113 regret
***[Heroine Oscar]***
Leaving the central city of the county and heading to another city, leaving it again and moving is repeated.
Each time, some of the commoners who had been attached to the procession would drop off somewhere in a city, and a new face would join our procession.
Most of the commoners who no longer followed us and stayed in the city bowed deeply the moment they parted from us.
We see off without straightening our backs until our procession disappears from sight.
The children waved their little hands vigorously and shouted, just like children.
Thank you, duke, soldier! The stew was delicious!
Every time we walked behind the sound, a smile naturally came to our faces.
And gradually the number of commoners and merchants attached to the back of the procession increased.
‘No, anyway, isn’t this a bit much?’
I sighed as I looked at the commoners following the procession one after another.
The line of commoners and merchants is longer than ours.
It wasn’t that the snake had a tail attached to it, it was like a snake’s head attached to its tail.
As the number of commoners increased, a problem arose.
It is their food situation.
Many had less food than those who followed the procession earlier.
It must mean that the situation in other cities is worse than the royal capital.
Fortunately, the number of children has not increased much.
It was very rare in this world to take a child and go a long way.
Because of that, the number of children has only increased slightly, and it is okay to eat and sleep among our soldiers.
Nothing was a burden to us.
‘but.’
People get weak if they don’t eat.
There will be people who will not be able to keep up with the procession and leave.
A few days away from the city, people will be attacked by animals or freeze to death if they do not follow the procession in this season of snow on all sides.
They will fight to die and chase after you, but the human body cannot do it with only mental strength.
You need food to keep your legs moving.
“…”
I let out a small sigh.
It’s remote.
It’s probably, no, it’s definitely a no-brainer to pay attention to those who come after you without permission.
‘But I can’t help it.’
It’s one thing to have strangers die in unknown places and people following my procession to die in front of my eyes.
Besides, when they see me, they say thank you and bow until their backs are broken.
I just couldn’t pretend not to know.
‘Well, it’s not like we’re losing anything, because if you don’t practice the bow every day, your skills will get dull.’
I muttered inwardly like an excuse, then looked at a distant place.
A gray rabbit was running around diligently in the white snow.
Because of the distance, the rabbit was not even alert.
I drew an arrow and put it on the bowstring.
Rabbits in this world look completely different from the cute white rabbits commonly seen on Earth.
It seems that the white rabbit has turned into a slender-faced hulk.
It looked ferocious and not cute at all.
And big.
It doesn’t produce much meat for its size, but it should be enough for making stew, and its fur will come in handy.
‘It’d be better if I catch it, so it doesn’t have holes in its hair.’
I aimed for the rabbit’s head and quietly let go of the bowstring.
In the movies, arrows are often shown flying, but when it comes to reality, it is a complete lie.
In particular, arrows containing magical power were so fast that they could not be seen.
The arrow pierced the rabbit’s head as soon as it fell from my hand.
Before the other rabbit noticed, I pulled out my arrow again and fired it.
A few magicians chased after me and shot arrows, and the rabbits and mice-like little animals that were wandering around in an instant collapsed onto the snow.
The commoners who followed the procession were silently watching, not knowing what was going on.
A soldier at the back of the procession slapped the butt as he lowered the boy from the wagon.
“What are you doing, don’t go and pick it up. Arrow practice is over, so it’s up to you to go and pick up the one that’s lost over there.”
Upon hearing this, the children began to run excitedly through the snow.
“Ah, meat is meant to be shared. If one person fights for possession, you’ll never taste it again. Our duke won’t tolerate that.”
“yes!”
“yes!”
While the ignorant children were answering, there was someone among the adults who sneaked up on them.
The soldier shouted in a slightly stern voice.
“Did you just hear that? We share the meat!”
“Yes, yes, thank you.”
After that, the soldiers took care of themselves and fired arrows at the little beast without me having to catch the rabbit.
Alright, the food is solved.
The storyteller, who told stories for pennies in the tavern and made the public laugh, still closely followed our procession.
“This will be money. It smells. By seeing the Duke’s procession up close and talking about it, I think I’ll have enough to live on for a year. If the Duke does something more, five years, maybe even ten years. I don’t know if that’s possible.”
It seems that the soldier and the convoy officer secretly like the storyteller who talks like that.
At night they came over to our procession, and we had a good chat about the world.
It is said that an official on our side gave him a silver coin to do so.
In this era where entertainment is scarce, storytellers are all-around entertainment.
Soldiers gathered around the storytellers, laughing wildly and sometimes singing songs as they listened to nonsensical bluffs.
When the soldiers sang, the storyteller would beat with his hands and feet, sometimes picking up random objects and thumping them like instruments.
Together with Katrin, I listened to the storyteller’s brag from time to time.
A story about a dog with two heads, a rabbit with horns, a giant three times the size of a normal person, and a playboy who slept with ten women in one night and became a woman one day.
All the storytellers claim that they have actually seen it, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought that next time I would get involved in that story and become a strange shape.
Although Katrin seems to like it very much.
*
The leisurely trip like that came to an end before we knew it, and we finally arrived at the dukedom after spending a little over a month.
Although she spent a lot longer on the road than at other times, Katrin seemed very happy.
Throughout the trip, she was smiling brightly.
‘Hmm… But it seems her good time is over now.’
It seems that everything Katrin did while coming to the duchy was reported to her mother.
The day after arriving in the duchy, when I was alone with myself, my mother sighed and said,
“I’ve heard all of Catherine’s actions, but it seems a bit inappropriate for a duchess.”
“…”
But it was cute.
My mother looked at my face and smiled.
“Well, it seems that it only happened in front of commoners, but I’ve heard reports that it worked well. Being loved by commoners is a kind of talent. The counselors seemed to appreciate it.”
“Is that so? That’s surprising.”
The counselor’s wives seem to have been nagging Katrin’s behavior the whole time, but it’s really surprising that they were looking good on her.
Mother giggled.
“Being strict with Catherine is for later. First of all, you have to be able to act perfectly as a duchess.
Mother smiled.
“But I heard that the child is doing really well. It seems that he is unconsciously judging the situation, not appropriate for his age. They say that he wears a proper mask in front of nobles. The wives are proud of it.”
I’m really surprised
Mother squinted one eye.
“This is a secret from Katrin. I don’t want her to feel loose. Now is the time to tighten it up.”
“Yes, mother.”
“Whoa, then let’s go play the role of a bad mother-in-law.”
And after a while, Catherine was called by her mother.
Hearing the maid’s message, Catherine’s face turned white.
In addition, Anne next to her has the same complexion.
When Katrin gets scolded, she always gets scolded as well.
“Oh, oh, Mr. Oscar! What do we do?”
Katrin looked at me with her eyes wide open.
There is only one thing I can say to her, who is bewildered.
“Catherine, come on.”
“Oh, Mr. Oscar.”
“It’s okay. Mother doesn’t eat people.”
“…”
Katrin stared blankly at me and dropped her shoulders.
Seeing the back of Katrin walking with her shoulders drooping, I smiled lightly.
***[René, ex-wife]***
“What are you doing without work right now! Do you know that I have to finish this by tonight?”
An unpleasant voice sounded from behind, as if scratching glass with an awl.
A woman who directs her work.
Renee was startled and staggered to her feet.
“Bah, I was just taking a break from work…”
At that moment, a thin bamboo cane hit Renee’s shoulder with a clicking sound.
Instead of screaming, Renee bit her lip.
sick.
But if you frown or cry, you’re more likely to get hit.
No need to make excuses.
I didn’t even listen
After coming here, I know it well enough to die, but I still make excuses without knowing it.
I felt like an idiot myself.
“If you have time to talk, you should move your hand first. Renee, don’t you want to eat today?”
The woman exposed her whites and glanced at Renee.
“You said that at first when you saw the rice we ate. Are you saying that we should eat something that pigs eat? It’s still so shabby and dirty that we don’t even think about eating it?”
“Oh, no.”
“But the behavior is like that! You keep playing like that, what’s wrong?”
Hearing the woman’s voice, Rene ran to the goat and squatted down.
It was today’s work to shovel out all the snow accumulated in the chicken and goat enclosures and collect goat dung.
Renee gently wiped the snow with her hand and searched for the goat dung buried in it.
Goat dung can be used instead of coal.
Renee doesn’t know much about it, but it seems that they make it into medicine and sell it.
Goat dung must be collected so that no one is thrown away.
When the woman discovers that Renee is falling to the ground because she can’t see it, there is an uproar.
However, the space is very large, and the hands without gloves are frozen and numb.
My whole body froze, not just my hands and feet.
My body didn’t move well.
‘I’m going to die like this.’
I only ate one meal yesterday.
It’s a stew like thin porridge, but if you don’t have even that, you’ll have to starve all day.
It was not easy to fill the stomach with water here.
Water was drawn from the well every day and poured into a large bucket, but it had to be carried dozens of times with a small bucket to fill the large bucket.
It used to be this woman’s job, but now it’s Renée’s.
Even if the water tank is filled like that, Renee cannot drink or use the water at will.
Permission was also required to use water.
“You’d better hurry. It’ll be dinnertime in a little while.”
The woman turned away with a cold smile.
Renee felt with her hands where there might be goat dung, and used a shovel to open eyes where she thought there might not be.
I can’t eat, so it seems that the skin on my stomach is clinging to my back.
I was so hungry now that my whole stomach hurt, no matter where I was.
For several days already, the pain that seemed like death had been coming over me.
I really feel like I’m going to die like this, I’m afraid every day.
How did it come to be like this?
Tears dripped down.
‘no.’
I work all day listening to the shouts of this person and then fall asleep clutching my hungry stomach.
There was only one thin blanket on the hard wooden bed, and sometimes I was afraid that I would freeze to death and never wake up.
Why did I come to this world?
Why can’t I connect with the prince and live like this in a place like this?
why, why…
I ask myself like that every day, and I blame myself.
When the gentle face of her husband came to mind, only regret filled her heart.
why did i do something stupid
I was happy enough, but I was the one who ruined it.
If I had just one chance, just one chance, I would never make a mistake this time.
‘I want to go home.’
I want to go to Earth, where my husband is.
If only I could go back to before my husband discovered me and Kyung-Wan, if I could, I would do anything, I really could do anything.
Renee ran her hands through her eyes and burst into tears again.