Chapter 5

Translator and Editor: Effe and Yonnee

────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────Chapter 5

From the next day onwards, the Director called Tessa into her room once a day to teach her basic etiquette so she wouldn’t harm the Lady.

Noble etiquette, such as how to greet, how to eat, how to clean up, and how to brew tea, had many things about it that she needed to memorize and pay attention to, so it was difficult to learn in a short period of time, but Tessa worked hard with a happy heart.

It was because she wanted to be a suitable person for Hert, who would later become a knight, along with the Director’s words that she should protect her dignity to some extent as a maid of the Baron’s daughter.

Of course, she told Hert that as the eldest child of the orphanage, she was just helping out with the Director’s work. Because of this, Hert was upset when the two of them had less time together, but Tessa tried to pretend not to notice this.

She wanted to do her part too, and she wanted to help Hert. So all this was for both their sakes, she thought. Because she couldn’t live forever with Hert’s help alone.

A month later, the broker came back. The broker handed Tessa a document and asked her to take Hert’s thumbprint this time. He said it was a necessary document to enter as an apprentice knight.

Tessa meekly took the papers, and while Hert was sleeping, secretly took his thumbprint and handed it to the broker. The broker with the documents disappeared again, telling her to keep the secret and wait as he will come back in a week.

After seeing the broker off, Tessa was heading back to her room when she met Hert, who was looking at her suspiciously.

‘Did you sneak into my room?’

‘Uh? Uh, that’s……. I think I have something I left behind. I’m sorry, did I wake you up?’

‘You’re suspicious. …… Tessa, are you hiding something from me?’

‘What? Oh no. It can’t be.’

After that, Hert persisted, but Tessa pretended not to know because she wanted to announce it as a surprise on the day everything was confirmed. It bothered her that she hadn’t talked to him, but it was a rare opportunity, so she thought that Hert would definitely like it.

Dreaming of such a happy future, Tessa’s heart was already fluttering.

A week later, as promised, the broker came to Tessa with a very pretty dress. That day, Tessa tried on for the first time in her life what was called a tailored dress.

Even the Director added things to make Tessa look like a noble lady. As the saying goes that clothes are wings, Tessa was surprised to see her changed appearance. She thought it was good that she accepted the broker’s offer.

…But things started to go awry after that.

Towards Tessa who was wearing the dress, the broker suddenly told her that she had to leave today. Tessa was taken aback by the unexpected notice, but the broker didn’t give any reason, just kept urging her. Even Hert was absent due to the Director’s errands.

‘Bu, but I couldn’t even talk to Hert…’

‘You’re going to meet him there anyway, so why drag your feet? Miss, we have to go quickly. The noblemen will not wait for us!’

Reluctantly, Tessa decided to leave Hert with a letter. Instead of Tessa, who didn’t know how to write, the Director quickly wrote down what she was saying.

So Tessa left Hert a letter and left the orphanage in a carriage. On the other hand, she felt anxious, but she had no doubts that everything would be fine.

However, Tessa, who got off the carriage and met the people at the Barony, found out that this was all a lie.

‘Are you really stupid? Why would I use an orphan like you as my maid? You are just my replacement.’

She did not mean that Tessa would be the maid of the Baron’s daughter. She was a substitute for the Baron’s daughter who was to be sold as the concubine of an old Lord. That’s the reason for picking a ginger-haired maid.

The broker and Director had thoroughly deceived Tessa and sold her to the Baron.

And that wasn’t the only thing she was deceived about.

‘Nonsense…’

The document that Tessa had signed on behalf of Hert secretly was his consent to renounce his life as a commoner and sell himself into gladiator slavery.

On the day that Tessa risked her life to escape from the Baron to visit the Director, the Director laughed at Tessa outright. What a stupid bitch. Tessa despaired when her last glimmer of hope was gone.

No. It can’t be. She wanted to deny that this was all a lie. Why? She couldn’t understand why this had happened to her. More than anything else, Tessa seemed more livid at the fact that she had sold Hert with her own hands.

‘He, Hert, Her… No! No! How could you do that! Let go…! Let me go! I can’t go, I can’t go! Her! Hert…!’

Belatedly dragged by the underlings of the Baron, Tessa cried out and eventually fainted.

After this was a series of hell.

Tessa was locked in the highest room in the Barony. No matter how much she shouted and scratched the door, they didn’t seem to hear. Rather, they threatened to find Hert and kill him if she did not obey. Instead, they said that they might look after Hert’s back if she meekly became the second wife of Lord Jutert.

With no immediate action or power, Tessa eventually chose to be sold to the old Lord on behalf of the young lady of the Barony. Even so, she wanted to save Hert.

But what came back was the news of Hert’s death. It was only natural when he was sold as a gladiator slave, said the Baron’s servant who came to deliver the news.

That day, Tessa poured out tears until she passed out. She wept incessantly until her whole body was dry and twisted.

It’s because of her. Hert died because of her.

It’s like she killed Hert.

She killed Hert.

Tessa wanted to disappear from this world. But the world was not on her side until the end.

She tried several times to follow Hert, but every time she failed to die. It was absurd. Hert died so easily, but the one who caused him to die… couldn’t die. Tessa resented and cursed the heavens.

‘Please take me, please…’

It wasn’t until she was tied to the bed in a recurring suicidal commotion that Tessa didn’t want to die anymore. It was because she suddenly thought that all this was a punishment for her for ruining Hert’s life because of her foolishness.

So, even though she wanted to die, she couldn’t.

Because she had to pay the price for this sin while she was alive.

After choosing to live, Tessa was forced to endure the physical and psychological violence wielded by the Lord’s son for no reason during the day. Then, periodically at night, she was forced to disgustingly suck and lick her husband’s crumpled manhood.

In her dreams, Hert, with a contemptuous expression, came to her and strangled her along with the words of resentment.

‘You sold me as a slave. How could you do that?’

‘Ah…’

‘Die, die!’

It was a continuation of the days when she did not seem to be alive even if she was alive.

Tessa was afraid to open her eyes every morning and afraid to go to sleep every night.

‘Ugh…’

When she was confined for not being obedient, Tessa recalled her past.

A long time ago, when she played, running around the fields in the sun. She and Hert used to make flower wreaths and put them on each other, then looked up at the blue sky and talked about the distant future.

‘Hert, what do you want to do later?’

‘…A knight. I will become a knight and protect the people I love.’

‘That’s really cool! You’ll look like a knight from a fairy tale.’

‘Then Tessa… You?’

‘Um, I… I just want to become an adult quickly. So I’m going to leave this orphanage and live in a small house on my own terms.’

‘Alone?’

‘No, of course I’m going to live with you, right?’

What was Hert’s response to that?

‘Yes, let’s live like that.’

Tessa let out her tears reflexively.

She once thought she had hope. Even though her parents had abandoned her, she hoped that one day she would be able to live a normal life like everyone else. It was even more so because Hert, who was like her family, was by her side.

But now she knew that it was all a presumptuous delusion.

Tessa clasped her head with her two hands and curled up on the floor.

‘What a wretched b*tch.’

She was suffocating. She felt engulfed in the scorching heat. It felt like her throat was burning. Tessa continued to struggle. No, Her. Don’t do that. It wasn’t what I wanted either. I didn’t want to either.

‘I… I did not betray you.’

‘Tessa.’

The voice of a sweet boy.

It was also a call that she always desperately wanted to hear over and over again whenever she really wanted to die. Then she thought I could hold on a little longer. She had lived without being able to die, but the truth was that she lived because she wanted to live happily like everyone else. So she’s been living this useless life until now.

‘Tessa.’

She was dazzled by the bright blonde hair. The moment she thought that the deep blue eyes met her, Tessa woke up from a long, long dream to a warm hand caressing her.

But the world was still dark.

* * *

It wasn’t too difficult to clear the castle. The former Lord’s closest aides had already fled a long time ago, and most of the underlings guarding the castle were useless.

Hert called the treasury officer assigned to him by the Marquis of Borwen, and instructed him to make a list of only those that would be offered as tribute to the King. Everything else was going to be his, as promised.

Not long after Hert began to rummage through the drawers of the office desk, he heard a neat knock. As soon as permission to enter was granted, a young man with a youthful face appeared. It was Lange, a noncommissioned officer who had been working under Hert for a year.

A light voice continued, with the sound of each footstep.

“Deputy Sergeant Lange Geoffrey, reporting. We have completed the search of the main building and the annex except for the current annex. Other than that, nothing special. That’s all.”

“The Marquis’ Heir Apparent?”

Hert asked, looking through the drawers without raising his head once. The inside of the drawer that his hand reached was a mess. Lange stood up straight and answered, watching carefully what his superior was looking for.

“We are still tracking him down. He wouldn’t have been far away, so he’ll be caught in half a day. It’s only a matter of time until Sir Bosch brings him in. What else are you looking for?”

Now, Lange raised his eyebrows as he watched Hert pull out the entire drawer and pour the things in it onto the desk. Important objects and documents had already been cleared once by the search group. There was no need to look back.

“Never mind. It’s personal.”

“Ah yes.”

Lange shut his mouth for a moment in response to the cold reply. Then, Hert found a velvet box a little larger than the palm of his hand. When he opened the box, he saw rings arranged in a row. They were expensive rings that were each delicately crafted. He vaguely counted it, and it was seven.

Seeing this, Lange shook his head curiously.

“They’re wedding rings. After all, there are many wives in the annex, so there will be several rings.”

“I know.”

Unfortunately, the rings were not what he was looking for. While trying to close the box without thinking, Hert found a ring with a small emerald in the middle. Compared to the others, the ring itself was thin and had only one jewel. The jewel was also of low quality and seemed to be of low quality.

When Hert held up one ring, Lange shook his head.

“You have bad habits. The wedding ring is a little…”

“I won’t take it. Even if you give it to me, I don’t want to have it.”

“Your taste is a little…”

Hert, who couldn’t stand it, glared at him, and then Lange, who was sullen, looked at his superior. Still, he didn’t stop talking.

“But it’s surprising.”

“What.”

“That ring. It’s a wedding ring, but isn’t it too insincere? Why? The fact that the partner is the Marquis of Jutert and they chose such a ring as the wedding ring… It’s hard to make that choice unless the female truly doesn’t have any background.”

In the Kingdom of Mussieux where they lived, it was customary for men and women to exchange rings when they got married. In other words, the ring that Hert was currently holding was a ring that one of the many wives of the dead Lord brought to the marriage.

Hert looked at the ring again. For a wedding ring for a noble who was definitely a Marquis, it looked like it was quite a bit shabby.

“Just by looking at the ring, you would think the woman was sold.”

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