Chapter 7
The woman, whose leg was trapped in the mud alongside the wheel, trailed off and glanced nervously into the carriage. Gyeongju deduced that a noble likely sat inside.
“Give me five pence first.”
“Five—five pence?”
“I shall help only after I receive the money. If you object, you may wait here until someone else comes along.”
“You wench! Do you know whose presence in which you are conducting yourself so insolently?”
Turning her back on the outraged woman, Gyeongju peeked inside the carriage. A single night’s lodging at an inn cost one penny, so Gyeongju began to worry whether she had demanded far too much. Yet there were not many chances to face nobility in her station, so she deemed it fair to be bold.
“This path is a secluded forest road, so it grows dark quickly. All that lies at the end of it is the Beguine Order.”
If only Otto had been here… She forced down the unease rising in her chest as she continued speaking.
“Though I do not know who the lady inside might be…”
At that moment, the carriage door swung open. A noble with furious ash-gray eyes glared at her, provoked by her impudence. The noble swept her gaze over Gyeongju without a word, lingering upon her strangely shaved head.
“Five pence, you say?”
“…Pardon?”
“Did you not just demand five pence to right the carriage wheel?”
It was a low, solemn voice. Gyeongju gave a small nod, swallowing hard. The noble pulled a coin from her vest pocket and tossed it to Gyeongju. The silver object was a shilling, which was the same as twelve pence.
“Th-This is too much…”
“Step inside the carriage for a moment. I shall give you one more shilling.”
The noble opened the carriage door further with the tip of her fan. Duchess Saxon Clovis could feel the brazen girl weighing the command in her mind. Her ash-gray eyes, filling with curiosity rather than anger, gleamed darkly.
The carriage interior was luxurious. Fur-wrapped seats supported her body with ease despite the tilted carriage. Gyeongju realized that the inside of this mere vehicle was larger than the corner of Kintol she had called home for years. A clean, captivating fragrance stirred and awakened something deep within her.
“What is it you want with me, my lady?”
Gyeongju slipped the silver shilling into the sleeve hiding her blade. She was tempted to shove it into her mouth and swallow it, so that no one could take it away.
“What is your name?”
“Seo Gyeongju.”
“You clearly do not hail from this region. Where did you come from?”
Fumbling inside her sleeve, Gyeongju turned her head to meet the noble’s gaze directly.
“You would not know it, my lady.”
“How insolent.”
“It is simply the truth.”
“Do you know who I am, to dare act so brazenly?”
Though her words were harsh, Saxon felt her chest tighten with rising interest. She swept her fan across Gyeongju’s shaven head, then across her face.
“Why did you cut your hair?”
“Because it was necessary in order to live without selling my body.”
“Red hair and blue eyes. With beauty such as yours, you could receive ample favor even from a noble.”
“I have no desire to receive favor.”
Well, look at this one, an intensity entered Saxon’s eyes.
“I hail from the Gobi People beyond the Ural Mountains. If that is what you were curious about, then that should suffice.”
Gyeongju pushed aside the fan pressing against her cheek, then shifted toward the door as if ready to leave at any moment.
“…You have come from far away.”
Gyeongju’s head snapped around, her blue eyes widening in astonishment. “Do you know of my homeland?”
“Of course. I am Saxon Clovis, head of House Clovis. International trade in the Forza region does not happen unless it passes through my family’s network.”
Her face overflowed with pride for her house’s power. She is indeed a noble worthy of crimson banners, Gyeongju thought to herself. Damn it, but only one shilling? That’s stingy, even for her. She felt a wave of disgust toward Saxon surge in her chest.
“I heard the tribe was wiped out by a plague. You did remarkably well to survive.”
Gyeongju gritted her teeth in silence. It was a tragedy too ghastly to be spoken of with such an amused expression and passive academic interest. Suppressing the anger and sorrow boiling up inside her, she felt for the blade hidden in her sleeve.
“I heard that tribe was skilled in writing and calculation. Is that true?”
The Gobi were a people who had settled at the edge of the mountain range dividing the Eurasian continent. Early on, they had made their home near the sea and used geographical advantages to amass immense wealth and power through trade. There had been a time when she, too, had enjoyed that prosperity. Such pride was ultimately what prevented Gyeongju from breaking.
“I mastered the basics, but the tribe fell when I was so young, and I have wandered ever since—”
“Knowing the basics is quite enough. Knowing too much only brings headaches.”
“What is it you wish to say? Surely my lady had a reason for calling me into the carriage.”
“The day is already fading. Why do you rush your words?”
“I must go fetch my younger sister.”
Saxon looked at Gyeongju with inquisitive eyes.
“My sister is very young.”
“Another child from the same tribe?”
“Yes. When the plague spread, I fled together with my sister.”
Saxon let out a heavy sigh, and her expression softened. For a young child to cross the mountain range with her sister and reach Forza alive… It spoke volumes. Though Saxon had never experienced such hardship in her own life, it was not difficult to guess the suffering the girl before her had endured.
“That is quite remarkable.”
With the tip of her fan, Saxon began lifting the hem of the young girl’s loose-fitting dress. Should I slit her throat? Gyeongju decided that slitting this noble scoundrel’s throat at such close range would not be difficult.
The fabric caught on Saxon’s fan slid up steadily, revealing her legs and then her drawers. Until her hollow stomach was exposed, Gyeongju held her breath, Should I kill her? Is my body what this woman desires? If so—
Gyeongju quietly dropped the blade hidden in her sleeve into her palm. She was about to clench it in her fist and swing, when Saxon’s fan abruptly stopped. The tip pressed against Gyeongju’s chest, which was bound tightly with cloth. Her gently swelling breasts were tightly crushed inside the white linen, hidden from view.
“I shall make a proposal.”
“I do not sell my body.”
“So quick to jump to conclusions.”
“Please remove the fan.”
“Is the reason you hide your chest like this also related to that stubbornness of yours?”
“I bind it because it is unnecessary for making a living. May I remove the fan myself?”
Suppressing a burst of laughter, Saxon pulled the fan away. The loose dress fell all at once, concealing Gyeongju’s body again.
“I have a daughter, hidden from the world. Rose. Her hair color is identical to yours.”
Saxon opened her fan, lavishly embroidered with gold and silver thread. Fanning her face, she began to explain.
“That child needs a friend. To be precise, a handmaiden who can act as her companion.”
“Is my lady proposing to a slum girl like me because you could not find such a person?”
“Rose’s tastes are exceedingly particular, you see.”
Of course, so are mine, Saxon chuckled to herself and she continued speaking.
“You must know that your life at Clovis Manor would be far better than it is now.”
“I refuse.”
“I find that difficult to comprehend.”
“If I wished to live far better, I would have sold my body long ago. I wish to live freely with my sister.”
“A choice between comfort and freedom, is it?”
Having not considered that her proposal would be rejected, Saxon did not conceal her disappointment. No easy girl, this one. For that very reason, she only found her all the more compelling. The audacity and detachment Gyeongju possessed were exceedingly rare in noble society. They were rare virtues even in Saxon herself.
“If you cater to Rose’s whims and enable her to go on living, I shall grant you outings as often as you wish.”
“…Are you serious? Even if I go in and out of Kintol?”
“Since you are a child accustomed to calculation, shall I write a contract for you? Would you believe me then?”
“My sister must enter together with me.”
“May I take that to mean you accept the proposal?”
Gyeongju bowed her head deeply. Otto is on my mind. Yet an opportunity like this will never come again. Not even in death. Gyeongju quietly returned the blade to her sleeve, relieved that she had no cause to use it.
“One more thing. To work in a noble manor, something must be done about that unsightly hair of yours.”
“…Until it grows, I shall cover it well.”
Saxon gazed steadily at Gyeongju, who answered meekly. She was pleased that those blue eyes now shone with submission, devoid of falsehood.
“I shall go and prepare Rose, so come to the manor two days from now.”
Saxon handed over the promised extra shilling, as well as a token representing House Clovis. Gyeongju stared at the crimson symbol denoting their great nobility, before gripping it tightly in her fist.
I am done with hard floors and damp air. I can no longer bear the stench that seeps into my lungs even when I cover my nose. I hate that hard bread that must be soaked just to chew. I have not grown weak, but have evolved. I shall endure, endure to the end, and without fail—
“Are you listening to my words?”
Gyeongju flinched, still clutching the key Saxon had handed her.
“What are you thinking so deeply about?”
“Ah, it is nothing. My apologies.”
Her stomach let out a low, primal grumble. Frowning, Saxon pushed her leftover bread toward the girl. Seeing the white bread, still warm to the touch, Gyeongju felt like weeping for no reason. The memory of the day she first met Saxon flooded her mind.
She had never once regretted it, but her heart ached fiercely. Bowing her head in gratitude for her mistress’s kindness, she tucked the bread inside her apron. She had to focus. Just like that very first day, it was clear that a massive change was on the horizon.
“Without you, Rose will never agree to leave the manor. You know that better than anyone.”
“Yes, Duchess.”
“I have already prepared a residence near the university in Sierra Square. You know that area well, so you should begin moving Rose’s belongings there at once.”
“Are you saying I must do it alone…?”
“None of the servants in this manor can be trusted. Who knows who might sell information for a few coins?”
