Rena came out of the hallway and swallowed a smile.
She finally met her father. It was the first since that day, that peaceful night, when she was suddenly sold.
And the reality that her father, which she had only found out through this reunion, was far more cunning and cruel than what she expected from her memories.
‘Well, a normal person wouldn’t do that.’
He fed poison to his daughter who appeared after six years. It’s great to think about it again.
But the marquis looked rather surprised. It seemed that he did not understand at all how Rena, who had already known about his attempt to poison her, still faced him so calmly nonetheless.
Rena felt it was funny too.
‘Why did he think I wouldn’t know?’
Rena knew it from the beginning.
If she revealed her name and went to look for him, there was a high chance that the marquis would attack her using any way in haste before strange rumors circulate.
“He’s truly…”
Rena smiled as she remembered her father, the one in her memory, who was perfect in any aspect.
Rena had suspicions about the marquis’ true face, but she couldn’t help but want to know more precisely.
Because this wasn’t the first time.
‘He probably doesn’t even know that.’
Rena had already tried to go back to her house before this.
But she failed and no one knows. None other than herself, the sole party involved, Rena Ruber.
***
Six years ago, young Rena was standing alone on the street at night.
‘Am I back…?’
Rena looked at the dark night sky that was full of stars with confused eyes.
‘I’m back.’
Rena noticed the familiar starlight, bit her lip and wept.
She had been through terrible things. It was something that couldn’t be explained in words, and it was unclear whether it was a fantasy or reality.
She thought she was going to be locked up forever, but she returned. Under the starry night sky, into this ordinary world.
Rena, who was sobbing, wiped her tears and looked around her. Then, an unfamiliar sight caught her eyes.
‘Where is this?’
It was a dirty street. It was the so-called slum where houses that seemed to be torn down were stacked on top of each other.
Rena looked for a place to go with fearful eyes. She was cold, tired, and hungry. She needed a place to rest.
So she picked the most decent house and knocked on the door. As seen in fairy tales, she thought that a poor but good woman would come out to help.
But the reality was different from the fairy tale. All she got back was harsh swearing, so Rena ran away, startled by the coldness.
She then wandered a little longer, shivering, and crouched down in a dirty corner.
“Child, are you alone?”
Rena was enjoying the morning dew when a man approached and asked. His voice was friendly.
When she nodded helplessly, the man took Rena with him, saying she would make him money. The place she arrived at was in the deeper part of the back alley, his family’s brothel.
“Where did you get this?” Said a woman who was biting a cigarette, she handed the man a coin.
At that time, Rena was already trembling to the point of not being able to breathe.
She had seen it in a novel. A story of a place where lust-stricken men assault and abuse desperate women in exchanges for a few coins.
Rena realized where she was and felt desperate.
More than anything else, she was embarrassed to have come to this place so quickly.
Am I still not too young to come to this kind of place? I’m only 12.
Rena turned her gaze around in doubt.
A child who appeared to be the same age as herself was soliciting in an open-back dress on this cold day. She also saw a man who could have been her father staggered towards her.
Rena looked at them, feeling hard to breathe. Once she came to her senses, Rena clung to the woman who bought her.
“I am a noble!”
“What is this girl talking about?”
“It’s true, I am the daughter of Viscount Ruber. I came here by accident. Please send me home.”
The woman did not believe Rena’s scream. She had thugs who would use violence for the young ones who didn’t want to work.
However, unusually, Madame San didn’t pass Rena over to them, but put her in front of the lamp.
“Fair, and the skin is clean… The clothes are a bit worn, but not old.”
“Sister, do you believe her?”
“Shut up and get some paper and ink.”
The madame handed Rena a paper and pen and made her write.
Rena wrote a verse of a poem as pretty as she could with trembling hands.
“You are a cold dream in midsummer. What does this mean?”
“P, Poetry. The first chapter of Vitra’s collection of poems…”
“Oh my gosh.”
The madame pretended to be impressed and asked Rena a few more questions. About the culture and manners of the upper class, the position of Viscount Ruber, the number of servants, and so on.
“Oh dear, I’ve been very rude, my lady!”
As Rena stuttered, The madame changed her attitude abruptly.
“I must have misunderstood because I’m not a well-learned person! It seems like you’re in a situation, but don’t worry, I’ll take you home with great care!”
The madame smiled and hugged Rena. Then she whispered to the thugs who acted like her limbs.
“Don’t let her get even a scratch, and take good care of her. I’ll ask the other side for ransom.”
The madame was excited by an unexpected windfall and tried to contact the Ruber family.
Meanwhile, Rena was locked up in a shabby room, not knowing whether it was for her protection or confinement.
It was a terrible time. All kinds of noises could be heard through the thin door. Screams, cries, and even swear words she had never heard before.
Rena covered her ears to endure and memorized a poem.
But she couldn’t calm down. In fact, it was not the sounds outside that scared Rena, but what was going on in front of her.
How would her father react when he finds out that she’s back? If someone told you that the daughter you had thrown away by your own hands came back, would you come to pick her up? Would you feel sorry? Would you regret it and would you apologize?
‘How could he do that to me?’
Tears welled up every time she thought of her father.
What did I do wrong? Liar. I will take revenge. You said you love me. What’s the big reason? Save me. I hate you. I’m bad. Help me.
Please forgive me.
Rena’s heart shattered, but she endured alone in that small room.
A few days have passed.
Fortunately, the madame was quite a clever person. She did not contact the viscount directly, but looked at the viscount’s situation first. As a result, Rena received unexpected news from her.
“Sister, it’s not a viscount, but a count?”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard that he was bestowed with the title of ‘count’ by the Northern Duke a while ago.”
The dukes of the Empire have more power than a king of a country. Therefore, it was possible to give titles to their subjects.
However, in a yard full of nobles, it was rare to dare to promote someone.
“Is there any talk about looking for a daughter?”
“Ah, it’s true that there was a daughter in their house…”
“And?”
“But she died of sickness. They’ve already had a funeral.”
“What? What about that child?”
“They said she was weak from a young age, and later on she got sick…”
The thug, who had picked up the news, spat out the information he had gathered in vain. However, the madame’s eyes lit up with a strange intuition.
“When did she die?”
“A month ago…”
“When did the viscount become a count?”
A month ago?
“The daughter of that house, find out what diseases she died of.”
“Ah, Sister! I’m afraid that the girl…”
“No, it won’t. It’s just digging a grave. Do you not have some friends who are scumbags?”
Eventually, the madame urged the thugs to dig up Rena Ruber’s grave. As a result, the secrets of the Ruber family were trampled on too easily.
“Wahaha! What’s going on with this! Sister, this is absolutely awesome, right? Ah!”
The body of the girl said to have been buried a month earlier was nowhere to be found. Her coffin was filled with clothes, books, dolls, and violins.
An empty tomb, a child still alive. Viscount who suddenly became a count. Everything was strange.
“Yeah, well. This isn’t gonna end with just a reward.”
The madame was also excited at the thought of taking advantage of the nobility’s weakness. It just happened to be with an influential noble who was just on the road to success.
With such a windfall coming, this damned life is finally over!
The madame was obviously a smart person, but she wasn’t very careful.
The madame, who was too excited, cut Rena’s hair and sent it to Ruber. Then he asked Viscount Ruber, no, Count Ruber to visit her.
“Hide the real thing in the building next door. They might try to steal it by force.”
Thus, the madame imprisoned Rena in the attic of the building next door, with the intention of intimidating Ruber if he did come. Then, she made another of her daughters as a substitute and waited for the count.
On the day of the appointment, Rena sat by the window in the attic and looked at the street with anxious eyes.
She wondered. Will he come? Will he come to pick me up? If you come back for me, then I’ll…
Rena felt suffocated and stayed up all night with her eyes wide open.
Early in the morning, when the morning star was still visible, an unfamiliar customer came. It was a neat, old gentleman who did not fit in with this rough and dirty street.
Rena recognized him at first sight.
‘Butler!’
He was the butler of the Ruber family, who was very fond of Rena.
‘Butler is here!’
Seeing him, Rena burst into tears again. Not because she was sad or in pain, but because her heart melted and flowed with tears of relief.
Rena was happy. It felt like she was finally freed from a long nightmare. She had no doubts that the butler had come to pick her up.
But that happiness didn’t last long.
The butler and his servants entered the building where the madame was waiting. Rena was staring at the tightly closed door, when she suddenly heard a loud noise.
“Aaaaagh!”
It was the scream of a desperate woman, full of anger.
Rena looked at the street. Her blood was cold.
Not long after he entered, the butler quickly came out. He looked the same as when he entered. But the servants were all soaked in blood.
The butler seemed to order them to do something, and the servants split up. Looking closely, there were more than 3 or 4 people following the butler.
‘Why did he come with so many people?’
Are you looking for me?
Rena, who was still naive, did not give up her faith and hope.
He hurt the madame, but that’s okay. That’s because she threatened her father. He’s only trying to save me. It’s definitely like that.
Rena thought so and waited for the butler and servants to find her. However, Rena’s patience was rewarded in the wrong direction.
Fire began to soar into the clear dawn sky.
A fire deliberately set out by someone melted the greedy madame’s body and burned the street that was stained with filth. Women who barely closed their eyes and men snoring next to them were also engulfed in flames.
The butler and servants stood by the sideline and watched the brothel burn away. Occasionally, if someone ran out with a tail of fire, they pushed them back.
That quiet dawn, the flames danced silently and devoured everything.
As dawn passed and the flames that had burned the streets subsided, the butler and servants hurriedly left. It was a quick move which implied everything was intentional from the beginning.
As a result, the brothel that had been digging after the count was completely burned.
As someone ordered, no one survived there.
Except for one person, a girl who sat on the ashes and wept, she was paler than ashes.
***
The marquis was like that back then.
He sold his young daughter over and held a fake funeral, claiming she died of an illness. After that, when he heard that her daughter was alive, he burned everyone to death.
Therefore, Rena was not too surprised by the atrocities of the marquis. Because she had already painfully realized from the ashes who her own father was.
But they wouldn’t know. That Rena was there, that she watched it all, and that she was still alive.
‘I was the only one not aware…’
Rena finally smiled bitterly as remembered the face of her father she had just met.
Rena’s cunning father knew a lot less than she thought.
He only knew a little about treason, about his wife, and about his long-time daughter.
So, when Rena offered to give him a chance to be forgiven, he considered it a threat.
What a pitiful misunderstanding this is.
The marquis was sure that there is no way that a child thrown out by their father will become a proper human being.
Even if the outside looks fine, the inside will surely rot and burn and become distorted.
So the marquis did not believe the word forgiveness that Rena spoke of. He believed that Rena was hiding a sword in her arms, and that she would never forgive him.
This was the marquis’ biggest mistake.
A girl who was abandoned and fell to the abyss does not necessarily mean that she must be broken.
She may burn in anger and vomit out grief, but it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s broken.
Rena could also be a broken girl or a revengeful avenger.
But she didn’t choose that path.
Instead, she chose what she would be like.
Rena paused for a moment and looked towards her father’s private room.
What was in her gaze was not a burning desire for revenge or resentment, but a calm determination, but the marquis never realized that.
He probably will never know even in the future.
The author’s words:
Marquis, 40 years old. Distinct characteristic; kind.
Rena came out of the hallway and swallowed a smile.
She finally met her father. It was the first since that day, that peaceful night, when she was suddenly sold.
And the reality that her father, which she had only found out through this reunion, was far more cunning and cruel than what she expected from her memories.
‘Well, a normal person wouldn’t do that.’
He fed poison to his daughter who appeared after six years. It’s great to think about it again.
But the marquis looked rather surprised. It seemed that he did not understand at all how Rena, who had already known about his attempt to poison her, still faced him so calmly nonetheless.
Rena felt it was funny too.
‘Why did he think I wouldn’t know?’
Rena knew it from the beginning.
If she revealed her name and went to look for him, there was a high chance that the marquis would attack her using any way in haste before strange rumors circulate.
“He’s truly…”
Rena smiled as she remembered her father, the one in her memory, who was perfect in any aspect.
Rena had suspicions about the marquis’ true face, but she couldn’t help but want to know more precisely.
Because this wasn’t the first time.
‘He probably doesn’t even know that.’
Rena had already tried to go back to her house before this.
But she failed and no one knows. None other than herself, the sole party involved, Rena Ruber.
***
Six years ago, young Rena was standing alone on the street at night.
‘Am I back…?’
Rena looked at the dark night sky that was full of stars with confused eyes.
‘I’m back.’
Rena noticed the familiar starlight, bit her lip and wept.
She had been through terrible things. It was something that couldn’t be explained in words, and it was unclear whether it was a fantasy or reality.
She thought she was going to be locked up forever, but she returned. Under the starry night sky, into this ordinary world.
Rena, who was sobbing, wiped her tears and looked around her. Then, an unfamiliar sight caught her eyes.
‘Where is this?’
It was a dirty street. It was the so-called slum where houses that seemed to be torn down were stacked on top of each other.
Rena looked for a place to go with fearful eyes. She was cold, tired, and hungry. She needed a place to rest.
So she picked the most decent house and knocked on the door. As seen in fairy tales, she thought that a poor but good woman would come out to help.
But the reality was different from the fairy tale. All she got back was harsh swearing, so Rena ran away, startled by the coldness.
She then wandered a little longer, shivering, and crouched down in a dirty corner.
“Child, are you alone?”
Rena was enjoying the morning dew when a man approached and asked. His voice was friendly.
When she nodded helplessly, the man took Rena with him, saying she would make him money. The place she arrived at was in the deeper part of the back alley, his family’s brothel.
“Where did you get this?” Said a woman who was biting a cigarette, she handed the man a coin.
At that time, Rena was already trembling to the point of not being able to breathe.
She had seen it in a novel. A story of a place where lust-stricken men assault and abuse desperate women in exchanges for a few coins.
Rena realized where she was and felt desperate.
More than anything else, she was embarrassed to have come to this place so quickly.
Am I still not too young to come to this kind of place? I’m only 12.
Rena turned her gaze around in doubt.
A child who appeared to be the same age as herself was soliciting in an open-back dress on this cold day. She also saw a man who could have been her father staggered towards her.
Rena looked at them, feeling hard to breathe. Once she came to her senses, Rena clung to the woman who bought her.
“I am a noble!”
“What is this girl talking about?”
“It’s true, I am the daughter of Viscount Ruber. I came here by accident. Please send me home.”
The woman did not believe Rena’s scream. She had thugs who would use violence for the young ones who didn’t want to work.
However, unusually, Madame San didn’t pass Rena over to them, but put her in front of the lamp.
“Fair, and the skin is clean… The clothes are a bit worn, but not old.”
“Sister, do you believe her?”
“Shut up and get some paper and ink.”
The madame handed Rena a paper and pen and made her write.
Rena wrote a verse of a poem as pretty as she could with trembling hands.
“You are a cold dream in midsummer. What does this mean?”
“P, Poetry. The first chapter of Vitra’s collection of poems…”
“Oh my gosh.”
The madame pretended to be impressed and asked Rena a few more questions. About the culture and manners of the upper class, the position of Viscount Ruber, the number of servants, and so on.
“Oh dear, I’ve been very rude, my lady!”
As Rena stuttered, The madame changed her attitude abruptly.
“I must have misunderstood because I’m not a well-learned person! It seems like you’re in a situation, but don’t worry, I’ll take you home with great care!”
The madame smiled and hugged Rena. Then she whispered to the thugs who acted like her limbs.
“Don’t let her get even a scratch, and take good care of her. I’ll ask the other side for ransom.”
The madame was excited by an unexpected windfall and tried to contact the Ruber family.
Meanwhile, Rena was locked up in a shabby room, not knowing whether it was for her protection or confinement.
It was a terrible time. All kinds of noises could be heard through the thin door. Screams, cries, and even swear words she had never heard before.
Rena covered her ears to endure and memorized a poem.
But she couldn’t calm down. In fact, it was not the sounds outside that scared Rena, but what was going on in front of her.
How would her father react when he finds out that she’s back? If someone told you that the daughter you had thrown away by your own hands came back, would you come to pick her up? Would you feel sorry? Would you regret it and would you apologize?
‘How could he do that to me?’
Tears welled up every time she thought of her father.
What did I do wrong? Liar. I will take revenge. You said you love me. What’s the big reason? Save me. I hate you. I’m bad. Help me.
Please forgive me.
Rena’s heart shattered, but she endured alone in that small room.
A few days have passed.
Fortunately, the madame was quite a clever person. She did not contact the viscount directly, but looked at the viscount’s situation first. As a result, Rena received unexpected news from her.
“Sister, it’s not a viscount, but a count?”
“What do you mean?”
“I heard that he was bestowed with the title of ‘count’ by the Northern Duke a while ago.”
The dukes of the Empire have more power than a king of a country. Therefore, it was possible to give titles to their subjects.
However, in a yard full of nobles, it was rare to dare to promote someone.
“Is there any talk about looking for a daughter?”
“Ah, it’s true that there was a daughter in their house…”
“And?”
“But she died of sickness. They’ve already had a funeral.”
“What? What about that child?”
“They said she was weak from a young age, and later on she got sick…”
The thug, who had picked up the news, spat out the information he had gathered in vain. However, the madame’s eyes lit up with a strange intuition.
“When did she die?”
“A month ago…”
“When did the viscount become a count?”
A month ago?
“The daughter of that house, find out what diseases she died of.”
“Ah, Sister! I’m afraid that the girl…”
“No, it won’t. It’s just digging a grave. Do you not have some friends who are scumbags?”
Eventually, the madame urged the thugs to dig up Rena Ruber’s grave. As a result, the secrets of the Ruber family were trampled on too easily.
“Wahaha! What’s going on with this! Sister, this is absolutely awesome, right? Ah!”
The body of the girl said to have been buried a month earlier was nowhere to be found. Her coffin was filled with clothes, books, dolls, and violins.
An empty tomb, a child still alive. Viscount who suddenly became a count. Everything was strange.
“Yeah, well. This isn’t gonna end with just a reward.”
The madame was also excited at the thought of taking advantage of the nobility’s weakness. It just happened to be with an influential noble who was just on the road to success.
With such a windfall coming, this damned life is finally over!
The madame was obviously a smart person, but she wasn’t very careful.
The madame, who was too excited, cut Rena’s hair and sent it to Ruber. Then he asked Viscount Ruber, no, Count Ruber to visit her.
“Hide the real thing in the building next door. They might try to steal it by force.”
Thus, the madame imprisoned Rena in the attic of the building next door, with the intention of intimidating Ruber if he did come. Then, she made another of her daughters as a substitute and waited for the count.
On the day of the appointment, Rena sat by the window in the attic and looked at the street with anxious eyes.
She wondered. Will he come? Will he come to pick me up? If you come back for me, then I’ll…
Rena felt suffocated and stayed up all night with her eyes wide open.
Early in the morning, when the morning star was still visible, an unfamiliar customer came. It was a neat, old gentleman who did not fit in with this rough and dirty street.
Rena recognized him at first sight.
‘Butler!’
He was the butler of the Ruber family, who was very fond of Rena.
‘Butler is here!’
Seeing him, Rena burst into tears again. Not because she was sad or in pain, but because her heart melted and flowed with tears of relief.
Rena was happy. It felt like she was finally freed from a long nightmare. She had no doubts that the butler had come to pick her up.
But that happiness didn’t last long.
The butler and his servants entered the building where the madame was waiting. Rena was staring at the tightly closed door, when she suddenly heard a loud noise.
“Aaaaagh!”
It was the scream of a desperate woman, full of anger.
Rena looked at the street. Her blood was cold.
Not long after he entered, the butler quickly came out. He looked the same as when he entered. But the servants were all soaked in blood.
The butler seemed to order them to do something, and the servants split up. Looking closely, there were more than 3 or 4 people following the butler.
‘Why did he come with so many people?’
Are you looking for me?
Rena, who was still naive, did not give up her faith and hope.
He hurt the madame, but that’s okay. That’s because she threatened her father. He’s only trying to save me. It’s definitely like that.
Rena thought so and waited for the butler and servants to find her. However, Rena’s patience was rewarded in the wrong direction.
Fire began to soar into the clear dawn sky.
A fire deliberately set out by someone melted the greedy madame’s body and burned the street that was stained with filth. Women who barely closed their eyes and men snoring next to them were also engulfed in flames.
The butler and servants stood by the sideline and watched the brothel burn away. Occasionally, if someone ran out with a tail of fire, they pushed them back.
That quiet dawn, the flames danced silently and devoured everything.
As dawn passed and the flames that had burned the streets subsided, the butler and servants hurriedly left. It was a quick move which implied everything was intentional from the beginning.
As a result, the brothel that had been digging after the count was completely burned.
As someone ordered, no one survived there.
Except for one person, a girl who sat on the ashes and wept, she was paler than ashes.
***
The marquis was like that back then.
He sold his young daughter over and held a fake funeral, claiming she died of an illness. After that, when he heard that her daughter was alive, he burned everyone to death.
Therefore, Rena was not too surprised by the atrocities of the marquis. Because she had already painfully realized from the ashes who her own father was.
But they wouldn’t know. That Rena was there, that she watched it all, and that she was still alive.
‘I was the only one not aware…’
Rena finally smiled bitterly as remembered the face of her father she had just met.
Rena’s cunning father knew a lot less than she thought.
He only knew a little about treason, about his wife, and about his long-time daughter.
So, when Rena offered to give him a chance to be forgiven, he considered it a threat.
What a pitiful misunderstanding this is.
The marquis was sure that there is no way that a child thrown out by their father will become a proper human being.
Even if the outside looks fine, the inside will surely rot and burn and become distorted.
So the marquis did not believe the word forgiveness that Rena spoke of. He believed that Rena was hiding a sword in her arms, and that she would never forgive him.
This was the marquis’ biggest mistake.
A girl who was abandoned and fell to the abyss does not necessarily mean that she must be broken.
She may burn in anger and vomit out grief, but it doesn’t necessarily mean she’s broken.
Rena could also be a broken girl or a revengeful avenger.
But she didn’t choose that path.
Instead, she chose what she would be like.
Rena paused for a moment and looked towards her father’s private room.
What was in her gaze was not a burning desire for revenge or resentment, but a calm determination, but the marquis never realized that.
He probably will never know even in the future.
The author’s words:
Marquis, 40 years old. Distinct characteristic; kind.
