ladies like Madam Cloud was limited.

That’s why, about a year after opening, our salon faced a major crisis.

Noblewomen whose skin had already improved to perfection stopped renewing their memberships.

What helped me overcome that challenge… was my past life in Korea.

Nail tips, partial wigs, eyelash curlers, makeup brushes, and more—

I racked my brain to recall everything I used to sell in my first life, applied it all here, and registered patents on every single item.

The result?

The first floor of our salon turned into a drugstore, just like Korea’s “Olxxyoung.”

Not only noblewomen, but even wealthy commoners began visiting, and soon, word of mouth spread like wildfire.

Now, it was a must-visit destination for travelers from other countries.

Fairy Herb, my memories of my first life…

There were hard times, sure, but I’d also been incredibly lucky along the way.

Still, more than anything, if not for the full support of House Kallios, none of it would’ve mattered.

No one dared to imitate a business that had Kallios backing it.

So, unlike Charlotte who was fuming, I felt strangely calm.

‘Let’s see who had the guts to copy my business. I’d love to take a good look at their shameless little face.’

Because no matter how perfectly they copied me—

Fairy Herb, my past life in Korea, the backing of the Duke’s family, even the secret support of the Crown Prince—
Without any of those things, there was no way someone else could succeed.

And yet—

THUD!

“Where’s the site manager?! Huh?!”

By the time I stormed into the building across the street, I was already kicking over a nearby tin can, shouting at the top of my lungs.

“No manager? No foreman?! There’s a limit to how shameless you can be—this is way over the line!”

My booming voice brought the construction workers to a halt. They all turned and stared at me with wide, startled eyes.

I didn’t care. I raised my voice even louder.

“If there’s no manager, then go get the boss!”

“E-Excuse me, what seems to be the issue…”

A pudgy man in a hardhat finally shuffled down from the upper level.

The moment I saw his face, sparks practically flew from my eyes.

“You!”

“H-Huh? L-Lady Belze…?!”

The man froze in place, eyes bulging.

“Have you lost your mind?!”

“L-Lady Belze!”

Ignoring Charlotte’s attempts to hold me back, I stomped up to the man in a fury.

This guy—he was the very same contractor who had done the interior work on my salon seven years ago.

The design of our salon was entirely my own idea, developed over countless sleepless nights.

Elegant and luxurious on the outside to attract attention, while the inside was a maze-like layout to preserve client privacy.
The structure was built with thick, mobile “walls” that doubled as doors to allow flexible room configurations.

And he had the nerve to steal that design and use it for someone else’s business?!

I glanced around the half-complete interior and couldn’t stop a bitter laugh from slipping out.

The yellow exterior, uncomfortably similar to our gold-painted walls, was already irritating enough…

But the interior? It looked like they’d just photocopied our entire layout.

“This is a breach of contract! Did you forget the clause forbidding you from leaking my interior designs?!”

I jabbed a finger at the man, who looked flustered and started stammering.

Honestly, I wanted to grab him by the collar and shake him senseless.

But sadly, I was still short and twelve, so all I could do was glare daggers and grit my teeth in frustration.

“Ahem…!”

Avoiding my gaze, the man let out an awkward cough and mumbled,

“I-I didn’t leak anything. If you look closely, the layout’s different… and the materials, even the paint color, are different…”

“You call that different?!”

THUNK!

I couldn’t hold it in. I kicked over another paint can nearby.

Splaaaash…

This one, unlike the last, wasn’t empty. Dark pigment oozed across the floor.

“Eek!”
“Oh no, Lady Belze!”

The contractor recoiled in shock, and Charlotte cried out behind me.

But like hell I was just going to sit back and take this.

‘Different, my foot. They even copied the woodwork!’

Our salon used deep walnut wood—left unpainted—to create a luxurious, organic atmosphere for the massage and therapy rooms.
These cheap bastards were using lighter-toned wood and painting it brown to mimic the look.

They clearly couldn’t afford the real thing.

‘So the only “difference” is cheap material and fake paint? Pathetic.’

I scanned the space with a crooked smile and turned to glare at the spineless contractor.

“Just you wait, old man.”

“W-Wait, what…?”

“I’m gonna chew up your entire company and spit out the pieces.”

“H-Hiiik!”

I must’ve sounded serious because he sucked in a sharp breath.

And then—

“Hey.”

A cold voice rang out behind me.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing, causing a scene in someone else’s business?”

‘Here we go. The copycat finally shows their face.’

Good. I was dying to find out which lunatic had dared to pull this stunt.

I whipped around, full of fire—

“Belze?”

And froze at the sight of familiar white hair.

“…Diana?”

The shock of seeing her pushed everything else aside—until I noticed the man standing beside her.

And then I froze solid.

“A-Adolf… Galagos?”

A traitor. A former aide to the Crown Prince. The very man who’d handed me the poison that killed Diana in my past life.

He and César were both eighteen now, newly come of age—but he looked younger than I remembered.

Seven years ago, I had taken his place as the Crown Prince’s key ally. I never thought I’d see him again.

Sure, I’d heard rumors from time to time—his merchant group was a pretty big deal—but…

‘Why the hell is he with Diana?’

I stared at them in disbelief.

Adolf frowned, clearly displeased by my reaction.

“You know who I am?”

That snapped me out of it.

My voice came out immediately.

“Of course I do.”

The reason for my death.
The root of my suffering.
One of the men responsible for the downfall of House Kallios.

I narrowed my eyes at him, practically trembling with hatred.

“…You’re the head of the Galagos Trading Company.”

But the words, despite all my rage, came out sounding strangely hollow.

Adolf looked me up and down with a smug little smirk.

“Tch. I’m impressed. Even a nobody like you keeps up with the news.”

I bristled.

“Nobody?”

“Yeah. You heard me.”

He nodded arrogantly and added with a sneer,

“This is exactly why commoners with no pedigree are a problem. Always running around causing chaos without thinking ahead…”

“…”

“Tch. Look at this mess. Paint everywhere. What if I sued you for disrupting my business?”

He crossed his arms and looked down at me, smug as ever.

I stared at him—not out of fear, but utter disbelief.

‘Is this guy seriously that dumb?’

Reason one: For all his money, Adolf Galagos was still a commoner.

Reason two: The girl beside him, Diana, was also a commoner by birth.

Even she looked uncomfortable, turning to him with a frown.

“Adolf, that’s enough. That was way too harsh. Belze probably has her reasons too…”

“Then sue this.”

I cut her off and marched straight up to Adolf.

“What the—”

He flinched and took a step back as I advanced.

Then—

THWACK!

“Aaargh!”

“A cheap knock-off like you wants to talk about pedigree?!”

He clutched his shin and hopped in pain, face twisted.

And I—screaming into his scrunched-up face—added one final blow:

“Also! You haven’t even opened yet, so it’s not business disruption! You really call yourself a merchant and don’t know that?! You moron!”