RR 07

Chapter : 07

Emblin frowned, creasing her brow. Her head hurt so badly. It felt as if someone were striking it over and over. Unable even to open her eyes, she begged.

“Stop… please… stop….”

Elga wiped the cold sweat from Emblin’s face and shed tears of sorrow. To think that such a beast was her father.

After King Akkers had left, Elga hurried to find a maid she was usually close with. Through her, she learned about the political marriage that only Meril and Emblin had been kept in the dark about.

When Elga told Meril, Meril had simply sat there, listening with a vacant expression. She probably hadn’t heard a single word. Drip. Tears streamed down.

Elga glanced back. Meril’s bedroom was as silent as a grave. Haah…. Her sigh was as deep as if she were digging one. It seemed King Akkers truly meant to use Emblin. And yet there was nothing they could do to stop it…. Tears kept falling.

Just then, she heard the creak of a door opening, and her head turned automatically. It was Meril. Elga hastily wiped her tears and stood up. Meril came over and looked down at Emblin. Emblin looked as if she were dead—her face ghostly pale, her purplish lips drained of all life.

Meril reached out toward the wound on Emblin’s forehead. Even without touching it, she felt as though she could hear Emblin’s pain and screams. Clenching her trembling hand, Meril then slowly examined Emblin from head to toe.

Her mind was clear. And so, for the first time, she truly felt what it meant for her heart to burn in agony. One by one, the things she had done rose in her mind.

She had shouted at her daughter who trembled in fear.

“If you’d been born a son, Norun wouldn’t have abandoned me!”

She had grabbed the arm of her daughter who cowered in terror and berated her.

“You’re the daughter of King Akkers. Straighten your back and lift your head! A king’s daughter never looks down!”

When she’d lost her mind in hysterics, she had beaten Emblin mercilessly.

“Do you dare look down on me too? Like that woman did? I am the queen of Slorland! How could some lowly wench take my place! I’ll kill them all!”

Meril closed her eyes. I… I am killing my own daughter. My obsession has pushed my daughter into hell.

Elga, watching her mood, carefully spoke.

“Lady Emblin will be all right. She’ll be in a lot of pain, but still… still… she’ll survive.”

Meril opened her mouth.

“When Emblin wakes up, will she be able to forget everything from before?”

Elga didn’t understand what she meant. Forget her memories? Was that even possible?

But Meril didn’t seem interested in Elga’s answer. Looking at Emblin, who was suffering without even regaining consciousness, she muttered as if talking to herself.

“I wish that would happen….”

Meril took a deep breath and continued.

“When the pain is too great, some people lose themselves. I wish that would happen to you too. But it won’t, will it? So you’ll end up living a life a hundred times, a thousand times more painful than mine.”

Meril sat there without moving. Then, when the first rooster crowed, she lifted her head and looked toward the window. It was still dim. She stood and opened the window herself. Gray clouds hung low, almost brushing the ground. A chill wind rushed in, as if it would claw at her face. A savage morning.

Staring at the gray world, Meril spoke.

“Elga.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“I want to bathe. Can you prepare it?”

“Of course. I’ll prepare it right away.”

Elga immediately moved to carry out the order. It was early dawn, so Yohas was probably still asleep. She would have to go to the kitchen to get hot water. Just as she was about to hurry off, she stopped in her tracks and looked back up the stairs.

Come to think of it, it had been so long. Meril’s voice had been calm. She hadn’t spoken sharply like a child, hadn’t thrown a tantrum—she had spoken like an adult. Elga tilted her head. What was it? She felt something strange but couldn’t quite put it into words.

No, this wasn’t the time for that. Turning around, Elga ran down the stairs.

After finishing her bath, Meril opened the wardrobe. Dresses covered in layers of dust drooped as they greeted her. Meril’s lips curved faintly. She took out the dress she cherished most and, with Elga’s help, put it on. This feeling… it had been far too long.

Meril sat down on a chair.

“Please brush my hair.”

Elga’s hands trembled. Her chest felt tight, and her eyes kept burning. Suppressing her emotions, she brushed Meril’s hair. Though it had long since lost its luster, she combed it neatly and styled it the way Meril liked.

When she finished, Meril stood up.

“Thank you, Elga.”

Elga sniffled, holding back tears. Meril’s face was so beautiful, shining with elegance, that it made her chest ache as if it would burst.

Meril gently embraced her and said,

“I’ll be back. Please take good care of Emblin.”

At her soft yet dignified words, Elga nodded. Meril’s back as she left the tower looked just like it had back then. She was reminded of the first time she had met her. Meril Redian. The only child of Count Redian, lord of the wealthiest territory in Slorland. Meril Redian. When Elga had first met her, it had also been a foul, savage morning like this.

Plop. A heavy raindrop fell onto a leaf. Plop, plop. Then several more followed. Under their weight, the leaf swayed 크게 up and down.

“Oh!”

Elga looked up at the sky. Between the towering trees, the gray sky looked like a small hole.

“Yikes. Looks like it’s going to pour. I’d better hurry.”

Elga quickened her pace at once. At this rate, she’d be drenched by the time she crossed the field. She didn’t want to look like a drowned rat on her very first day. Her mother had warned her again and again.

“Be neat and diligent. That’s the only way they’ll let you into the kitchen. If you want even one more piece of bread, you have to be like that. Got it?”

“Yes, Mother.”

That year, Elga had turned fourteen. She was the eldest of twelve siblings and still unmarried. There were simply too many younger siblings to feed. If Elga married, there would be one less person to earn money.

Just then, they heard that the lord’s only daughter, Meril, was looking for a personal maid. Her parents immediately decided to send Elga to serve Count Redian. Elga was simple and extremely hardworking, which pleased the strict head maid. And so she was hired as Meril’s maid. Her goal: the kitchen. A charge toward bread.

Elga hurried through the forest and began crossing the field. Wheat swayed to either side, rising and falling in the savage wind as if welcoming her. It looked like golden waves rolling, but she had no time to admire it.

Plop, plop. Plip-plip-plip. Then—whoosh! The rain began to pour. Elga ran as fast as she could, but she couldn’t withstand the downpour.

By the time she reached the back door of the castle that led into the kitchen, panting, she looked like a mouse that had rolled in mud. She had slipped several times on the rain-soaked ground while running.

As she came in, the head maid’s eyes widened. Elga said in a small, creeping voice,

“I’m sorry….”

She tried to go inside, but the head maid quickly blocked her.

“Where do you think you’re going? Go wash and change your clothes first!”

“What? Where? I don’t have any spare clothes.”

“No clothes? Good grief… then strip naked!”

Without thinking, Elga covered her chest with both hands.

“What? No, absolutely not!”

Just then, a bright laugh rang out. Elga’s gaze shifted without her realizing it. And there she was: a dress with its sleeves rolled up to the elbows, brown hair tied back in one bundle. Her face was smudged with flour, but she wore a radiant smile. A girl who looked about Elga’s age.

“Nora, that’s enough.”

The head maid, Nora, immediately bowed her head. Elga stared at the girl with wide eyes.

The Redian estate was vast. Living in a remote corner, Elga had never once seen the lord or his daughter. Her instincts told her to bow quickly, but in reality, she could only stare blankly.

She had never seen a woman so beautiful and full of life. This was Meril Redian, the dearly cherished daughter of Count Redian.

After the brief commotion, Elga, now in clean clothes, followed behind Meril. Oh. Oh. Her gaze kept darting from side to side. Everything was grand. Just looking at the high ceiling and towering pillars made her feel small.

Meril looked back at her and said,

“You’ll get used to it soon. All the new maids are surprised at first.”

“Yes.”

Elga hurried along, her eyes constantly rolling about. After walking for a long time, Meril finally opened a massive door.

“This is my bedroom.”

Whoa…. Elga stared inside with eyes as wide as plates. Windows so tall they seemed to touch the ceiling—she had never seen anything like it. How much money would it even take to build something like this? It was a foolish thought. Count Redian was the wealthiest lord in Slorland. A quarter of the kingdom’s wheat came from the Redian plains. And that wasn’t all—his share of the horse and wool markets was enormous too. All thanks to those endlessly stretching fields.

“What are you doing?”

“Pardon?”

“Come in. From today on, you’ll be attending me, so take a look around and get familiar with the place.”

“Yes, yes.”

Elga hurriedly followed her inside, and the heavy door closed again behind them.