Episode 2
***
That day, Ranie was severely scolded by Hilde for breaking someone else’s precious son’s head. Ranie felt wronged. All she had done was her best to protect her grandmother and their apple orchard.
“Why on earth did you do that?”
But she couldn’t tell the truth. Her grandmother would never believe such nonsense as “In eight years, the neighbor woman’s husband will set fire to the village.”
“I just… saw that the neighbor lady didn’t like it…”
“Even so, did this granny ever teach you to hit people?”
“…No.”
“Good thing it was a flimsy apple crate. If it had been a sturdy new one… Just the thought is terrible.”
The man who had fainted from being hit by the apple crate had only a slight scalp cut, nothing serious. Hilde, stroking her startled chest, said it was fortunate things had ended there.
“I got hurt too, though…”
“Your head is tough, isn’t it.”
“…”
Caring only about the neighbor’s son who was struck by the flimsy apple crate, instead of her granddaughter who had fainted after being hit by an apple—wasn’t that too much?
Ranie felt hurt. Why was she born with a stone head?
“Tomorrow you must apologize properly.”
“…Yes, Grandmother.”
Leaving the completely deflated Ranie behind, Hilde went into her bedroom.
Staring at the flickering candlelight, Ranie pouted her lips. Apologize… she really didn’t want to.
Just then. Knock, knock—the sound of someone rapping at the door came from outside. Ranie slightly opened it to see who it was, and her eyes widened.
The visitor was Celine.
“Um… thank you for helping me today.”
Celine bowed her head.
Hilde hated nothing more than noisy chatter in the evening. Worried the voices might reach her bedroom, Ranie quickly stepped outside and closed the door firmly.
“I couldn’t thank you properly earlier, since it was so hectic. Really, thank you.”
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Ah… no. I’m fine.”
Ranie let out a sigh of relief. She was relieved that the future of her apple orchard was still intact.
“This is a small token of gratitude for your help. It’s not a large sum, but please accept it.”
Celine held out a small pouch of gold coins. It was part of the money she had secretly raised by selling jewelry, her escape funds. Ranie shook her head.
“No need. I didn’t help you for money. You should keep it for yourself.”
“But then, how can I repay―”
“Excuse me.”
Ranie cut Celine off firmly.
“Whatever your circumstances are, haven’t you thought about going back to where you used to live?”
Celine’s expression visibly hardened.
At this point, let’s recall the contents of the novel Celine Grewell. From the title alone, which spotlights a single character, one can see it was a short story about Celine’s coming of age.
The plot was so simple it could be summarized in one line. The runaway heroine, Celine, overcomes her past wounds and mends her relationship with her husband, who once meant less to her than a stranger.
In other words, the ending was a happy ending. A perfectly sealed happy ending.
So instead of going through endless hardships only to find happiness in the end, wouldn’t it be better to just return now, reconcile, and live well together? At least, that’s what Ranie thought.
“Not only for yourself, but for your child’s sake as well.”
At the word child, Celine instinctively wrapped her arms around her belly. Then, with a face that seemed on the verge of tears, she looked at Ranie.
“I came here for the child’s sake.”
“…”
“For my child to be happy, this was the only way. You probably can’t understand… what I mean.”
In that moment, Ranie felt as if someone had struck her on the head. Celine’s tears, falling at last, weighed heavily on her heart.
Come to think of it, in the novel Celine never even considered going back until her husband discovered her. Even after reuniting, she didn’t open her heart immediately.
Later, their relationship did improve, but that was something only Ranie knew, something she could never tell anyone.
‘From Celine’s perspective back then, running away really was the best choice. The male lead at that time was such a terrible husband that even the readers admitted it, and Celine wasn’t the least bit happy.’
Celine’s husband, the Viscount Rochester’s heir, had never once treated her as a wife. To him, she was little more than a vessel to bear his child.
Of course, he had his own circumstances. There were reasons he had to be so harsh toward Celine.
The Rochester family had been torn apart by brutal infighting, with cadet branches coveting the position of family head.
The endless, loathsome conflict was finally brought to an end by none other than a cadet branch member, the current Count Rochester. And the beloved only son of that count was none other than Celine’s husband.
During the height of the conflict, he had been very young. Having lived through a time when a single lapse of vigilance could cost him his head, he had grown intensely nervous and distrustful of others.
But no matter the circumstances, they could not justify hurting someone else.
‘…I must have been thinking only of myself. I didn’t really consider how Celine feels now.’
Ranie belatedly regretted her words. To think of how terrifying and painful it must have been to flee while pregnant—she should never have said such things.
“Um, about what I said earlier―”
“…Am I a burden?”
“…”
“Ah… actually, I don’t even need to ask. Of course I’m a burden, right? This quiet, peaceful village has become noisy because of me.”
Celine always blamed herself. Having spent her whole life watching others’ moods, her self-esteem had been ground to the floor.
“…I’m sorry.”
Bowing deeply, Celine wiped her tears with the back of her hand and turned away. Her fragile back looked unbearably pitiful.
Celine would never go back. She was convinced that if she did, she could never be happy.
Watching her figure retreat further away, Ranie clenched her fists.
‘Don’t I seem just like one of those villagers showing hostility to a new neighbor?’
Her conscience pricked at her, but she told herself it couldn’t be helped. Celine had to leave now for the safety of Leclere Village. Even if her husband came looking later, they could just say she only stayed for a day and left.
Step, step. Celine’s footsteps grew more distant. With every step, it felt like a heavy stone was piling up in Ranie’s chest.
In the end, Ranie opened her mouth.
“Excuse me.”
Celine stopped and turned her head slightly. Even with her tear-stained face, she was beautiful enough that Ranie was at a loss.
“My name is Ranie Fillet.”
“…?”
A question flickered in Celine’s eyes. Suddenly introducing herself, Ranie swallowed and darted her eyes around.
It was a dangerous world. For a woman to travel far alone. Even more so if she wasn’t alone in body.
It wasn’t because she was reminded of her own childhood, when she had never been able to fit into the village. At least that’s what she told herself as she continued speaking.
“Would you… like to be friends with me?”
And so, Ranie gained her very first friend. A friend named Celine Grewell, who had fled from her husband while carrying a child.
Eight months passed since then.
Having stayed in Leclere Village, Celine gave birth to a lovely baby girl of Rochester blood. They said newborn babies were wrinkled and ugly, but when Ranie saw the child, she was shocked at how beautiful she was.
With platinum-blond hair fragile as sunlight and amethyst-colored eyes, the baby made Celine burst into tears.
Whether those were tears of joy or sorrow, Ranie could not tell.
There was a saying that children grow in the blink of an eye. Since Celine’s child was born, Ranie witnessed that truth with her own eyes.
The child’s name was Lilia Grewell.
Lilia grew more quickly by the day. And as she grew, she came to resemble her mother more and more. Though Celine herself didn’t seem to think so.
Seasons changed many times after that. By the time it had become natural to see the Grewell mother and daughter living next door, and watching the child grow had become a great joy—
Lilia ’s fifth birthday was approaching when something happened in the peaceful village.
“Sigh, it’s a poor harvest this year. Just when we thought we could barely get by…”
“Tell me about it. We’re lucky it’s only this bad. I heard the next village over might starve all winter.”
“Isn’t there some measure? Shouldn’t the lord be doing something at this point?”
The villagers clicked their tongues as they looked at the apple orchard, left in disarray after the storm.
Just as harvest season approached, an unusual typhoon had struck, devastating the crops. The apples barely saved from the storm filled only a single cart.
Compared to the usual five carts they could easily fill each year, it was painful. But what could be done? Humans could not go against nature.
“This year, it can’t be helped. Other regions were hit hard too, so apple prices won’t drop much.”
“Well, we’re fine since the vice village chief always looks after us, but…”
The villagers glanced at Ranie. By “vice village chief,” they meant her grandmother Hilde.
Leclere Village practically lived off Hilde’s wealth. She was the owner of this vast apple orchard, and she paid the villagers—both employees and residents—a monthly wage.
Not once had those wages been reduced. Whether harvest was good or poor.
“We’ll be fine, don’t worry. We prepared for times like this.”
“…That’s a relief.”
“I’ll finish tidying up here. You all go ahead.”
“Will you be okay alone?”
“I’ll be fine. Please go home and rest, sir.”
“Th-then… see you tomorrow, Ranie.”
Once left alone in the wide orchard, Ranie, who had been smiling the whole time, let out a sigh.
Thanks to the savings they had built up, even if this year was poor, they could manage until next year’s harvest. Still, as the orchard’s successor, her heart ached.
By the time she had cleared away the scattered crates, a few raindrops had begun to fall. Ranie hurried her steps toward Celine’s house before the rain grew heavier.
‘I’d better tell them not to go outside for a while if possible.’
The typhoon last night hadn’t just damaged the orchard. The storm had eroded the surrounding mountains, and landslides had buried part of the village.
Luckily, it had only hit an abandoned house, but it could easily have been a fatal disaster.
And with the rain still falling, being indoors wasn’t absolutely safe, but it was better than getting hurt out in the storm.
“…This place is a mess too.”
A road that had been fine only yesterday was now wrecked with landslide soil and broken planks. With a sigh, Ranie turned down a narrow alley.
But after only a few steps, she stopped. Something entered her sight, making her gasp unconsciously.
At the dark alley’s mouth, where nothing should have been, a man lay collapsed, soaked in blood.
