Chapter 4

It was a word so vulgar that it could not be thought of something that would come out of the King’s mouth, but Judith was consistent with her attitude.
Of course, in her memory, Eland was not qualified as either an older brother or a king, but he wasn’t vulgar like this. At that time, fear weighed down on reason, and there was no chance to figure out what kind of person he was.

After getting rid of her meaningless fear, the man in front of her was a human who wasn’t even worth confronting. Since such a human was sitting there as the King, and even though he practically sold her to Roteia, Tien had no choice but to run towards destruction.

She remembers crying for three days at the news that Tien, her native country, had eventually become a vassal state of the southern regions. Judith smiled bitterly. Less than a year after hearing the news, she was imprisoned in the tower by Queen Gilsis.

Well. Judith vowed not to dwell on such things anymore. Whether or not this luxury-ridden country is destroyed, whether Eland bows his head at the feet of another king and kisses it, whether he swallows his tongue or hangs his neck out of shame, none of that mattered to Judith.

“In Brother’s eyes, your sister must have been so lacking. But if you think about the current situation, you shouldn’t say that to me.”
“What?”

After hearing Judith’s words, Eland’s eyes lit up. But she showed no sign of being afraid. Rather than that, she raised her head stiffly, as if telling him ‘try it if you dare’.

“If I insist on not going to Roteia, what will you do? Are you going to tie me up and sell me, like a slave? If I hang my neck before that, what are you going to give in return for that huge amount of money?”
“Have you gone insane! Who do you think you’re talking to!”
“A little while ago, Brother’s royal attendant said something like that to my maid in front of me. Like servant, like master.”

Slap!

With a loud slap, Judith’s cheek swung to the left. Marianne, who was watching Judith and Eland anxiously from a distance, could not scream even though she wanted to, and opened her mouth.

Eland, who impatiently slapped Judith on the cheek, was startled by his own actions and trembled with his teeth exposed. This was the first time he had touched her except for when he was young.

But, of course, he wasn’t surprised because he was sorry about that. The moment he hit her, without realizing it, Eland got terrified at the thought of what would happen if Judith used this as an excuse to actually hang her neck and die.
If that happened, Roteia would take back the money that they offered for taking Judith. If he can’t pay for the damages, he will have to bow his head to the lowly and neglected King of the southern region.

“J-Judith, you…”
“Judith?”

Judith faked a laugh without even thinking of fixing her messed-up hair. Eland hesitated and withdrew his fingers at the sight of her, which at a glance, seemed to be ferocious.

“You never said my name properly once, and now you call me Judith. Why, Brother. You’re not sorry that you slapped me on the cheek, are you afraid that I’ll use this as an excuse to cry and swallow my tongue?”
“What… What did you say? Are you in your right mind? Suddenly…”
“Brother doesn’t have anything, and the last thing you have to sell is your shabby sister’s body, but you’re afraid that it will all disappear into thin air so you’re calling me Judith so affectionately like that? Don’t worry. Whatever Brother calls me, I will go to Roteia. I will become the consort of Prince Franz.”
“Th-This…”
“So Brother, please live a long and prosperous life.”

With such a long life, at the very end, he will just lie down miserably at others’ feet.

Judith, who said goodbye to Eland, who had a confused expression on his face as if he were out of his mind, came out of the council hall with Marianne.

“What should I do? Princess, are you alright? Let me see your cheek.”

As soon as they got out of the hallway, Marianne grabbed Judith with a crying voice. Her right cheek was swollen and red from how hard she had been slapped.

“I’m fine, I can take this much.”
“What do you mean, you can take this much! Your cheek…”

Marianne suddenly glared at the side where the council hall was situated with tears in her eyes. She could feel the inside of her mouth torn as if she had been extremely beaten up, and a pungent, bloody smell, welling up on the tip of her tongue.

But Judith felt neither pain on her cheek nor inside her torn mouth. Something like this, it was what she used to suffer when she was the princess consort, whenever Queen Gilsis was bored. Compared to the pain of being locked up, being hit in the face was nothing, and it was refreshing to snap back at Eland.

“Let’s go, Princess. I’ll give you a cold compress. The swelling will go down a bit.”

On the verge of tears, Marianne dragged Judith. Although younger than Judith, Marianne was taller and stronger than her. Quietly holding Marianne’s hand, which was warmer than she remembered, Judith grabbed the front of her dress and lowered her head, as she did in the past.

“I have a favor to ask, Marianne.”

Marianne, who was walking while sniffling, looked back, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

“What is it, Miss Judith?”
“Come with me when I go to Roteia.”

Marianne’s tearful eyes widened in surprise. Back then, when Judith first went to Roteia, Marianne wept, saying to take her too. She must have been worried about the weak princess who was not treated properly even in Tien, her native country.

But Marianne’s hometown was also Tien. Her family was here, and as Judith knew, this was around the time when Marianne’s sister had given birth. Marianne probably had to leave the palace shortly after Judith left. After that, she must have met the person she loved and peacefully lived the rest of her life.

But Judith needed Marianne. No one in Roteia could be trusted. Not only the nobles who were afraid of Queen Gilsis, but the servants and maids of the palace were also hostile to Judith, harassing her constantly and alienating her.

It wasn’t until later that she met Cheraan; until then, she had to have someone she could trust and keep by her side.

‘Since I came back, Cheraan must also be alive…’

Judith burst into tears as she thought of Cheraan, who had tried to protect her by resisting Queen Gilsis until the very end.
Since she was upright and righteous, she would not have accepted Judith being incarcerated due to absurd scandals and false accusations. Then, in the end, she was a poor girl who lost Queen Gilsis’ favor and was killed.

“Miss Judith! God, why are you crying? I’ll go, of course I’ll go with you. Alright? Please don’t cry.”

Marianne misunderstood Judith’s sudden cry because she didn’t answer quickly. Judith, who was holding Marianne’s hand, hurriedly wiped away her tears and looked up at her, trying to give strength to her trembling lips.

“It won’t be for long. I… When the time is right, I will definitely send you back first.”
“What?”
“No, no. Tien is no good. Instead of going back to Tien… I will do my best to make sure that you, your family, and the person you will spend the rest of your life with find a peaceful place somewhere. I will definitely do that. So just stay by my side for a few years. Marianne, can you do that?”

Marianne’s face turned red when she suddenly heard about the person she would spend the rest of her life with. She was still only a sixteen-year-old girl. So Judith’s words sounded very distant and sweet.

Leaving that behind was definitely something that Marianne was also hesitant about. But there was no way she could refuse Judith’s request after saying this.
Even if Judith hadn’t said this first, Marianne knew well that she would have followed her herself.

Judith is a weak person. There was something strange about her today, like she had become a different person, but the Judith Marianne knew was fundamentally a weak and slender girl. She was pitiful and she couldn’t leave her alone.

“Miss Judith, what are you worried about? If it’s not me, who serves the Princess, who on earth would go to Roteia with you? I’ll go with you. I’ll go with you wherever you go, so don’t worry. Come on, stop crying. Your cheek is already swollen, your eyes will get swollen too. Let’s go back quickly and apply a cold compress. For lunch, I’ll ask them to make the clam chowder that the Princess likes.”

Marianne spoke with a soft smile. Only then did Judith have a relieved expression, nodding slowly with a faint smile on her face.

*** 

After hearing unbelievable abusive language from Judith (if you think about the usual Judith, you could say that it was abusive language), Eland did not summon her again nor caused a disruption.
It must have been difficult to bear for someone with his character. Nevertheless, he let it go quietly as if it had never happened because Judith’s words were not wrong.

For the first time in his life, Eland felt uneasy for touching Judith. He became anxious with the fear of not knowing what she would do if he touched her wrongly.

Up until now, Judith was so obedient that it wasn’t even fun to provoke her. The Judith that Eland knew would squirm and shed tears whenever he kicked her and pushed her.
But she has changed. He doesn’t know what triggered it, but it was clear that she had changed so much that no one could not notice it.

On the day the compensation note from Roteia arrived, Eland was noticeably relieved as if he could now put his mind at ease. Along with the note, some accessories and fabrics also arrived, and the envoy said they were sent as a gift as a pretext to welcome the princess.
However, all of the accessories and fabrics fell into Eland’s hands. In the end, Judith left for Roteia with nothing, not even a new dress, just like she had done in the first place.

“His Majesty, really…”

Marianne, who was looking at Judith’s carriage loaded with simple luggage, pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. Even though the Princess was leaving, the only people that came to see her off were the royal attendant and three or four low-ranking nobles who were sent out to make the preparations.

But Judith had no complaints. Because Marianne was going with her, unlike back then. Even without a dowry, even if the clothes she was wearing were far out of fashion, she didn’t feel the need to be intimidated.

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