Raising The Princess To Overcome Death Chapter 148

[ … words ]

*147. Betrothal – Yuan’s Side Story*

“Get up! You lazy bum. The sun is up, and you’re still not awake. What kind of parent’s child are you, being so hopeless?”

Today, Yuan woke up to rough shouting once again. Rubbing his sleepy eyes and pushing off the dirty blanket, he mumbled apologies, still half-asleep.

He had been working at this lodging for over two months, but waking up at dawn was still challenging for Yuan.

“Your mouth is the only thing that’s awake. Get up immediately! You need to fetch water. The guests’ horses need to be watered and fed before they leave!”

“I’m going now. Please don’t hit me. I’m sorry.”

Yuan quickly dodged past the innkeeper, who had raised his hand.

Feeling the bone-chilling cold, he ran to the well and started drawing water.

“Thank you for staying with us. Please visit again. We at the ‘Ice Island’ Inn always guarantee the best service,” the innkeeper said as he saw off a guest with a smile. Then he turned to Yuan, who had been bowing his head alongside him.

Yuan winced, expecting to be hit, but the innkeeper patted his shoulder instead.

“Good job. Go have breakfast and clean the rooms the guests have left. How can you earn a living if you sleep so much?”

“…I’m sorry.”

“Sorry my foot. Stand tall, boy! Say you can earn a living confidently. Don’t shrink back just because someone said something.”

“…Yes.”

“When I was your age, I would answer with a loud ‘Yes, sir!’ Now, go on.”

Leaving the innkeeper’s scolding behind, Yuan entered the inn’s dining area.

The breakfast given to a boy who worked for room and board consisted of a few pieces of coarse bread and a cup of cold milk. He hurriedly shoved the bread into his mouth and washed it down with milk before starting his day cleaning the rooms the guests had left.

A year and a half passed this way.

“Yuan! Get up quickly!”

“I’m up!”

“You’re still lying down!”

“I’m putting on my shoes! Can’t you see?”

Grumbling, Yuan rushed outside. He wondered if there was something he had to do this morning but found nothing. He had completed all his tasks the previous day.

“Why are you making such a fuss today when there are no guests checking out?” he complained, rubbing his cheek.

“Hmm. You’re out. Today, you’re coming with me somewhere.”

“Right now?”

“No, after lunch.”

Yuan, looking incredulous, asked, “Then why did you wake me up like that? You scared me.”

“Hahaha. Just wanted you to get up for breakfast. Now, sit down.”

The innkeeper smiled slyly. He knew that shouting would make Yuan jump out of bed quickly.

After breakfast, Yuan swept the inn, soaked the laundry in lye, and scrubbed the stable floor as part of his morning chores.

Yuan and the innkeeper pushed a small cart together to buy groceries. It was Yuan’s first time accompanying him for this task.

As they passed through the east gate, Yuan saw a familiar street.

Not far away was the mansion that had once been his home, and this street was the one he used to ride down in a carriage as a child.

Looking at the street, Yuan blushed.

He pushed the cart with all his might. The innkeeper reprimanded him, “Hey! Why the sudden rush? Push it slowly,” but Yuan just kept his head down and pushed.

Memories of tossing silver coins out the window surfaced. He had found it amusing to watch people bow in gratitude when hit by the coins.

They soon arrived at a greengrocer’s shop. A man with a shiny bald head greeted them mischievously.

“Hey, barbarian. Welcome. I see you’ve brought someone new today.”

“Haha, baldhead. Your head’s shining again today. I’m here to teach this boy the ropes. He’ll be coming to buy the goods from now on.”

The innkeeper introduced Yuan, who stood in front, showing off the feather tattoo on his muscular arm.

“Is he your son?”

“No, he works at our inn. Greet him. You can call him Mr. Baldhead.”

“You rascal!”

The two older men exchanged friendly banter. But Yuan couldn’t smile even out of politeness. He stood staring blankly at the boy inside the greengrocer’s shop. The boy, upon meeting Yuan’s eyes, also looked serious.

Daniel Kazak.

He wasn’t a close friend, but he was a noble of Yuan’s age whom Yuan had met when he was still a noble.

  *

Daniel and Yuan quickly became close. Every time Yuan visited the shop, they filled the cart together and then sat side by side on the cart once the work was done. They didn’t talk much, but even that provided some comfort to each other.

They had many things in common.

Both were once heirs to noble families, had lost their parents, and had their properties confiscated for siding with the Kingdom of Aster.

However, there was a clear difference. Daniel had many people looking after him. The bald shopkeeper was one of them.

This was because Daniel’s father, Baron Kazak, had always been kind to his subordinates.

The servants and maids of the Kazak family did not forget this kindness. Although they couldn’t fend off the knights who came to kill the baron, they could hide Daniel.

“Yuan, look at this.”

One day, as they sat side by side on the cart, Daniel showed Yuan some small jeweled ornaments. Though not much, they were incredibly valuable to them now.

“I’m leaving. Not immediately, but when I get a bit older. Do you want to come with me?”

“Leaving? Where to?”

“I haven’t decided yet. I just don’t want to stay here.”

“Why?”

Daniel fell silent. After chewing his lip and awkwardly picking his words, he confessed.

“This might sound strange… but I find it hard to look at the people who take care of me. They keep reminding me of my mom and dad. Honestly… I just want to run away and forget everything. Don’t you feel the same?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Then, will you stay here?”

“…”

Yuan stood up.

“I’ll think about it.” He pushed the cart back to the inn, thinking over Daniel’s words. Something welled up inside him as he mulled over the idea of leaving.

The family had fallen. He was living without a home, relying on the inn. Leaving with Daniel wouldn’t be a bad idea.

But…

‘I can’t leave like this.’

Yuan stopped the cart. Gripping the handle tightly, he recognized the emotion swelling in his chest.

The feeling he had when he saw his parents’ names on the notice.

It was… hatred.

It was a deep emotion unlike any childish tantrum or insincere anger he had felt before, and so he hadn’t realized it until now.

Yuan pushed the cart again. By the time he returned to the inn, it was already dark.

After putting the groceries in the dining area, Yuan went to find the innkeeper. Not seeing him around, he wandered the inn’s surroundings for a while.

Eventually, he found the innkeeper strolling in a wide open space, perhaps out for a walk.

“Sir.”

“…”

“Sir, I’m leaving.”

“…”

“Thank you for everything.”

“You’re an amusing kid. Why are you leaving?”

As he turned to leave, the innkeeper asked in a low voice, his face shadowed.

Yuan, wrapped in hatred, tersely replied, “I have something to do. Don’t try to stop me.”

“Well, you’re useless then.”

“…What did you say?”

The innkeeper didn’t respond. Meeting the man’s emotionless eyes, Yuan ground his teeth.

Right. This is the world I live in.

With no belongings to pack, he turned and walked towards Barnaul, and the innkeeper watched his retreating figure with a bland expression.

In the darkness, a flock of crows flew towards the ‘Crimson Moon.’

  *

“Get out. We don’t need kids like you.”

“Please. I’ll do any odd job. I’ll work hard as you say.”

“Oh, for crying out loud. Persistent brat. Hey, I said no means no… Oh, Captain, you’re here.”

“What’s going on?

Yuan turned his head as he pleaded with the mercenary guarding the office. There stood a large, robust middle-aged man.

Yuan, as if expecting his arrival, quickly clung to the man’s trouser leg.

“Please let me work here. I’ll do anything, I beg you.”

“You little brat! How dare you touch the Captain! I’ll get rid of him immediately, sir.”

The mercenary pulled Yuan away and was about to throw the struggling boy out the door when Elson raised his hand.

“Put him down. What are you doing to the kid? Sorry, but it seems like we don’t have any work for you here. Take this and buy yourself something to eat.”

Two silver coins.

Yuan hesitated for a moment but then took the coins. He bowed politely and ran off.

“Sigh… Captain, you’re too kind for your own good.”

“Well, I did send him away nicely. You should be careful. We just changed the name of the mercenary group, and if you treat people like that, bad rumors will spread.”

“Understood. But what if beggars start flocking to us?”

“Then we’ll have to run away. Hahaha.”

Elson laughed heartily as he went upstairs. However,

“…You again?”

“Please let me work here!”

Yuan’s visits, which Elson thought would be a one-time occurrence, continued. For three days, Yuan came by, timing his visits with Elson’s comings and goings. Each time, Elson gave him coins and shook his head.

“Damn it. It would be cheaper to hire him than to keep giving him money. Hey, take this kid in.”

“What can we do with such a small kid?”

“How should I know? Use him as an errand boy for the mercenaries or cook him up for all I care. Figure it out.”

“Alright, alright. I get it.”

The mercenary in charge of administrative tasks understood and took Yuan in.

Four months passed.

In the heart of winter, Elson visited the mercenary quarters to check on things during the year-end gathering and noticed Yuan.

“…Is he still here?”

“Oh, don’t even get me started. The kid’s tough as nails. He doesn’t leave despite all the beatings.”

Mercenaries are rough.

Though they might not be outright thugs, they are sturdy men accustomed to a life with swords, and when they return after months on the road, they are quick to throw punches if their rest is disturbed.

So managing the mercenary quarters is usually left to men who are just as tough or to affable women (though never young and pretty ones, as that would be disastrous).

But if there was a small, seemingly easy target like Yuan around?

They’d hit him to bring food, hit him to clean clothes, kick him for not changing the sheets.

Elson watched Yuan, who was washing a pile of laundry by hand in icy water, and turned away.

“For the prosperity of the Dexter Mercenary Group!”

“For prosperity!”

The mercenary quarters’ dining room was hosting a feast.

The mercenaries drank heartily. Restricted to half a pint of ‘Calvados’ daily, they made the most of this celebratory occasion.

Elson, who wasn’t a strong drinker, felt a bit tipsy after a few toasts and stepped outside.

Lighting a cigarette he had recently taken up to ward off boredom, he stretched and saw Yuan in the yard, hanging up the laundry he had just finished washing.

Elson approached quietly. The sight of the boy jumping to hang clothes against the backdrop of the dusk-filled yard evoked a sense of tenderness.

He dropped his unfinished cigarette, crushed it underfoot, and picked up some damp clothes. As he hastily hung them on the line, he felt a sharp gaze on him.

“…They won’t dry like that.”

“Of course.”

He replied nonchalantly, readjusting the clothes on the line.

They hung the clothes in silence. When Elson finished, he reached out to pat Yuan on the shoulder, but the boy flinched.

He must have thought I was going to hit him.

Elson crouched down to Yuan’s eye level, gently ruffling his hair and patting his cheek.

“Good job.”

As Elson turned back to the dining room, Yuan watched him, rubbing his cheek.

A few days later, with the new year approaching, Yuan’s work location changed.

He began working in the Dexter Mercenary Group’s office, serving as the Captain’s attendant, though there wasn’t much for him to do.

Elson had never had an attendant before and had told him, “I can’t read.” So Yuan’s tasks were mostly small errands like deliveries.

Used to hard labor, Yuan sought more to do, but Elson didn’t give him much.

The most important task for Yuan each day was preparing Elson’s meals.

Initially, Elson told him, “Buy whatever you want to eat,” leading to Yuan timidly buying a piece of bread. “Who do you think this is for? Get something more substantial,” Elson had said.

And they ate together.

“So, what did I do? I couldn’t kill him, so I threw his armor and sword into the dung pit.”

“…The knight didn’t let that slide, did he?”

“What could he do? I left Barnaul. He couldn’t chase me without leaving the knight order. Hahaha.”

“…Reckless.”

Despite his large, intimidating frame, Elson was a talker. He spoke purely for amusement.

Yuan, who had been taught that this was a bad habit of commoners, found himself listening with interest and occasionally joining in.

One night, Elson came back drunk after leaving early. Staying in the office, Yuan wondered, ‘Why did he drink?’ and helped him inside.

“What happened?”

“Haha. Good news. Very good news… hic.”

Elson slumped on the Chesterfield.

This convertible sofa was a recent purchase by Elson, and Yuan had just been sleeping on it, so it was still covered with a blanket and pillow.

“My… nephew, hic. Got engaged… Oh, I’m so drunk. Yuan, could you… get me some water?”

“Yes. Just a moment.”

Leaving Elson babbling, Yuan hesitated as he went to get water. Standing still for a moment, he resumed moving and returned with a glass of water, hiding a dagger behind his back.

“Yuan.”

Elson, holding the water, stared at him.

Did he notice? If the former knight had realized, Yuan’s head would likely be forfeit.

In the tense silence, Yuan said nothing. Whether Elson noticed or not, he hesitated, and Elson sealed his fate.

“Would you… hic, consider becoming my son?”

“…Why?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe because I finally have someone to cook for me. Or maybe because you remind me of myself… hic.”

Gulping down the water, Elson fell asleep, snoring loudly. Yuan raised the dagger high but then sighed, lowering it to cover Elson with a blanket.

No one knew what he had done that night, but Yuan placed Elson’s hand on his cheek while he slept. Cruelly, it was warm.

Months later, as Elson’s adopted son, Yuan moved into the ‘father’s’ mansion.

He passed by walls filled with etched grievances and followed a servant who showed him around.

“This is the house my wife and I live in. I’m usually not around, but if you need anything, ask my wife. This is the storeroom… Shall we go in? …And here we have a well and a shower. Oh! Look at this, young master. You probably haven’t seen this before.”

A washing machine. A wooden washing machine sat behind the shower.

“It was very expensive, but for some reason, the master bought it last month. He had never spent a penny on the mansion before… Sorry. He had never spent any money here before, but my wife loves it.”

“Why? This seems difficult for a woman to use.”

“That’s it exactly. I’m now in charge of the laundry. Haha. Shall we continue? There used to be two horses in that stable, but the master…”

Peaceful days followed.

The house was small but deserving of the name ‘mansion.’ The servant, who treated the master like a friend but was polite, and the kind-hearted lady of the house. An ancient knightly family that was financially well-off.

Yuan had little to do here as well. Elson, now his father, didn’t expect much from him, so Yuan asked one day. The response was,

“Do whatever you want.”

That night.

Awakening in the middle of the night, Yuan panted heavily. After some time, he quietly went outside. Careful not to wake the servant, he took a small wooden sword from the storeroom.

The wooden sword used by Noel Dexter as a child. Yuan struck it against the wall filled with curses and resentment, breaking it.

Standing with the broken sword, Yuan looked up at the sky.

He had dreamed.

A dream of returning to the grand mansion of the count’s family.

But his mother was absent in the dream, and his father’s face, dressed in fine noble attire, was absurdly that of Elson.

“Ah… Ahhhhh!”

He couldn’t remember his mother’s and father’s faces. His hatred for Noel Dexter was fading, overshadowed by Elson’s laughter.

I am a noble. A noble… was.

Yuan picked up the broken wooden sword. Trying to fit the splintered pieces back together, he realized the cracks wouldn’t disappear, and he never called Elson ‘father.’

At least not in front of others.

– Knock, knock.

Several years passed.

While spending his time helping with the mercenary group’s work and training in swordsmanship at home, Yuan answered the door. There stood a young man.

“I am Leo Dexter. I’ve come to see my uncle.”

The young man resembled his father. Yuan replied,

“I understand that I cannot turn away the young master at the door, nor can I admit someone I don’t know into the house.”

He couldn’t turn away someone who resembled his father, yet he couldn’t let in someone he had never met, even if they were Noel Dexter. This was Yuan’s true sentiment.

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