Year 1863
Knock ... knock, knock ...
Thea turned around. Without even opening the door, she knew who was standing behind it. The beat was Kay's signature beat. Thea ignored him. She did not move an inch from her place.
Knock... knock, knock ...
One… two… three… four… five… he counted to himself and a third beat was heard.
Knock ... knock, knock ...
This time Thea counted to ten and the door opened.
***
Kay couldn't sleep. He was restless from earlier. He finally got up from his bed and left the room.
He hated fighting with Thea.
He had to see her and solved this uncomfortable feeling.
If the fight dragged on, Kay would not be able to concentrate in the hospital tomorrow as usual. He went to Thea's room and stood in front of her door for a long time.
Kay didn't know what to say. He had no intention of apologizing. He just wanted to talk to Thea. Kay knocked on the door of the room after pacing for a long time there.
Knock ... knock, knock ...
Kay waited and there was no answer. That means Thea didn't want to talk to him. Kay counted to five then knocked again. Still, there was no sign she wanted to see him. He knocked again and counted to ten. Thea still didn't open the door. Kay didn't care. He opened the door as soon as the tithe was over.
Thank goodness during this summer the moon was shining brightly. The natural light that night was able to illuminate a completely dark room. The girl hated being lit by an oil lamp or a candle.
She hated fire.
At first Kay was not used to it, but over the time he was trained to see her in the dark. He found Thea standing with her back to him, facing the window.
"You're awake?" asked Kay. As soon as he got closer, he saw that the girl was still wearing her dress earlier, she had not changed to her night gown at all.
"Are you still angry?"
"You want to apologize to me?"
They both talk at the same time. The two of them stared at each other. Thea nodded, answered Kay's question and Kay shook his head.
He saw Thea's eyes narrowed.
"You don't want to apologize that means you still intend to ask me, right?"
"Yeah ... look ... I really don't want to apologize, but I don't want you to be mad at me."
"Selfish."
"You know that."
Thea snorted. Kay is selfish. He wouldn't apologize if he didn't feel wrong himself.
"Come on… don't be angry with me. I know you don't like us fighting either."
"Just say you won't ask me, then I won't be angry." Thea crossed her arm over her chest.
Kay knew that was the only way for them to make up but he didn't want to say it. Kay opened the window and pulled her to sit on the balcony. He remained standing in front of Thea.
"I've never had good reason to ask you out. You remember, right? You even refuse to study at school."...and you ignored all Kate's efforts either. Kay silently recounted how his little sister thrown tantrum and fought all those young nobles who ridiculed her new friend.
"Now, do you think your match is a good reason?"
"Well… I thought 'I' could be a good reason. I just hope I wasn't wrong. But seeing you mad at me, it seems like I am not strong enough either." Kay sighed. His right hand gently massaged his temple.
"I still hope you will come. I'll have the maid dress you up. Then if you make your hair ... "
Thea gasped. Kay pulled her hair tie. Thea's reddish brown hair fell down over her neck and nape.
"... like this, the marks won't be seen."
"Kay ..."
"I'm so bad… I can't even ask a girl out, how can I get married. If you don't want to accompany me, I won't go either, " Kay smiled pitifully and rubbed Thea's head. "I'm sorry ... even though I'm a doctor, I can't even get rid of that scar."
"Kay, no–"
Kay touched her cheek. "Looks like I have to try harder at the hospital and… seeing that you can already stare at me, means we are good, right?"
His gentle gaze made Thea uncomfortable. She knew Kay cared about her. After she left the orphanage, only Kay really loved her sincerely after Kate. But what would happen if he found out what this woman in front of him was doing?
She's always doing the dirty work behind they back.
A work that only she could do. No. It something she must do.
Blake, Kay's father, was a noble who was trusted by the King and earned the title Earl, the third highest rank in this land. When the first she got here, Blake asked her to be friend with his daughter. But after some time, he sent Kate away and asked her did something else. He called her, gave her an assignment and when the task was done, she came back to report.
Done.
Thea used to do that.
That was her way of paying for the life that Blake gave her, for taking her from that hell.
And Kay and Kate never knew all of this. They must not know at all.
"Ah, I feel hungry suddenly. Shall we eat something?"
Kay's voice pulled Thea out of her mind. "Are you missed your supper?"
"How can I swallow my food when I know you're mad at me?" Kay frowned a little. "Have you eaten?"
"Of course, I am. Why would I starving myself for?" she had a lot of emergencies that required a lot of energy so she couldn't skip eating.
"Heartless. Here I feel that I can't help fighting with you." Kay dragged her into the dining room before ringing the bell for the servant.
Year 1853Xander immediately pushed her out of the kitchen. He grabbed Thea's small hand and ran as far as possible before returning everything to its original place.They returned to the pond.Thea regretted eating well. Now, all of her guts seemed to be coming out after being dragged away by Xander. Her expression was getting worse.Xander, oblivious to that, picked up his fishing rod and turned around."You have to come back soon. Miss Yerez will inspect anyone who is not present at the dinner table." With that, Xander said goodbye.After Xander was out of sight, Thea ran towards the bushes. Everything she had swallowed earlier came out, she couldn't endure it anymore.'Puke...Puke...'Her body trembled after vomiting all of her guts. She washed her mouth and hands with the water from the pond and fell down on her knees.She stared at her reflection on the surface of the water. She had never felt this miserab
Year 1863The servant opened the door for Thea.She saw her uncle and Kay already sitting in the dining room first."Good morning, Uncle," she greeted him and took her place across from Kay. The Uncle, Blake, just nodded slightly. He did not even glance at her.Thea immediately took the spoon. She was used to Blake's attitude."Don't forget to go home early today. Do you understand, Kyle?"Thea stared at Kay. Blake never called his son 'Kay'. That's just what Thea way to called him."Yes, father. I think Thea also wants to come," he said.Thea glared. For almost two days, Kay didn't come home and met her, which made Thea think Kay would never bring that up again.Before Thea opened her mouth, Blake suddenly opened his mouth and agreed."Well, I don't think that's a bad idea. You too, Thea. Go out tonight with Kyle.""But, uncle ..."Blake looked at her. Thea didn't like being stared at by hi
Year 1853Thea chose to spend the rest of the afternoon sitting by the pond. Throughout collecting the second piece of trash, she avoided the other kids as much as possible, let alone the bunch of knee-length jeans boy and his genk.Thea had no intention of getting along well if they themselves didn't want to befriend with her.She sighed.Thea had nothing else to do, other than what Miss Yerez had told her. Her hands had been moving to throw small pebbles into the pond after her task completed. Without aware of the surrounding where she was not alone.Xander smiled. He found the girl on the same spot like yesterday. Fortunately he didn't go fishing so the pebbles she threw wouldn't make a trouble for him. Xander approched her.Thea stared at the far away scenery. Her parents used to take her on picnics in the summer. Typical hardworking father. During the workday, he would really concentrate and ignore Thea and her mother. Even so,
Year 1863She almost screamed.Thea gripped the perfume bottle tightly behind her. Her body stiffened.Did Kay knew what she's been doing? She never said about her dirty work at all.Never.Was she caught?Thea felt her knees weaken. Blake always said she shouldn't be caught by anyone and Thea agreed. Even though the world was collapsed, she didn't want to look any different in front of them. The one who should not know what her did is Kay, and it turned out that this man ..."Why is your face so pale?" Kay approached her."Ka, you said ... I ... am a murderer?" Thea's tongue suddenly froze when she stared at Kay, who nodding firmly."Of course. You kill me in every game we play. Horse racing. Archery. Shoot. Play chess. Fencing… Oh! I forgot. A few days ago I was—"Thea's body almost slumped to the floor if Kay didn't catch her. She, who suddenly short of breath for a moment, rushed to take
Year 1853Thea's neck was sting and sore when the dirty water touched her wound.Adel's eyes widened. After pushed and splashed her with water, she immediately threw the bucket in her hand. She seemed to have just realized what she had done."My hand slip accidentally! I didn't do it on purpose," she said, panicked. "You know too, don't you, Rose?" she was trying to justify herself when she saw a truly terrifying sight. Then Adel ran away from the place."Adeeellll !!! Where are you going?" Rose cursed. She turned to Thea "A- are you okay?""AAAAAAkkhhh! Help me! Aaaaaa, it hurts! Help me! " Thea was crying. She opened and clenched her fists, not daring to touch her neck. "Call someone. Anyone! Help me! "Rose still stood dazed. She ran looking for someone, when she saw Miss Yerez not far from where she was standing, she shouted."Miss Yereeezzz !!!""Why are you running, Rose? A woman can't–!""You must i
Year 1863 The commotion around her suddenly disappeared when Kay left her. Oh come on! Thea didn't want to be left alone with this strange looking man. "So you are Kyle's cousin?" Thea furrowed her brows. Didn't Kay tell you that earlier? "Yes," Thea still replied politely. After all, she was here on behalf of Thea Wilkess, the distant relative of the Earl. At least, Thea had to behave without embarrassing Blake or Kyle. Rupert led her aside. Thea followed him reluctantly. Her body straightened. Thea's neck even stiffened. The summer afternoon wind could not ease her restlessness. Several people began to look curiously as soon as they arrived at a table full of pastries. With her keen hearing, Thea could hear the people whispered about her. "For you, my lady," Rupert raised a glass of white wine and handed it to Thea. "Thank you." Thea immediately took a sip of her drin
Year 1853Thea's thin body jerked.In the quiet night, something happened.Suddenly, something or someone pulled the blanket violently. She couldn't see well as she turned off the light before going to sleep. Her body was dragged off the bed. Thea tried to rebel. But she couldn't fight many people. She was dragged and paraded out of the room."What is this? Let me go!" Thea struggled."SHUT UP!" They didn't expect Thea to fight.She managed to escape from their grip.Thea turned her head in a panic and crawled to save herself. She had no idea what happened. Her instincts told her to run, so she did. But there were five or six people blocking the way and grabbed her back. They kept dragging her like a trash to the backyard."Let me go! What do you want? "They threw Thea on the ground. She tried to stand up. The bigger boy pushed her shoulders down."You witch! Killer!""Shut up!""Don't pret
Year 1863 "Are you all right, Miss?" A man looked at her worriedly. Thea shook her head. "No. I am fine. Thank you." Thea welcomed the man's helping hand politely. "Do you want me to take you somewhere? Somehow you look lost." Thea was silent. Her brain still trying to digest what she heard earlier. Is it possible the talk earlier...all about her? "You are very beautiful, Miss." Thea was stunned. "Erm, I'm sorry if I'm being rude. You seem unwell, but I really want to say it, " the man bowed slightly, feeling guilty. Thea smiled awkwardly. "Thank you." Aware of the discomfort of the woman in front of him, he let go of her grip, bowed and bid farewell. Thea tried to shake her thought. She walked without paying attention to her front when a man appeared around the corner, making herself startled. "Oh! I'm sorry, young lady..." Thea suddenly got her