Chapter 1.2

“What was that? I didn’t hear you.”  

“I said, let go!”  

When she shouted, looking him straight in the eye, the man finally loosened his grip. She immediately stepped back and glared at him.  

“Leticia Evris. Do you know my name?”  

“No.”  

“Karl Lavresion.”  

The man still wore a smile. He stepped closer to her again.  

“You should remember it. I’m the son of the woman who took your mother’s place in the Emperor’s favor.”  

“Move aside.”  

“You’d be better off not going in. Maybe later, but not now. My mother is inside right now. If you go in, you won’t like what you see.”  

Karl Lavresion spoke as if offering advice. Leticia bit her lower lip hard. His eyes flicked to her lips before returning to lock onto her gaze.  

“So, let’s leave together.”  

Karl grabbed her arm. Before she could push him away, he had already pulled her into his embrace.  

“What are you doing…?”  

“We should enjoy ourselves too.”  

“Ah!”  

His hand gripped the back of her head. Their noses collided. Warm breath poured over her face, and she widened her eyes in shock.  

“What on earth…?”  

His fingers slid into her hair. The way his hand stroked the back of her head made her heart tighten in fear. It was the first time anyone had touched her like this.  

“This is perfect. I only know my mother and her lover in this empire. I haven’t been here long, after all.”  

Her mother’s lover. Karl Lavresion referred to the Emperor in such terms.  

“I don’t like paying for women.”  

He stared intently into her face.  

“I don’t have a hobby of grabbing random women off the streets, nor do I feel like putting in the effort to seduce a noblewoman.”  

“…”  

“You fit my preferences well enough.”  

What nonsense was he spouting? 

She couldn’t understand, but her body instinctively warned her to escape. Her throat felt parched with tension, and she struggled to breathe.  

He smirked and patted her cheek.  

“Who said I was going to eat you alive? Breathe.”  

Beyond his face, she could see the Imperial Knights standing guard. Though armed with swords at their waists, they only observed the scene without taking any action. Their eyes met hers briefly, but that was all.  

There was no one here who would help her.  

Realizing that, she felt as if she were standing barefoot on thin ice. She struggled to pull herself free from his embrace, barely managing to take a breath.  

“Let go, let go…”  

“I heard your mother is a commoner.”  

Her body froze at the mention of her mother. She raised her head to look at him. He had caught her. His eyes seemed to say as much. Having found her weakness, he smirked like a pimp holding a woman against her will.  

“Even street kids know that the discarded mistress of the Emperor frequents gambling dens every day.”  

“…”  

“You came here to beg for money, didn’t you?”  

It felt as though all the blood in her body drained to her feet. He was right. No matter how much she tried to rationalize and justify it with pretty words, the truth was that she was here to beg.  

“So, let’s both have our fun, and you can get what you came for.”  

Karl Lavresion lowered his hand to stroke her neck. His touch was filled with obvious intent.  

“I’ve always wanted to sleep with a Chevrem woman.”  

It hurt as though a sharp spear had pierced through her. She had long known that words could wound as deeply as blades, and she had experienced it countless times. Yet, no matter how often it happened, the pain never dulled.  

Though her status was hollow, she was still the daughter of Baron Evris. Even if it was an illusion, it was still her identity.  

Shame and humiliation brought tears to her eyes. Against her will, tears rolled down her cheeks. Seeing her tears, his smile deepened.  

“Crying makes me want you even more.”  

The worst of the worst. Mustering all her strength, she shoved Karl Lavresion away and glared at him. Even with her vision blurred by tears, she stared him down before turning away. Shame, humiliation, despair, and resentment surged like a tide, overwhelming her heart. His voice trailed behind her.  

“Goodbye. See you again.”  

Worthless scum. 

She swallowed curses inside her mouth.  

***

As soon as her mother realized that she had gained nothing, she threw a pillow at Leticia.  

“Neither you nor that man are of any use!”  

Leticia silently took the pillow her mother had thrown. Picking it up from the floor, she approached her mother.  

“Mother, please stop drinking.”  

“I don’t need it, I don’t need anything… Go away, Leticia. I might end up slapping you without meaning to.”  

Her mother’s arms were excessively thin as she said this. Lowering her gaze, Leticia spoke.  

“Would it be better if I weren’t here?”  

At her words, her mother, who had been staring into space, turned her eyes to look at her.  

“Should I disappear, Mother?”  

Leticia asked as calmly as she could, almost murmuring, and tears welled up in her mother’s eyes. It was the reaction Leticia had expected. She stared at her mother with a blank expression.  

“Leticia… You know I would never truly want that.”  

Her mother’s frail arms pulled Leticia down by the shoulders. Leticia obediently leaned into her mother’s embrace. The smell of alcohol stung her nose, but she paid it no mind and closed her eyes.  

***

A year and a half had passed since the Emperor had abandoned them, and her mother had only spiraled further into ruin. Leticia’s pleas and desperate appeals had achieved nothing. Foolishly, her mother had truly loved the Emperor, and the shock of being discarded had left her unable to overcome her despair, causing her to plummet endlessly.  

Her mother had become completely addicted to drugs, to the point where she would harm herself if she didn’t take them. Unable to endure sobriety, she consumed alcohol and drugs like water, frequented gambling dens, and indulged in fleeting pleasures and impulses, forgetting her emptiness and deprivation, if only for a moment.  

Now, the situation had deteriorated beyond Leticia’s ability to manage. The family’s fortune was entirely depleted. One morning, when her mother returned home drunk, Leticia shook her violently.  

“Mother, please, stop now! There’s no more money, no more gold, not even the last diamond necklace! That was truly the last of it. There’s nothing left to take anymore!”  

“Ah… but, but…”  

Her mother mumbled incoherently before falling asleep. Leticia bit her lower lip hard and abruptly stood up, hammering nails into her mother’s door. Preventing her mother from leaving the house—this was the only solution she could think of.  

Her mother didn’t wake until late in the afternoon, and as soon as she realized she was locked in, she began pounding on the door in a frenzy.  

“Leticia! Leticia! What are you doing? Leticia!”  

Leticia ignored her mother’s voice. She didn’t want to see her mother fall any further. The saying about people gambling even after losing their legs came to mind, and she let out a bitter laugh. Her mother would never quit gambling or drinking on her own, so this was the only way.  

But her mother did something Leticia hadn’t anticipated. While Leticia was out for a short while, her mother broke the window and escaped. Leticia had never imagined that her frail and emaciated mother would have the strength to break a window and climb out.  

Her mother, with shards of glass embedded in her skin, went straight to the gambling den and returned with even more debt.  

At this point, Leticia felt not just sadness but utter despair and resentment. None of this downward spiral had been her choice. She tied her mother’s frail body with rope. It was truly a last resort.  

But the problem didn’t end there. Just because her mother couldn’t leave the house didn’t mean the debts disappeared.  

When her mother stopped going to the gambling den, the loan sharks who had lent her money began coming to the house.  

“Come out, come out!”  

They pounded on the door so hard it seemed it would break, and when no one answered, they grabbed the doorknob and forced their way in.  

It was then that Leticia learned her mother had not only sold all the money, gold, and jewelry in the house but had also gambled away the house and its furniture.  

Realizing there was nothing left to take from her mother, the loan sharks spat on the floor and began taking whatever furniture and items they could find that might have value.  

“This one’s mine, you idiot!”  

“Get lost! Take this instead! I’ve been needing one of these!”  

Everything in the house, even the house itself… It was theirs in name only. It had been left behind by Baron Evris, so it technically belonged to them, but if Baron Evris returned to claim ownership, they would have to return it all. Neither Leticia nor her mother truly owned anything.  

Leticia stood speechless, watching everything disappear in an instant. The men, as if doing her a favor, said,  

“We won’t take your clothes, so don’t worry.”  

Then they laughed.  

“Even if we take everything here, it wouldn’t cover your mother’s debt! We’ll be seeing you again.”  

“….”  

“Be out of here by tonight. Or stay, if you’d like.”  

The men circled around her and her mother, their eyes scanning them with lecherous intent. Leticia’s blood ran cold. While she was paralyzed with fear, her mother stared blankly at the empty house, her gaze fixed only on the empty bottles of alcohol. Unable to take her drugs, her mother drank even more to cope with the withdrawal symptoms, scratching at her body and having fits when she didn’t drink.  

Still, Leticia was furious with her mother. She couldn’t hold it in any longer. After the loan sharks left, she grabbed her mother, who was sprawled on the bed, and pulled her up. Tears were streaming down her face like rain.