After death 5

Chapter 5

    ***

    “Ya, ya-"

    The sound of a tug on the reins made Kanna look up.

    A scene even worse than the marketplace she'd thought was lousy awaited her.

    There was a hut in front of her, a rudimentary tangle of trees on the side of a hill.

    Renpesi stepped out of the carriage without another word. Kanna dismounted after him. Mud and filth clung to her skirts and shoes.

    "What did you say your name was?"

    Renpesi asked Kanna as he roughly unhooked his harness.

    But Kanna couldn't speak.

    She felt that if she opened her mouth, the stench from all around would enter her throat.

    "It will be hard for a few days. But you'll get used to it."

    Renpesi said, as if Kanna's reaction was a given, and turned to head for the hut.

    "...."

    Kanna followed him through the open doorway.

    The interior was sparse enough that she could see everything at a glance.

    Tables were off-kilter, cupboards with rough surfaces and worn utensils. A small window peeked through, but it was as dark as if they were in a basement.

    Then, someone crouched in the corner slowly raised their head.

    It was Renpesi's wife, Margeda.

    Her voice cracked like bark in the darkness.

    "I told you she was useless."

    "She's not just any girl. She was sent by the lord."

     "They’re giving her away for a few silver coins? What's a skinny little thing like that supposed to do here?"

    "Better than a dead bastard, teach her something simple."

    Renpesi put the silver coins on the table.

    He walked out of the room, fleeing from Margeda.

    After the door closed, Kanna was still standing in the center of the hut.

    After a deathly silence, Margeda let out a deep sigh.

    At a glance, Margeda realized that Kanna's beauty was out of the ordinary. With a face like that, she'd be famous in these parts within days. Margeda knew better than anyone how this would end.

    ‘A bunch of men drop by and she gets pregnant.’

    Might as well sell her to a brothel for a few bucks to start with.

    It was then that Kanna unclasped her hands and spoke for the first time.

    "What do you want me to do first?"

    Margeda slowly pulled herself to her feet.

    "There's nothing you can do here."

    She was sure the girl would cause trouble if she was left here.

    Margeda sensed an unidentifiable foreboding in Kanna.

    Margeda rose to her feet and walked past Kanna.

    "Before I came to Trokan, I worked in a coal mine."

    Kanna's crisp voice caught Margeda's wrist.

    "Madam, I can write, and I'm a quick learner."

    Margeda arched an eyebrow.

    "Knowing how to write won't do you any good here."

    "What about taking orders and getting paid?"

    "What?"

    "Writing is very useful, because it does the remembering for us."

    Margeda turned slowly and looked at Kanna.

    Kanna didn't avoid her gaze and spoke boldly.

    “If you write a receipt, you won’t be confused or make a mistake about whether you received the money or not or what you asked for.”

    Margeda narrowed her eyes. The lord had really sent something useless and dangerous, she thought.

    "Madam, just trust me."

    Then, before Margeda could say anything, Kanna stretched out her finger and pointed to the jars lying side by side in the corner.

    "Are those all different medications? Aren't they confusing because the bottles look the same? It would be helpful if you wrote the names on the caps."

    Kanna was referring to chemicals used to soften leather or remove color.

    They were made from long burning and boiling of bark, animal oils, or distillation of chemical compounds, many of which were toxic.

    Margeda sighed out of habit.

    "You should talk less. I'm just not a big talker."

    Kanna did as she was told, but Margeda gestured for her to bring her a brown bottle.

    "These are quite dangerous, and I don't want you to end up dead, so I'm letting you know."

    "Okay, I'll keep that in mind."

    Kanna smiled and moved quickly to pick up the bottle.

    "What else can you do?"

    "I can eat less and work more."

    Margeda stared at Kanna, her face still expressionless.

    It was ridiculous how she was not the least bit fazed by her unwelcoming demeanor.

    "I haven't decided what to do with you yet, so until then, take that bed."

    "Thank you, ma'am."

    "No need to thank me. If you don't do a good job, I'll sell you straight to a brothel."

    Kanna smiled softly, determined.

    She would return to the Hilt family, no matter what.

    And just a moment ago, she had found that ‘whatever it takes.’

    “Then can you tell me what all these medicines are used for?”

    ***

    Lynette soon got used to her new and not-so-new life.

    For a few days, she was afraid to go to sleep, fearing that she might wake up on a cold stone floor instead of a soft bed.

    "What time does the ceremony start?"

     Lynette's mother, Lilyburn, asked, setting down her silverware.

     "At noon."

    "To your father, then."

    Lilyburn asked again, and Hyperion replied with a helpless look.

    "He said he was going directly to Borden."

    Lynette meekly scooped up her soup and remembered. Not long after Kanna had joined their home, there had been a degree ceremony at Borden National University.

    In the past, Lynette had never been the least bit interested in degree ceremonies.

    She was just excited that her grandfather was coming and wondered what gifts he would bring.

    But now it was different.

    'It's an important day.’

    Today's ceremony at Borden National University was no ordinary degree ceremony.

    Borden was actually an appendage of the church, but with the full support of King Enrique III, it became an independent school.

    Of course, there was fierce opposition from the church and cardinals along the way.

    The church wanted to keep the university's best and brightest, but the king had other ideas.

    He wanted the best and brightest to work for the central government instead of studying theology.

    Enrique III was a reform-minded monarch who, despite fierce opposition, allowed his two sons to enter the University of Borden at the same time.

    "What are you going to do after the ceremony?"

    Lilyburn asked, and Hyperion wiped his mouth with a dry towel. 

    "I think the princes will return to the capital immediately."

    "Both of them?"

    "Perhaps."

    "I'd be infinitely honored if they could stop by for a few minutes."

    Lilyburn murmured, her voice tinged with regret, and Lynette stopped stirring her soup.

    The two princes receiving their degrees from Borden today were people she knew very well.

    One of them was........

    ‘Argos.’

    Argos Pad Perro took advantage of Lynette's affection.

    He took advantage of her loneliness, having lost her parents and having her face disfigured by burns.

    He killed Finberg, Argos's brother and crown prince, and then abandoned her without remorse.

    The woman who supported him with Hyperion's inheritance and a hefty dowry, the woman who bore him a child of her own.

    "Father."

    Lynette smiled innocently, her shoulders lifting.

    "There will be many people coming to celebrate the prince's ceremony, I suppose?"

    "Of course."

    "May I come with you?"

    Hyperion looked at Lynette with questioning eyes.

    "But it's quite a long ride in the carriage."

    Lynette didn't like carriage rides. She got motion sickness.

    But she couldn't pass up this great opportunity.

    "It's no problem, Father, please take me with you."

    ***

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