“Misha, I want to use the money that we saved together for the education expenses of my child!” he declared, as if that was a plan I’d be fully on board with.
“Together?” I singlehandedly made all that money by working hard and selling potions. Rudolph spent half of every month lying in bed, claiming to be ill, and on the days he was up and about, he clung to my father to learn his work, whatever that was all about.
“You don’t have to do anything with me in bed at night,” he insisted. “Just work in the morning for our share.”
I’d had enough of his asinine remarks. My body reacted before my mind could process his stupidity. I’d been told it was unseemly to lose control of my emotions, and I couldn’t utter a thing, but as a former Japanese woman, I couldn’t take this lying down. Rage exploded through my fist, and my emotions took the reins as my knuckles aimed for Rudolph’s cheek. I swung up from a low stance, landing an uppercut. My fist almost ripped his nose clean off with the sheer force of my punch. A few of his broken teeth flew through the air like shooting stars.
“Hyaaagh!” he cried before he fell to the ground.
“E-Eeek!” Lizzy screamed.
Listen, wench, I’m the one who wants to scream here. We were only engaged due to Rudolph’s passionate requests. Here in Lawlife, strong men who could hunt and chop wood all day were preferred as marriage candidates. Rudolph, though a good-looking man, was frail. He had neither the strength to carry a log nor the skills to wield a hunting rifle. Sure, he might’ve been popular in the royal capital, but in Lawlife, no one wanted him.
Kindness was his only strong point, and though one might say that it was the bare minimum, I didn’t mind. I accepted his proposal, not once assuming that this betrayal would happen. Rudolph, downed in one punch, gazed up at me, baffled, like the heroine of some tragedy. He didn’t seem to understand why he was hit. He didn’t immediately direct his anger at me. Instead, Lizzy broke the silence.
“Hey, Misha!” she barked. “What the seven blazes are you doing to my Rudolph?!”
“Lizzy, under normal circumstances, you wouldn’t even be allowed to show your sorry face in front of me,” I quipped.
“What did you say?!”
My cousin, Lizzy, was born from a fling that my uncle had with a woman working at a tavern in the royal capital. My parents were vehemently against their union, but my uncle truly loved her.
Back then, my younger sister and I had not yet been conceived, and my uncle even offered to make his child the future heir to House Ritual should my parents remain childless. Though this arrangement was always ambivalent at best, Lizzy had strangely inherited her father’s fervent desire that never quite reached fruition. Anyway, my uncle desperately begged for my parents’ approval, and they reluctantly permitted his marriage.
It came as no surprise that his happiness didn’t last long; a few years later, my uncle declared that he had found true love, truly, for real this time, and left our family home. My aunt, now single, received sympathy from my parents, and they offered her a helping hand. But she proudly said that she needed no pity and left House Ritual with Lizzy in tow.
My aunt, however, indulged herself in romance. She switched lovers as easily as she did her outfit, and to maintain her lifestyle, she eventually pushed Lizzy onto us. Despite my aunt’s pride and bravado, she ultimately relied on us to look after her daughter. And so, Lizzy, my younger sister Claire, and I were raised under one roof.
Claire and I got along well as siblings, but neither of us quite clicked with Lizzy—I often fought with my cousin as a child. My parents treated us all equally and gave Lizzy the same educational opportunities that we received, but my cousin would argue with her instructors or skip lessons entirely. She was quite the handful.
My mother tried to correct Lizzy’s sharp tongue, at the very least, but my cousin had no intention of fixing herself. Lizzy’s uncouth manner of speaking came from her mother, who was raised in a tavern downtown. My aunt picked up vulgar turns of phrase, and naturally, Lizzy did as well.
Lizzy had always been a thorn in our sides, and she was a lot of trouble for us. I chose not to involve myself with her after one fateful day. I practically detached myself from all of her antics, but never would I have dreamed that she’d appear to cause trouble with my engagement.
“Misha, you’re to blame, you know!” Lizzy spat. “Rudolph was sick in bed, and you neglected him for so long! I had no choice but to look after him in your stead!”
“Just so you know, I took very good care of him and nursed him tirelessly!” I shouted back.
At times, I cut down on sleep to watch over him and even visited him in the middle of a storm, worried about his condition. Recently, however, Rudolph rejected my visits, claiming he could drink potions on his own and didn’t need my help. I took that to mean that he’d gotten better—that he was now strong enough to take care of himself—and decided to work hard at creating potions to sell to pharmacies in the royal capital. In hindsight, perhaps Rudolph was spending that time secretly having an affair with Lizzy.
“You chose money over love, huh?” Lizzy huffed.
“What did you say?!” I snapped.
Every now and then, Rudolph would emit a pained groan, and Lizzy would gently ask if he was okay before she glared at me wrathfully, spouting prickly words that harshly critiqued my way of life.
“How could you beat Rudolph up so badly?” she rumbled. “You’re practically the Devil.”
“Fine by me,” I replied.
“What?” Lizzy, perhaps not expecting my retort, gazed up at me with widened eyes.
“Whatever. Not like I care,” I said. “Leave this place at once.”
“H-How dare you?!” Lizzy cried. “I’m pregnant with Rudolph’s child, and you want me to leave?!”
“Of course. Obviously. Go on, make a nice, happy family with you three. Never get involved with House Ritual again.”
“How heartless can you be?! Rudolph’s in so much pain, and now you’re chasing us all out?!”
Well, if you’re begging… I took out a special potion and sprinkled a bit over Rudolph’s face. At once, his swelling went down, his nosebleed stopped, and his cracked teeth were back, good as new. This was a high-class potion even within the royal capital’s pharmacy—it was highly effective. I spotted a gardener outside my window, wandering on the premises nearby, and I asked him to drag Rudolph out of the estate.
“Lady Misha, is anything the matter? Did you fight with Rudolph?” the gardener asked politely.
“I sure did,” I replied. “He made a child with Lizzy. I don’t want to ever see his face again, so could you toss him outside the gates?”
At once, the gardener turned red and rushed over. “Rudolph! You absolute idiot! How could you do such a thing?!”
“No, I—” Rudolph started.
“Don’t make excuses! You’re nothing like the proud people of Lawlife!”
The gardener lugged Rudolph outside while Lizzy followed the two men, trying to stop them.
“Sir, please!” Lizzy begged. “You’ve got it all wrong! It’s Misha’s fault!”
“Yeah, right!” the gardener roared. “Do you know how many times I’ve been tricked by your stupid lies, Lizzy?!”
“I’m telling the truth this time!”
“And I don’t believe you!”
As my room turned quiet, their noises fading into the distance, I let out a large sigh. This was the very moment my life plans completely fell apart.