“……What whim made such a great man touch something like her.”

“He probably wanted a relationship without burden. Virgins would never let go once he held their hand!”

The two spoke carelessly, seemingly forgetting Radilt standing right behind them. They paid no attention to her crumbling complexion, trembling fingertips, or her heart cracking dry.

To them, Radilt was no different from an old, small tapestry hanging on the wall. An object that only needed to stay in place. Something without particular value, yet too precious to give away.

“Sister-in-law, did you receive more gifts? Show me!”

Erite turned around suddenly, speaking like she was making a reasonable demand. Her bright voice showed she hadn’t considered refusal at all. Lifeless eyes met her spirited ones.

“……Later. Now I need to change clothes and prepare dinner.”

Radilt turned away without waiting for her sister-in-law’s response. She fled up the stairs to her only refuge. Her slender fingers closed the door, and her staggering footsteps barely reached the bed before collapsing onto it.

A plaything to enjoy briefly.

All those words she had heard while standing like a statue now poured down on her trembling body. They were cold and sharp like frozen rainwater in midwinter, but something else made Radilt feel even more miserable.

‘I am…… nothing.’

In this household, still.

Radilt wasn’t from the capital. Her hometown was a small rural village unknown by name. A tiny neighborhood where you could count each house on your fingers. Standing on a hill, you’d see dense forests and mountains ahead, and turning around, you’d find flowing rivers and meadows.

She left that quiet land and came to the distant capital, trusting only the guiding hand of her lover. She thought Lushen’s family would become her new family, and their dwelling place her new home where she would lay her bones.

But since her husband left first, Radilt had been completely alone. No one shared her joy, sorrow, or pain.

In this old, heartless mansion.

‘……Even that cold man listened to my words.’

Even a man she had met just days ago looked her in the eyes and opened his ears to her.

The cruel indifference of those she had lived with for years struck her with a new emptiness and pain.

What am I doing now? What have these past few years left behind? With nothing in hand, each identical day passed meaninglessly. Though her head and heart felt heavy like carrying a stone…… she didn’t even have the luxury to dwell on that dark emotion.

‘Dinner…… I must prepare it.’

Like always.

Radilt rose like a puppet hanging from several strings. Between her fingers slowly untying her dress strings, something very light and soft fell with a rustle.

“……”

A bright red rose petal stood out like a spot of light on the dark wooden floor. Simultaneously, she suddenly noticed the flower scent permeating her dress.

A vibrant color, a vibrant fragrance.

Somehow, breathing became a little easier. Though nothing good had happened, she would receive flowers again. A lush, beautiful bouquet just for her.

Radilt carefully picked up the rose petal and placed it between the pages of an old notebook.

The dinner table was simple since she hadn’t finished shopping. Nevertheless, the usual nagging didn’t come. Both her mother-in-law and sister-in-law were distracted by the new topic of Count Duston. Her brother-in-law, who complained the most about food, hadn’t come home yet.

“Will it really help your marriage? Everyone will clearly know it’s a fleeting relationship.”

“But you never know. Of course he won’t marry sister-in-law, but a mistress relationship could last long. Wealthy noblemen setting up separate households has always been common.”

“What scandalous talk from an unmarried girl!”

“I’m talking about possibilities, possibilities.”

Erite waved her fork while speaking.

“Count Duston won’t keep sister-in-law by his side for long, but just the possibility raises my value too! Garden invitations will come easily, and he might invite me to private parties just to ask about sister-in-law!”

“I suppose that’s true. How clever you are. Rite, you’ll definitely marry well.”

Mother and daughter laughed happily. Radilt silently, mechanically moved her spoon. She wished to quietly leave this place where she existed yet didn’t.

But sparks soon flew painfully.

“And Count Duston will surely gift a beautiful dress to his lover’s sister-in-law. Right, sister-in-law?”

Erite’s blue eyes looked at Radilt full of expectation. Radilt put down her spoon, unable to answer. Merdea’s eyes grew fierce at her attitude.

“Why aren’t you answering? Don’t tell me you plan to ignore your young, pitiful sister-in-law.”

“……No. I just felt sorry that I’m not in a position to make requests of Count Duston.”

“Why can’t you ask? You who wore such a splendid dress and rode in a four-horse carriage.”

Erite stepped in to block Merdea’s increasingly hostile tongue.

“Mom, don’t be so harsh. Many men dislike blatant requests from their poor lovers. If sister-in-law gets abandoned before I catch a decent man, that would be terrible. She should be careful and mindful.”

“……That’s true, but. How can I watch a widow who should quietly become a house ghost parading around more splendidly dressed than Rite, who’s still a virgin.”

“Ah, I wish sister-in-law and I had similar figures!”

Erite looked at her own body regretfully. She was taller and larger than Radilt, making borrowing dresses impossible. It would look like wearing a much younger sister’s clothes.

“Still, I can use the accessories. Sister-in-law, let me see what you couldn’t show earlier.”

“……Yes, Miss.”

How fortunate she hadn’t accepted the green jewel. Radilt murmured silently to herself. In this household, she had almost nothing that was truly hers. She could only hold onto a few memories of little value to others.

After dinner, Radilt calmly took Erite up to her bedroom. Erite kept exclaiming how envious she was while rummaging through dresses, shoes, and accessories.

“But the jewelry is rather plain. Count Duston must not be very fond of you.”

Saying most pieces were simple silver decorations, Erite picked up the most elaborate necklace and bracelet.

“How does it look? Does it suit me?”

“Yes. It suits you well.”

“Then I’ll take them. That’s fine, right?”

“Yes. Please do.”

If she refused, Erite would shout and get angry. She would overturn the bedroom in her absence and take what she wanted. Seeing that future clearly, Radilt quietly nodded.

“Thanks, sister-in-law. Next time, try to get something more splendid.”

With an attitude of taking what she could while possible, Erite left the room satisfied. Radilt began tidying the messy bedroom without even sighing once.

All of this was familiar. That was all.

Clatter clatter clatter, the spotted dog-shaped weathervane on the roof shook its head noisily, barking toward the south.

The wind was rough. Someone’s hat flew up among a flock of pigeons. The owner’s hand stirred the air in vain. Radilt closed the second-floor shutters. The old windows would make terrible groaning sounds whenever the wind grew slightly stronger.

The flower petals scattered on the road in front of the house had been swept away by the wind without a trace. Only dirt raised small, dirty whirlwinds, buzzing.

‘……Perhaps I should go shopping.’

Radilt, having finished cleaning early in the morning, took out money hidden between the kitchen walls. No one in the household was frugal, so leaving money in visible places meant it would quickly disappear like melting snow.

Thanks to the money she received after losing her jobs, she had enough to get by. Radilt took only a few necessary coins and hid the money again.

Wearing her usual plain dress and firmly pinning her hair so it wouldn’t fly, she hung a large reed basket on her arm and left the house.

Being like this made the past few days seem like a dream. Today was so quiet.

‘When will I be able to work?’

But worries about making a living carved the cold man back into Radilt’s mind. Pendlore hadn’t mentioned an exact date. Yet she lacked the courage to visit his house again.

He didn’t seem like someone who would easily break promises. So she should simply wait quietly for him to contact her first. Radilt moved her steps while soothing the faint anxiety lingering in her mind.

“Is that the woman? She doesn’t look like it.”

Entering the market not far from home, whispers came from somewhere.

“I thought she knew her place.”

Hmph, someone snorted. Radilt pretended not to hear.

“A young widow who held out that long deserves credit.”

“They said she had a magnificent nobleman for a lover, so why does she look like that?”

“I know. Did she get abandoned already?”

Pretending not to hear, pretending not to see. This was a familiar role she always had to play even in her home, where she should have found peace.

Radilt stepped forward firmly. Such words meant nothing. How had it been right after her husband, Lushen, departed?

An unlucky widow who devoured her young husband.

‘That thing killed my son!’

Thanks to her mother-in-law who went around the neighborhood cursing her daughter-in-law in frustration, she heard all kinds of things. A shopkeeper who believed she had bewitched her husband with sweet candy and caused the death of Merdea’s precious eldest son once threw a bucket of water at her, telling her to get out.

Compared to then, this was nothing. Her heart, beaten so often, had long since turned purple with bruises and hardened black.

“Is this pork that came in today?”

“Slaughtered at dawn. Fresh enough to run away any moment.”

The familiar butcher took out a piece of meat and cut it with a thunk. Then he spoke subtly.

“You got really lucky, didn’t you? Maybe you shouldn’t come to our shop anymore but go to the central market over there.”

They say butcher shops frequented by rich masters’ servants sell all kinds of precious and raw meat. Slender deer, vigorous wild ducks, swans bigger than small children and quails the size of palms, snow sheep whiter than snow and black swamp pigs.