The Regressed Maid Becomes A Prima Donna - Chapter 2

The capital was much stronger and higher than the walls of the territory here.

The fastest road from Haron to the capital took about three days, but the road was very narrow and rough.

For a common woman who had never been on a horse’s back, the safest way was to get onto several carts along the main road connecting the village to the village.

When I finally arrived at the gate of the capital Belfern with so much time and travel expenses, it was 10 days after my departure.

On that day, the separation from Levistan was quickly concluded.

After he left me in the first place, he never visited me. Having already experienced the depth of his affection, I knew he wouldn’t hold me for long.

But he had a rather strange misunderstanding.

“Amber, are you doing this on purpose?”

“…What?”

“Are you saying such mean things on purpose because you’re afraid I’ll be heartbroken if you leave like this?”

I was speechless at the unexpected question and couldn’t avoid him coming up and hugging me at once.

“Oh, good Amber. You don’t have to do that. You should rather curse at me as much as you want. You can be angry. It’s okay. I know best how much you love me, but how can you tell such an obvious lie?”

I wondered if the words she spoke about leaving him and going to the capital could be interpreted differently.

But at the same time, the clearer head than ever before was finishing the calculations quickly.

I grabbed his collar with trembling hands.

“…I’m not lying. I really hate you.”

“Yes, yes.”

“You lied to me. You said you were going to take me.”

“You’re right. I’m so sorry. But I will definitely come to see you when I get settled in the capital. And, then, when I inherit the title, I will surely take you to the capital.”

At that, I was once again at a loss for words to reply. It was a relief that he didn’t see my expression because he was holding me.

At 20, I really trusted him and waited.

One day, I was avoiding my mother who wanted me to get married as soon as possible, and a piece of news came from the Lord’s Castle.

That… Levistan was formally engaged to a lady from a Count’s family, whom he had long promised to marry.

And I ended up getting caught by my mother and getting married. I waited for him, of course.

But the wait ended with the news of his grand wedding in the capital. Since then, I had covered my ears.

“So don’t tell me you’re coming to the capital. It’s too far and too rough for you to go alone.”

Unable to answer, I nodded slowly.

I remembered something my mother once said.

[“Noble men all have bad minds, so they take pleasure in abandoning women. That’s why the more a woman clings to them, the farther she gets thrown away.”]

Having settled in this village alone with a child in her stomach, she talked to me about the conduct of a nobleman whenever she had time.

Just by hearing that, I could easily predict my father’s status.

[“Don’t believe everything just because they whisper sweet things to you. After all, it’s men who act their own way and women who are abandoned. So don’t suffer for no reason and marry a man who is within your means early.”]

In the end, my mother was half right.

He fidgeted when I tried to reject him, but as soon as it seemed that the position had changed again, Levistan regained his composure and poured out sweet words calmly.

If I really wanted to get rid of him, the way to do it was to seek affection mixed with pretence, not my sincere refusal.

“Don’t forget that you’re the only one I love.”

And after judging that I had completely given up, he kissed my forehead and said.

“Goodbye, Amber.”

That’s how he ended his own beautiful farewell.

As soon as I confirmed that he had entered the castle, I packed my things and left the castle.

Walking down a deserted road, I completely accepted the current situation.

The past… 10 years ago. Reunion with Levistan. And the capital.

After Levistan left, I was left alone for a while. I cried every day and was soon kicked out because I could not do my job properly.

I didn’t even have a friend. All the maids of the castle hated me, who favoured Levistan.

Only then did I realize that I had lived my life relying solely on Levistan. Since he disappeared in an instant, I couldn’t stand it and had no choice but to collapse.

The surroundings were quiet without the sound of grasshoppers. As I walked along the road, I slowly muttered a song.

‘How long is it? Five years?’

A smooth melody came out of my mouth.

There was a moment when I found light only once while living to breathe without any hope or wind for life.

There was a time when I was tired of loving someone and learned to love myself for the first time.

At the age of 25, I learned to sing.

For the first time in my life, I realized the existence of God and sang for God. So, at some point, it became a comfort for me.

And in all of this learning, he was always there.

***

Carlton, my husband, was selfish, impulsive, and wayward. I couldn’t even say in empty words that he was a decent husband.

Carlton was allied with my mother, and I didn’t know that he was somehow trying to marry me, and that the reason was that he only wanted to earn the title of the man who married the most likable woman in town.

My mother, who said that anyone was fine as long as it was not an aristocratic man, liked Carlton, who was sound and active. That’s when my hell began.

Three years after the marriage, after my mother passed away, he started drifting apart in earnest.

In that bleak married life, the only place I could find peace was by the creek where the village women came and went to do their laundry.

Especially in the evening, the streamside was mostly empty, so I deliberately brought the laundry at that time.

That day too, after finishing the laundry, I was unconsciously humming a song while gazing at the reddened sky.

I used to feel like I was having a very peaceful day when I sang casually the songs I learned from the neighbour’s lady or the songs the neighbourhood children sang while playing.

Carlton, who didn’t come in late at night because he gambled, occasionally raised his hand when he drank, and kept threatening me to give him the hidden money, which didn’t exist at that moment.

I was able to forget, for a moment, the worries about the poor crops due to not properly caring for the fields and the worries about the rent which became more and more difficult every year.

All my misfortune came from one person. However, in order not to resent Carlton any more, I turned the cause to another place.

‘It’s all my fault. ‘Cause I haven’t been a bit wiser.’

I didn’t do it because I felt sorry for him. If I hated him more than this, I would really want to kill him.

I felt like that kind of urge that casually brushed me once made me even uglier. Everything was a mess.

It was then. I heard a rustling noise behind my back. Surprised, I couldn’t even wipe my wet eyes and turned my head. A young man stood at the entrance of the forest road.

“No, sorry to startle you.”

When our eyes met, he lowered his head in embarrassment. I also hurriedly wiped my face with the hem of my sleeve.

And when I turned my head again, his white and long clothes caught my eye.

“Are you a priest?”

“Yes, that’s right. My name is Martin, who has been newly appointed to the temple here.”

I was half relieved to hear that he was a priest, but I still scanned him without loosening my guard.

“I heard that a new priest was coming. But the road to the temple is not that way.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I pointed to the steeple of a temple towering across the road he had walked. At my words, he smiled a little as if he was troubled.

“Looks like it. It’s embarrassing to say that I was still wandering because my eyesight was dim.”

I stared at him, then got down from the rock I was sitting on and brushed off my skirt.

“I will show you the way to the temple. Please follow me.”

“But, then, wouldn’t it be too late for the lady to go back alone?”

He was pleased with my words for a moment, then shook his head. I said frowning.

“Not only am I not a young lady, but it would be more dangerous for you to wander through the woods than for me to walk at night. The wild beasts here are quite ferocious.”

He didn’t decline further when he heard that there were beasts. I quickly took the lead on a narrow shortcut to get him there.

It was quiet around because it was time for dinner. Half a step behind, he suddenly said.

“A little while ago, you sang a song by the stream.”

I shut my mouth in bewilderment. I didn’t want the fact that I was singing alone to be known to the man I met for the first time.

But he continued without waiting for my answer.

“I was lost in the woods and in trouble, but I heard singing in the distance. I walked towards the sound and saw you.”

“I am Amber.”

“Amber. It was a beautiful song.”

“It’s just a song we used to sing among women.”

I wondered if it was right to use the word “beautiful” at times like this. I was embarrassed for no reason, answered firmly, and glanced back. He still had a soft smile.

When we arrived at the entrance of the temple, he bowed deeply to me.

“May the glory of God be with you. Thank you for your kindness.”

I hung my head in the cold. There had been no one in the village who had expressed such gratitude for such trivial help.

“Do you often come to the temple on Sunday?”

At that, I smiled bitterly. There was no such thing as a day to find God for me who took care of the field instead of my husband who was not working properly.

“No, I don’t.”

To my brief reply, he continued.

“I hope to see you again on Sunday, Amber.”

That was the first meeting between me and Martin.