Bick made a "please" gesture, and under Ariana’s guidance, Tang Ye went upstairs to the second floor, then entered the bedroom at the end. Bick’s wife first made Tang Ye a cup of tea, smiled at him, and then left the room with the child, casually closing the door.
"Alright, can we talk now?"
"Hmm."
"This matter is a bit lengthy to explain, but I’ll give you the short version."
"Hmm, that’s better."
Bick swallowed, and finally started telling Tang Ye about what had happened to Dairya.
The woman never told Bick’s family her na directly, but her na was Léonor, which they learned from others. It was said that she was very beautiful when she was young and highly admired by the n around her. However, among the many n pursuing her, she chose a man nad Dagbot Angelo. His profession was different from ordinary people; he was a rcenary, often walking between life and death on the battlefield. She t him in a tavern, and was imdiately attracted to his humorous and witty way of speaking. In just half a year, they were together, but it was only after marrying him that Léonor discovered his occupation, but it was too late to regret.
As a rcenary, Dagbot was away on missions most of the year and rarely ca ho. Léonor, virtually living as a widow, could only see Dagbot two or three tis a year. It was not until she beca pregnant that Dagbot made ti to visit her, but even then, the visits were infrequent—sotis less than once a month. Despite making a lot of money on the battlefield and enabling Léonor to live a wealthy lifestyle, it didn’t make her happy.
Dagbot seed unconcerned with Léonor’s ntal state. Each visit appeared to be rely for the sake of the child in her womb.
After carrying Dairya for ten months, Léonor inevitably suffered from postpartum depression. She told no one and struggled alone to raise Dairya. Dagbot loved the child very much; every ti he returned, he would bring her new toys and clothes, dressing her like a princess. Only at these tis did the insane woman Léonor feel any warmth from the family.
One day, Dagbot suddenly told Léonor that he would retire from rcenary work after the year, taking his final wages to live a normal life with her, free from such dangerous work. She looked forward to it and had great hopes for life, but reality was often cruel. This hope did not last long. One day, she saw his corpse being carried to their doorstep. At that mont, pent-up emotions erupted completely. It was as if she beca a different person, believing that everything was the fault of her child Dairya. Her husband had lived for decades on the edge of life and death without incident, until after Dairya was born, when he was killed by enemies!
In the years after their marriage, Léonor ca to understand that n are never held captive by won, only by children who are a part of their body. She and he did not have many ties. Léonor was no longer the innocent and naive girl of years past; she no longer believed that a man would be with her forever because of her beauty.
Perhaps, after becoming pregnant with Dairya, Dagbot’s reason for going to the battlefield was no longer solely for his own hedonistic lifestyle, but for the family that now included a child. Dairya was his most important concern.
Did Léonor love him? She did. Otherwise, she wouldn’t believe that Dagbot died because of his concern for Dairya. Without Dairya, perhaps he would have safely appeared before her as before!
After Dagbot’s death, the rcenary group he was with paid her a large sum of compensation, but this did not change her mindset. She no longer had any patience for Dairya, becoming furious at Dairya’s crying and tearing apart her things, even resorting to hitting her until Dairya was too scared to cry. Sotis, just passing by would cause Léonor to grab Dairya and interrogate her about why she was there, beating her with whatever was around, stopping only when Dairya knelt and begged for rcy. It seed that only by doing this could Léonor relieve her emotions.
Perhaps knowing that her actions were outrageous, Léonor began to be afraid. She was not afraid of others knowing about her behavior, but that her husband’s ghost would return to seek retribution!
Therefore, she joined the church, praying and reading the Bible daily, attempting to alleviate her guilt in this way. But the effect was minimal. She began using money to buy items said to be "blessed," like images of gods or objects with exorcising power, to prevent her husband’s ghost from finding her!
Gradually, her behavior beca increasingly irrational in her quest to collect such "exorcising" items. She would purchase anything, regardless of its authenticity, if others claid it had exorcising properties, never doubting their words, spending large sums freely. No one knew how many tis she had been deceived, yet she remained eager for more.
She never cared whether Dairya lived or died. Even Dairya’s chance to go to school was provided by kind-hearted people in society.
These days continued, and the money Dagbot earned over the years, combined with the compensation from his death, was nearly squandered by Léonor. Poverty beset her, but Léonor still did not give up. She even considered selling Dairya to other families for a re fifty thousand pesos, but, fortunately, nobody accepted, and she had to sell their mansion and move to this place, co-renting with Bick and his family, which is how they got to know her and Dairya.
During this cohabitation period, the Bick couple couldn’t bear to watch Léonor’s brutality towards Dairya. They once tried to negotiate with Léonor, offering forty thousand pesos to buy Dairya. Incredibly, Léonor agreed, but she had one condition: Bick’s family must take Dairya to live elsewhere.
However, Bick’s family was not wealthy and lived frugally. Living here was already a stroke of luck, and they had to forgo the offer because of this condition.
Recently, for unknown reasons, Dairya suddenly started living in the small space under the stairs, curling up there after school and refusing to co out. This behavior infuriated the already nervous Léonor. She madly demanded that Dairya leave, trying to break open the door with a stool, and even locked the door daily to prevent her from returning ho. Each ti Dairya wanted to enter, she needed Bick’s help.
Afterwards, Tang Ye witnessed the scene you described.
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