Chapter 1: The Berkshire Family Became Her Lifeline Part 11

In that sacred, solemn place, she silently wept tears that no one else could see, overwhelmed by her grief.

After a long, unmoving prayer, Marien quietly tidied the candlesticks and left the monastery.

“I couldn’t even complete the requiem mass properly… How foolish of me…”

As she approached the Berkshire carriage waiting outside, Marien silently hoped Ruston would be preoccupied and unable to accompany her back.

Her tear-stained, swollen eyes were impossible to hide, and she didn’t want her master to see her like that.

But the coachman’s words dashed her hopes.

“The master will return soon, so you should wait inside the carriage.”

“Ah… I see. I’ll wait outside instead.”

Marien moved to a spot by the carriage where few people passed, hoping to cool her face in the breeze.

When Marien pressed the area around her eyes, as Lisa had once taught her, it did help to reduce the redness.

As she was rubbing her eyes with her head down, a pair of fine shoes suddenly appeared before her.

Startled, Marien looked up and then quickly lowered her gaze upon recognizing the owner of the shoes.

“Oh dear, your eyes are so red.”

Ruston had already arrived, and Marien was caught off guard, her lips trembling as she tried to think of an explanation.

“Well….”

“If you need to cry, then cry.”

Ruston pulled her into his embrace and gently patted her back, the rich scent of musk enveloping her.

Strangely, what once felt heavy and unfamiliar now brought Marien a sense of relief.

Her eyes welled up with tears once more, and she tightly shut them.

She understood why Ruston was unusually kind and gentle with her. It was overwhelming, making her heart feel unbearably heavy.

***

“Need some help packing?”

Marien approached Lisa, who handed her a small key.

“This is the key to my drawer. You can use the things inside whenever you need them.”

“…Okay.”

Marien fiddled with the key in her hand, speaking softly.

Lisa had received news that her father was unwell, and she was set to leave Berkshire as soon as her leg had healed.

“Oh come on, it’s not like I’ll be gone forever. Don’t look so sad.”

“Right. I hope your dad gets better soon.”

Thanks to the head maid’s support, Lisa had been granted extended leave, and the mistress had provided a generous allowance. It showed how much she was trusted after working at Berkshire for so long.

“I’m more worried about you. How are you going to survive in this jungle of a place without me?”

“I’ll be fine. Like you said, I just need to stay in the head maid’s and mistress’s good graces. I think I’m already doing okay, right?”

Marien smiled gently and gestured toward the curtains, hoping to ease Lisa’s worries.

“Recently, the head maid’s been singing your praises everywhere. But it seems that’s made Sarah uneasy. You know how she needs to be the best at everything,” Lisa said.

“If anything happens, I’ll handle it like you do. It’ll be fine,” Marien replied.

In the early days, Lisa and Sarah often clashed, but now they made a conscious effort to avoid conflicts.

Still, Marien had a hunch that once Lisa left, Sarah would become even more persistent in her torment.

But she bit her tongue, not wanting to burden Lisa further during her current situation.

***

Knock, knock, knock—!

In the depths of the night, someone knocked on the door.

Where am I?

Marien looked around, taking in the familiar objects and furniture in her view.

This wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

It was the cottage where she had lived with her mother.

“Are you in there? If so, open the door,” a rough male voice called from outside.

A wave of sorrow briefly washed over her, but it was quickly replaced by dread.

More voices chimed in from outside.

“What, maybe she’s not here?”

“But the lamp’s on. She must be inside.”

“The door’s flimsy. Hey, you with the strength, tear it down.”

It wasn’t just one man—there were several. Marien’s mind went blank, and she couldn’t think of anything.

A loud crash echoed as one man began to forcibly rattle the door, causing the house to shudder.

Her body froze and refused to move.

She was utterly terrified.

Crack—!

The door was torn off its hinges, and Marien stood there in shock, her mouth agape.

“What is this…?”

Three familiar men from the village stood just beyond the threshold, their eyes scanning her up and down with leering grins.

“There you are. You should’ve opened the door sooner. We’re in a bit of a hurry,” one of them sneered.

Their eyes were filled with a thick, lecherous desire directed solely at her.

“Marien, you have indeed… grown up beautifully, as beautiful as a trembling flower. But it’s a shame that it’s hidden away from everyone.”

“Well, then, you must be careful, for it could easily be trampled.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll have to live on your own now, without your mother. If you follow us, everything will be fine.”

They strolled leisurely into the house without Marien’s permission.

“What are you doing to me, get out of here…!”

Marien tried to be firm, but she couldn’t hide the trembling in her voice.

The men burst out laughing.

“Haha, I can’t stand the way you’re trembling and throwing a tantrum, I want to knock you down right now.”

One of the men smirked and rubbed his palms together, and the man on his arm nodded in agreement.

“Well, isn’t she just like her mother?”

“That’s what I mean, she’s even more beautiful than Jane.”

“By the way, do you know how your mother made her money?”

“Beautiful Jane, you’re gone so early! She was in our arms every day, and we played with her. By the way, do you know how your mother earned her money?”

“Beautiful Jane, to be gone so soon! She was in our arms every day, and we fed her, and played with her, and pampered her. Marien, shouldn’t you follow your mother’s fate?”

Marien’s face flushed bright red at the insulting words they uttered.

“My mother never did that! Don’t you dare insult her!”

The cackling men’s smirks revealed an unconcealable meanness, and their eyes glittered with white.

“It’s not an insult, it’s a compliment. Just the thought of your savage body… ah, I’m salivating already. I suppose we’ve come to see you because we can’t get over the taste of it, and you’re just as moist and soft as Jane.”

“Ha, yes, of course. Look at that. Her br*asts and as$ are swollen up nicely, and I think she’s even tastier because she’s younger. Come over here and I’ll check it out for you.”

“What should I do? If I sell her as is, I’ll be able to sell her for a very high price.”

“Since we’ve come all this way, don’t you think Jane’s daughter should be tasted?”

“Oh, no. Look at that face, it’s priceless, and there’s a lot of men out there who are crazy about virgins, so let’s not begrudge her that.”

The blood drained from Marien’s face at the sound of him savoring her, examining her intently, and then selling her off somewhere.

‘I have to get away, but how…? No, I’ve done it before. I’ve run away before. Just as Marien felt a strange sense of clarity, there was a loud crash as a table fell over.

The waiting table.

I overturned it and ran out the back door and into the woods….’

But Marien couldn’t run.

Her feet were stuck to the ground like lead, and the men were on her in a flash, grabbing her by the arms and staring at her with evil eyes. Marien shuddered slightly as they groped her clumsily.

No, she didn’t do this.   

Stop, please stop…!   

* * *

“Hah…!”

Gasping for breath, Marien hurriedly looked around.

Realizing she was alone in pitch darkness, Marien finally realized she had just had a nightmare. It was the first time since coming to Berkshire.

It was a horrifying dream where men from the village of Middleheim caught her in the cabin and sold her to a slaver. The thought that it might have really happened if she hadn’t escaped made it even more terrifying.

“It’s okay. It was just a dream. Nothing really happened….”

Marien whispered quietly as she wiped the cold sweat from her face.

Now that she was in Berkshire, she reassured herself that such things wouldn’t happen again, that it was just a nightmare.

Taking a deep breath, Marien joked that she probably had the nightmare because Lisa wasn’t there, and lay back in bed, but she couldn’t hide her unease.

In the end, Marien spent the night wide awake until morning.

The day after Lisa left, Marien moved into the 4-person room she was originally assigned to as a new maid. The three already in the room were Carol, Isabel, and Emma.

Carol was almost at the seniority level to move into a 2-person room, Isabel was the daughter of Uncle Hans who had brought Marien to Berkshire and had joined a few days after Marien, and Emma was a maid who had recently transferred from Hampshire and was sharing the room. Now with Marien, there were four.

Carol, who had been friendly to Marien at first, stopped speaking to her after she distanced herself from Sarah.

Emma wasn’t the type to care about such things, and the youngest maid, Isabel, seemed friendly towards Marien, perhaps because of Uncle Hans.

“So Marien’s assigned to this room too? That’s great. I wanted to get to know you better, so this is perfect!”

“Thank you, Isabel. Let’s get along well from now on.”

Aside from Carol, they were maids Marien could speak with comfortably, so she felt a little relieved.

***

“Today was the monthly foraging day in a small hill near the Berkshire estate.”

“Let’s split up here, shall we? Marien, what do you think?”

“……”

Marien was silent for a moment. It seemed Sarah’s harassment had resumed after the lull at the laundry station.

Whether it was because the head maid liked her, as Lisa had said, or because Sarah had simply disliked her from the start, Marien couldn’t tell.

“So you’re saying I should go alone on that path?”

“I thought you’d be fine on your own since you grew up in the forest. We haven’t lived in a place like that, you know. If we want to help each other, we need to stay together. You understand, right?”

Marien sighed inwardly. Rather than accompany someone as sarcastic as Sarah, she thought it might be better to go alone.

“Marien alone? What if she gets bitten by a snake? At least two people should go. Should I go with her?”

Emma, who now shared the room with Marien, offered to go along. But Sarah’s expression turned cold.

“Emma, who’s in charge here? Why can’t you stay in your place? If you’re going to act as you please, you should just go back.”

Sarah stepped right up to Emma’s face and gave the order, causing Emma to frown as she glanced between Marien and Sarah.