This is the first of two consecutive posts for the day.
In the swaying carriage, during a four-day journey—I was passing the time by sewing. I had brought out a nearly completed outfit along with my tools.
It also served as excellent cold weather gear. The driver had taken over the blanket, and I was told to get in as well. I draped the clothing over my shoulders like a cloak, and also used it to hide my skin.
Rattle, rattle, rattle... Truly, it was a very bumpy carriage. I would drift into a light sleep and dream every day.
In a workshop in the greasy artisan district, I dreamed of setting up a workshop amidst rough men, and becoming a clothing artisan. I wanted to do fulfilling work, and live a human life, laughing and getting angry with my close friends.
I didn’t want to get married at all.
Such a luxurious dream, I thought I had long since given up on it.
—But I wasn’t prepared for what happened to me.
“Stop it!”
A man was on top of me, pinning me down with his weight as he struggled with the buttons on my dress.
“Damn it. A lady’s dress is just too hard to take off.”
I resisted with all my might, but it was no use. I was just flailing my limbs pointlessly.
Clang! —It seemed my foot had kicked up the bag, scattering my travel belongings on the floor.
“Shut up, stay still!”
“Ah!”
I was slapped across the face. My fragile neck couldn’t withstand the shock, and my vision went dark. I tried to resist with words, my tongue stumbling.
“Do you know what will happen to you? I am the fiancée of a viscount. My body already belongs to him. If the viscount finds out about this, you’re finished...!”
I thought it was a brilliant threat. But the man just grinned.
“Let’s see. Maybe it’s you who will end up finished, miss. A noble lord has plenty of other candidates for a fiancée. Would he marry a baron’s daughter who has been defiled by a foreigner?”
“What—what are you saying?”
“Worse, you might be charged with adultery and kicked out, with the baron’s family demanding compensation. Then—haha, your stingy father would be happy to take you back.”
S...such a thing... Father... the viscount... surely...
The man laughed at my frozen state.
“It’s better for both of us to keep this a secret. Because you, with your beautiful body, have no other value besides being a source of money.”
My vision went dark. It wasn’t from the terrible insult or anger, but because I had, for a moment, agreed with the man’s words.
Seeing my limp state, the man happily continued to undress me. When he had taken off my undergarments, he started to undress himself. I turned my face away to avoid seeing his ugly form.
—In my blurred vision, something glinted. In the darkness, a silver object reflected the moonlight.
Was it something that had spilled out when I kicked the bag? What was it? It was beautiful...
Lying on my back, I reached out. My fingers touched something hard. Instantly, I understood. It was my large, beloved pair of sewing shears, which I had used for years.
—Without thinking, I gripped it and slashed at the man’s fingers touching my skin.
—The man’s scream of pain was delightful. I kicked his crotch while he was clutching his hand, and jumped up. I kicked him again and shouted loudly.
“Does it hurt? Take that, you bastard!!”
The man groaned and reached for me. There was no time to put on the dress, so I grabbed a piece of fabric nearby—a homemade man’s outfit—and jumped out of the carriage.
It was a riverbank. It was pitch dark, and a large amount of water was flowing nearby. I ran, stepping on river stones with bare feet.
I was caught sooner than expected. I was pulled down to the ground by my hair from behind.
“You’re not getting away...!”
The man was desperate. If I escaped, his life would be over. It wasn’t about desire anymore; it was about self-preservation. He pinned me down.
My face was half-buried in the gravel, but it was okay; I still had the scissors. I slashed at the man’s fingers again. He screamed, but didn’t let go of my hair.
“—Damn it, you’re annoying!”
I cut my own hair. Most of it remained in the man’s hand, and I was free.
I heard footsteps approaching. I realized I couldn’t escape by running.
Fortunately, it was very dark. I lifted a large stone, as big as a baby—lift, ugh, it’s heavy... I lifted it!
With a silent, determined voice in my head, I threw the stone into the turbulent river.
—Splash. A loud splash and a water column.
“Did he fall in!?”
The man, who had run to the riverbank and peered into the water, was distracted. I took the opportunity to slip into the darkness, quietly, quietly...
I kept my distance and watched from behind a tree. The man, holding his head in his hands, returned to the carriage.
When his back was completely out of sight—I laughed.
“Stupid, stupid, you’ve been fooled!”
It felt great. It was delightful. I felt like I had accomplished something big.
I laughed loudly as I walked down the road.
Naked, with just a man’s outfit on. My long, golden hair, which I had grown for years, was now short and messy. I had no money, no food, no water.
I was completely empty.
Oh, things have gotten really bad. If I visit the viscount in this state, I’ll be turned away at the gate. Father will disown me, and Mother will scream and faint. Then I’ll have nothing. My life will be over.
But I was still delighted.
“I escaped, take that. Take that, you bastard—damn it. ...Damn it. I’m alive...”
The night in the Kingdom of Dilts, just as spring had begun, was cold.
My hands and feet were numb, and I was about to faint. I had nowhere to go, no landmarks to guide me, and I just kept walking... just walking...
Rattle, rattle, rattle... The sound of carriage wheels on the paved road. Immediately after, the shrill neighing of a horse and a man’s shout.
“—Whoa, that’s dangerous! Hey, kid, don’t wander in the middle of the road!”
I looked up and fainted backward.
The old man in the carriage, Smith Norman, was a button maker from the capital’s artisan district. He had retired two years ago and moved to the countryside, but was returning to the capital for a big job.
I realized I had been saved when a hot milk was offered to me. Still groggy from sleep, Norman sighed.
“Can’t you even say thank you, kid?”
“K-kid?”
I was confused for a moment, but then I remembered I had cut my hair and was wearing men’s clothes. And my figure—well, even so, would a twenty-year-old woman look like a boy?
“What, not a kid? The driver called you that, so I thought you were a child.”
That’s when I noticed the old man’s eyes were white and cloudy. Maybe this old man is blind...
If so, it was fortunate. Even if he was an old man, if he found out I was a woman, who knows what he might do. I didn’t want to go through that again.
“No, no, I’m not. Thank you for helping me. I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“Kid, what’s your name?”
“I, I’m, A—Arthur.”
“Arthur, huh. Where were you going? Where’s your home? Your family?”
I couldn’t answer any of his questions. If my true identity was known, I would be taken to the viscount or my family. I wanted to avoid that, at least for half a day to rest. I told him a nearly true lie, that I was from a poor family and had been sold to a pervert.
The old man seemed to believe my clumsy lie.
“I see... Well, take your time. I can’t offer much, but I have to work.”
“Work... How do you do it, being blind?”
“Materials and craftsmanship can be identified by touch. The placement of the equipment is the same as when I left, so I remember it.”
Indeed, the hot milk he had made for me was proof of that. In this workshop and home, he seemed to have little trouble.
“But I can’t read. I can’t take orders for materials or notes from customers, or write down names and addresses. I can’t do it alone.”
The next morning, I was allowed to tour Norman’s workshop.
I had thought it would be a dull retail store, but that was a complete misunderstanding. They didn’t sell mass-produced items; they made custom-ordered buttons to meet customer requests. They used ivory and real gemstones to create something that could hold a simple piece of fabric and turn it into a dress. It was more like jewelry than buttons. In fact, they also took on jobs for jewelry that weren’t even brooches.
The current job was for the third prince of the country, a wedding ring with a national treasure-level stone. I was surprised.
The workshop had not only precious metals but also many fabrics, threads, tanned leather, and even completed clothing. The buttons were the main focus, but Norman was... also a clothing artisan.
A thought, perhaps a selfish one, came to me.
I can read for Norman. Could I be hired as a receptionist here...?
“Extra! Extra! News!”
A newspaper was thrown through the window. This seemed to be a common occurrence in the capital, and Norman, though a bit annoyed, asked me to read it. I said, “Sure, leave it to me,” and opened the newspaper... and let out a small scream.
—Last night, an accident occurred near the capital’s canal. The fiancée, Anastasia Shadaran, who was swept away and is missing, is sought. Those who bring her to the castle will be rewarded—Cyrus Granado.
“What’s wrong, Arthur? What’s the article about?”
“Ah... Ducks, the market is having a big sale on roasted ducks!”