I Became the Abandoned Daughter of an Underworld Boss

She was exhausted. If she kept recalling all those things, she wouldn’t survive this perilous Dark Town, would she?

Yuriana didn’t want to completely accept and resigned herself to the fact that she had come to another world.

Maybe it was all a lie, even the moment that friend, whom she thought was a friend, pushed her off the roof.

In reality, she might have just collapsed from hyperventilation while running on the field, dreaming all of this, and when she woke up, it would be back to the uneventful day before.

Or, better yet, back to before she naively reached out her hand to that kid…

“……”

Was it foolish to dream of illusions even when you knew they weren’t true?

‘Ugh!’

Yuriana scolded herself for trying to avoid reality.

Yeah, so what? Even if she had entered a game, how could she accept the bizarre phenomenon of seeing parts of the system right before her eyes?

As long as she was alive, that was enough. If she tried and it worked, great; if not, then she would give up.

Somehow, she would survive. She had escaped the clutches of the slave hunters, so she could try to carve out a new life next.

“Lulu, if I go out, no one will chase after me right away, right?”

“Meow!”

Lulu, who had been perking up her ears ever since the talk of meat, was paying attention.

Unconsciously, Yuriana grabbed Lulu again and vented.

“Leticia only came the first day to give me food, bathe me, brought these clothes two days later, and the last time she came, you heard what she said too. She told me to go to the kitchen if I wanted to eat. She hasn’t come since then. It’s obvious.”

“Meow?”

“We’re just living in a house with a roof and some food. But… those who serve the food are starting to find me annoying, right? This kind of situation is called a burden. Ah, how sad.”

Saying it out loud made it even clearer.

A burden.

That was Yuriana Litus’s current status.

To Asil, Yuriana was just someone he had to protect enough to keep her alive.

Even a ruthless boss of Dark Town wouldn’t want his daughter caught and sold by slave hunters.

‘Maybe he reluctantly took me in to avoid being criticized for abandoning his daughter. It’s okay, Asil. I’m not hurt.’

She opened the wardrobe.

Among the clothes Leticia had thrown, there was a leather coat that was somewhat water-resistant.

It was worn thin in places due to wear, but it was necessary for the rain. It would also be good to use as a makeshift bag.

Rolling up the leather coat, she tucked in a change of clothes and some underwear, tied it up with a string, and then urged herself.

“I’m going to the kitchen first. Lulu, stay here quietly, okay?”

“Meoww~”

Click.

She opened the bedroom door, tiptoed, and peeked into the kitchen not far away.

‘Oh?’

There was no chef or maid in sight.

‘This is my chance!’

Excited, Yuriana climbed onto the table.

She was aiming for the smoked sausages hanging from the ceiling. If she could fry them slightly and eat them with young beans and mashed potatoes, it would be heavenly.

Anyway, if she snatched these, Lulu would eat well!

She wrapped the sausages in parchment paper and roughly packed them, then she found an empty water bottle.

‘Lucky me. Fresh well water is better than getting it from outside.’

To be precise, Yuriana’s small body couldn’t be guaranteed to handle unclean water without getting a stomachache. Lulu also needed to drink water.

After filling the bottle with water, Yuriana also grabbed the cooling cookies and bread from the pan and ran back to her room, laughing.

She had taken everything!

‘Hehehe!’

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t someone else’s kitchen, just her dad’s.

But who knew stealing from it could be this exhilarating?

Yuriana smirked.

Should she grow up to become the grand thief, Yuriana?

‘Ugh… maybe bloodline really can’t be fooled?!’

Back in her bedroom, she hurried.

It was obvious that the chef and maid would be furious when they returned and discovered this.

The maid might hesitate because of Yuriana’s birth, but the chef Sheldon was different.

He had been somewhat courteous for a few days but recently had been acting like a wicked old witch.

If he found out she had stolen food, he wouldn’t hesitate to scold the little thief!

“Lulu, let’s get out of here quickly.”

“Meow?”

“This time, you’re coming with me.”

Haha, goodbye! She was leaving! … not really. They would see each other again.

She just hoped the chef’s anger would subside by the time she returned to Dark House.

She didn’t dislike Dark House.

Although the food had become extremely meager after the first day, and the clothes given were shabby, she hadn’t been hungry, and she hadn’t been exposed to rain or snow.

This was indeed a favor.

‘We’re not enemies, right? But a little thief, no, a fairy, who hasn’t eaten anything delicious is just playing a prank. Please forgive me, okay?’

If there had been paper, she might have written an apology to Sheldon.

Grumbling, she packed her things, grabbed Lulu, and sneaked out through the back door of the annex.

There were almost no guards at the annex, and no one was chasing her.

Out through the back door, she relished her temporary freedom and whispered to Lulu.

“Lulu, we’re heading west. Not out of Dark Town, just… there’s something I need to find. Want to eat this first?”

“Meo… meow!”

When she offered a smoked sausage, Lulu sniffed it and started chewing excitedly.

This was a behavior not seen when eating the old kibble.

She had brought a bit of kibble for Lulu, but they needed to return before it ran out.

“Uh…”

Holding the leather coat bag, another thought came to her.

Lulu was originally Asil’s cat.

In the original story, she hadn’t even appeared.

She hadn’t planned on taking Lulu; but leaving her behind wasn’t a bad choice either.

She could have asked the maid to take Lulu to her dad.

“But I do have an affection for Lulu. Hehe, right? You want to come with me, don’t you?”

“Meow?”

Lulu, busy chewing on the sausage, rolled her eyes.

“… never mind, do you want some water?”

“Meoww!”

“Later? Okay.”

It was time to leave for real now.

She turned and looked back.

The annex of Dark House, though behind the main house, wasn’t small in size or grandeur.

She hoped to return safely.

She roughly gauged the direction by looking at the sun overhead and started heading west.

‘This should be right.’

Walking on the street instead of the alleys for the first time, and in broad daylight.

“……”

“Hmm…?”

‘Ugh, people keep glancing at me.’

Even though she kept walking and walking, she didn’t know when she would reach the western forest where Alice had found the silk butterfly.

People on the street were subtly glancing at Yuriana and whispering among themselves. At first, she thought she was just imagining it, but it became more obvious over time.

Yet, she felt oddly relieved.

No one approached her or tried to touch her.

They were just surprised to see her and talked among themselves.

‘It’s probably because of my silver hair.’

Previously, she had been so scared of falling into the Dark Town that she only walked through deserted, dark alleys.

‘… Dark Town is still a place where people live, huh.’

Along the way, she saw stalls selling fruits and small goods, shops with piles of clothes, and what seemed to be residential areas.

Even though the profitable parts of Dark Town were the underground gambling dens and arenas, there were also economic activities on the surface.

In , there was a scene where Heidel casually grumbled.

He might have said that Prince Aidan or even himself made less money than Asil, who ruled Dark Town.

‘Hmm… I think I’ve seen about thirty shops on the way here. If the collection is done properly, the income must be pretty… ugh! Why am I even thinking about this!’

Was her way of thinking getting rougher because she was Asil’s daughter?

Shaking her head vigorously, she continued walking with Lulu.

A few young men whispered behind her.

About two hours later.

“Huff, huff...”

Even though she was smaller and lighter, walking for a long time made her feet hurt and tired.

While debating whether to take out the water bottle for a drink, she saw something unusual.

It was dark even though it was daytime.

“Is this…?”

The black forest!

This must be the place.

Alice had tugged on Asil’s sleeve, fascinated by the trees with black trunks and white-striped leaves.

“Huff… I need to rest for a bit… Huh?”

At that moment, something floated in front of Yuriana.

“Yuriana’s… album?”

It was the same phenomenon that occurred when she met the slave hunters, with a choice window suddenly appearing!

Startled, she clicked on the album, and something even more surprising happened.

A collection space marked 0/99 appeared before her.

At that moment, Lulu approached and wrapped her legs around her ankle.

“Meow.”

“… Lulu, play around here for a bit. We’ll leave in a while.”

Impressive. In Alice’s album, there were twelve collectibles, but she had… ninety-nine?!

She was not supposed to have to collect all of them to return to the original world, right?

‘Wait. Does that mean I’m supposed to collect all twelve like Alice? What if there are extras?’

As she leaned her elbow to press a blank spot, a description of the album popped up.

[This album allows you to store items of treasure and memories of Yuriana across time and space. If you exceed 99 collectibles, you won’t be able to store anymore. When the limit is near, designate or let go of items.]