When That Door Opens - Chapter 61
Please Teach Me
Julieta’s hands trembled. Her eyes shook with dismay as she checked the contents of the letter over and over again. She desperately hoped she had read it wrong, but the content remained unchanged.
It was a cruel message stating that since the debt hadn’t been repaid, they were coming to take her body.
‘This makes no sense! I borrowed 50 gold coins, how did it become 500 in just a year? Can anyone even pay that back?’
It wasn’t Julieta who had borrowed the money. Her only blood relative, her father, had gone mad with gambling and stole her seal while she was sleeping to borrow the money.
‘Father! Please, come to your senses!’
‘Julieta, this time it’s real! Just trust me this once. Julieta!’
When Julieta insisted on returning the 50 gold coins immediately, her father ultimately ignored her. That night, he went out and squandered it all.
Afterwards, her father seemed to regain his senses and led a diligent life, but it was too burdensome for a man who had once been a noble. Eventually, unused to physical labor, he wasted away and died.
All that was left to Julieta was a hollow noble title and an ever-growing debt. The house had already fallen into the hands of the loan sharks.
‘At least pay the interest by the end of this month. Otherwise, you know what’ll happen, right? Don’t get any foolish ideas. Take good care of yourself until then.’
The loan shark wasn’t kindly worrying about her well-being; telling her to take care of herself was a warning to avoid damaging their ‘merchandise.’
Tears fell onto the letter. Though the tears blurred the ink, they didn’t change her reality.
“Not like this!”
After sobbing mindlessly for a while, Julieta sprang to her feet. She packed a heavy bag and opened the door.
* * *
“Turn back, writer*.”
(T/N: In Korean, ‘writer’ is used somewhat like an honorific. If translated, it comes out as something like “Ms. Writer/author” or “Author Julieta.” For the most part, I’ll be translating it as either Ms. Writer or Ms. Julieta to make the translation less awkward.)
“Give me a chance, boss!”
“You’ve already had three failed works. We even had to lease a new storage unit because of the unsold copies of your books! I’m not running a charity here. How long am I supposed to keep publishing your failing works?”
“This time will be different. The material is fresh.”
“Didn’t you say the same thing with your last book? Do you think our publishing house prints books by digging money out of the ground?”
The publisher, Mr. Delman looked at Julieta with disdain.
Julieta Arlier. She was as beautiful as her name. When she appeared with a e****c novel, Delman envisioned a bright future. A delicate woman writing e****c novels! The marketing practically wrote itself. He thought she would become a popular author.
However, Julieta refused to reveal her face. Even so, Delman signed the contract, thinking he could persuade her to reveal her face later.
But her first book failed miserably, the second even worse, and the third was a complete disaster. As a result, the elegance she initially had and the subtle pride she showed disappeared. At the same time, her value as a noble-born female author, which Delman had initially admired, vanished.
“Sir, please, just read it. At least give it a chance.”
“Let me give you some sincere advice.”
Delman sharply shook off Julieta’s hand, which was clutching his arm. Julieta staggered and collapsed to the floor. Her bag overturned, spilling her precious manuscript all over the ground. With trembling hands, Julieta gathered her scattered pages.
“Never write e****c novels again. This is serious advice. Your writing is so dry and stiff that it puts out any flames instead of igniting them.”
Delman’s harsh criticism rained down on her. It was a flaw she was well aware of.
She couldn’t write the crucial love scenes in an e****c novel properly. But she couldn’t tolerate her entire writing being condemned because of it.
“Sir, you’re being too harsh. There are good aspects to my writing!”
“Yes, there are. Progressive female protagonists, vivid descriptions, flawless storylines. I like your writing. I really do. But, writer, the most important thing in an e****c novel is.”
Delman sighed. He looked down at her, a smirk forming on his lips. With the eyes of a cruel wolf teasing an ignorant puppy, he said,
“The scene you write the worst. The raunchy, thrilling, passionate scenes. You need to write those. The kind that gets a man’s loins stirring.”
Delman crushed Julieta’s pride. But this wasn’t the time to salvage her pride. Normally, she would have left, but Julieta clung to Delman’s pant leg.
She had to get it published. She needed to earn some money, no matter how little.
“Sir. Please, just wait, wait a moment.”
It was when Julieta reached out to grab Delman, who had turned away. The wooden stairs creaked heavily. A well-built person was coming into the publisher’s office. Julieta quickly wiped her tears.
“Oh my, Mr. writer!”
Delman greeted someone. His voice was much more excited than when he spoke to Julieta. A long shadow fell over her as she picked up her manuscript.
“What brings you to this humble office? If you had called, I would have come to you directly.”
Seeing Delman’s fawning behavior, it was clear the visitor was a famous author. Julieta kept picking up her manuscript, thinking about which author guaranteed sales at Delman’s publishing house.
“What’s this?”
“Don’t mind it. Ve… ahem, my apologies, writer.”
She clearly heard him say “Ve”. Julieta realized who Delman was fawning over like a sycophant.
Verne.
A master of e****c fiction novels, his every publication breaks sales records in the industry. It is said that high-ranking ladies stay up all night eagerly awaiting his works!
There are countless women who have started publishing houses just to invest in his books, and rumor has it that foreign royalty offered him a title if he moved his residence.
“You’re still here? Hurry up and leave, Julieta.”
He didn’t even call her “writer” anymore.
Julieta, who had only produced flops in front of a grand author, wanted to disappear quickly out of shame. However, a spotless shoe was stepping on her manuscript.
“Move your foot.”
