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Chapter 4
Threat
“So cozy.”
Anasta didn’t find the corridor floor uncomfortable.
She had already spent many nights in the narrow, worn corridors of the Winterif Count’s mansion—often because there were rats in her room.
The draft would seep in through the halls of the Winterif mansion. No matter how she wrapped herself in the dirty, threadbare blankets, she couldn’t keep warm, and she would shiver constantly.
There had been times when her face would contort, and she would spend the entire day trapped in that dreadful room, trembling from head to toe.
Compared to that, the corridors of the Salter Duke’s mansion were extremely clean and tidy. The only thing missing, however, was her older sister.
She wiggled slightly and thought of her sister, three years older than her, who had married before she did.
The first victim of their parents, her sister had been sold to a noble three years her age.
Anasta could never forget her sister’s wedding—the empty eyes that seemed to have lost life, and the grotesque, monstrous old groom.
It had been unbearable to send her sister, the brightest star in the world, to that old man. She had cried the entire day.
But after the wedding, her sister, Natasha, had sent letters to ease Anasta’s grief. Most of them were warm words like “I’m fine.”
“Don’t worry about me.” “Once I settle here, I’ll come for you.”
But three months after the wedding, the letters suddenly stopped.
Anasta was certain that something had happened to Natasha.
“She’ll manage on her own, I suppose.”
Meanwhile, their parents were indifferent to the daughter they had married off. They acted as if they didn’t care how she was treated.
Once, a worried Anasta had tried to secretly visit Natasha, but it had failed.
The address in the letters was already someone else’s home, and just like that, Natasha and her husband had vanished without a trace.
‘Sister.’
After that, Anasta had only one goal: to escape from that miserable mansion, save up money, and go find her sister. To rescue her sister from that monstrous old lord and live peacefully together, just the two of them.
Her sister loved theology, so she would be fine if she became a nun.
Anasta herself also wanted to study.
To do that, she had to endure life in the Salter household—skillfully avoiding whatever the young master Rian might do to her.
Just as Rian’s determination was formidable, so too was Anasta’s resolve.
As soon as the sun rose, she got up, carried the blankets back to her bedroom, and tidied them. She finished her grooming perfectly before unlock—click—she unlocked the connecting door.
Rian didn’t seem to have woken yet; there was no sign of animosity. Considering a good opening to at least greet him, but meeting directly was enough for now.
“As I mentioned yesterday, from today your schedule is very simple. Morning, lunch, and dinner—bring the medicine to the young master. He often tries to avoid taking his medicine, so you must check his mouth after he takes it.”
“Will he easily show us his mouth?”
“If not, you’ll have to open it forcibly.”
She said it nonchalantly, as if it were someone else’s problem, then went on to explain the rest of the instructions.
“There won’t be a maid to help her.”
“There is, but don’t expect much help. This is my responsibility, and a test of your abilities to become the young master’s wife. Here are the tools.”
The head maid handed her a huge number of pills—for morning, lunch, and dinner.
Even if he ate all his meals without skipping, the sheer number of pills was overwhelming.
“Don’t get the timing of the doses mixed up. Do you have any other questions?”
“None. The task was excessively simple: feed him and give him his medicine.”
Anasta shook her head, and only then did the head maid relax the furrow between her brows and speak firmly.
“Then you just need to serve the young master his breakfast.”
By opening the door to the adjoining room.
It was simple. You bring him bread, a stew, a piece of bread, and a salad. In other words, it was so minimal that one could question whether it contained sufficient nutrients. Anasta thought, ‘Isn’t this too little to eat?’ but she soon knocked on the door of the next room.
“It’s Anasta.”
No answer came from inside. She knocked a few more times and, eventually, used the key.
“I’ll come in.”
The moment she entered, a pillow was thrown at her. It was a sudden display of force, but Anasta didn’t flinch; she silently approached the bed where he was sitting.
“I’ve brought your meal.”
“Get lost.”
“I’ll lay the tablecloth.”
She placed a small table on his bed, spread the tablecloth, and carefully set the dishes.
Rian watched her every move. The moment Anasta aligned the cutlery and knives perfectly, he knocked the table over, as if to ignore her effort. Everything she had meticulously arranged—the food, the blanket—was thrown into disarray.
“I told you to get lost.”
Rian stared at her with a menacing look.
“You were sold to this place because of a lack of money, right?”
“…”
“I heard you’re supposed to be a noble, yet you have no pride? Sold for money—don’t you think that’s no different from a prostitute?”
He didn’t stop there, openly insulting Anasta.
“The young master is quite the little gentleman, isn’t he?”
“What?”
“You’re feeling pity for someone who was sold? Considering even my pride, I hardly know where to place myself.”
“Are you joking with me?”
“No. I’ll tell the head maid to replace the blanket and redo the food.”
“You’re going to overturn it again.”
“Then I’ll just keep serving the meals.”
Anasta walked to the door and instructed the maid waiting in the hallway, “Bring a new blanket and prepare the food again.”
At the same time, she added, “Make ten extra portions of the stew while you’re at it.”
As soon as the maid moved away, Anasta returned to Rian’s bedroom and took her seat.
Rian let out a bitter laugh. From sleeping in the hallway earlier, he already thought she was tough, but now he could see her personality was not to be underestimated.
She was exactly the type he disliked and despised the most.
However, he had dealt with many maids before. Most had fled easily, but some—like Anasta—were cold and blunt.
How did it end with them? Eventually, they couldn’t endure and left the mansion in tears. Surely, this woman would cry and wail soon enough.
In the meantime, the new blanket arrived, and a fresh batch of stew was brought.
Anasta laid the dishes in front of Rian again, but as predicted, he overturned the food onto the blanket.
“Try bringing it again, I’ll overturn it,” he warned her.
Anasta let out a quiet sigh and instructed the maid once more to bring a new blanket and the food.
“You’ve got no learning ability, huh?”
Rian sneered at her.
Yet, Anasta silently received the stew and blanket from the maid and approached him.
Rian waited, thinking she would carefully set the food in front of him, only for him to destroy it once he had arranged the utensils perfectly.
But this time was different. Anasta placed the small table on Rian’s bed and—without hesitation—began eating the stew herself.
“… What are you doing?”
Despite Rian’s incredulous voice, Anasta took a large bite of the stew in silence. Not stopping there, she ate some of the salad and tore half of the bread, shoving it into her mouth.
After that, as if trying to erase all traces of having eaten, she roughly wiped her mouth with her sleeve. The entire thing had happened in no more than three minutes.
Rian stared at the empty bowl on the table, unable to close his mouth.
“If you don’t eat it, Young Master, then I have no choice but to,” she said boldly.
“What?”
“The head maid said she would check your dishes, not your stomach.”
“… You think I won’t just tell the head maid the truth?”
“Go ahead.”
Anasta did not waver.
“I can just feign ignorance. I wonder whose words the head maid would believe—yours or mine.”
“Heh.”
“I hope you’ll eat lunch. If you overturn it again, I’ll eat it.”
“Are you trying to starve me to death? Or is it that you don’t care since I’m going to die soon anyway?”
“No, it would be a waste.”
“A bowl of stew like this?”
“This may be in the past, but there was a time I starved for three days just to eat a bowl of stew like this. My stomach nearly stuck to my back. I was too desperate to turned away a child like me.”
She looked like someone who had been raised delicately. Frowning as she studied Anasta’s appearance, Rian turned his head away.
“Fine. So my so-called fiancée has her pride tied to the dogs and is a woman trying to kill me.”
“…”
“I know your type well. You’ll be wishing I’d hurry up and die. That way you can get the condolence money sooner. Isn’t that right?”
“…”
“You’ve eaten all my food, so you can swallow the damn medicine too. Ah—maybe you can lay your way through the stew, but don’t think the same will work with the medicine. If I miss even a single dose, this wretched body of mine goes into convulsions.”
