Deep Boredom - Part 1

Rasha wanted to sleep a little longer. However, the sunlight piercing through her eyelids forced her to wake up. Her semi-conscious mind slowly awakened as she struggled with her half-closed eyes.

When she opened her eyes, the blurry ceiling looked unfamiliar. Rasha cautiously sat up and looked around, taking a moment to realize where she was. She sat there, lost in thought, reflecting on the past few days. And then it hit her: it had been only a week since she escaped from Chedev’s fortress.

A week.

It didn’t feel like a long time at all, yet it had only been seven days.

Her heart felt heavy with the traces of a newfound love. To prevent herself from sinking too deep into thoughts of Chedev, Rasha turned her head away. The space around her, though not as cozy as the bedroom she had shared with him, still seeped into her vision.

Rasha’s eyes locked on a tapestry on the wall that bore the sigil of Count Lippe.

She hadn’t intended to come here when she left the ducal residence, but after what had happened to her a week ago, she had no choice.

Rasha recalled the moment she made up her mind to part ways with him and left the ducal’s estate.

* * *

Rasha had known for a long time that the stable boy working at the duke’s was not her real father. He held her hand tightly and spoke these words every night when they were out of sight.

“Miss, you are the daughter of someone far superior to me. I’m only taking care of you due to certain circumstances.”

“Circumstances?”

“Yes. So, please make sure to meet that person later. But it’s not possible now.”

“Why isn’t it possible now?”

“Because your life would be in danger if you go now. Remember what I said. Do you understand?”

He had given her something, something he placed in young Rasha’s hand. It was a silver ring adorned with a ruby. While Rasha headed towards the stables to escape from her bedroom, she also had a reason to take that ring. The ring was hidden in the stable boy’s residence, not in the bedroom she had shared with Chedev for years.

Rasha took it purely as insurance. Being on her own for the first time in her life, she didn’t know what dangers awaited her, so it was a precautionary measure.

And her choice was right.

The place Rasha headed to after escaping from Chedev’s fortress was the harbor.

Initially, she had no intention of leaving this empire. However, the thought that if they were on the same land, Chedev would undoubtedly find and stop her suddenly crossed her mind. Her acceptance and denial of that thought were equally divided. The image of Chedev, who didn’t even flinch at my suggestion of parting ways, made her think that way. Yet, it was also a pitiful doubt that arose, wondering if he would go to such lengths when his affection for her had already cooled.

“Go to Count Lippe.”

After receiving the money, the coachman helped her into the carriage. Rasha stared through the moving window and then looked down at the ring she had taken out of her pocket.

The dazzling brilliance of the ruby made her head spin.

* * *

The stable keeper, who had played the role of her father, passed away about three years ago. Before he died, he revealed to Rasha a story that he had kept inside for a long time.

‘You are the daughter of Countess Lippe, whom I once served. However, my relationship with Countess Lippe was not orthodox, but rather the seed of a foreign bard that she favored…….’

In other words, she was a bastard.

In a voice fading away, the stable keeper revealed the remaining circumstances.

The relationship between the Count and his wife was not particularly good, mainly due to the Count’s infidelity. The countess grew tired of her husband bringing in bastards from outside, and she discreetly disposed of all the illegitimate children. The reason behind this was to secure the position of her only son, who was conceived by some stroke of luck or misfortune during the night.

When the Count reached out to women, most of them were peasants or commoners, making it easy to dispose of them afterwards. As time passed, the relationship between the couple became increasingly strained. However, the countess sometimes felt lonely and longed for love.

Someone who approached her was a foreign bard who happened to visit the mansion through a chance encounter.

The countess fell head over heels for the foreign bard with a sweet voice and gentle manner of speaking, which was different from her husband. Not to mention, the artist had a heartbreaking and handsome appearance. Their secret meetings naturally led to intimacy, and despite taking contraceptive measures, the countess ended up carrying his child.

That child was Rasha.

As soon as the countess learned of her pregnancy, she decided that the child must be hidden. Considering the fact that she have been disposing of her husband’s bastards all this time, she guessed that he would do the same. That’s why she instructed the loyal servant who had been serving her for a long time to hide the child.

The servant, who had accumulated a significant debt to the countess, which had been gradually paid off, took the opportunity to become the stable keeper at the estate of Duke Cecilion when a vacancy opened up. Rasha was with him.

He was handed the ring when the Countess, weakened by the puerperal fever of childbirth, was on the verge of death. The Countess passed away, leaving him with a ring that would prove Rasha’s identity in the future.

The stablehand also brought news that Count Lippe had died and that his only son had finally taken over as head of the household. The Countess had given her the ring, perhaps in hopes that she would visit the manor at this time.

However, Rasha did not do that.

She believed that she belonged by Chedev’s side, where she received more genuine love than anyone else. She never imagined in her wildest dreams that she would leave Chedev and come here on her own accord.

“…So.”

And finally.

Rasha, perhaps by fate, came face to face with her half-brother, Kaim Lippe, as recorded in the family register. Born side by side through their mother’s womb, their hair and eye colors were different. Rasha’s black hair was inherited from their mother, the former Countess, but unfortunately, Kaim resembled their father’s hair color. Conversely, Kaim inherited the Countess’s clear green eyes, while Rasha’s irises were purple.

Nevertheless, the two who faced each other emitted a peculiarly similar atmosphere.

“Are you really my half-sister?”

Kaim’s reaction upon hearing about Rasha’s situation was quite composed. Of course, when he opened the door and saw her holding their deceased mother’s ring, he appeared quite surprised.

“Before my mother passed away, she left me with ambiguous words. If anyone comes to you with a ring that she loved, believe everything he says.”

“…”

“At first, I thought it was a nonsensical will, but now I realize it was a message she left for you.”

Still, Kaim couldn’t completely hide his perplexity and took out a cigar. Rasha’s attention was completely drawn to that ncigarote. It reminded her of the time when Chedev was standing in her field of vision, smoking. She blinked her eyes, trying to forcefully brush away that memory.

“So, where have you been staying all this time?”

“I’ve been at the estate of the Duke Cecilion.”

“As a servant?”

Rasha nodded her head.

Kaim swept his gaze from her head to toe. To endure such hardship while having such a slender physique was quite remarkable. It sparked a sense of admiration but also raised a fog of curiosity. As if expressing his curiosity, Kaim furrowed his brow.

“But it’s strange. Father passed away three years ago.”

“…..”

“You knew about the existence of that ring and our mother’s true identity. Why did you come to find me only now?”

The gap until today troubled him.

Though he grew up as a noble and knew nothing of commoners’ lives, there were times when he thought, “I couldn’t live like that even if I had to.” Especially in labor-intensive jobs, the world was even harsher for delicate women like Rasha. It was difficult for him to understand why she had remained at the marquis’s estate for three years, knowing about the Count’s death.

“I just liked being there.”

Although he thought she might have only learned about her father’s news because of her humble status, her calm response made him think otherwise. Rasha’s subsequent answer further perplexed him. Kaim stared intensely, piercing through her bitter smile that shone through the hazy smoke.

Was there anything special about Duke Cecilion’s estate? What made it so appealing to stay there…

When his thoughts reached that point, Kaim suddenly had a vivid memory flashing through his mind.

“Wait.”

“…..”

“Come to think of it, I heard something about Duke Cecilion being infatuated with a commoner woman….”

Duke Cecilion’s affair with a commoner had long become an open secret among the nobles. It had been going on for not just one or two years but for quite some time. What’s more, it had become so well known because he had even turned against the parents who gave birth and raised him were willing to sacrifice everything to protect him.

As he pondered, the timing seemed to match. Kaim’s face gradually stiffened as the pieces fell into place.

“…It’s not you, right?”

“…”

“Please, tell me it’s not you.”

It was hard to determine whether he was asking or pleading. Rasha stared at Kaim, keeping her mouth shut. Kaim wanted to firmly deny it, contrary to the general understanding that silence indicates agreement.

With an awkward smile, he asked,

“So, the Duke knows that you’re here… Does he?”

The half-sister who appeared before him didn’t seem like she had just made a brief stop. She had said she came on a carriage. The fact that she came here alone, without the Duke’s help, made it feel like an event that took place in secret, away from the Duke Cecilion’s gaze.

And the subsequent silence lent strength to that assumption.

The Duke is unaware that she came here. In other words, it was done secretly…

Kaim abruptly stood up and confronted her.

“You! What if the Duke finds out you’re here? What then?!”

“…..”

“The Duke will be frantically searching for you!”

It was a love that was protected at the cost of blood ties. As an imperial founding hero and a renowned former knight, his power and fear were well-known throughout the Empire. There was no one in this Empire who didn’t know him.

Especially Kaim, who vividly remembered an incident from a few years ago at a social gathering.