Chapter 2
***
‘What should I do?’
lody hesitantly reached out her hand to comfort the sobbing child.
Her fingers nearly touched the soft golden hair.
However, she couldn’t bring herself to go any further, fearing that Loretta would beco even more frightened or saddened.
Stuck in an awkward distance, the child eventually buried herself under the covers.
As if she sensed lody’s attempt to stroke her hair.
‘…After all, to Loretta, I’m no different from a slave trader.’
lody withdrew her hand that had been hovering in the air.
She lingered uncertainly by the rain-streaked window but couldn’t bring herself to wish the child goodnight.
* * *
lody didn’t give up and continued trying to take good care of Loretta.
About a week later, Loretta began to give lody brief glances.
It was only for a few seconds, and she would quickly turn away, but it was progress.
lody was happy to make even fleeting eye contact with the child, feeling her efforts were sohow paying off.
“Loretta, are you hungry?”
Now, Loretta didn’t imdiately hide in the corner when lody approached with a basket.
Still wary, she would quickly escape to the wall if their eyes t.
But she no longer trembled as before.
“Here’s so bread and milk. Eat whenever you’re comfortable.”
As always, lody left the basket and exited the room. The child promptly ate the bread, leaving none behind.
‘She’s cute. Like a little squirrel.’
lody quietly watched her munching on the bread and smiled proudly.
Then, unexpectedly, their eyes t.
“……”
“……?”
For a bit longer this ti.
Long enough for Loretta’s big eyes to blink several tis.
“……”
“……”
Could this be a sign that Loretta was starting to open up?
“lody! Co here right now!”
But this strange ‘eye contact’ mont was cut short by my mother’s shout from outside.
“Sorry, I have to go to my mother. You should eat slowly, okay?”
As lody stood up, the child just bowed her head, not responding.
* * *
That night, sumr rain fell again. lody was glad for the coolness it brought after the day’s heat, but she also worried.
‘The clouds are heavy. What if it thunders?’
Actually, lody wasn’t particularly afraid of thunder and lightning.
But ever since recalling how her past self feared them, she began to feel the sa.
As if she was becoming more like her past self in thoughts and feelings.
As the sky darkened, hearing my mother snoring in her room, lody imdiately went to find Loretta.
The child seed to be waiting for her, getting up from her spot as soon as lody opened the door.
‘Recently, Loretta hasn’t been falling asleep while sobbing.’
That must be a sign that she’s feeling a bit more at ease.
“Co here, let’s go to my room and sleep.”
Before lody could even finish her soft invitation, Loretta scurried over to stand in front of her.
‘…Oh.’
It was good that she ca closer, but…
The child’s face looked scared, as if she feared sothing.
‘Did mother do sothing to her?’
Worried, lody led Loretta to her room and gave up her bed to her.
The child imdiately curled up and started sobbing softly.
Just like the first day she arrived.
‘Sothing really must have happened!’
Panicked and not knowing what to do, lody didn’t dare to stroke the child’s hair.
‘What should I do? What should I do?’
In her confusion, she decided to slightly open a window.
Although it was raining a bit, the cool breeze might comfort Loretta.
Click.
As she opened the window a crack, the moist wind blew in, fluttering the curtains.
The sound of the rain should have been comforting, but…
“Uh, ueeeeng…”
It didn’t work. If anything, the child’s crying seed to get louder.
lody quickly closed the window. As the sound of the rain hitting it diminished, so did Loretta’s crying.
‘…Why?’
Even though thunder and lightning are scary, the sound of rain is usually soothing.
lody approached the still curled-up child, and suddenly rembered what her mother had said on the day she brought Loretta.
“Today is really a lucky day. On my way back from the auction, I found a carriage that had an accident in the rain. Look at this, lody.”
Rain…
‘The rain… It was raining then.’
The day Loretta’s life had tragically changed.
lody now understood why the child had wriggled into the blankets.
She must have been trying to escape the sound of the rain, which constantly reminded her of the terrible accident.
What to do?
lody had closed the window and drawn the thin curtains, but the sound of the rain still seeped into the room.
‘I don’t want to force her to listen to sothing that scares her.’
After so contemplation, lody moved closer to Loretta.
For the first ti in two weeks, she reached out to the child again. But her fingers hesitated, awkwardly curling instead of touching.
Did she sense my presence? The child curled up even smaller.
“I-I’m sorry!”
lody quickly retracted her hand in alarm, but then realized Loretta hadn’t recoiled because of her.
The rain had intensified. The tapping sound on the window must have resembled what the child heard inside the carriage.
“It’s really scary, isn’t it? You know, I get scared of thunder and lightning and cover my ears just like you.”
Perhaps driven by urgency, lody blurted out sothing she’d never told anyone.
“I an, I haven’t tried it, but if you cover your ears with both hands, it might block out more sound.”
“……”
“So, if I put my hands over yours…”
Perhaps it was the novelty of lody’s longer-than-usual speech, but Loretta, who had been leaning in the corner of the bed, slowly turned to face lody, still covering her ears with her small hands. Under the faint light of a candle, they looked at each other, just as they had during the day.
“Um, so…”
Gathering courage, lody brought her hands to Loretta’s ears.
“How about this? Does it make the rain sound quieter?”
“……”
“Doesn’t it make the rain sound a little softer?”
lody tried to smile at Loretta, her face sared with tears, hoping to provide so reassurance.
“……”
“Still… sa.”
But the response that ca after a while was quite different from what lody expected.
“Is that so?”
Feeling awkward, lody was about to withdraw her hands when Loretta seed about to cry again. Quickly, she covered the child’s ears again.
‘It won’t make her cry more, will it?’
Contrary to her worries, Loretta’s face looked a bit more relaxed.
“That’s good.”
lody whispered softly. Soon, Loretta shifted slightly backwards, as if to make room for lody on the bed.
With her arms getting tired from standing and covering her ears, lody accepted the kind offer. The narrow bed was just enough for the two young and small girls.
“Loretta.”
lody called the child’s na softly.
She thought Loretta might not hear her with her ears covered, but the child’s frightened eyes looked straight at her.
“It’s okay. Chapter 1 is very short.”
“……?”
“Um, I an.”
How should she explain?
Even though they were lying together on the sa bed, their situations were completely different.
lody was destined to live this impoverished life, born in this world and continuing up to now.
But Loretta was different.
This brief Chapter 1 was just a fleeting mont to gain the reader’s sympathy.
Loretta would soon hold happiness and luxury in her small hands that lody could never dream of.
“So what I an is… Loretta will be happy soon. So…”
“……”
“Don’t be scared, let’s go to sleep.”
Did lody’s feelings get through? Loretta nodded slightly.
As ti passed, the sound of rain grew louder.
Yet, Loretta’s breathing gradually beca more stable.
They say sleep is contagious. Before long, lody too fell asleep.
The rain continued until morning, but the two girls were unaware of how long it had lasted.
* * *
After spending the night together, Loretta seed to open up more to lody.
“rodi.”
Despite her clumsy pronunciation, she began to call lody by her na.
“Let’s eat with Loreta.”
She even suggested eating als together, which she used to eat alone secretly.
lody intensified her ‘be kind to Loretta’ strategy.
She sneakily prepared tasty snacks behind her mother’s back and combed her hair beautifully.
They picked up discarded newspapers from the street to read together, though the reading was brief, and they soon folded the papers into boat shapes and played.
After another two weeks, Loretta and lody beca very close.
As a testant, Loretta started following lody everywhere.
She mimicked everything lody did and smiled whenever their eyes t.
And when her mother wasn’t around, she would quickly approach and grab lody’s hand, saying, “rodi, I like you so much.”
That shy confession was so adorable that lody couldn’t stop her grinning lips.
If the protagonist says such things…
When the Duke cos to rescue Loretta, would bowing in apology be enough for forgiveness?
No, that’s too happy a fantasy.
Considering the misdeeds her mother had accumulated, it wouldn’t be so simple.
Would she be whipped…?
That seems quite painful… But it’s a much better outco compared to the original story.
Alright, let’s try to minimize our guilt until the Duke cos.
At least to avoid death!
Just then, Loretta hugged her tightly, saying, “rodi, you’re so pretty.”
Such a kind child.
lody gently patted her small back leaning against her, thinking, ‘This adorable little one.’
Reviews
All reviews (0)