That evening, as the Count had ordered, Eli, Shioana, and the red-eyed child sat down at the same table. He was better than before because he was washed cleanly, but when the white skin was exposed, the strange feeling became even stronger.
"Father, why should I eat with this lowly thing?"
Eli, who looked disapproving, asked. At his son's complaint, the Count smiled as if he were a good person.
"Eli, the higher a person like us, the more we should look down on the bottom."
However, contrary to what he said, Twine Evgenia was a man who was far from genuinely compassionate. He was obsessed with achieving greater wealth and fame. He never wanted to remain a nobleman trapped in such a corner of the village.
"Shioana. What do you think? Doesn't it look quite plausible to dress up your brother's childhood clothes?"
At the Count's question, Shioana nodded very slightly.
In his father's eyes, he couldn't see the corners of the child's mouth that had burst after being beaten by her brother. The child was trembling as if it were difficult to even sit down.
"He looks like a nobleman from the Pasa region."
The Count, who was intoxicated by the good deeds he had done, looked in a good mood. But Shioana wasn't happy at all.
"I don't have a good appetite."
Her father, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, never looked at her face properly. She braided her hair in two to look good, but to no avail. During that time, she read books diligently and became taller.
"Of course, I'm not forgetting the gift you were supposed to bring."
In fact, she didn't really want to receive that. She just wanted him to know that she was in this desolate Regbel. Even though he didn't say hello affectionately, he was Shioana's father.
'It's all because of him.'
Shioana glared fiercely at the child who looked like a Pasa aristocrat. Because he was beaten by her brother Eli, she couldn't hold the fork properly, and she quickly turned her head to the way she clenched her teeth every time she teased her hand.
"It's because you did something that deserves to be beaten by everything."
Brother Eli always said that every time he beat her. She gets scolded because she's lazy or late in learning.
"It's only natural that I stared at the nobles."
Shioana struggled to continue eating, her head resting on her plate.
"Hey, beggar. I don't know if you've ever eaten something like this."
Breaking the silence, Eli threw a tough chunk of lamb at the child sitting across from him.
"Eat right away. You are not ignoring the favor of the nobility, are you?"
Eli was screaming, the child trembled, and tried to pick up the fork.
'If you don't eat properly, you'll hit me again.'
Shioana's face darkened under the shadow of the violence that was looming. She suddenly intervened and opened her mouth coldly.
"You can eat it."
After irritably shoving the bowl of soup she was eating at the child, she pulled the bowl of meat toward him. It touched the child's finger slightly, but Shioana, too nervous to notice it, was too nervous to notice.
"It's not good for a girl to only have a big appetite."
Eli seemed to think that she was greedy because she wanted to eat meat. Fortunately, the meal was over without incident, and Shioana's shoulders continued to shake until she got up from her seat.
***
Two weeks after returning home, Count Evgenia set out on the road again. This time, he said he was leaving to see work related to trade ships to the East. He shouted that he thought he would make a lot of money soon.
"Shioana, I'll definitely bring you a gift this time. I think it was a pony toy?"
"...Thank you."
She grabbed the tip of her shawl hard and whispered softly. The age to play with pony toys has long passed. Moreover, it was not she who liked it, but Eli's side.
The carriage carrying the Count quickly disappeared before his eyes, and Eli got ready to go out as usual.
"Shioana, stay stuck at home. Yes?"
At the age of twenty this year, he used to live in a gambling house when his father was not around.
Shioana looked worried as she watched her brother become more and more ruined day by day. Although it was much more comfortable for him not to be at home, it was sometimes scary to be alone in a big house without a father or brother.
Regbel's time seemed to be fast, but it passed slowly.
The scenery here made it hard to feel the change of seasons. Also, no one in the neighborhood could match her. There were more lifeless bushes here than people.
Since she was alone from birth, she had a good way to deal with loneliness, but Shioana had not yet mastered how to do it.
"...Hah."
She looked at the faded wallpaper that had begun to grow moldy, and she thought she could hear the sound of carriages, and the garden was noisy. It was probably Eli, who had gone to the Highbell, who had returned.
When she came outside with her shawl on, Eli was laughing like crazy.
"Shioana, look at this. Aren't you like a rat in the rain?"
The slave her father had brought was soaked in water in the middle of the garden.
When Shioana saw the wooden barrel lying on the floor, her shoulders began to tremble again. When she saw her brother being so mean every once in a while, she was so scared that she couldn't stand it.
"Come here quickly."
As she approached her brother's gesture, Eli grabbed her shoulder tightly.
"I didn't like that look from the beginning, and he didn't greet me properly when I came."
The weather was cold, but cold water was poured on it, so if he made a mistake, je could have died suddenly.
"Go quickly and kick him. If you don't step on the lower ones, they will climb up cheekily."
Eli pushed her back hard, causing Shioana to almost fall forward. She had no desire to beat her slaves. But she didn't want to be out of her brother's eyes.
If you hit someone who is sick like that, it might be a big deal.
The wounds from Eli's blow must not have healed yet.
It wasn't because she was good, but it was a common feeling for ordinary people. She flinched without being able to do this or that, but Eli shouted.
"Come on! Straighten your back and spit on him!"
Shioana's back flinched at his cry.
If she doesn't do something, this mess won't end now.
He opened his blurred eyes and let out a heavy breath. She clenched her fists and whispered very softly.
"If I pretend to kick, you fall backwards. Do you understand?"
His red eyes narrowed between his black hair, dripping with water at her voice. Shioana, who took this as a signal, stepped on her dress and kicked him vigorously. Then the opponent fell backwards helplessly.
Boom.
Shioana slowly turned her back on him, leaving the slave behind. Eli cheered as he waved his cane.
"Shioana! You're quite good too. Come here. Show me what you brought."
On Eli's bright face was an adult slave groaning in pain.
***
That evening, Shioana couldn't sleep.
She didn't want to kill anyone. She didn't want to just watch someone die. In front of her eyes, the image of the slave from earlier kept flashing.
The lifelessness in his eyes was similar to when she saw a dying wild beast one day.
"I can't do it."
After tossing and turning, she jumped up and stood up. After putting on the cloak, she took a few vials that Martha had brought. Then she stopped by the kitchen and secretly put food in the basket.
"Go quickly and kick him. If you don't step on the lower ones, they will climb up cheekily."
Eli's evil voice kept ringing in her ears. Although the number of times has decreased recently, she has also been scolded by him often. There were times when she was beaten, and there were times when she was confined to an outbuilding.
"I feel terrible."
It was difficult to get used to violence. So every time the child brought by her father was hit, her heart also sank.
'This time, I might really die.'
Martha had a habit of saying that life and death are always together, but Shioana was really afraid of death. It seemed that if she died, everything would be over. It was even more so when she thought of her mother, who died while giving birth to her.
"I don't want to die."
Only Shioana, who was obsessed with that thought, quietly left the mansion.
In the middle of the night, Regbel was quiet without a single bird. The hem of her dress lost its direction as she walked on the road at night, and it was blown away by the wind.
But soon Shioana realized that she didn't even know where her opponent was.
"Never let that seed into the mansion!"
Remembering Eli's words, she looked around. Standing in front of the barn before going to the garden, she paused for a moment. It was a place she had never walked except when she was very young, when she followed Martha.
'I wish anyone could go for me.'
But there was no one to nurse the slaves in Regbel. She couldn't ask Joseph for help because he was his brother's person. The older Martha was unwell.
In addition, Martha said that his red eyes were ominous and she refused to go near the child.
"Miss, listen to me carefully. Never make eye contact with red eyes. And then your soul is eaten away."
Trying to ignore Martha's terrifying words, she pushed the old door with all her might.
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