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Chapter 4
Was Vanessa about thirteen at the time?
“Vanessa, is something wrong?”
“The cat…”
“What?”
“A stray cat… it’s sick and dying…”
When Vanessa tearfully said that she needed a special herb found in the borderlands, Sherry went to get it without a moment’s hesitation.
“The herb! We have to get the herb!”
“Sherry! Sherry, no!”
Because of that, Dave had to abandon his academy exam and rush off to stop her.
By the time Dave arrived, it was already too late. Sherry was dangling in midair, caught by the scruff of her neck in the border count’s hand.
“Dave, I got the herb!”
Sherry, filthy and disheveled, beamed brightly as she held up the herb in her hand. For a moment, Dave met the utterly dumbfounded eyes of the border count and wanted to pretend he didn’t know his own sister.
“Dave! Dave, where are you going? I got the herb, I said! Hey!”
When Dave disappeared on the day of the exam, a professor asked him with a worried expression.
“Dave, you’ve always been an exemplary student. Where did you go on the day of the exam?”
“…Somewhere.”
“So where, exactly?”
“…Somewhere.”
Dave couldn’t bring himself to say, My second sister went to pull up herbs to give to our youngest sister, so I went to stop her, and kept his mouth tightly shut.
Because of that, he could never take his eyes off Sherry, who had acted like a tomboy since childhood. As others said, Sherry was always bright and kind—but whenever it involved Vanessa, she became a completely different person.
Dave recalled Vanessa, who always walked around with her head lowered.
If only they could be mixed half and half. Sherry resembled their mother too much, and Vanessa their father too much. Dave let out a deep sigh and scolded Sherry.
“That’s why Vanessa ran away.”
Sherry felt as if she’d been struck on the back of the head out of nowhere at Dave’s words. Slowly, she swept her gaze over him from head to toe.
“Like you’re one to talk.”
Was Vanessa about eleven then? No matter how much people spoke to her, she would answer only with silence or with a simple “yes” or “no,” until she declared she wouldn’t speak anymore and shut herself away in her room.
After that, nine years passed without them ever really talking again.
And what about Dave’s academy graduation?
“I’m sorry, but my health isn’t good, so I won’t be attending.”
When Vanessa said she wouldn’t attend the ceremony, he was the one who suggested holding the graduation at home instead. He said he had to show Vanessa his splendid self as the top graduate.
He even framed the dried-flower bookmark Vanessa gave him as a graduation gift and hung it on the wall.
Dave and Sherry stared at each other with cold, hardened eyes.
How much time passed like that? In the place where neither side would back down and tension hung thick in the air, the count burst in.
“Enough. I’ve never even been able to say ‘happy birthday’ properly, not once.”
At the sound of the count’s trembling voice, they closed their mouths.
Sherry and Dave looked at the count in silence, as though heavy stones had been placed in their mouths.
“Wow, we should’ve come out sooner.”
After staring out the window from inside the room for so long, my dulled vision opened up brightly to the greenery.
The town of Centra was strangely calming. It wasn’t as glamorous as the capital, but the scenery nature provided was art in itself.
True to its rural nature, there was the smell of livestock waste, but it was tolerable.
As soon as I stepped down from the carriage, I grabbed Donna’s hand.
“Go visit your hometown, Donna.”
“I’m fine, miss.”
“Hey now! Go on.”
I gestured to the coachman toward the single, most modest piece of Donna’s luggage. Following my cue, he handed it to her, but she only waved her hands and stepped back, refusing to take it.
It couldn’t be helped. I took the bag from the coachman and handed it to Donna myself.
“Take it, Donna. Are you trying to make my arm hurt?”
“S-sorry.”
Donna hurriedly accepted the bag and hugged it to her chest.
“Go on.”
When I pushed her gently from behind, she shook her head with a troubled expression.
“Hey.”
When I planted my hands on my hips and put on a deliberately angry face, Donna shrank her shoulders uneasily.
“How can I leave you alone, miss…?”
“My heart feels heavy because of it. Okay?”
Some time ago, I’d found out that Donna had been receiving letters from the same sender.
Normally, whenever I asked her anything, she’d answer without hiding a thing—but oddly enough, whenever I asked about the letters, she’d dodge the question.
Thinking they might be love letters, I pressed her about them on the way to Centra, and she finally confessed as if she had no choice.
“About a month ago, I received word that my father’s condition had become critical.”
And yet she stayed by my side? Well, considering Donna’s unwavering loyalty toward me, it wasn’t completely incomprehensible. She was the kind of person who would bolt the windows shut and refuse to open them if I so much as coughed once.
I was moved by Donna’s foolish devotion to staying by my side, but at the same time, I realized we couldn’t delay any longer.
What if she couldn’t even be there for her father’s final moments? Pushing aside my emotions, I spoke.
“Then I’ll go with you.”
“M-miss.”
When I tugged on Donna’s wrist, she panicked and dug in her heels. I pulled; Donna resisted.
“Donna, are you really going to be like this?”
As our stubborn back-and-forth continued, the villa’s caretaker came running out, panting, and greeted us.
“I’m Gar, the caretaker of the Feard Count family’s Centra villa.”
A single strand of hair had escaped his neatly pomaded hairstyle and swayed in the wind.
“I see. I look forward to working with you.”
I returned his greeting, let go of Donna’s hand, and fired off my words rapidly.
“I’ll stay inside the room without moving an inch while you’re gone, so don’t worry. There’s nothing for you to be concerned about. If you’re still worried, just stay for half a month and then come back, all right?”
“Miss…”
As if tears were about to burst out, Donna covered her mouth with her hand. She bowed her head deeply and wiped at the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand.
“I’ve always only received kindness from you and have no way to repay it. I’m sorry, miss.”
“What are you talking about? You’re always my strength.”
I rubbed Donna’s shoulder to comfort her. A moment later, she composed herself and lifted her head; by then, the moisture in her eyes had completely dried.
With eyes as though chasing something, Donna stared hard at my back.
“I will repay this kindness from now on.”
After finally gaining freedom after ten years, staying still would be an incredibly foolish thing to do.
I looked through the luggage Donna had left behind and took out an ivory-colored dress to wear. It was a simple commoner’s outfit, with lace at the hem of the skirt.
Standing in front of the mirror, I twisted my body left and right to check my appearance.
“Hmm, not bad. Shall I go out?”
It was an outing planned for a time when Gar had left work and there would be no one at the villa.
I usually gained what little knowledge I lacked through the imperial newspaper, and recently I’d seen news that a night market festival was being held in Centra.
I’d thought that if I ever went to Centra, I absolutely had to visit the night market—but honestly, I hadn’t expected to come alone like this. Nervously, I kept clenching and unclenching my hands.
Since being possessed, this was my first time going out alone, and that made me strangely afraid.
Before long, the carriage came to a stop and the sound of hooves faded.
“I’ll see you at the entrance in an hour.”
I got down from the carriage and paid the coachman his fee. I watched the carriage disappear for a long while, then turned my gaze toward the entrance of the night market.
“Wow… so this is a night market.”
In my previous life, I’d never traveled even once. Thanks to an incompetent father who abandoned his responsibilities, simply making a living was a struggle—so much so that my wish in life was just to be able to take a nap.
“And now I’m traveling.”
The ten years of peaceful comfort had been nice, but the joy that travel brought couldn’t even be compared to that.
As I approached the market entrance lined with lanterns glowing warmly, the heat of the crowd felt unfamiliar against my skin. Mouthwatering street food, dazzling lanterns, and the hoarse voices of vendors calling out to customers—it was more than enough to lift my spirits.
“Hey, sir! Take a look at this!”
“Come try the lamb! Lamb!”
After standing awkwardly among the people for only a moment, I entered the night market.
Fanning myself as I looked around, I stopped to examine the accessories laid out on a stall.
“How about this, miss?”
The stall owner grinned broadly, pointing at a pair of earrings. They were imitation gemstone earrings with a dull sheen.
“They’re nice.”
Buying one as a souvenir wouldn’t be bad. Just as I was considering it, a voice loud enough to split my ears rang out from the stall across the way.
“This was even featured in the capital newspaper’s Genuine Treasures section!”
“Is that true?”
“It’s real! Have I lived my life being fooled all this time?”
A merchant with a long mustache stretching out on both sides waved a pendant in front of a man wearing a fox mask.
The fox-masked man was a mercenary with broad shoulders and a massive build.
There were a lot of handsome men here. Even the passing commoners were easy on the eyes—but this man was something else. Just the lower half of his face beneath the mask felt powerful enough to wipe out an entire worldview.
At that moment, the man’s red lips curved into a faint, languid chuckle. I was briefly captivated by the lazily upturned corners of his mouth before the merchant’s blustering voice snapped me back to my senses.
“They say it’s the pendant the famous Duke and Duchess of Dustin lost! If you take this, you could get a huge reward!”
“….”
When the man showed no reaction, the merchant bit his lip in agitation.
“I’m telling you, it was even in the capital newspaper!”
“Lies.”
“What?”
My mouth got ahead of me. Startled by the words that slipped out without thinking, I covered my mouth with my fan.
“What do you know, kid? You’re young—what could you possibly know!”
The merchant finally noticed me and began shouting and pointing.
Wow. He’s trying to scam people and still has the nerve to point fingers? How shameless.
At that moment, the masked man brushed the merchant’s finger aside and turned his body. The gaze that had been aimed at the merchant shifted unconsciously.
“Wow…”
The subconscious was frightening—I was captivated by the man’s dark, night-sky-like hair and his luminous, pale eyes. His eyes went beyond mere beauty; they were dazzling.
As we stared at each other for quite some time, the merchant suddenly stepped out from behind the stall and waved the pendant right in front of my face.
“Look at this! Tell me if it’s fake or not!”
Why are you ruining a good moment?! I glared sharply at the merchant who had interrupted it. Does he think being loud means he wins?
“It’s never appeared in the Genuine Treasures section. Sorry, but which year’s newspaper did it appear in?”
“Y-year 914 of the Imperial Calendar!”
“That was about six years ago. I haven’t missed a single imperial newspaper in the last ten years. And for your information, starting in year 911, imperial law prohibited the featuring of items belonging to noble families.”
“Ugh…”
“People like you keep making counterfeits and deceiving nobles. A reward, you say… If it’s such a valuable item, why are you trying to pass it off to someone else?”
The merchant glared around anxiously, then suddenly shouted.
“T-then forget it if you’re not buying!”
Muttering about how his luck had been rotten since the start of the day, the merchant ducked back behind his stall.
“What a complete piece of trash.”
As I let out a deep breath of anger, I suddenly felt a piercing gaze on me. Its owner was the fox-masked mercenary. At some point, he had begun watching me intently, without moving an inch.
