Chapter Seven

“I told you not to come out. That was dangerous!”

“I’m sorry.”

Ten minutes later, Shuell sat on the bed with his arms raised over his head, shaking as I applied medicine to his cheek and reprimanded him.

“I told you. You’re the one at risk here. Who do you think you’re protecting? You need to take care of yourself first.”

It hurt to see his cheek swell up like this. I hoped his eardrum was okay. What if he’d lost a tooth? I applied the medicine gently, resisting the urge to squeeze his cheeks.

“But I heard you screaming.” Shuell sheepishly looked up at me. “Wen, weren’t you scared of the frog?”

“I’m not scared of things like that.”

“Then why did you scream and ask him to take it away?” His question was so naive and kind that I was at a loss for words.

“Is that the only reason you—”

“You asked for help.” Shuell tipped his head to the side as if he was confused.

As if he was telling me that yes, that was indeed the only reason. Children didn’t listen to others, even when they were trying to point out the situation’s dangers. I’d assumed he came out because he was tired of being in my room all day.

“That’s why. I came out because you sounded really scared. Sorry,” he mumbled. I stared at him, but he avoided my eyes like a frightened puppy

I took a deep breath and said quietly, “Thank you.”

His eyebrows rose. He seemed not to realize why I was thanking him, which made me chuckle.

“That was the first time someone ever stood up for me. Thank you, really.”

No one had ever helped me before, no matter what I had been going through. I had become used to it, but there were days when it was just unbearable.

This was my fault. Surely Shuell was already aware of the dangers of carelessly wandering about, especially after being kidnapped. He already knew that he could end up getting hurt if he left my room. Yet he came rushing outside because I had screamed. When he had stepped in front of me, his small back had seemed so large. I’d commit that moment to memory so that I could look back on it on rough days after he’d leave. Shuell smiled shyly and slowly dropped his arms to his sides. I grinned before putting my stern face back on.

“Raise them properly.”

“Okay.”

***

I had been hopeful, to an extent. All that had happened was that Jeffery ended up with a burned sleeve. Would he really go snitch on me right away? And if he did, our whole household was too busy even to educate me, so wouldn’t they just let it slide?

So, for one short moment, I had been hopeful. In a room that resembled mine, I stood in front of my mother, bitterly looking up at her.

Of course not. Oh, how ambitious I had been.

A sharp sound rang through the room.

Whoosh!

I shut my eyes reflexively, but the slap never came.

“Arwen Broschte!”

I tentatively opened my eyes and saw her glaring at me demonically. She gritted her teeth and grabbed Jeffery’s burned shirt with shaking hands.

“This shirt is made of the finest silk!” She gazed at the shirt as if her whole world had shattered in her hands. There were traces of mending on the sleeve, but it couldn’t be considered fixed in any way. Still, her sorrowful eyes turned vicious when they settled on me.

“You should have stopped that candle with your own clothes. You idiot!”

“I’m sorry. I was so scared . . .”

“Is that your excuse? Oh, how could this ever happen?” she said dramatically. “Earl Tefron will be here tomorrow, but look at that ruined shirt of our son’s! Are you out of your mind, Arwen?” Her shrill voice cut through my ears straight to my brain.

I looked up at her, forgetting to feign innocence. Earl Tefron? He was an upstart. He’d happened to find a diamond mine in his impoverished territory, and now he went around boasting about his riches. However, the real reason he was so famous—even out here in the countryside—wasn’t his money but his brutish personality.

Jeffery’s early break. Father glancing at me in appraisal. And Mother’s words. Earl Tefron wouldn’t casually visit a countryside territory. There must’ve been a reason for his visit.

The information scattered around my brain like puzzle pieces finally came together to form a terrifying picture. What if Jeffery had gotten into trouble at the Academy and was on the verge of getting expelled?

They would need money to fix it, and if they had reached some sort of agreement with an upstart . . . The Broschtes were poor. There was only one thing worth trading. A dimwitted but beautiful daughter. Arwen Broschte. I felt my blood rush out of my extremities, but I held on, biting my lip. I squeezed my throat to force my voice to come out.

“Mother, what do you mean, Earl Tefron?”

“Oh, that.” Though she had been screaming her head off just moments earlier, she abruptly shut her mouth.

I could feel how hard my mother was trying to read my mood, even though she had been yelling at me. Still, that didn’t last.

She straightened. “Yes. He’ll be here.”

I tried my best to wet my lips, but my mouth was parched. No way. You couldn’t possibly do that and still call yourselves human.

“Mother, he’s—”

I hadn’t asked anything, but my mother answered anyway, as if pressured by guilt. “Don’t worry. It won’t cause you any trouble. He’s coming quietly, so we don’t need to worry about any rumors.”

“Mother . . .”

That can’t be. The words got stuck in my throat. It wouldn’t cause me trouble? Then why did he want to see me?

The part about rumors was also a lie. He was infamous, even in the countryside, and news of his travels would surely reach the capital. If rumors spread, then my marriage possibilities would also dwindle. Still, before that, could I survive meeting Earl Tefron?

“I’m sure your father will be drunk with how overjoyed he is, but if he sees this shirt, he won’t let you be. Hurry up and get upstairs!”

Father would hit my mother when he got drunk. However, it wasn’t just Mother that he harmed. He acted as if nothing mattered to him. Instead of throwing an expensive pocket watch, he would throw cheap plates and yell. Even then, he would only rarely hit me because Mother would always step up in front of me. And if I ever got hurt, she would apply ointments and caress my cheeks.

“My, your pretty face might be scarred.”

I enjoyed her caresses. They made me feel as though she cared. Had I been deluded without realizing it? My hands grew cold. It felt like my heart had stopped. I forced my head down and turned around. One step after the other, I walked on, but it felt like walking on nails. From the moment I turned around to when I stepped into my room, my mother didn’t stop or call out to me once.

***

I had no idea how I made my way back to my room. I slumped down as soon as I stepped inside.

“Wen?” Shuell ran toward me, calling my name, but it sounded strange.

Of course, it did. No one had ever called me by a nickname before. Shuell quickly closed the door and cleaned up the dolls he had scattered all over my room before kneeling beside me.

“Wen. Did something happen?”

Children were simple and sharp. He had asked the right question, and I couldn’t answer.

I raised my lips into a smile, but my voice wouldn’t come out.

“You look like you’re going to cry.” His own voice was thick with tears.

I moved my quivering lips to form words, but my vision grew blurry, and tears fell from my eyes. Before I could stop it, I was sobbing through my teeth. Shuell shuffled around for a while before pulling me in for a hug, and I cried breathlessly. The boy’s slender arms and petite body struggled to hold me in a comfortable position, but he tried his best. I buried my face in his thin shoulder.

I was miserable. What hurt more than anything, more than knowing that they were selling me off or that they cared more for Jeffery than for me, was that I had mistaken that shallow interest for love. That I had loved her as my mother. That alone made me unbearably sad. I felt as if someone had grabbed me by my hair and tossed me out on the streets.

“Don’t cry, Wen. Don’t cry,” Shuell sobbed.

His sobs turned to cries. He hiccupped and wept as he buried himself in my embrace.

He cried for me, who had been abandoned by my parents. For me, a complete stranger. As I realized this, the tears choking me seemed to ease up. I pulled my head back from the child’s shoulders. He was trying to even out his breathing, and his face was covered in tears and worry. I chuckled and pointed at his shoulder. My tears had left a face-shaped mark on his shirt.

“Look at that.” It was my attempt at humor, but Shuell got even more teary-eyed. How awkward.

“Why did you cry?”

“I got something in my eye.”

“Liar.”

Tears threatened to spill from his eyes again, and I smiled as I wiped them off. He cried more than I did.

“Shuell.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s leave tonight.”

His big eyes, now gray from the potion, grew larger still. We had to leave tonight. Tomorrow would be too late. If we were to depart in secret and reach the capital, it would amount to a month of travel, including my trip back home. That would be more than enough time for Earl Tefron to grow tired of waiting and leave.

We would be much more comfortable if we went in the trading carriages, but if it were just Shuell and me, it wouldn’t be impossible to get to the capital. Perhaps it was because I had cried, but my nose felt refreshingly cold. I felt lighter inside. The child before me had become dear to me, and I chuckled lowly.

“I’ll take you home.”

It was farewell for us.