#9. Death in the Previous Life (2)
2023.08.09.
‘Stop.’
The one who stopped Count Dollion from trampling Amy was Lady Eseumain. She narrowed her eyes and spoke to her younger brother.
‘Why waste your strength on something that will die anyway.’
‘But Sister…….’
‘Leave her be if she does not wish to speak.’
When Lady Eseumain spoke dismissively, Count Dollion’s voice rose to something close to a shout.
‘Huh? No, Sister. You must not know, but this is very important…….’
‘That is why I said leave her be.’
Cutting off her younger brother, Lady Eseumain neatly folded her fan, then looked at Amy and smiled brightly.
Amy bit her lip at the ominous premonition. Lady Eseumain tilted her head and spoke kindly.
‘When you feel like opening your mouth, tell the jailer. I shall wait.’
‘Sister!’
‘Let us go, Count Dollion.’
The lady who dragged her younger brother out of the prison gave a special order to the jailer.
‘Give her nothing until she is vomiting. Neither food, of course, nor water.’
‘!’
‘Only when she truly seems about to die, give her just a very little. Only enough to keep her alive.’
Lady Eseumain turned to look at Amy and once again smiled radiantly.
‘I have more than enough time, so I can wait as long as need be.’
Lady Eseumain was ruthless. The jailer who received her orders was no different.
Amy was unable to eat anything for more than ten days. Her broken, untreated ankle was one thing, but the hunger and thirst were agonizing. Even so, she did not reveal anything about the Second Prince or the jewel. When even the Crown Prince had so easily betrayed her, whom he had supposedly cherished so dearly, she did not wish to preserve her own life in such a manner.
Just when she thought she might truly die like this, a bowl of thin, gruel-like substance was brought in. If she ate this, the cycle of agony would begin again. She knew it in her head, and her heart desperately wished to just die as she was, yet Amy found herself burying her face in the bowl and devouring it like a madwoman before she knew it.
She had managed to preserve her life in that manner for about three years. Three years that had passed with terrible slowness.
During that time, the jailer was quite talkative. He incessantly chattered to Amy about how the outside world was faring. It was annoying, but she listened to forget the pain. There were many interesting stories, so it was not difficult. Moreover, the child of someone he knew lived in the North, so she often heard tales of that place as well. But that was only for a day or two…… Later, it felt like he was forcing her ears open and beating the stories into her.
Lady Eseumain, who had occasionally come to taunt Amy, seemed to have forgotten her at some point. In the end, she withered away, slowly starving to death.
Her mind grew hazy as well, and she lay on the floor gasping for breath, yet Count Dollion came to her without tiring even then, holding the jewel before her eyes and threatening her.
‘If you speak honestly, I will at least spare your life. Where did you obtain this?’
‘…Where did you learn to speak? A wild boar speaks better than you.’
‘Hngh!’
When the end drew near, she could not move a single finger. Her body felt like a doll made of sand. One tap and it would crumble away……
Then one day, her tongue was forcibly cut out, rendering her unable to speak. And the next day, Lady Eseumain appeared with the Crown Prince to remind her that she had been abandoned.
Even as she suffered in agony worse than death, Count Dollion appeared without fail and pressed Amy.
‘Tell me where you got it! I said speak!’
Amy’s skeletal fingers moved, slowly tracing letters on the dirty stone floor.
‘......Sh.’
‘!’
Thinking she was finally about to confess, Count Dollion’s face lit up with delight. He released the collar of Amy’s shirt he had been gripping and anxiously watched her fingertip.
The bone-like finger finally completed the sentence.
‘Sh... ut up, you boar.’
‘......Uwoaaaah!’
It was the moment Count Dollion roared in fury and raised his fist to strike Amy.
Crash, crumble rumble.
Suddenly the prison shook violently. Dust fell from the ceiling, and the floor trembled. It was an earthquake, or perhaps an explosion. The jailer and the Count, pale with fright, scrambled outside……
Tock, roll roll roll roll.
The jewel that had been in the Count’s hand fell and rolled to Amy’s side. Count Dollion hesitated, then turned to pick it up. Just then, the ground shook again.
Rumble rumble.
A sound like thunder rang out, and this time the stone floor cracked with a splitting noise. Perhaps fearing for his life while trying to retrieve the jewel, Count Dollion ran away without looking back this time.
‘Hah, so I’ll end up dying with the jewel after all……’
Amy lay on the shaking ground, blinking weakly. At the end of her gaze, the jewel had rolled all the way to her fingertips. It seemed to sparkle unusually, and the moment Amy tried to bring her finger to it with great effort,
Crunch!
A fist-sized stone fell from the ceiling and smashed the jewel to pieces. Staring blankly at the pulverized jewel, Amy felt her vision spin.
‘Ah.’
She had a feeling. That this was her end……
Amy’s finger, reached out with difficulty, touched the jewel’s powder. The next moment, Amy drew her last breath.
“Ah……”
When she opened her eyes, an unfamiliar ceiling greeted her. It was an inn she had entered late last night.
Aching, she raised her upper body. When she brushed her hand across her forehead, sure enough, it was covered in cold sweat. Swallowing a sigh, she put her feet down to the floor beside the bed.
‘I was glad I hadn’t dreamed for a while.’
In the early days after her regression, she had constantly dreamed of the moment of her death. Each time, her physical condition would hit rock bottom, leaving her exhausted. Still, after making plans for the future and going to the Second Prince’s side, the dreams had gradually decreased until recently she had hardly had them at all……
‘I let my guard down.’
She slowly stood up and went to the ceramic basin on the table, pouring water from the jug in a steady stream. Then she washed her face for a long time. The cold water snapped her awake.
Drying her face with a towel, she fell into thought.
‘Perhaps hearing about the First Prince made my past life feel more real.’
Would she continue to be tormented by dreams like this? A sigh escaped her. As she tried to recall the dream, her stomach suddenly twisted and began to ache heavily.
“I’m hungry……”
Amy grabbed the gown hanging on the partition and hurriedly shoved herself into it. She neatly arranged her disheveled hair, twisted it up, and left the room in quick steps, descending the stairs.
Perhaps because breakfast time had passed, there weren’t many people in the first-floor hall. Noah, who was sitting where the stairs were clearly visible, spotted Amy and waved his hand wildly.
“Amy! Over here!”
“Was I late? I apologize, Your Highness.”
Amy quickly approached and murmured words of apology, but Noah’s eyes went wide and he shook his head hurriedly.
“N-no, that’s not it. I was the one who told you to rest well. Joseph also only came down not long ago.”
Joseph, suddenly brought up in conversation, flinched. A brief look of grievance appeared on his face, but unlike the head maid, his new master was not easy on him, and seeing those glaring eyes, he quietly lowered his gaze.
“Y-yes. Since you are not late, please have your meal.”
“See?”
Noah excitedly pulled Amy over and seated her in the chair himself. Then he gestured toward the kitchen. Then, sure enough, the inn servants brought out bowls of food one by one and placed them on the table.
“Your Highness, have you not eaten yet?”
Amy whispered at the amount that looked to be easily enough for two people, but Noah shook his head.
“I ate. This is all Amy’s.”
“But……”
With a dark gaze wondering how she could eat all this, she looked around the table when Noah spoke from beside her.
“And it’s Noah-nim. Not Your Highness.”
“……Ah, yes. I’ll be careful.”
“Yeah. Eat up quickly.”
Noah grinned, and Joseph spoke cautiously from beside him.
“Noah-nim had been eating poorly…… so I thought the two of you were going to eat together.”
“You shouldn’t eat like that.”
Surprised, Amy quickly pressed a spoon into Noah’s hand. Noah glared at Joseph with his lips tightly sealed. Joseph, meeting the sharp gaze, flinched in surprise and bowed his head deeply. Then he mulled over what he had done wrong.
Noah turned his head to look at Amy.
“Then let’s eat together.”
“Yes.”
Amy took a spoonful of stew with meat and tomatoes. The hot food eased her stomach, and the uncomfortable feeling from the dream dissipated somewhat. As her spoon quickened, Noah smiled contentedly.
***
The Crown Prince frowned as he gazed down at the people prostrated before his feet. They were spies and maids who had been infiltrated into the Second Prince’s palace. Strictly speaking, they had been sent to monitor Amy, the head maid, rather than the Second Prince.
‘I ordered them to follow her to the North by any means.’
He pressed his hand to his forehead. It was a headache. Just a few months ago, Amy had known nothing else and had looked at him with a gaze worse than a stranger’s, then had gone to the Second Prince. That alone was hard to bear, but now she had gone far away to the North!
The Crown Prince glared at the maids fiercely and asked.
“Why were you driven out?”
“…….”
The maids checked each other’s expressions, recalling what had happened just before leaving the Second Prince’s palace.