Chapter 23

 “Cut it off.”

 “…… Pardon?”

 Vic asked back. Despite being in a position where she dared not ask back. The Duke showed no particular change in expression. He didn’t seem angry from the beginning. He was a man whose emotional signs, thoughts, were unpredictable. Vic wet herself at the single word that flowed from his mouth. What did he mean by cut it off? She looked with trembling eyes at the three or four strong men entering through the door. In their hands were quite broad knives. They were cleavers. Soon after, they began to hold Vic’s body down on the floor. The arm she had withdrawn to avoid being cut went under the blade. The cutting was instantaneous. Flesh, bone, and nerves were sliced repeatedly under the blunt blade.

 “Your Highness! Spare me! Aargh! Sp, spare! Kyaak!”

 The bluntness of the cleaver’s blade was likely intentional. Vic begged for her life even while watching her arm being sliced off. The man’s expression remained unchanged. The smell of blood was thick in the torture room. Tattered flesh emerged from under the cleaver. The strong men held the large body while simultaneously grabbing her jaw. Her mouth was forcibly opened, and something was poured into it. A bitter and fishy taste filled her mouth. Vic lost consciousness in that state.

 *** 

 When she opened her eyes, it was an afternoon when the melancholy sunset was in full bloom with a mandarin color. Ella rubbed her eyelids and then turned her head to look out the window. The twilight entering through the purple velvet curtains was dreamlike. She blankly looked out the window and then got up from her place. Her stomach didn’t hurt. The dampness below also felt cleanly arranged. She got up from her place and walked to the window. She pulled the curtain a bit more and looked down at the garden wrapped in the sunset.

 The red and white summer flowers were brilliant. The flowers in full bloom amid the greenery were spectacular. So this is the world the Duke sees from such a bedroom. Ella stared absentmindedly at the sight of the sun fading. Suddenly, she wanted to see the flowers up close. Although even a small step required her master’s permission, such a minor transgression seemed like no one would mind as long as she wasn’t caught.

 She left the bedroom and went down the stairs. The garden was farther than she thought. The wind was cool on the way, making her shoulders tremble, but she didn’t turn back. She wanted to see the roses up close. Ella thought about the gaze of the servant she had encountered while coming down the stairs. He recognized her but didn’t stop her. He merely glanced at her with anxious eyes and quickly ran up the stairs. Well, what could happen? There wouldn’t be a big incident. She would just get a little scolding.

 “Just a little, I’ll just look for a little while and then go back.”

 She finally stood in front of the rose bushes. The summer flowers blooming under the mandarin-colored silk were fresh. Roses and white peonies, peonies and hydrangeas, lisianthus…… evening primroses that were short in height, and countless other flowers she didn’t know the names of were spread out endlessly.

 “Beautiful.”

 Ella raised her hand and fiddled with the leaves of a particularly long-necked rose. I shouldn’t pick it. Because in the Duke’s castle, even the smallest creature is his. Because even if it withers and dies soon, it can’t become her possession by law. It was when she was about to withdraw her hand in disappointment.

 “Ella.”

A long shadow fell over her head. It was a shadow so long it wouldn’t be strange if it swallowed Ella whole. She flinched and turned her head. Her shoulders naturally shrank. In his hand was a small blanket.

 “When the sun sets, the temperature drops.”

 He gently wrapped the blanket around her. Ella looked up at him while gathering the edges of the blanket he had wrapped around her. It wasn’t a scolding. Well, he had never scolded her. He was a master so kind it could make one cry.

 “Ella.”

 She should express her gratitude, should convey her thanks even if she had to prostrate herself, but Ella couldn’t do anything except stare blankly.

 “I’m sorry. For coming outside on my own.”

 “So you knew and came out anyway.”

 “I apologize.”

 “Were you feeling stifled?”

 “I wanted to see the flowers.”

 Instead of nodding, Ella whispered softly. It was too quiet to be heard, but he seemed to understand. The wind ruffled her hair. The man’s blue robe fluttered in the wind. He said nothing to the gaze that stared at him blankly. His hand broke off a rose. Ella looked at the rose held in his large hand. Looking closely, the rose had no thorns. It seemed to be a variety that naturally had no thorns. He placed the rose behind the ear of the girl who was looking at him in astonishment.

 “Take it.”

 “Pardon?”

 “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

 Ella moved her lips. She couldn’t answer yes or no. It had always been difficult for her to reveal her desires. Because she wasn’t of a status that could dare to have desires. That’s why.

 “Answer me.”

 “Thank you.”

 “No.”

 He shook his head. Ella blinked.

 “I asked if that’s what you wanted.”

 “Ah……”

 He seemed to be exercising patience. Ella sighed briefly and then nodded. She still couldn’t make a sound.

 “I heard that when a girl your age has her first menstruation, her fiancé puts a rose behind her ear.”

 The sun had completely set behind the low ridge. The sunset was still vivid. The man with twilight on the bridge of his nose had an unyielding and stubborn face. Flickering red light. Rose-colored. Or the distant blue of the night……

 “It’s in place of a wreath.”

 When girls in Kylaq have their first menstruation, they receive wreaths from their families. Peonies and tree peonies in spring, roses in summer, marguerites and daisies in autumn, daffodils and winter aconite in winter. If it were Roland, Sarah would have placed a wreath on Ella. She had said she would secretly make a wreath when Ella had her first menstruation. But it had to be in secret. Because if the madam found out, she would inevitably become a prostitute. Ella gently touched the rose tucked behind her ear. Indeed, she couldn’t feel any thorns.

 Sometimes she had heard that noble girls receive rose wreaths from their fiancés. Since it was a custom of the nobility, Ella had only learned about it after entering San Parvale. Suddenly, her cheeks warmed. She felt a stiffness in one part of her chest. She lowered her gaze that had been staring blankly. It was a strange feeling. Her heart was beating more strongly than usual.

 “Ella.”

 “……”

 “Look up.”

 Ella, who had been stepping on the dry soil, raised her head. She tried to tilt her head back fully to look at his face, but her heart kept tickling, making it impossible to meet his gaze. She bit her lower lip and blinked.

 Her gaze, stuck at his solar plexus, wouldn’t rise any higher. Ella had a tearful look with a bright red face. Suddenly, a large hand approached. It was large enough to cover her tiny face completely. Ella reflexively closed her eyes while tensing her shoulders upright. Larque’s eyes narrowed. His hand stopped. When the touch she had been waiting for didn’t come, she opened her eyes. The hand stopped in mid-air was right in front of her forehead. Ella tilted her head back to examine the man. He withdrew his hand.

 “Let’s go back now.”

 “……”

 “I’ll let you see the summer flowers to your heart’s content whenever you want.”

 *** 

 “His Highness said you can’t return to the hovel until your stomach heals.”

 Anna was kind. Early in the morning, Ella woke up in the Duke’s bed. The man who had broken off a rose as a substitute for a wreath had led her here last evening.

 “Where is the master?”

 “Well, I don’t know about that.”

 Anna was busy placing dishes on the small table, as if it wasn’t her concern. Ella sat blankly in the chair, receiving Lila’s attention. The two who had been Lady Larien’s maids had been with Ella since early morning. Was that allowed? Larien was the Duke’s only sister. Though she was an illegitimate child born to the Grand Duke’s servant girl, the position of children born to servant girls is determined by their master.

 The Grand Duke treated Larien like a lady of House Durac. From birth, she was wrapped in silk cloth and fed baby food in silver tableware, so in reality, her position was no different from a legitimate daughter. Ella watched Anna’s hands setting the table. Her smooth hands without any excess were fast and precise. Anna spread a silk tablecloth of better quality than her own skirt hem and then placed silver tableware in order. Once breakfast was roughly prepared, Lila took Ella to the terrace.

 It was an excessively luxurious table for a young servant girl to receive for breakfast. Ella glanced at the two maids and then grasped the spoon. Was it normal for treatment to change so much just because she had her first menstruation? Or did other servant girls live like this too?

 “Come on. You need to eat. Dr. Belmont said you should take your medicine on time, so we need to hurry.”

 Anna urged Ella. Dr. Belmont was the physician who had examined her previously. At Anna’s words, Ella scooped up the consommé. It was because she didn’t want to experience menstrual pain again. The clear consommé with carrots, onions, and beef was extremely delicious. When Ella emptied the bowl completely, Lila spread cheese and basil pesto on dry bread and handed it to her. Perhaps it was because her stomach had been empty for days due to the abdominal pain. Ella chewed and swallowed all the food that Lila handed her.