Chapter 32. The truth behind the creepy rumors surrounding him
***
When Ihedia entered the room at the end of the day, she saw a face that she hadn't seen before, like Aurora told her.
She was in Monica's place, wearing Monica's clothes.
Her bronze-colored hair, which resembled wooden beams, was pulled up in a messy bun.
Her irises, similarly colored, were ravaged beyond recognition, devoid of life.
She sat on the bed, dazed, like someone waiting to die.
Ihedia was the first to muster the courage to speak to her, knowing that she must be struggling with the depths of the water, even if she didn't show it outwardly.
"Nice to meet you. I'm 770, the one you'll be staying with."
She gave Ihedia a sly glance and turned away wordlessly.
"Kollok, kollok."
The woman coughed, her breathing cracking.
"Are you not feeling well?"
Her face was bloodlessly pale and her lips were slightly blue, so Ihedia asked.
Her eyes were red as she fought to stifle a cough.
Composing herself, 3 looked Ihedia straight in the eye.
"Mind your own business."
It was her first words were blunt.
Her voice held an odd sternness that belied her cold exterior.
Aurora watched, and she used her mouth to tell Ihedia that she didn't like the newcomer.
Ihedia, on the other hand, felt unnecessarily drawn to the new 3.
For at first glance, her eyes were empty, as if they held all the despair in the world.
It reminded her of herself in Elmir, somehow.
The women here were all in a similar predicament.
Either their country had fallen, or they had been abandoned by it.
So her prickly demeanor was not entirely incomprehensible.
Judging by her accent, 3 was as likely to have come from faraway Aselia as Elmir.
Aselia had once been a nation with a reputation as strong as Elmir’s, until it was destroyed by the Anut invasion decades ago.
The fact that it was women, not men, who ran the country made it all the more remarkable.
She felt a strange pity for the brave women of Aselia, who once ruled the land, now languishing in the shadow of Anut.
3 had a pale complexion, as if she were about to lose her consciousness.
Perhaps she was simply suffering from extreme fatigue from the long journey.
Ihedia wanted to get a closer look at the new 3, but her stubborn demeanor made it clear she wasn't going to let anyone in, so she decided to keep quiet.
The next day, as Aurora had predicted, new 3 was assigned to a stable.
"3 will be working in the stables with 30 starting today."
Ellie ordered, looking back and forth between Aurora and 3.
As the inquiry was completed and the women of the outbuildings scattered to find their respective jobs, Aurora whispered to Ihedia.
"Usually when the women first come here, they act like they're going to die without eating or drinking, but after a few days and adjusting to life in the outbuildings, their sharp attitudes mellow out a bit. They're a bit of a pain to work with, but that'll change soon enough. By the way, she looks like she’s seriously ill somewhere, and I wonder if she’ll collapse before she can pick up a broom."
Aurora grumbled that the new 3 seemed to be just as cranky as the old 3, but she was secretly worried about her.
Ihedia's eyes, tinged with subtle sympathy, landed on 3, who stood alone and stiff.
***
Ihedia had spent the day tending to Netira's illness, filing away all the useful information she'd gleaned from her wanderings through the manor.
She took note of the people in the main house and their living arrangements, or the faces of the guards and their shifts.
There was still much to memorize, but this was progress for her.
After exploring the main house for a while, Ihedia decided to head to the Wolf Forest.
She wanted to gather berries and herbs.
Her heart swelled with hope as she prepared for her escape, step by step.
'Now, if I can only get the pass, I can⋯⋯⋯⋯’
Everything seemed to be going her way, but the most important thing was to get the pass from Netira.
Netira relied on Ihedia for her skin disease, but she hadn’t fully opened up to her.
Although Ihedia's help had cured her of her terrible skin disease and made her less vicious, it hadn’t been enough to instill in her the kind of complete trust that Ellie had.
Ihedia often felt impatient, even though she knew this was a time for quiet patience.
If she allowed Netira's skin disease to fully heal, she would be back to her old self again, and if she stalled for time without a cure, she might discover her intentions.
‘I wonder if there's any other way to win Netira's heart.’
If Ihedia was to escape this mansion unharmed, she needed Netira Bayate's trust, and no one else's.
Living here had allowed Ihedia to learn about the power structure in the family.
As she had seen, Netira was the real ruler of Bayate.
Kayan, while a member of the Bayate, did not exercise any authority over the family.
His influence was limited to the Black Wolf.
Some might argue that it was only natural for Netira, the only daughter of the previous House Head, to continue the line, but outside of the matriarchal society of Aselia, it was extremely rare for women to become House Heads in most countries.
When a husband died, the title was usually passed on to his son, or if there was no son, to a male relative or to a successor chosen by the previous patriarch.
So people naturally assumed that Kayan was the head of the household.
But Bayate was an exception.
That seemed to be the unspoken rule between Kayan and Netira.
Thus, even slaves belonging to the Bayate family were completely under Netira's control.
Until now, Kayan had never set foot in the outbuildings.
Nor had he ever given any orders or spoken to the women of the outbuildings.
"Do not go anywhere near Kayan Bayate. I've heard that women from exile who are taken to his mansion don't last a month before they lose their minds."
The eerie rumors surrounding Kayan Bayate were nowhere to be found.
'Maybe.......'
It occurred to Ihedia that maybe people had a firm misconception about Kayan.
Soon she was nearing the entrance to the Wolf forest.
She looked around slowly, searching for herbs and berries.
When she found something, she deftly filled her pockets with it.
It was a natural process, a habit that had been ingrained in her for years.
Then she came across an unexpected herb at the edge of the border.
I think the name of that grass is.......
"Fenek?”
With its purple leaves and red stems, fenek was a plant that was also used for fever.
This made it the perfect medicine to get through the cold weather.
She was sure there were many other remarkable benefits, but her memory was limited.
It was a rare plant that she had only seen in old books.
It was so strange looking that once she saw it, she couldn't get it out of her memory.
It had gone extinct decades ago and had been forgotten by the world.
To see something so rare here….
It was the first time Ihedia had ever seen a fenek in person.
She plucked it and smelled it. The medicinal plant smelled more like grapes than the real thing.
It was as unique in smell as it was in appearance.
It would not be of much use in the warm South, but it would be a necessary herb for the northerners, who suffered from bitter cold all year round.
She looked around and saw a fair amount of fenek filling the ground.
If there was this much growing around the border, there must be a lot more inside the wolf forest.
Fenek was an extremely sensitive plant and would quickly wither and die where people lived.
This type of herb was difficult to grow, even with gardening magic.
Due to its scarcity, it could be sold for a high price.
Ihedia plucked a bit of the fenek and put it in her pocket.
When she was done, she made sure to hide her harvest in a place only she would recognize.
This time, she grabbed a few roots and some berries and headed back to the stables.
When she arrived near the stables a little later, she saw a familiar figure.
Aurora was carrying a bucket of water and disappearing into the distance.
It was too far to call out, so Ihedia decided to wait inside the stables until she returned.
As she started to walk away, a gust of wind blew the stable door wide open.
"Kolok, Kolok."
From inside came the sound of coughing.
Ihedia was about to give 3 a knowing look when 3 suddenly pulled something out of her hair.
It was a small cloth pouch.
3 pulled something that looked like a pebble out of it and put it in her mouth.
It was so small that it was unlikely to be food to satisfy hunger.
Whatever it was, it was something she didn't want others to see, so she hid it in her hair like that.
Ihedia felt awkward, like she'd been prying into someone else's secret.
As she wondered if she should make her presence known, 3 turned her head.
3 was a little startled to realize that someone else was nearby.
It was the first time Ihedia ever seen 3 look alive.
***
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