PLML 21

CHAPTER 21

She opened the door painted brightly in white. It had been decorated in such a hurry that the smell of paint still lingered in the room.

The entire room was covered in gaudy pink lace, hardly fitting for someone Jaina’s age. From the bed sheets to the chair and curtains, everything was tackily adorned with sparkling jewels and ornaments that were almost blinding to look at.

“Mother, you’re not ill or anything, are you?”

Jaina grasped Mrs. Countess’s hand. The woman looked briefly startled but quickly forced a fake smile onto her face.

“Why would you ask that all of a sudden, Jaina?”

“I’m just so worried. It seems your memory has gotten so bad you’ve forgotten how old I am. I mean, how else could you decorate a room like this—as if it were for a seven-year-old?”

Mrs. Countess’s eyebrows twitched. She seemed to be holding back a grimace.

“You don’t like the room?”

“No. How could I not like the room that you arranged for me, Mother? I only said that because I’m worried about you, so please don’t let it trouble you.”

“Well then. I’ll leave you to enjoy it. Have a good time.”

Mrs. Countess fled the room.

Jaina collapsed onto the bed, laughing. She couldn’t help but chuckle when she thought about the woman’s trembling eyes and forcibly curled lips.

After laughing for a good while, Jaina turned to Theoris. He wore a curious expression but didn’t ask anything. He was clearly waiting for her to speak first.

‘How should I even explain this?’

“Theo, what happened is—”

Just as Jaina was about to share some stories from her childhood, the door burst open.

“Your Grace, my lady, it’s time for your meal.”

It was the maid whom Jaina had slapped before heading to the Grand Duke’s estate.

‘Still no knocking, huh.’

Jaina considered scolding the maid but let it go.

During the meal and tea time, Jaina spent the entire time driving the Count and Countess up the wall, leaving her no time to talk privately with Theoris.

Exhausted from the journey, she went to bed early that evening.

Jaina had tried to share a room with Theoris, but he insisted it would be improper to sleep together at her house, and requested separate rooms.

Theoris went to a guest room to sleep. Left alone, Jaina lay in bed, staring blankly into space. It all felt unfamiliar. Even though this had been “Jaina’s” home for over twenty years, it felt anything but comfortable.

‘I want to go back.’

She longed to return to her real room. To hug her cotton candy plushie and roll around in bed, welcoming the night in peace.

Thinking of her real home, Jaina slowly drifted off to sleep.

Splash—

A bucket of cold water was dumped onto Jaina’s sleeping face. She shot up in shock. Through the blur of water in her eyes, she saw Mrs. Countess seething. Still not fully awake, Jaina couldn’t tell if it was a dream or reality and simply stared at her.

“Mother, what are you—”

Before she could finish, a slap landed hard on her cheek. The pain was sharper, coming right after the splash of cold water.

“Who do you think you’re calling ‘Mother,’ you filthy bastard child!”

Her cheek burned. The shock jolted her completely awake.

She understood what was happening now.

‘She was waiting for Theoris and me to be apart.’

No matter how crude the Count and Countess were, they couldn’t afford to abuse Jaina in front of the Grand Duke. Especially since it was obvious how much Theoris cared for her.

While Jaina was momentarily lost in thought, Mrs. Countess, thinking she was being ignored, yanked Jaina by the hair.

“Let go of me!”

Jaina tried to pry her hair from the woman’s grasp, but it wasn’t easy. Her neck twisted painfully, and just then, a choice box popped up in front of her.

‘Why now, of all times…?’

Jaina skimmed the choices and froze, as if broken.

• [(Kneel and beg) I’m sorry, Mother. Please forgive me.]
• [(Kneel and beg) I’m sorry for being a filthy bastard. I was wrong.]
• [(Kneel and beg) I’m sorry. I won’t do it again. Please don’t hit me.]

All the options were just pleas for forgiveness.

A small voice echoed in her ear—it was the young “Jaina,” helplessly begging for mercy as she prayed for the violence to end.

‘Being born a bastard… what was so wrong about that?’

Jaina had never done anything wrong. Not then, not now.

‘You didn’t do anything wrong.’

Once again, she ignored the choice box. There was no correct answer.

Clenching her teeth, Jaina yanked a fistful of Mrs. Countess’s hair in return.

“Kyaa! What are you doing?! Let go right now!”

“You first!”

No more honorifics, no more pretense.

“You bitch!”

Mrs. Countess raised her other hand to strike again, but Jaina wasn’t about to let it happen. She swatted the hand away and punched her full-force—not with an open palm, but with a clenched fist.

Thud—

With a dull sound, Mrs. Countess went flying. She landed on the floor in a pitiful pose, her legs curled up like a mermaid, cradling her bruised cheek.

“You, you monster! How dare you strike your own mother!”

Jaina calmly tidied her hair and straightened her clothes. Looking into the woman’s venomous eyes, she replied coldly:

“You said I wasn’t your daughter earlier.”

“What?”

“You said you’d never be the mother of a filthy bastard like me. Or did you already forget?”

“You… you’ve gone mad. You’ve gone insane after staying at that monster’s house!”

At the word monster, Jaina’s face, which had remained composed, finally twisted.

She could endure insults directed at herself. But she couldn’t stand anyone insulting Theoris. Especially not someone who had fawned over him to his face, only to slander him behind his back.

Jaina stood up.

Seeing her approach slowly, Mrs. Countess felt a primal fear she couldn’t explain.

Was this truly the same child who had clung to her, desperately begging for affection? The girl who cried every day, trying her best to earn love?

No. She wasn’t.

This was not the same Jaina Mrs. Countess had known.

“Who… who are you…?”

Mrs. Countess trembled as she backed away on the floor.

Jaina gave her a seductive smile.

Seeing this woman—who’d moments ago screamed in dominance—now shaking in fear, was almost funny. But it was also sad. Sad that young Jaina had once tried so hard to be loved by someone like her.

Jaina leaned down and looked her straight in the eye.

“Mrs. Countess.”

“……”

“The ‘Jaina’ you knew is gone.”

“……Wh-what are you talking about…”

“I’m not that girl who craved your love anymore.”

“……”

“So why don’t you get lost now? I’m really tired.”

With that, Jaina straightened up.

Her expression, her tone, even her light gestures—none of it resembled the Jaina Mrs. Countess had known.

The woman fled the room without even fixing her disheveled hair, completely dazed.

Jaina lay back on the still-damp bed sheets.

She had said everything she wanted. She hadn’t just stood there and taken it, like her younger self.

It was over now.

Yet, her heart felt strangely empty.

‘No need to feel sad. I’m not that little girl anymore, trying to earn their love.’

Jaina buried her face in the blankets. Her eyes felt wet from the damp sheets.

It was all because of the sheets.

Mrs. Countess did not show up to see Theoris and Jaina off. The Count claimed she was unwell.

Jaina knew full well the woman simply didn’t want to see her, but she pretended not to notice.

“She’ll miss you, Jaina.”

“I don’t think I’ll be missing you, Father.”

“…What did you just say…”

“I’ve done my bare minimum as a daughter. Let’s never meet again, Count Hans.”

Smiling sweetly at the Count’s stunned face, Jaina climbed into the carriage.

Theoris didn’t ask her anything. No awkward comfort, no scolding. He just quietly looked at her, waiting—like he always did—for her to speak first.

Under that loyal gaze, like a dog waiting for a command, Jaina began to talk.

She spoke of her childhood memories.

Theoris listened quietly, nodding gently. Even while hearing of a cruel past that he might have shared, he remained composed.

Jaina liked that about him.

That he didn’t see her as a pitiful victim to pity or mourn. He simply looked at her, Jaina, for who she was. That unwavering gaze was enough to bring her comfort.

So she kept speaking, as if it were no big deal.

And truly, it wasn’t anymore.

When she finished, Theoris pulled her into his arms.

“Theo?”

“It’s okay to cry when you want to.”

“Hmm? No, really, I’m fine…”

Jaina couldn’t finish her sentence.

For some reason, the moment he embraced her, the tears came.

[It’s okay to cry when you want to.]

Those words worked like magic. No matter how hard she tried to swallow it back, the overwhelming surge of emotions could no longer be ignored.

She buried her face in Theoris’s chest. His slow, gentle patting on her back broke the dam she had tried so hard to hold.

Inside the carriage, where it was just the two of them, Jaina cried and cried.