Chapter 0: The Wretch, Yoschuko Verdiol

Blinding sunlight pierced through the window curtains.

That sunlight alone was enough to make me frown, but the direct cause of my interrupted sleep was something else.

BANG BANG BANG!

Why do you keep pounding on the door this early in the morning, making all that noise?

—Yoschuko Verdiol! Open the door!

I shoved off the blanket covering me, forced my body up, and grabbed my throbbing head.

I’d downed a ton of booze in a fit of anger yesterday, and it looked like my hangover hadn’t worn off yet.

“Ugh, my head hurts…”

…?

What the hell? That voice just now?

A voice I’d never heard before—a girlish one, at that—rang in my ears.

“What?”

The moment I heard that voice again, I reflexively covered my mouth.

Wait, was that… coming from my mouth?

And my hand… was it always this slender and pale?

—Yoschuko Verdiol, I know you’re in there!

Jesus, my head’s killing me, and why’s that old bastard coming around again, raising hell?

BANG BANG BANG!

Ugh, quit pounding already! It feels like it’s echoing inside my skull!

I let out a heavy sigh and opened the door that was being innocently battered from the outside.

When the door swung open, what came into view was a tall man with slicked-back hair and sunglasses.

“It’s you again.”

This man’s name was Luca Modred.

Commonly known as Mr. Luca—we had a long, tangled history.

Seeing Mr. Luca’s face this early in the morning soured my mood, and I couldn’t help but scowl.

“What’s with that face, huh?”

“…I just woke up.”

“Anyway, you… really did change, huh.”

“Change?”

…!

The moment that girlish voice came out of my mouth again, I was startled once more.

I hated showing my emotions to others, so it felt a little embarrassing.

“Did you look in a mirror? Why are you so surprised?”

“A mirror?”

Come to think of it.

“Where is it?”

“Let me see a mirror!”

Leaving Mr. Luca in the hallway, I quickly dashed toward the bathroom.

And the moment I saw the mirror mounted there.

I wore a dumbfounded expression and touched the cheek of the silver-haired girl—

More precisely, my cheek, now that of a silver-haired girl.

“What the fuck?”

The moment I spat out the curse, I reflexively covered my mouth.

It didn’t seem like the kind of word that should come out of a girl with skin as white as a newborn, flawless silver hair, crimson eyes that contrasted sharply with her pale complexion, and a strikingly beautiful face.

“Fuck, what the hell happened?”

But maybe it was just my ingrained habit—it was hard to hold back.

Well, of course. I’d always lived with curses on my lips.

“What happened? Obviously it’s from that medicine you took yesterday.”

At the voice so close by, I turned around to find Mr. Luca standing at the bathroom entrance.

“Who said you could come in?”

That old man—I never told him he could come in, so why’s he barging into my place?

“Hey, asshole, this is my building, you know?”

“…Right, it is.”

That was true. In fact, the owner of this lodging was Mr. Luca himself.

And I was just a tenant paying rent to crash here.

“You look like a mess. Tidy up a bit and come out to the living room. I’ve got something to say.”

I blankly watched Mr. Luca’s back as he walked away, and the moment he disappeared from sight—

“Fucking hell…”

I immediately let out a curse.

Because I knew exactly why Mr. Luca had come looking for me.

…It had to be about the overdue rent and the debt.