THE unfortunate woman chosen by the mad emperor found herself forsaken by all who knew her in less than a day. No one could defy the terrifying man—save for her younger sister, whom she had always loved. The young lady accompanied the woman to the castle and looked after her there.
Her younger sister had always been strong-willed, and her temper was so explosive she even said dangerous things like that they should secretly kill the emperor. The woman’s face paled even as she denied the words, and her heart was saved by her sister’s presence.
The day she was forcibly taken away. The day after she shared a bed with the sick old man. The day she learned she was pregnant. And the day she gave birth. On all these days, her sister was the only one who supported her.
At times, she even hated the child she gave birth to. However, her younger sister doted on her son, saying he looked just like his mother. So, thanks to her, the woman was able to love him. Thanks to her, the woman gained another source of emotional support.
✦ ✦ ✦
ONE day, her younger sister rushed into the room and urged the woman to flee. The news of the crown prince’s coup had already reached the concubine’s ears, but she didn’t plan to run away. Instead, she pushed her child into her sister’s arms and asked her to escape with him. Her sister refused, telling her not to be foolish, but the woman was adamant.
“If I die here, perhaps they’ll let the child go.”
The woman was stubborn in the strangest ways. Her sister cursed her for not giving in and cried angrily before finally giving in to her request. She hid a few valuables and the quiet baby boy with his eerily clever gaze in a basket. Then, feigning a breeziness she didn’t feel, she slipped out of the castle like she was going shopping. She pulled her hat down over her face to hide her puffy eyes and snuck out of the city where she’d been born.
She would never go back. Even if she could, she had no intention of ever returning to the country that had sacrificed her beloved older sister.
✦ ✦ ✦
THE sister knew that their pursuers were steadily getting closer. She had intended to seek protection in the Holy Nation of Lejion, but the route was blocked, and she ended up taking a long detour. Looking in the mirror, she saw the face of a woman with sunken cheeks and dark circles under her eyes. The lack of sleep due to fear of their pursuers had aged her terribly.
It was another sleepless night, as always, when she heard a distant scream loosed by someone in their death throes.
They’re here. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for dragging you all into this.
Even as the thoughts rushed through her head, she hurriedly got ready and peeked out the window. The pursuers were now within sight. Escape was no longer an option.
She swaddled the baby in his clothes and hid him in the closet. He was a clever child. He never cried at night, and for some reason, he seemed to understand what she said. She thought he would have a better chance of survival if she left him here instead of taking him with her.
“Don’t cry. Just wait here quietly until someone comes. They’ll never find you. No one knows how sweet and clever you are.”
The baby seemed to stare at her in understanding.
She jumped out the window and ran toward the forest, running as fast as she could, carrying the baby’s basket under her arm. She knew this would be the last sprint of her life. She didn’t care if her lungs collapsed or her legs were torn off. Soon, she wouldn’t be using this body anyway.
The pursuers were getting closer and closer.
A little further, just a little more.
She ran through the thicket, uncaring as the branches shred her clothes and skin. When she saw the valley, she tripped on a tree root and crashed to the ground. She hastily threw the empty basket down into the chasm. They would think the child was dead. All that was left was for her to chase after it and fall herself.
✦ ✦ ✦
SHE swayed on the ground on her hands and knees, staring at the valley where she’d flung the basket. But just when she tried to leap into it herself, someone grabbed her feet and stopped her.
She wished she could have died right then and there. But it now seemed that a peaceful death was out of reach.
So she screamed hysterically, railing at an unreasonable world.
“Ahhh! Let me go, let me go! I threw him! I threw him into the valley!”
The pursuers’ expressions didn’t change at all. Still, she knew she needed to continue her once-in-a-lifetime performance.
I hope he’ll be happy.
They tortured her savagely. In between, they asked her where the baby was. The torment never ended. Even when she told them he’d fallen into the valley below. Even when she called them murderers. Even when she wailed in agony.
I hope he’ll be happy.
That was her only thought. She didn’t reveal the baby’s true location.
I hope he’ll be happy. For my poor sister’s sake too.
As her consciousness faded, she continued to pray for him over and over again.
✦ ✦ ✦
“HEAVENS above, I’m glad we didn’t bring them with us…” Cody muttered to himself, looking at the naked, battered body of the woman.
A short walk from the village into the bushes, they came across a cliff. There, at the base of a tree, a woman’s body had been left sitting up. When they found her, she’d been surrounded by carnivorous animals, so they couldn’t tell if her fingers and toes had been lost while she was alive, or if they had been eaten after she died. If they had been even half a day later, she might have been reduced to nothing but bones.
She had no possessions that could identify her, but when they looked below the cliff, they found her clothes caught on the rock face.
“She looks like she’s from the Southern Continent.”
“How can you look at a corpse in such a state so calmly?” Dekt said to Cody, his eyes averted from the body.
“No matter how gruesome her remains, they’re proof she lived. So don’t we owe it to her to glean what we can, even if it’s just for the sake of the child she left behind?”
“You’re right, but I can’t bear to look at her anymore. I’ll leave it to you, Cody.”
“Well, that’s not fair,” Cody said. “I’m not fine with this either.”
There was no lie in what he said. Cody closed his eyes and prayed. He prayed for this good woman, this woman deserving of respect, to rest in peace.