Chapter 57

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Translator: Harry Potta

Chapter: 57

Chapter Title: The Lone Maid (1)

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Hot. So hot. The heat was intense enough to scorch my skin. Standing in front of it left my whole body drenched in sweat. I wiped my sweat with a towel and shoveled the ashes. Sweat dripping from my forehead plopped onto my face. My vision kept blurring. The sweat pooling in my palms made the shovel slip constantly.

I gripped the shovel handle tight and scooped up more ashes when someone called out to me.

"Hey, ugly."

"……."

"Hey. Hey."

I ignored him, so he tapped my shoulder with his fingertips. I made it obvious I found him annoying and kept ignoring him. He got pissed and shoved his face right up close.

"Hey! You listening to me?"

Figuring he'd keep pestering me if I didn't respond, I finally sighed and stood up. I jammed the shovel into the ash pile and stood there with my arms crossed. When I faced him head-on, the guy flinched and shrank back. I stared at him blankly and moved my lips.

"What."

"Did you... ask her?"

"Ask her what."

"If she likes me or not. I asked you to last time!"

Oh, that. I remembered how he'd been nagging me to introduce him for days. I dug in my ear with my finger and blew my nose.

"Yeah. She said she hates you."

"W-Why?!"

The guy looked shocked, his face crumpling. Why? Obviously. I shrugged and picked up the shovel again. He grabbed my arm, demanding to know why she hated him.

"'Cause you're a beggar."

"What?"

"She hates you 'cause you're a beggar. She loves gold coins. Can you fill her arms with gold?"

"O-Of course!"

"Cut the bullshit and give up. I'm saying this for your own good."

Anyone could see from his job here that gold was a pipe dream—silver coins would be tough too. His daily wage barely covered a proper meal. Plus, he couldn't handle her personality anyway.

I shook off his hand and shoveled more ashes. He stood there frozen, dazed. Was it that shocking? She hadn't even glanced his way—he'd fallen for her all on his own and deluded himself.

But it wasn't my problem. I focused back on the ashes when the guy snapped out of it and suddenly pointed at me.

"Y-You're lying!"

"I'm not."

"You are! You're trying to come between us!"

"Are you crazy?"

The heat must've finally fried his brain. Who'd do what? I snorted like I'd heard the funniest thing in the world. But he was dead serious.

"You... you like me!"

"You're delusional. I don't need your help—life's hard enough. Get lost."

"You do like me! That's why you're doing this!"

"Want me to hit you with this shovel?"

I slammed the shovel back into the ashes and glared. Sweat-soaked hair stuck messily to my face. He flinched at my menacing vibe but didn't back down.

"You think I'd like someone like you? An ugly hag like you has standards? Hey, aim for your league. She's a hundred times prettier and cuter than you. I like her—only her. Got it?"

"Dunno about that, but one thing's for sure."

I'd listened to his nonsense patiently enough. I grabbed the shovel stuck in the ashes with both hands, shook off the soot, and looked at him.

"You're about to get hit with this."

"Huh?"

"Come here, you bastard!"

He'd picked the fight—no reason to back down now. I swung the shovel at the shocked guy.

"What happened to your face?"

"What about it."

I wiped the soot-smeared grime from my cheek and glanced at Alicia. After all the chaos shoveling ashes, my whole body was covered in filth. The stinging stares from people on the way home told me everything without looking.

Alicia scanned me up and down, wrinkling her nose.

"You're filthy. Go wash up."

"I will."

I set what I was holding on the table. Alicia darted over and unrolled the paper bundle. But when she saw what was inside, she scowled fiercely and glared at me.

"How am I supposed to eat this?!"

"What's wrong with it? It's too good for you anyway—just eat it."

We were lucky to have even this, but she was complaining again. After running around with that shovel all day, I was too exhausted to indulge her whining.

I rubbed my tired eyes and turned to wash up when something hit the back of my head with a smack and fell to the floor. It was the bread I'd bought with my day's wage.

Clutching my head, I stared at the fallen bread, then turned. Alicia was glaring at me, fuming.

"How am I supposed to eat crap like this?! How?!"

"……."

Here we go again. I sighed. I bent down, picked up the bread, and brushed off the dust.

"Did you just sigh at me?!"

"'Cause you're throwing a kid's tantrum over food."

"A kid? You saying I act like a child?!"

"Yeah."

"Hey!"

"What."

I met her fierce glare calmly. She was the one who needed me anyway. I had no plans or money to buy more food. In this situation, being able to eat this stale, tasteless bread was a blessing.

"Don't wanna eat it? Fine, more for me."

"……."

"If you hate it that much, go earn your own."

Fewer mouths to feed the better. I put the bread back on the table and took off my hat. I unwrapped the cloth from my hair and checked my face in the cracked mirror on the wall. My already dark skin looked even blacker with the soot. Wiping it with the cloth did nothing.

Then something whooshed from behind and smacked the wall. The bread I'd just set down. Moments later, something else flew past and shattered against the wall. The dish I'd salvaged last time.

I stared blankly at the shattered pieces when more objects came flying, hitting the wall and my head. Aaaah! Screams erupted too. Alicia had started hurling whatever she could grab.

Reacting would just annoy me more, so I didn't even glance her way. I kept peering into the mirror at my face when suddenly my head yanked back. In the reflection, venomous Alicia gripped my hair, shaking my head. It was so sudden I couldn't even scream.

"You vicious bitch!"

"Let go."

"You think I'll let go? You treat me like a dog— just watch! I'll seduce some noble and fix my life. Then I won't give a damn about trash like you!"

"Do whatever. Let go of my hair."

"No!"

"Fine?"

I lunged at Alicia right back. I yanked a fistful of her pretty hair. She let out a shrill scream, but I didn't care. It hurt like my scalp was ripping, but I gave as good as I got.

"Aaaah! Let go! I said let go!"

"You let go!"

"Let go! No way!"

We tussled, clutching each other's hair, until Alicia released first. I stepped back as she collapsed to the floor.

Both our hairs were a mess. My hand was full of her long strands, like a clump of fur. She glanced at it and clutched her own hair.

"Hic... my hair!"

I dropped the hair to the floor. Watching it scatter, I ran my fingers through my own tangled mess.

Then something dangling precariously brushed my fingertip. Fumbling, I untangled it—a soot-covered hair tie, its original color long gone.

Ah. I sighed shortly and brushed off the soot quickly. The embroidered flower pattern at the end caught my eye. I stared blankly until Alicia's shout snapped me out of it.

"What are you gonna do about my hair?!"

"What about yours to mine?"

"Is my hair the same as yours? Do you know how much effort I put into it?!"

"No more effort needed—cut it off. Sell it at the market."

"You evil bitch! This is all your fault! How can you be so shameless? You jinx!"

"Like father, like daughter."

A devil's spawn wouldn't turn out normal. I shrugged, and Alicia burst into tears. God knows what was so sad—she wailed, snot and tears streaming.

"Waaah— I don't need any of this! I should've just died!"

"Hope you get a good outcome even now."

Her sharp glare pierced me. I pretended not to notice and looked in the mirror. I started wiping soot again but tossed the cloth aside. Exhaustion and irritation boiled over. Behind me, Alicia sobbed pitifully again. At least she still had the strength to cry like that.

But I didn't want to hear it anymore. I scratched my head roughly and turned. Alicia shot me a look like she'd been waiting.

"Just you wait! I'll snag some noble or royal later and rise in status! Hic... I'll ditch this pathetic life! You can grovel then, and it won't help!"

"You're the one who's delusional."

I scanned the room slowly. Cracked walls everywhere, a leaky roof in the rain. A rickety old shack where snow had to be shoveled off the roof in winter lest it collapse. Freezing in winter, sweltering in summer. Shaking at the slightest breeze, making you jump.

But rundown as it was, it let us breathe and live another day. The only place shielding us from death.

"Noble life isn't all glamour. Sometimes it's a hell worse than you imagine. One day, you'll think this shabby, poor hovel was happier."

"What? How would you know?"

"I just do."

I looked around the room once more, then fixed my gaze on Alicia. She squinted suspiciously. I just shrugged at her unspoken question.

The day I heard their news again was when I happened to pick up a discarded newspaper from the street. The huge photo and caption below marked the end of their story.

That finally made it real—I'd only been a brief footnote in their tale.

That day, with Ethan's help, I'd reached a village and hidden there for a while. It was decent-sized, full of residents, and indifferent to outsiders. Maybe he'd chosen it on purpose. Either way, blending in was easy.

Before parting, Isabella had given me a pouch full of gold coins. It covered lodging and food for a bit, but days later, pickpockets stole it all. Even my luggage got taken by beggars—leaving me with just my worthless body.

I became penniless overnight, wandering the streets. Starvation edged me toward death. I even mocked myself—how was my life never once smooth?

Then suddenly, Father and my youngest sister in Pilton came to mind.