Chapter 9
“Argh!”
A scream burst out of her throat. The white light felt as hot as a burning fire. Karina rolled over the hard marble floor.
It felt like her whole body was on fire that couldn’t be put out. Karina kept screaming, but no one helped her.
‘I’m going to die like this.’
Karina banged the floor with her fist. She couldn’t die like this. Because…!
‘If I die, the children…’
She came to her senses with that thought. The children only knew that Karina had gone to buy new clothes.
Since the children don’t have any money, the innkeeper will kick the two of them out to the street in just one day.
‘They’ll think I ran away with the money.’
Tears of regret and worry, not pain, filled Karina’s eyes. Tors is warm so there’s no way she freezes to death on the street.
With a little more luck, someone kind could have taken the children to an orphanage, but the wounds inflicted will never be erased.
‘They’ll think they’ve been abandoned twice.’
Karina regretted it and regretted it again. Why did she enter this jewelry store?
Why didn’t the jeweler take the cursed stone instead of throwing it away?
Why…!
Just then, she felt a cold sensation in her right hand. Karina clung as if the chill was a helping hand.
‘Did someone pour water on me? More, more… pour more.’
The water wasn’t felt, but the cold didn’t subside either.
Rather, it started with Karina’s right hand, then cooled her left hand, shoulders, chest, and finally her entire body.
‘It’s water… isn’t it?’
Even amidst the heat, questions arose. It was because the cold air didn’t cool down over time and as time went by, the presence felt stronger.
As if an ice sculpture was hugging her.
How long has it been?
The pain that feels like eternal hell finally subsided, but she couldn’t be relieved yet.
If she let her guard down for a moment, she felt like she would just be swallowed up by the pain again.
Karina opened her eyes very slowly.
‘…?’
A while ago, the pure white light blinded her, but now it’s all dark and she can’t see ahead.
Karina, who was afraid she might be blind, raised her hands and tried to rub her eyes.
But both her hands were held by a strong man’s hand, and she couldn’t move even the slightest bit.
‘…!’
Only then did Karina understand the situation. She was burying her face in the strange man’s chest, holding her hands together.
The reason why she couldn’t see was that the man was wearing a black top.
Karina immediately screamed and pushed the man away. She staggered back a step or two and saw the strange man looking at her with a puzzled face.
Surprisingly, he was such a handsome young man that she thought he was handsome in this situation. Silver hair with a sculpture-like face. He looked three or four years older than Karina.
He had a cold impression as if he had breathed into a piece of ice, but she felt a sense of humanity in his embarrassment.
Karina turned her head in embarrassment at the situation itself, but his blue eyes continued to follow her as if she had hit a celadon fly.
(T/N: Celadon is expensive pottery)
Confused, Karina stuttered a few words. Trying not to remember what she did to this guy’s chest.
But despite the efforts, her face blushed to the memory of digging into his arms to escape the heat.
“Wh- what are you…”
“If it wasn’t for me, you’d already been dead.”
Her heart pounded at the blunt answer.
As the situation completely calmed down, the surrounding area seemed so peaceful, she was starting to think that even the heat that was coming over her as if she was going to burn herself to death wasn’t her illusion.
But Karina really almost died. Leaving the two children waiting for her alone in that grim, filthy inn.
In other words, this man was a benefactor to her and the children. She opened her lips to say thank you, but the shock was so great that nothing came out of her mouth.
“If I hadn’t stopped the explosion, your body would have been shattered with this store.”
The man uttered a word, turned right away, and said to the jeweler.
“Are you out of your mind, displaying such dangerous objects?”
“…Your Grace Duke the blood on your head hasn’t dried up yet, you’d better watch your mouth. Who would have known that such a woman would show up?”
(T/N: It’s a Korean idiom that has the same meaning as ‘still wet behind the ears’ which means that person is too young to do/say something rude.)
Karina froze in on the spot.
A duke!
She was saved by a duke a while ago
It was a story that would only appear in romance novels that maids read until the newspapers were worn out, but it wasn’t pleasant for Karina at all.
Life at Lord Lenque’s mansion taught Karina a lesson. Don’t come into contact with the aristocracy in any way. They don’t treat commoners as human beings. Especially if it’s an illegitimate child.
It wasn’t just a story limited to Lord Lenque’s mansion, but it was also a story that came up in the history books that Karina had learned in her previous life.
It had nothing to do with Lord Lenque being harsh on his maternal nephews.
His sister married a commoner.
Their children, Roland and Melissa, were called lady and young master at Lord Lenque’s mansion, but they were commoners who had no title to inherit themselves.
Only in the novel did Lord Lenque announce Roland as his successor to his baron title, but it was in the distant future.
Like Lord Lenque, there are probably many aristocrats in the world who treat commoners only as tools. There was no law that this man in front of her eyes wouldn’t do the same.
So what to do in this situation was simple and clear.
“Thank you, Duke.”
After politely saying thank you, disappear from the scene as quickly as possible.
It was time for Karina to run outside as soon as possible, refusing to pay attention to anything in the store. An arrogant, cold voice grabbed her by the foot.
“Stop.”
Karina slowly turned around.
If the man was a baron like Lord Lenque, Karina would have ignored his orders and ran away.
But he’s the Duke.
‘The Duke of Tors… is the only Duke in Tors!’
In the duchy, the duke has more influence than the emperor. Basically, the king of the country had personally ordered her to stop.
Karina became pale, bruise to death like a death row inmate whose death sentence had just been dropped.
The Duke of Tors was also quite at odds with Roland as an adult in the novel she had read in her previous life.
Of course, Karina didn’t mean to blame for a future that hasn’t happened yet, but she was bound to be wary.
“Why did you try to run away?”
“I didn’t mean to run away.”
Karina wasn’t an idiot, so she immediately countered the Duke’s statement.
“I just wanted to get out of here quickly because I was scared.”
“What are you afraid of?”
The Duke frowned. He looked as if he didn’t understand at all.
“It just happened, isn’t it unusual that it’s not scary? I was just about to die, Duke.”
“For a scared woman, your tongue is very sharp.”
“That’s the way I am. I’m sorry if I offended you.”
Karina raised the corners of her lips.
The only reason she could bear the pressure at Lord Lenque’s mansion was that she hadn’t buried the words that she had to say in her heart.
The Duke’s power was, of course, no match for Lord Lenque, but Karina’s feelings were the same as back then.
If you can’t avoid it, bump into it.
“No, it doesn’t bother me. I don’t think so…”
A look of embarrassment appeared on the Duke’s face again.
“Well, I hope all your doubts have been cleared up I should get going. My children are waiting for me at home.”
“…!”
The Duke’s face became stiff. Karina turned around again but glanced back with an anxious face.
The words that she had no idea would be so surprising for a young widow to have a child ran down her throat. But Karina had enough self-control to keep her mouth shut.
“Wait a minute.”
This time it was the jeweler’s voice.
Karina pulled herself together for a moment. The jeweler and the Duke look very close. Maybe the jeweler’s a workaholic aristocrat.
As long as he’s not crazy, no matter how young the Duke is, no commoner would call him a child whose blood hasn’t dried up yet.
The average aristocrat won’t work.
In other words, they don’t do lowly things such as buying and selling things directly to people. So Karina naturally thought that all shopkeepers on this street were commoners like her.
‘No wonder only those who know how to tell the difference between rubies and garnets are selected.’
How do commoners differentiate between rubies and garnets? All they need to know is that both are red gems.
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“What’s going on?”
Karina politely asked and turned her head to the old man. He narrowed his eyes and briefly examined Karina’s face.
“Mrs. Bloe, would you care to work at my store?”
* * *
(T/N: The moment she said she felt like an ice sculpture was hugging her, I knew that the ML is finally here. Things will get more interesting ¬‿¬)