Prologue – The woman of the Governor
………………………………
Dry wind blew in.
Because of this, the plants that were in the garden looked less lively than usual. Deertes quietly walking amidst the plants. Her falling platinum blonde hair was neatly combed and shimmered in the light. Her green eyes, that seemed to capture the greenery of the summer forest, slowly blinked.
As her fingers touched the broad-leafed tree, the drooping leaves slowly began to regain vitality.
It was a sight that anyone who saw it would doubt their eyes. Yet the woman swept the plants with a disinterested manner as if this were something that came naturally to her.
After a while, the plants that she had passed by were now much more lively than before. The garden has once again regained its usual appearance.
Then, the woman sat down next to the fountain and the centre of the garden. Where the water was beginning to dry up.
Deertes.
She sighed briefly as the trees and grass proceeded to call out her name. The voices of the plants seemed to be waiting for an answer from her, but she said nothing. After calling to her a few more times, the plants soon quietened down.
With the dry wind now blowing her face, Deertes wrapped a scarf around her shoulders.
The nape where he bit and sucked was still throbbing. When she looked at the mirror, there were traces of red, but at least it was not blue. Now, it was not embarrassing to show such a body to the maids, albeit her chest and arms underneath the clothes are worse.
Additionally, there was a sharp pain in her shoulder where she had been injured before.
Deertes’ eyes became blurred when she touched her shoulder.
‘Now it’ll take longer to recover…’
Three days ago, after a few days of heavy rain, Deertes’s shoulder started to hurt badly. As a result, this worsened her fever and before long, it was impossible for her to even get up properly. Her head hurt due to the heat, her body was sticky due to her sweat. However, her face did not show an ounce of irritation upon thinking back on those days.
On that day, she met Lachlan. She thought that she would not mind if she were to die from this pain. Actually no, she thought it would be okay to end her life like this.
Deertes looked up at the sky. The sun was now falling in the cloudless sky.
The horizon at which the sun was falling was coloured with brilliant gold. As it moved away from the light, the surrounding was a mix of purples, blues and reds. There a long line of birds flew over the sky.
Even though she knew it was a futile idea, she envied the birds. Birds are allowed to cross the mountains and seas so freely.
“My Lady.”
As Deertes was complaining about herself in the garden, the maids quietly and quickly called after her. They were maids who were watching her while she was there waiting.
“He’s just passed through the door. He’ll be here soon.”
Deertes nodded helplessly at the fearful voices of the maids.
She did not even need to question who was the one arriving. There’s only one person in the house in which the maids are afraid of, Lachlan.
She had assumed that he would not appear today. Considering the fact that she had arrived yesterday and he had bothered her till dawn, but it appears even that was not enough. Deertes stared at the clear sky a while longer before turning around.
“I’ll make my way there now.”
Contrary to her unwillingness to attend, her body immediately walked towards the mansion. Nothing would change even if she hesitated here anyway. No, if he were to find out she was not in the mansion, he’ll be the one who comes to find her. When he finds her, he will pull down her clothes on the spot.
It was clear that the maids would not pay any attention or care about her until she took care of herself whether maids were around or not.
She got goosebumps as she recalled memories of the past. Deertes sighed as she swept down her arms. She was already shaking so much just thinking about how much she would be harassed tonight. After that day, it was as if Lachlan had turned into a completely different person.
The man who gifted her flowers and carefully hugged her slowly disappeared. Yet, she stayed. Forced into the room every night with degrading words.
‘…Wouldn’t it have been better to die then?’
Deertes bit her tongue as she recalled the day he came here.
Soon the metallic tang of blood filled her nose. Perhaps if she were to greet Lachlan when he came in and kissed him, she will be able to make an impression on him. ‘Again’, he would say as if he were sorry. But he would end up whispering ‘then it doesn’t matter if I hurt you more.’
Deertes began to feel stuffy. The newly accumulated hatred, resentment, and self-blame spread throughout her body. Turning the corner of the garden, she tried soothing her shortness of breath.
Soon after, the front porch of the building came into view.
On the road beyond the gate, there were horses that were running this way. The servants were lined up side by side and were ready to greet their owners. In the meantime, Helen, a maid, held out the wet towel in her hands without a single word. When Lachlan would get off of his horse, he would ask for it to be handed over.
Under the towel, Deertes could easily read Helen. The resentment in her gaze as she passed by. ‘I blame you for all this.’
Her hand gripped the towel so tightly that it made her nails turn white. Meanwhile, the fast-paced horse stopped in front of Deertes. She looked at the person sitting atop the horse, the dark skin and black hair flying in the wind caught her eyes.
Lachlan Lloyd Hamilton.
The Governor of Endeavour. And Deertes’s master.
When the servants took hold of the reins, Lachlan immediately jumped off the horse and approached Deertes.
“How are you, Deertes?”
“…”
She was definitely not doing well. The body which had suffered the whole night was still screaming in pain. What was more painful than that was the pain she felt in her shoulder. Thinking back on her broken shoulder, Deertes threw the towel at him with trembling arms.
Lachlan laughed and hugged her at her waist. The smell of sweat, the smell of dirt, the smell of blood, and the smell of gunpowder were mixed. It was an unfamiliar smell of slaughter. She twisted her body in disgust and pushed him away with her hands.
“Sorry, I wanted to come back sooner, but I was busy catching Bernst’s rats.”
“…!”
Hearing the word ‘Bernst’, Deertes stopped moving. Lachlan did not care about Deertes’ reaction and buried his face in her hair. The finely combed hair was filled with the scent of summer flowers and the smell of grass. It was also the scent he had drunk all night yesterday.
“Why? You must be glad that Richard hasn’t given up on you yet, right?
“…”
Deertes shut her mouth. She did not want to hear any more of the words that came out of his mouth. As soon as she tried to turn her head away, her jaw was caught in his right hand.
“Now, shouldn’t you also know when to give up? He knows how many nights you’ve spent calling my name…”
With that, Deertes raised her hand.
With a sound of a slap across a cheek, Lachlan’s face was now imprinted with a handprint. However, thanks to his skin colour, which was much darker than others, it was not very noticeable.
Lachlan, who was just slapped, smiled instead of frown. On the contrary, the faces of the servants next to him seemed tired.
It was not only the servants who were fed up, Deertes’ face instantly flooded with regret. The more she reacted, the happier Lachlan in turn became.
“Looking at how energetic you are, it seems you’ll be able to afford to eat a meal at a later time.”
Lachlan lifted Deertes up with the strength in his arms that were wrapped around her waist.
“Let me go!”
“Don’t come up unless I call.”
The servants quietly bowed their heads at his command.
“Release me!”
Deertes tried struggling on his shoulder but it was all in vain. Embracing her waist, Lachlan ran up the stairs of the mansion and headed for the room. Everything from the wallpaper to the bedding, the room was filled with all the things she likes. A prison specifically built for her.
Soon, Deertes fell onto the bed. Without giving her a chance to stand up, Lachlan came up to her.
The night will begin as per usual.
The moment she realised that, Deertes closed her eyes. How much longer will she have to butter someone up.
“Deertes Evelyn Russell.”
It was a friendly voice that made her ears melt just listening to it. A voice that choked Deertes. It was as if she had returned to the past just by listening to it. Soon, she realised it was merely a part of her fantasy.
Now she knows that whenever Lachlan calls her sweetly, it is the day where she gets treated the most harshly. Like he was saying ‘all that happened in the past was a lie.’
Lachlan hugged Deertes’ body, which was cowering under him, and put his face at the back of her neck. There it was, a hot damp thing that slid past the neck and towards the collarbone.
Price. The master’s price. The price in exchange for staying alive and being able to breathe.
Lachlan’s hands moved quickly. In a flash, all her clothes were gone. Deertes was familiar with what the people in Endeavour called her.
The woman of the Governor.
She did not come to this land to be called such a name. She boarded a ship to the continent of Saul to marry Richard Fraser at the king’s suggestion. If it had gone as per scheduled, she would have been living in Bernst, not Endeavour, as the wife of Richard Fraser, not the governor of this country.
But now, Deertes had to grit her teeth to avoid moaning under Endeavour’s Lachlan, not Bernst’s Richard.
Lachlan, who had raised his head again to stick his nose at her head, said in a voice that he felt like he was finally breathing.
“I’ve missed you all day, my forest fairy.”