Episode 3. Making me small
Hardius bowed his head slightly towards her. Emilia responded with a slight bend of her knee.
That was the end of it. After that brief encounter, the two of them drifted apart again.
Emilia stood upright and stared blankly at her fiancé's back.
At that moment, an unfamiliar face suddenly appeared in her blurry vision.
“Hello, I am Erger Wisher. It is an honor to be next to such a beautiful person.”
That awkward greeting must be the 'partner replacement' that Kaitlyn Meyer was talking about. Emilia forced a friendly smile.
“Hello, Master Wisher. Please take care of me.”
Nothing changed even though she had a partner by her side. Erger Wisher was busy talking to other people while Emilia stood up like a doll.
Have I become too accustomed to this kind of treatment?
Emilia didn't really hate him like that. Could it be called a cold-hearted treatment without hostility? She could tell from his eyes glancing around as if checking, and his attitude of constantly wiping away sweat, that he was also very uncomfortable. Unless he was a horned demon, it wouldn't be very pleasant to treat someone you didn't even know as if they were invisible.
Even if she wanted to talk to him, she couldn't help it because she was aware of the Mayer family's mood.
Emilia stayed by Wisher's side in silence, thinking bitterly.
Time passed by without a trace. Her shoulders were tense, and her feet, trapped in old shoes, were starting to hurt. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, as if she were trapped in a confined space. Emilia had reached her limit.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Emilia left the hall without even checking her opponent's reaction.
As she stood beneath the blooming obelisk vines, Emilia finally let out her long-held breath. The cool breeze and the scent of the grass gradually calmed the complicated thoughts swirling in her chest.
Emilia walked along the garden path. Her slow steps suddenly stopped in front of a flower bed. Bees were flying from flower to flower, diligently collecting honey.
Among the fresh and colorful flowers, a single withered and drooping geranium caught her eye. Emilia crouched down and reached out her hand toward the bent stem.
“Miss Bern.”
She was startled by the sudden sound of a man's voice. When she raised her head, she saw a familiar yet unfamiliar man's face quietly looking down at her.
“Wisher... my Lord.”
Standing with his back to the gray building, he looked completely different than he did in the hall. His hazel eyes beneath his thick eyebrows were filled with tension instead of fake indifference.
“You’re here. You might be surprised to hear this out of the blue, but actually, I...”
He suddenly stopped talking. The reason was probably none other than Emilia herself. Beyond Erger’s shoulder, there was another being who had completely taken away her consciousness.
Hardy Meyer.
He too was walking towards the garden. Every time she caught a glimpse of a long man's body through the thick bushes, her shivers multiplied, and her ears felt hot.
He was pushing the wheelchair with both hands. The person sitting there must have been the 'great aunt' that Kaitlyn Meyer had mentioned. When he whispered something in the old lady's ear, a smile appeared on the withered old man's face. It was strange. Hardius Meyer's eyes were fixed not on the timid fiancée who had hidden in the garden, but on the old man with white hair, and Emilia felt as if he was looking at her.
It's a ridiculous illusion. It's embarrassing to even call it unrequited love.
Emilia sat up with a twisted smile. She had no intention of running away like a startled rabbit. That kind of overreaction was just a reflection of her affectionate heart.
“I’m sorry, Master Wisher. Did I come out too suddenly?”
Emilia smiled brightly at Erger Wisher.
She could sense that he was taken aback by the sudden change, but she didn't want to care. She was just going to see him today anyway.
“It was too hot, so I came out, but it’s hotter here. Should I go back in now?”
“Huh? Ah...”
“I’m a little thirsty. I should go and get some water.”
Emilia passed Erger, who didn't know what to do. She also passed the man who had stopped his wheelchair and turned his head toward them.
Have to shake it off.
Hardius Meyer is a star in the sky.
A person who is looked up to by the whole world. A person whom she can't reach, no matter how far she stretches her arms. A person who makes her feel infinitely small... That kind of person.
When Emilia returned to the zelkova forest, the sky was covered with spiderwebs. A large four-wheeled carriage stopped in the thick forest where a cold wind rustled the leaves and nameless insects chirped.
Emilia got out of the carriage, thanked the coachman, and headed straight to the cabin.
It was funny.
She was surrounded by people laughing happily, enjoying the silver candlesticks, the ornate plates, and the mouth-watering food, but she felt so tired that her whole body felt like it was falling apart.
There was a lot of laundry hanging in the yard. Through the fluttering cloth, she could see the wrinkled face of a middle-aged woman. It was Emilia's stepmother, Carlia Bern.
“Are you here? Are you a little late?”
“Yes, on the way here, the carriage wheel got stuck in the mud.”
“Oh my, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Yes, I am fine. It is Mrs. Hugh who has suffered.”
Emilia stood in front of her stepmother, smiling weakly. The laundry was still piled up in the basket next to her. Carlia stopped Emilia from bending down to pick it up.
“Leave it. You must be tired. Get some rest.”
“I'm tired? I just came here after eating and playing to my heart’s content.”
Emilia pushed her stepmother's arm away, shook out the cloth, and hung it on the clothesline. Carlia dropped her arms as if she had lost, but then continued what she was doing.
“How is Mrs. Meyer? Is she in good health?”
"Yes."
“What about your highness?”
“Her Excellency, you too. He looked very nice.”
“That’s fortunate. I heard Elport’s training is very difficult, so you will be a good comforter and support to him.”
Emilia forced a smile and nodded.
Even though she was the one who kept the fact that she was treated like an invisible person a secret at every banquet, she felt complicated when she saw her stepmother say such things.
The stepmother, Carlia Bern, is an overly naive and innocent person. She was whipped by her ex-husband while pregnant and rescued by Emilia's father, and she is the kind of person who considers compliance and patience to be virtues. Furthermore, the stepmother knows nothing. She has never met Hardius Meyer or his parents, having not even attended the engagement ceremony four years ago. She has only met the Meyer family through her stepdaughter's mouth.
“It’s all over now. Let’s go in.”
Emilia, who entered the house with her stepmother, suddenly realized something and stopped dead in her tracks.
“What about Charlotte?”
Carlia shrugged her shoulders as if asking why she knew. Emilia's face hardened.
“Is she in the attic again?”
“You know how sensitive that kid is. As soon as she heard the sound of the carriage, she went into the attic and locked the door. It was no use telling her not to worry because you were her older sister...”
"Charlotte!"
Emilia ran straight into the attic.
“Charlotte Bern, come out!”
She banged on the door and shouted, "Bang, bang."
“Open the door! Come on!”
After a moment, the door opened with a bang. A small figure appeared between the floating dust. The child who was slowly peeking out was Emilia's younger sister, Charlotte.
The child looked very much like her sister. She had waist-length blond hair, blue eyes, a sharp nose, and bright, rosy lips. But there was one crucial difference. Where her left eye should have been, there was another.
A large, protruding lump from the forehead to the cheek.
The dark lump that took up half of her face had bulging veins, and one eye was almost hanging over her ear with a rolled-up pupil.
A distorted face that can only be described as 'grotesque'.
One-eyed monster.
It was another name people used to call Charlotte.
“I told you not to hide.”
“I wasn’t hiding. Charlotte was looking for Ferguson.”
Charlotte held out a brown teddy bear as if to show off. Of course, Emilia wasn't fooled.
A few years ago, some wicked kids hung Charlotte upside down from a tree, saying they were hunting monsters. She was a child who had been blind since birth and didn't even know what a 'monster' was...
Since then, Charlotte has avoided strangers. Today, as soon as she heard the sound of horse hooves, she hid in the attic like a rabbit. Even though she knew it was her sister, she must have done it instinctively.
“It’s true. I fell asleep while looking for Ferguson.”
“...”
“I'm telling you, it's true!”
“Yeah, I got it. Yes, then come out for now.”
Emilia forcibly grabbed the child's hand and dragged her. As she went down the wooden stairs and entered the small kitchen, her stepmother handed her a teacup as if she had been waiting for her. As she held the teacup, warmth spread through her hand and all over her body. Only then did her stiff shoulders feel loose.
“Oh, Emilia. Starting tomorrow, I will be working at the factory in Tyrone.”
Emilia blinked several times, her body frozen.
“It’s a job that involves oiling spinning machines. Since the stagecoach runs right up to the front, I think I’ll be able to commute to work.”
It was an excited tone, as if she had won great fortune. Emilia didn't know what to say, so she brought the teacup to her lips. Working in a factory meant getting paid more than a laundress, but she was exposed to various dangers. All sorts of incidents, accidents, worries, and concerns she had read about in the newspaper filled her head.
But Emilia couldn't say a single word.
There was no choice. The monthly grant from His Majesty the King had long since stopped. It was difficult to make ends meet with just the laundry work that her stepmother brought here and there. They needed immediate living expenses, and the Meyer family's fiancée could not work.
As if she knew her stepdaughter's feelings, Carlia smiled gently.
“It’s a job recommended by the pastor, so it won’t be too hard or dangerous. Best of all, I’ll be able to receive a fixed monthly salary. I can also pay for Mitch’s tuition. How happy is that?”
But Emilia couldn't smile at all.
The empty hand that had put down the teacup was just endlessly stroking the hair of her poor little brother.
Hardius bowed his head slightly towards her. Emilia responded with a slight bend of her knee.
That was the end of it. After that brief encounter, the two of them drifted apart again.
Emilia stood upright and stared blankly at her fiancé's back.
At that moment, an unfamiliar face suddenly appeared in her blurry vision.
“Hello, I am Erger Wisher. It is an honor to be next to such a beautiful person.”
That awkward greeting must be the 'partner replacement' that Kaitlyn Meyer was talking about. Emilia forced a friendly smile.
“Hello, Master Wisher. Please take care of me.”
Nothing changed even though she had a partner by her side. Erger Wisher was busy talking to other people while Emilia stood up like a doll.
Have I become too accustomed to this kind of treatment?
Emilia didn't really hate him like that. Could it be called a cold-hearted treatment without hostility? She could tell from his eyes glancing around as if checking, and his attitude of constantly wiping away sweat, that he was also very uncomfortable. Unless he was a horned demon, it wouldn't be very pleasant to treat someone you didn't even know as if they were invisible.
Even if she wanted to talk to him, she couldn't help it because she was aware of the Mayer family's mood.
Emilia stayed by Wisher's side in silence, thinking bitterly.
Time passed by without a trace. Her shoulders were tense, and her feet, trapped in old shoes, were starting to hurt. It was getting harder and harder to breathe, as if she were trapped in a confined space. Emilia had reached her limit.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Emilia left the hall without even checking her opponent's reaction.
As she stood beneath the blooming obelisk vines, Emilia finally let out her long-held breath. The cool breeze and the scent of the grass gradually calmed the complicated thoughts swirling in her chest.
Emilia walked along the garden path. Her slow steps suddenly stopped in front of a flower bed. Bees were flying from flower to flower, diligently collecting honey.
Among the fresh and colorful flowers, a single withered and drooping geranium caught her eye. Emilia crouched down and reached out her hand toward the bent stem.
“Miss Bern.”
She was startled by the sudden sound of a man's voice. When she raised her head, she saw a familiar yet unfamiliar man's face quietly looking down at her.
“Wisher... my Lord.”
Standing with his back to the gray building, he looked completely different than he did in the hall. His hazel eyes beneath his thick eyebrows were filled with tension instead of fake indifference.
“You’re here. You might be surprised to hear this out of the blue, but actually, I...”
He suddenly stopped talking. The reason was probably none other than Emilia herself. Beyond Erger’s shoulder, there was another being who had completely taken away her consciousness.
Hardy Meyer.
He too was walking towards the garden. Every time she caught a glimpse of a long man's body through the thick bushes, her shivers multiplied, and her ears felt hot.
He was pushing the wheelchair with both hands. The person sitting there must have been the 'great aunt' that Kaitlyn Meyer had mentioned. When he whispered something in the old lady's ear, a smile appeared on the withered old man's face. It was strange. Hardius Meyer's eyes were fixed not on the timid fiancée who had hidden in the garden, but on the old man with white hair, and Emilia felt as if he was looking at her.
It's a ridiculous illusion. It's embarrassing to even call it unrequited love.
Emilia sat up with a twisted smile. She had no intention of running away like a startled rabbit. That kind of overreaction was just a reflection of her affectionate heart.
“I’m sorry, Master Wisher. Did I come out too suddenly?”
Emilia smiled brightly at Erger Wisher.
She could sense that he was taken aback by the sudden change, but she didn't want to care. She was just going to see him today anyway.
“It was too hot, so I came out, but it’s hotter here. Should I go back in now?”
“Huh? Ah...”
“I’m a little thirsty. I should go and get some water.”
Emilia passed Erger, who didn't know what to do. She also passed the man who had stopped his wheelchair and turned his head toward them.
Have to shake it off.
Hardius Meyer is a star in the sky.
A person who is looked up to by the whole world. A person whom she can't reach, no matter how far she stretches her arms. A person who makes her feel infinitely small... That kind of person.
When Emilia returned to the zelkova forest, the sky was covered with spiderwebs. A large four-wheeled carriage stopped in the thick forest where a cold wind rustled the leaves and nameless insects chirped.
Emilia got out of the carriage, thanked the coachman, and headed straight to the cabin.
It was funny.
She was surrounded by people laughing happily, enjoying the silver candlesticks, the ornate plates, and the mouth-watering food, but she felt so tired that her whole body felt like it was falling apart.
There was a lot of laundry hanging in the yard. Through the fluttering cloth, she could see the wrinkled face of a middle-aged woman. It was Emilia's stepmother, Carlia Bern.
“Are you here? Are you a little late?”
“Yes, on the way here, the carriage wheel got stuck in the mud.”
“Oh my, are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“Yes, I am fine. It is Mrs. Hugh who has suffered.”
Emilia stood in front of her stepmother, smiling weakly. The laundry was still piled up in the basket next to her. Carlia stopped Emilia from bending down to pick it up.
“Leave it. You must be tired. Get some rest.”
“I'm tired? I just came here after eating and playing to my heart’s content.”
Emilia pushed her stepmother's arm away, shook out the cloth, and hung it on the clothesline. Carlia dropped her arms as if she had lost, but then continued what she was doing.
“How is Mrs. Meyer? Is she in good health?”
"Yes."
“What about your highness?”
“Her Excellency, you too. He looked very nice.”
“That’s fortunate. I heard Elport’s training is very difficult, so you will be a good comforter and support to him.”
Emilia forced a smile and nodded.
Even though she was the one who kept the fact that she was treated like an invisible person a secret at every banquet, she felt complicated when she saw her stepmother say such things.
The stepmother, Carlia Bern, is an overly naive and innocent person. She was whipped by her ex-husband while pregnant and rescued by Emilia's father, and she is the kind of person who considers compliance and patience to be virtues. Furthermore, the stepmother knows nothing. She has never met Hardius Meyer or his parents, having not even attended the engagement ceremony four years ago. She has only met the Meyer family through her stepdaughter's mouth.
“It’s all over now. Let’s go in.”
Emilia, who entered the house with her stepmother, suddenly realized something and stopped dead in her tracks.
“What about Charlotte?”
Carlia shrugged her shoulders as if asking why she knew. Emilia's face hardened.
“Is she in the attic again?”
“You know how sensitive that kid is. As soon as she heard the sound of the carriage, she went into the attic and locked the door. It was no use telling her not to worry because you were her older sister...”
"Charlotte!"
Emilia ran straight into the attic.
“Charlotte Bern, come out!”
She banged on the door and shouted, "Bang, bang."
“Open the door! Come on!”
After a moment, the door opened with a bang. A small figure appeared between the floating dust. The child who was slowly peeking out was Emilia's younger sister, Charlotte.
The child looked very much like her sister. She had waist-length blond hair, blue eyes, a sharp nose, and bright, rosy lips. But there was one crucial difference. Where her left eye should have been, there was another.
A large, protruding lump from the forehead to the cheek.
The dark lump that took up half of her face had bulging veins, and one eye was almost hanging over her ear with a rolled-up pupil.
A distorted face that can only be described as 'grotesque'.
One-eyed monster.
It was another name people used to call Charlotte.
“I told you not to hide.”
“I wasn’t hiding. Charlotte was looking for Ferguson.”
Charlotte held out a brown teddy bear as if to show off. Of course, Emilia wasn't fooled.
A few years ago, some wicked kids hung Charlotte upside down from a tree, saying they were hunting monsters. She was a child who had been blind since birth and didn't even know what a 'monster' was...
Since then, Charlotte has avoided strangers. Today, as soon as she heard the sound of horse hooves, she hid in the attic like a rabbit. Even though she knew it was her sister, she must have done it instinctively.
“It’s true. I fell asleep while looking for Ferguson.”
“...”
“I'm telling you, it's true!”
“Yeah, I got it. Yes, then come out for now.”
Emilia forcibly grabbed the child's hand and dragged her. As she went down the wooden stairs and entered the small kitchen, her stepmother handed her a teacup as if she had been waiting for her. As she held the teacup, warmth spread through her hand and all over her body. Only then did her stiff shoulders feel loose.
“Oh, Emilia. Starting tomorrow, I will be working at the factory in Tyrone.”
Emilia blinked several times, her body frozen.
“It’s a job that involves oiling spinning machines. Since the stagecoach runs right up to the front, I think I’ll be able to commute to work.”
It was an excited tone, as if she had won great fortune. Emilia didn't know what to say, so she brought the teacup to her lips. Working in a factory meant getting paid more than a laundress, but she was exposed to various dangers. All sorts of incidents, accidents, worries, and concerns she had read about in the newspaper filled her head.
But Emilia couldn't say a single word.
There was no choice. The monthly grant from His Majesty the King had long since stopped. It was difficult to make ends meet with just the laundry work that her stepmother brought here and there. They needed immediate living expenses, and the Meyer family's fiancée could not work.
As if she knew her stepdaughter's feelings, Carlia smiled gently.
“It’s a job recommended by the pastor, so it won’t be too hard or dangerous. Best of all, I’ll be able to receive a fixed monthly salary. I can also pay for Mitch’s tuition. How happy is that?”
But Emilia couldn't smile at all.
The empty hand that had put down the teacup was just endlessly stroking the hair of her poor little brother.
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