Chapter 1

Episode 1

In the slums of the capital, ‘Lyrica Barnes’ was quite famous.

It was because parents of any family scolded their children, saying, “Try being half of Lyrica.”

Lyrica, who turned eight this year, was rumored to be savage.

It was her mother who was a burden on Lyrica’s life.

Several times, I helped my mother who was staggering after drinking, and the shallow wooden board could not stop the noise at all, so the sound of her drinking and swearing at her daughter. It sounded very good.

Occasionally, on days when loud noises were heard, Lyrica would go to work with her red, swollen eyes.

Still, Lyrica was proud of her mother.

This was because I had never seen anyone more beautiful than my mother, and my mother was the only one who could read in the slums.

Lyrica always thought that it was only because her mother, who was originally a nobleman, suffered so much.

It’s said that her mother was kicked out of the castle because her father owed a huge amount of money when he went on a boat to do business and did not return.

Without Lyrica’s confidence, her mother said she would have gone anywhere to marry, and Lyrica agreed.

Her golden hair, as if she had copied the purity of the sun, and her eyes bluer than cornflowers, the light did not fade even in a town like this.

The milky white skin and dense appearance looked like a fairy no matter where she was and what she wore.

The men were slim, but no man approached her because her mother was so beautiful.

Lyrica thought it was a relief. Even if she ran with a broom, she would faint if she was beaten by an adult man.

Even at the age of eight, a small and thin body would fly away to the ground when a man hit her with his hand.

I’ve been hit like that because her rent was pushed, and it was hard to come to my senses.

My head circled, my ears buzzed, and my mouth tasted prickly because of the blood.

Her eyes darkened and she saw the twinkling stars.

So Lyrica was worried. She was worried about what she would do if bad people approached her beautiful mother.

She held both hands tight every night and prayed to the brightest star.

‘Don’t let bad people approach their mothers. Let my mother always be safe.’

Fortunately, her mother could walk around the bar without any problems, whether the star had granted her wish.

Today was a quiet day.

It was because her mother drank much more than usual and fell asleep.

Lyrica went out to work with her brown hair tied tightly together.

There is not much the slum children can do. Still, Lyrica worked diligently.

She had a good reputation for working meticulously and not touching people’s things or stealing food.

Lyrica has always applied it since she learned the mindset of ‘work with credit’ from a shoe polish man.

Today was the day to clean the pub kitchen.

Repeat the process of rubbing the oil stains off the floor with sand and then rinsing it with water.

Her arms trembled and sweat dripped down, but Lyrica vigorously rubbed the floor with both of her hands.

She always imagined that she wouldn’t mind if she was doing something simple like this.

Her first dream was the return of her father.

In fact, her father was fine and took a long time to do business.

The imagination of such a father returning with a ship full of gold and silver treasures, finding Lyrica and mother, and living happily again.

The second was the secret imagination that Lyrica had.

As she was walking down the streets of her capital, one of her gentlemen threw a silver coin to her that pitied her.

She was bewildered when he told her to open her apron, and she opened it up and she was shocked when he rolled his silver coins into it.

“Buy something delicious and eat it.”

The gentleman said so, but I couldn’t use the silver coin to buy and eat something delicious.

Lyrica always carried this silver coin like an amulet.

With these silver coins, she used to imagine becoming wealthy, buying two chickens, raising chickens, and raising a lot of chickens to buy goats, cattle, and later horses.

These two things were always imagined by Lyrica.

If I was thinking about this, I didn’t know it was hard and I finished work.

After sweeping the sand with a broom, finally sweeping the floor with water, Lyrica received a big fairy tale*.

(t/n: I think that the fairy tales are the money in that word lol)

Five small fairy tales are one big fairy tale, and one big fairy tale can buy a piece of bread.

Ten of these large fairy tales make white fairy tales, and Lyrica also sees a lot of gold coins, but silver coins were very, very rare.

Lyrica bought half a loaf of bread and headed home. When I slightly went inside the house, my mother was still sleeping.

‘Great.’

Lyrica gently lifted her blanket and lifted the floor below it. Inside was Lyrica’s secret warehouse.

It is a pocket full of silver and small fairy tales.

After touching and checking the silver several times, I put it back in my pocket.

Next month’s rent was included here.

She has to secretly collect her money like this because if her mother finds out, she immediately goes out for alcohol or useless things.

The pocket was quite heavy, so she thought that she would have money left even after paying the rent.

Just thinking about it made her happy, so Lyrica smiled and closed the floor again, and covered herself with a blanket.

It was then.

“Ahhhh!”

My mother screamed, floundering her limbs like a seizure in the bed.

Lyrica was surprised and froze for a moment.

“No! It’s hot!! No, it’s not me! Ahhh!!”

Her mother rolled off the bed, but she continued to struggle as if she didn’t know it, and Lyrica rushed back just then.

“Mother? Mother, are you okay? Are you not feeling well?”

“Save me! Save me……”

When Lyrica held her mother’s hand tightly, her mother trembled her body once and stopped.

She opened her trembling eyelids and looked around, but she couldn’t focus.

Lyrica was scared.

I heard about people whose hair was damaged after drinking a lot, but I was worried that my mother might have become like that.

“Hey, where are we, you, you… … . No way, Lyrica?”

In a hurry, his mother raised her upper body and helped Lyrica get up by holding her hand.

She sat close and said.

“Yes, mother. I’m Lyrica.”

My mother stared at Lyrica blankly. Lyrica became nervous and stared at her mother.

“Are you okay? This is our home. Yesterday, um…….”

Lyrica blurred the end of her speech. When I talked about drinking a lot, my mother was always angry and I didn’t know what to say.

“I think you had a bad dream.”

“Lyri, you got younger.”

“Yes?”

Lyrica didn’t know what to say at the moment.

I’m eight years old now, but if I look younger than I am now, how old would I look?

When she rolled his eyes around in embarrassment, her mother swallowed her breath.

“Lyri, are you alive?”

“What? Yes! Of course. I’m alive.”

“Did you dream of me dying?” Lyrica said, pounding her chest.

Her mother stared at Lyrica blankly and said.

“Alive. Alive, uh, not young. Oh my, how old is Lyrica?”

“I’m 8 years old.”

“Nonsense. What is this?”

Mother suddenly jumped up from her seat and began to wander around the house.

“Oh, my. It’s the slum. No way. Oh, my God.”

She looked out the window, she looked around the house, she moved around, and she picked up a tiny piece of mirror and looked at it carefully, and she took a breath.

“I’m back…”

“Mother?”

Lyrica began to get scared. My mother seemed to have gotten weird.

What do I have to do?

This is where you can’t buy medicine properly, let alone a doctor. Maybe you should use silver to call a doctor.

Lyrica stood up from her seat in preparation.

“Oh my god! I’m back! Oh my! How can this happen? Oh my god!”

But again, her mother screamed, and she hardened a little.

If you approach at times like this, you may be hit by her excited mother.

Even in bars, people who scream so excitedly should be avoided.

Waiting for her mother to calm down, Lyrica looked at her silently.

My mother groped her limbs, touched her hair, touched her face, and repeated the words ‘I’m back’ over and over again.

Then she quickly turned around this way. Lyrica flinched. Her mother ran to her and she reached out to Lyrica.

I’m going to get hit.

As I closed my eyes, her hands gently touched both cheeks.

When I opened my eyes gently, my mother’s blue eyes were very close. Tears were in her eyes.

“Lityca, you’re alive. My precious Lyrica. Mommy is sorry. It’s all my fault. Mom was so foolish. Because mom is so stupid—”

Blinking in surprise, her mother hugged herself.

While sobbing, her mother whispered dreamlike words several times, “My treasure, my precious baby, Lyrica, I love you.”

Tension eased from where the warmth reached.

My mother’s words began to tickle into my heart.

Tears overflowed without realizing it, so Lyrica cried.

She didn’t know what dream it was, but maybe she was dreaming, but her mother was so warm.

This is how good it is to be held in her arms.

Lyrica realized deeply. My mother swept my hair, rubbed my wet cheeks, and kissed me.

After a long time, his mother calmed down and sighed, hugging Lyrica tightly for the last time and letting her go.

Everything was sudden, amazing, and uneasy at the same time.

I was also worried about what if my mother suddenly changed again.

“Lyrica, what’s the date today?”

“Today is April 15th, the month of 485.”

Her mother thought for a moment at Lyrica’s words and then snapped her finger.

“Imperial Palace Ball!”

Lyrica was surprised by the sudden remark but nodded. A spring ball was being held, as everyone in the capital knew.

At this time, the capital was revitalized, and slums were also transmitted by that vitality.

It is said that nobles dressed in colorful clothes come up to the capital and participate in the colorful ball held at the imperial palace.

His Majesty is also attending this year’s ball, and there was also a story that his Majesty was a very terrifying person.

People used to threaten the slum children, saying, “If you keep acting like this, I’ll send you to His Majesty the Emperor!”

I heard stories like taking out the heart of a child and eating it or freezing all the people he didn’t like to die.

I don’t know whether it is true or not, but it was said by the high nobles that he had special abilities.

It is said that he can manipulate water at his will, freeze anything at will, or move things at will. Not only that but it’s also said that he had a lot of magical tools.

It was said that his Majesty killed people recklessly and ascended to the position of the emperor with such ability.

There was also a story that the former emperor was killed by his majesty.

The current Crown Prince is the son of the former Emperor, but the current emperor said that the Crown Prince would remain on the throne until he became an adult, and there was also a story about who would believe it.

Anyway, most of the rumors were that His Majesty the Emperor was strange and scary.

But Lyrica blinked, wondering what the Imperial Palace Ball meant all of a sudden.

My mother grabbed Lyrica’s shoulder.

“Lyri, mother must attend the ball.”

“…….”

It was so absurd that Lyrica could not even answer.

The mother’s blue eyes flashed like lightning.

“We must have to attend the ball somehow and meet your Majesty. This is the only chance. I’ll prepare today, and go in tomorrow…….”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

Lyrica felt desperate at the moment.

She thought her mother had changed, but I was wrong to think like that even for a moment.

What do you mean by the imperial ball?

What do you mean emperor?

The sound was so absurd that she was astonished.

Why doesn’t my mother know what even an 8-year-old knows?

“How can you enter the Imperial Palace Ball?”

“There’s a way to get in. Of course, clothes like this won’t work. You have to borrow the right clothes from the pawnshop. With that, my mom can take care of the rest. So, Lyri.”

Knowing what the latter words were, Lyrica said with her lips shaking.

“No, I don’t have any money. Mother….”

“Lyri, please. Trust your mom just this once. Huh?”

Lyrica shook her head. I had to pay the rent right away, and she didn’t want to get beaten up again.

In addition, at the Imperial Palace Ball, what if her mother is caught by the soldiers? No, she was definitely going to be caught.

Her mother was mature and comforted, but Lyrica closed her lips tightly.

The stubbornness of a girl who grew up in a slum should not be taken easy.

Eventually, her mother sighed and raised her hands, and said.

“Okay, Lyri. If that’s what you mean, I can’t help it.”

Lyrica raised her head. her mother didn’t even seem to be angry.

After thinking for a while, her mother grabbed her shoulder again and said,

“Lyri, just know one thing. Mom will do her best for Lyri. I know Lyri is a child who can become happy without this. This is my mom’s greed. With your mother’s greed, I will do my best for Lyri. Do you get it?”

Lyrica nodded. The mother smiled and hugged her.

“Then let’s sleep early today.”

At the words of her mother, Lyri quickly took out half of the bread.

“I’m okay because I ate.”

At Lyrica’s words, her mother looked at the half of the bread for a while and said.

“But let’s share.”

The hard bread was split only when it was tightened.

After sharing the bread, Lyri fell asleep together in her narrow mother’s bed.

Being so happy, Lyrica fell asleep without even dreaming of her silver coin.

When I woke up the next day, She couldn’t see my mother. I saw an open floor with a blanket.

Of course, the coins and the pocket were all gone.

Feeling devastated, Lyrica collapsed on the floor. She couldn’t help it because her legs were weak.

Now she didn’t think she would chase after her mother.

“Oh my god.

Lyrica started crying out loud without realizing it.

For the first time, she hated her mother.

Lyrica cried and cried again.