Chapter 03
They Say I’m Pretty?
“No.”
After lawyer Johnson left, Eri kept saying only this.
“I don’t want to.”
Mrs. Abel fully expected Eri to react like this.
She was determined to convince her stubborn daughter somehow.
She had already talked with Johnson and was ready.
Eri lay face down on the narrow bed.
If her sleeping habits were just a little worse, she would have fallen off the bed every day…
Still, Mrs. Abel sat beside the bed, gently stroking Eri’s back as she sobbed, but her eyes kept searching for signs of their poverty.
The creaky bed, the bleak room with no proper wardrobe or desk, and most of all, Eri’s navy dress, which was torn and patched many times.
Seeing the seam of Eri’s favourite navy dress tear again, Mrs. Abel’s heart ached unbearably.
Like any parent, she wanted to give her child only good things.
Softly stroking the small back of Eri’s head, Mrs. Abel spoke gently, trying to persuade her.
“Think carefully. You have a whole week to decide.”
“No.”
“I’ve always thought you’re smarter than anyone else. So don’t let your feelings control you—think logically.”
At that moment, Eri suddenly lifted her head.
Her pretty blue eyes were filled with tears, and her eyebrows were raised in defiance.
“How can you leave me behind, Mom? How can you do that? It’s cruel. You’re so cruel…”
“It’s just for a short time.”
“How do you know it’ll be short? And besides…”
Eri wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffled.
“I don’t want to go to a family that doesn’t accept you and live comfortably alone.”
“You can keep studying.”
“I’m studying now.”
“But I know you quit night school.”
“How did you know that…?”
Mrs. Abel had no words when she saw Eri going out every night after quitting night school, pretending she didn’t.
It was heartbreaking.
“This is an opportunity, Eri.”
Count Ernest promised that if Eri wanted, he would provide the best teachers to help her enter high school.
Mrs. Abel saw her daughter biting her lip at that.
“Maybe it’s something that will never come again…”
Mrs. Abel’s voice choked up.
Life isn’t just about strong will or desperate love.
Even when her husband was alive, life was not easy.
She was an orphan, and her husband had no family help.
They had started with almost nothing.
They were never wealthy, not even once.
“Oh, Eri.”
One day, they received the gift of Eri.
They were joyful, and they could no longer imagine life without her, but the burden also grew.
Yes, carrying that burden was okay.
She had no regrets.
But after the shadow of hardship stretched even over Eri’s life, Mrs. Abel hadn’t slept well, not once with ease.
In a moist voice, Mrs. Abel repeated,
“I’m sorry, I’m powerless.”
“Don’t say that.”
“I want you to be happy.”
“What about your happiness?”
“If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”
“—I’m not. I want Mom to be happy too.”
Ms. Abell gently held Eri’s delicate face in both hands.
They shared the same gentle, thoughtful eyes.
“Our lives are separate, Eri. Just because I gave birth to you and raised you doesn’t mean you owe me your whole life.”
“…”
Mrs. Abel knew Eri was shaken.
Eri didn’t belong in Guinness.
She had a strong desire to learn.
She needed to go to a big city, see many things, experience life firsthand, and grow.
That was the only way she could feel satisfied.
“There’s nothing here for you.”
Mrs. Abel kissed Eri’s forehead, brushing her stray hair behind her ear, and whispered,
“Go to Bretia first. Live doing everything you want.”
“Mom…”
“I’ll follow you.”
“Really?”
Mrs. Abel smiled, making dimples appear.
“Of course. When I’m ready, I’ll go to Bretia. We’ll live there together. Happily.”
Eri could only believe those words.
She wanted to believe them more than anyone.
***
Lorantz once trusted his parents.
About twenty years ago.
His mother died of illness when he was five.
Their fairly large weaving factory had gone bankrupt from bad investments with no money left, just a month before her death.
Mr. Bringer, who married her only for money, told the funeral director to pick “the cheapest coffin” when preparing the funeral.
He was cold even to his only son.
To him, a five-year-old boy who couldn’t do anything was like a parasite.
Then, just half a year later, he talked about “true love” and married a barmaid, which even young Lorantz thought was absurd.
They said they met at a gambling table.
Mr. Bringer bet all his luck and won a large amount of money.
He got Ms.
Bringer, who worked as a dealer and store clerk, became pregnant.
They fell in love so passionately that he proposed, saying, “I will take responsibility.”
When they were fooling around on the upstairs bed, six-year-old Lorantz was on the street, begging and counting the money he earned.
And now, Lorantz had grown up to be the adult who gave bills to a poor street kid with a flipped hat.
“Thank you, sir! Thank you! You’ll be blessed!”
The boy, who got a bunch of bills—not just coins—smiled brightly and bowed.
“What’s going on? You gave away all your charity.”
One of Lorantz’s few remaining childhood friends, Waynes, gave him a suspicious look.
Lorantz had a well-known reputation for being stingy.
Lorantz looked lazy as he flipped through his trump cards and threw away two of them.
“I’m trying to live a little bit doing good now.”
“Wow… so it’s true you got shot in the head during the war.”
“Why is everyone so eager to shoot me in the head?”
“That reward money, was it 50,000 dollars you donated all to the school and the orphanage?”
“It was 100,000 dolrins,” Lorantz corrected coldly. “I also donated to the relief centre.”
“You crazy bastard…”
Waynes flipped his cards.
The others at the gambling table sighed.
The round was over.
But Wayne didn’t care much about the money he won.
He put his arm around Lorantz’s shoulder and laughed loudly.
“I bet the Bringer family is flipping out right now! I can just picture it! So satisfying! Did they fall on their knees yet? You should’ve told that annoying little brat Jowan to kiss your butt. Hahaha!”
“If Jowan kisses my handsome butt, wouldn’t that be more of a win for him than me?”
Though he answered cynically, Lorantz was just as excited as Wayne.
He still had 100,000 dollars in his possession.
The war reward money was 200,000 dolrins, not what people usually thought.
The king paid a lot for his son’s life.
Lorantz felt good about it, and the lazy prince was proud too.
It was true that Lorantz donated 100,000 dollars to the school, orphanage, and relief center.
Instead of getting all 200,000 in cash, he asked the king to donate half of it in his name.
The king happily agreed.
The remaining 100,000 dollars were put in a bank account under a fake name.
This money would later cause the Bringer couple and their big, clumsy son Jowan to lose everything.
“By the way, what happened to the princess’ heir?”
Now they had moved to the bar and were clinking their glasses.
“The prince arranged it. Hey, who calls the prince a middleman? Anyway, lucky guy.”
“If things were going well, you wouldn’t be hanging out here with me now. And mind your own business about other people’s love lives.”
“Aww, that hurts. Are we strangers?”
“Stop that gross talk.”
But Waynes was very interested in Lorantz’s love life, just like the nosy prince.
Why do I only have busybodies around me?
Lorantz clicked his tongue and ignored the rumors Wayne brought from some bar.
“The Earnest Count family would be good.”
Again, the Earnest Count family.
Since Lorantz was a commoner, marrying into a high noble family was hard.
So by process of elimination, the best choice he could get seemed to be the Earnest Count family.
Lorantz said,
“They don’t have any women.”
“Ah, they didn’t, but maybe now they do.”
“What nonsense.”
Is the old count senile, having kids now?
Waynes laughed like he knew what Lorantz was imagining and explained.
“They say there’s a lost granddaughter in the neighbouring country. They even sent a lawyer to bring her back.”
“Neighbouring countries?”
“Guinness.”
Lorantz frowned, thinking about the war there.
Waynes talked on without noticing.
“They say the granddaughter is about the right age. Whoa, if you got with that girl, it’d be perfect.”
“I don’t just look at titles.”
Lorantz was indifferent.
“Her face.”
He wasn’t interested in her face at all.
He asked,
“Is she pretty?”
