Chapter 4.1

This world was made up of three continents in total.  

Among them, Quinze-Nouais succeeded in uniting the entire western continent under a single name—Quinze-Nouais.  

The eastern continent, situated to the east from Quinze-Nouais’s perspective, was simply called “the Eastern Continent” by the people of the empire.  

This, in a sense, was an expression of blatant disdain.  

Though the Eastern Continent did have a great kingdom at its center—Turk—it had never succeeded in uniting the surrounding minor kingdoms. It remained a land of disorder, and so Quinze-Nouais had not even bothered to give it a proper name.  

These were the people Aurelian Quinze-Nouais had called savages and sought to annihilate. It was also a way of denying Turk’s status as an empire.  

The northern reaches of Quinze-Nouais provided the only land route to the Eastern Continent, though most preferred traveling by sea. From the Grand Duchy, where the Grand Duke’s fortress stood, it took about fifteen days by horse and carriage to reach the east, but only five days by waterway from the capital.  

Sally and I mounted the informants’ horses and rode toward the docks, stripping away all the jewelry and ornaments from my body along the way. Fortunately, no pursuers followed.  

“We will part ways with you here.”  

“All right. Thank you.”  

They never showed us their faces until the end. They left us at an inn on the road to the harbor, then disappeared. We had to stay the night and leave again at dawn.  

The clothes I wore were too ornate and conspicuous—boarding a ship like this would be no different than broadcasting the Crown Princess’s destination to everyone onboard. I changed into simpler garments, shoved my former dress into the fireplace, and shut the door. Smoke rose thickly through the chimney.  

As I freed myself from the corset that had bound my body, a long-suppressed breath burst out.  

“Finally, I can breathe.”  

“You feel better now? …I still think that dress was too precious to burn.”  

“At least we saved the jewels.”  

“Yes… I’ll try to sell these as best I can.”  

“Not all of them. Just two or so of the less special ones.”  

“Don’t worry.”  

Once Sally left, I lay down on the bed and tried to think of the future. There was no information on the Eastern Continent to be found anywhere—proof of how little Quinze-Nouais traded or interacted with that unknown land.  

‘Well, I survived after falling into a strange world once before… and now I’ve got Sally with me.’  

While I was struggling to push away complicated thoughts, Sally returned with a bright smile.  

“Luckily, the innkeeper gave me a fair price. Well, maybe not fair—but at least enough. I covered tonight’s lodging, meals, and tomorrow’s carriage to the harbor.”  

“You did well, Sally. We’ll sell the rest once we reach the Eastern Continent.”  

That night, in a modest but tidy inn, I forced myself not to think of what I had left behind. Thankfully, we passed the night in peace.  

The next morning, as promised, the carriage awaited us, and Sally and I prepared to step into a new world.  

Arriving at the docks, I remembered. When I had come here to save Glenn Doherty, I never imagined I would truly board a ship. But now I held Sally’s hand firmly and stepped on deck, telling myself, It’s just another place where people live.  

The ship was larger than I expected. Cabins were divided according to fare, and Sally and I were assigned a narrow berth with just enough room for two to lie down.  

“Will this be all right for you, my lady?”  

“Of course. Last time I fled, I slept in a carriage.”  

“Ha… my lady…”  

“Excuse me, ladies.”  

We were sharing a silly joke in the dining hall when a middle-aged gentleman approached us. In Quinze-Nouais, it was rare for men to wear hats, so the fedora on his head seemed rather exotic.  

“And you are?” Sally asked, wary.  

“It’s just uncommon to see two young ladies traveling alone on a ship.”  

“And what business is that of yours?”  

I stopped Sally’s sharp retort with a smile. If this man was from the Eastern Continent, I might glean some information.  

“And your name is…?”  

“Ah, forgive me. I should have introduced myself. I’m John Mannick, a broker from the Kabyl domain of the Turk Empire.”  

I rose and offered him my hand. Sally’s eyes widened in shock—no lady of Quinze-Nouais would ever take the initiative to greet a man this way. But I had decided that as a stranger among strangers, I would act without hesitation.  

“Pleased to meet you. My name is Tess Taylor, and this is my maid, Sally.”  

Thankfully, he didn’t seem surprised, and shook my hand.  

“So, Sir Mannick, I suppose the reason you approached us was to introduce some properties?”  

“Please, call me John. And yes—you seem like you could use some assistance.”  

With his seasoned air, I could tell he was making a pitch. To his eyes, I must have looked like a noble lady fleeing Quinze-Nouais with nothing but a maid in tow.  

“As you can see, I am indeed from the Eastern Continent.”  

Of course, I looked nothing like one. But a perceptive man would grasp what I meant.  

“Yes, I can tell at a glance.”  

“But I’m returning home after a very long absence.”  

“Indeed, you do give that impression.”  

Salesmen—if nothing else—were always quick to catch on.  

“So then, I won’t need to find another broker once I arrive.”  

“Exactly.”  

I couldn’t fully trust him, but decided to follow. After all, even when flying to a foreign country, it’s hard to know where to begin. Now was no time to be picky.  

For two days at sea, I wrestled with countless worries and plans. Fortunately, the ocean carried us calmly to the Eastern Continent.  

Unlike Quinze-Nouais, the Eastern Continent had four distinct seasons and wide fertile plains. Minerals and gemstones sold for twice their western value, so selling just a few ornaments could buy us a small home and several months of living expenses.  

We took the broker’s carriage toward Kabyl domain in Turk.  

“Kabyl is close to the imperial capital, and very safe.”  

“Of course—I had Kabyl in mind for that reason.”  

A lie. I’d never even heard the name until he mentioned it.  

“You’ll see for yourself soon. The house was put on the market suddenly, so it’s priced below value. I think you’ll like it.”  

“I do hope so.”  

“And the lord of Kabyl, Duke Henry Kabyl, is unlike other lords—he is generous and reasonable. There is no better place to start anew.”  

I smiled in reply.  

Though we set out at dawn, we arrived by evening. The house pleased me. A village had formed nearby, and beyond it lay forest—secluded enough for safety, but not isolated.  

Had I brought my original escape funds, I would not have needed to purchase such a home. But for now, it was the best option.  

“No one’s living here, so you can move in right away.”  

“Good. Then we’ll stay from tonight. We’re too tired to return to an inn.”  

“As you wish. I’ll bring the contract papers next week.”  

When the broker left, Sally clapped her hands in delight.  

“My lady, I honestly thought we’d be sleeping on the streets, but we get a warm house!”  

“Yes… though I feel a little uneasy. Still, at least it’s a roof. Tonight, we’ll have to sleep without blankets.”  

“We can use cloaks. Look, there’s even firewood left!”  

Hearing her rejoice over firewood, I felt heavy-hearted. I had promised her a fine house one day.  

“Sally… I’m sorry. I’ll buy you a real home of your own someday.”  

“I like this one.”  

“You do?”  

“I never wanted a house just for me. I always dreamed of living in a place like this with family.”  

I looked around. The log house wasn’t grand, but it felt warm. The first floor had a parlor and dining room, a neat kitchen, and upstairs there were two bedrooms. More than enough.  

And when my baby was born, we could turn part of the living room into a nursery.  

I gazed at the house where I would begin a new life, and smiled with satisfaction.  

 

***

 

Adrian returned from the cliff to the imperial palace and stabilized the empire.  

Quinze-Nouais, with its 500-year history, had always sat at the center of the western continent, but not always at its current size.  

Christopher Quinze-Nouais, Aurelian’s father and former emperor, had refused to remain content within his borders. By absorbing neighboring kingdoms, he had shaped the empire’s present form.  

He united the west under one name—Quinze-Nouais—and built his capital in the southern part of the continent.  

The war lasted 20 years. In the end, Christopher triumphed, and wielded stronger imperial power than ever.  

To prevent future succession struggles, he took only one empress and had only one son. Yet, ironically, he later fell in love with another woman.  

At a time when he could not fully shoulder responsibility, he fathered a son with his young wife. As feared, the next generation fell into a struggle for power.  

And now, Aurelian Quinze-Nouais stood before the wife of his half-brother—the empress of the empire he had usurped.  

“Do you resent me?”  

Adrian could only echo the very words once spoken to him by the emperor.  

“…”  

“I will grant you the honors of a former empress.”  

If a usurpation was not peaceful, the former empress rarely survived. It was a significant mercy. Most empresses would have been relieved to preserve their family, themselves, and their last surviving daughter.  

But this empress could not accept Aurelian’s words.  

“Grand Duke, struggles for power have happened countless times in Quinze-Nouais’s history. As an empress, I do not resent you. But as a mother who has lost her son, I do. I will leave the capital.”  

“Very well. I shall arrange a proper residence for you, and I will not harm your family.”  

Without answering, the empress left the emperor’s study.  

When she departed, Aurelian banished all the emperor’s closest allies to distant domains, but left the crown prince’s retainers untouched.  

When civil war brought a change of throne, people expected bloodshed. Yet the new emperor’s rule was surprisingly moderate.  

The four count families who had not supported Adrian quietly disbanded their private armies and withdrew to the countryside.  

Glenn Doherty observed the once-slave emperor. To him, Aurelian seemed calm. After a month on the throne, the empire had stabilized with shocking speed. Glenn was astonished by his cleverness and skill. He knew Adrian had studied statecraft until age twelve, but he had also lived many years as a slave.  

Owen, however, saw it differently. He knew the emperor had gone a month without proper sleep or meals. Sometimes Owen wondered if his lord had truly died that day at the cliff, leaving only a ghost behind.  

Then commotion arose outside. A knight entered with news from the north.  

“Your Majesty.”  

He bowed low. Adrian stared at him with unfocused eyes.  

“The northern ducal fortress has been invaded by barbarians from the Eastern Continent.”  

War had come. And Owen realized something—his lord exhaled deeply, almost like a sigh, for the first time.  

“When civil strife weakens a country, foreign invasion is inevitable. Owen, prepare to march at once.”  

“At your command. Will Your Majesty lead the campaign personally?”  

Instead of answering, Adrian stripped off his imperial robes. Taking it as a signal, Owen rushed out of the study.  

There was no formal departure ceremony, yet the citizens of the capital flooded the streets.  

The people believed they owed their peace to Aurelian, who had guarded the north. To them, he was already a hero. They filled the city, desperate for a glimpse of him.  

Before leaving, Adrian hastily appointed a new chancellor, entrusted domestic affairs to the two ducal lords, and placed Glenn Doherty in charge of administration.  

And finally, he sent a letter of annulment to Celine Ianster—along with an imperial decree promising that, once the war ended, he would keep the vow he had once made to her.  

Then Adrian departed for the north.

 

***

 

“Mistress, are you comfortable these days?”

It had been almost a month since we moved into this house.

“Huh? Why…?”

“Oh, it’s just that you seem to have gained some weight?”

“Oh…”

I pretended to put a book on the bookshelf and spoke as if it were nothing.

“It’s not that, I’m pregnant.”

“Oh, pregnant… What?”

I smiled as naturally as I could.

“What do you mean, when did that happen, who on earth…? Oh… shouldn’t you have told me that before we came here?”

“Oh, I guess so? But I wasn’t sure then… and we’ve been a bit busy since we got here.”

“Oh, I guess so? Oh, you guess so?”

To be honest, I had tried to tell her several times, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say it to Sally, who had so willingly come with me.

“So, which Quinze-Nouais’ baby is it?”

“It’s my baby.”

“Hah… you’re really unprepared.”

“Who knew things would turn out like this with the engagement?”

I mumbled to the bookshelf in a small voice.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

I had promised myself that I would listen to Sally’s anger in silence, but instead of getting angry, Sally hugged me tightly from behind.

“You must have been so worried. You should have at least confided in me. Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

I want to cry when I’m comforted.

“Sob, thank you, Sally.”

“Is there anything you want to eat?”

“Not really right now…”

“So, I have another real family now. I’m an aunt to a Quinze-Nouais now. I don’t know which one, though.”

Thanks to Sally’s deliberately cheerful tone, I relaxed and a laugh escaped me. But she suddenly took her hands off me and gave me a stern look.

“You’re laughing now? We don’t have much money left.”

“It’s enough until I give birth.”

“What about after? That’s when we’ll really need money.”

“I guess so…”

“I have to get a job.”

“I was just about to tell you. I went to find a doctor to deliver the baby yesterday and found a good job.”

“What is it?”

As the broker said, the territory of Kabyl was a very good place to live.

Thanks to my early preparation, I had a new identity as a noblewoman of the Turk Empire, but Sally, who had to get hers in a hurry, was unable to get a noble title. In addition, Sally was such a common name that we decided not to change it after much thought.

This territory, which was located near the coast but was not directly accessible by ship, had a pastoral atmosphere that made it feel nothing like the Eastern Continent.

In this empire, most of the nobles who didn’t have money lived like commoners, with the exception of the high-ranking nobles.

And it was said that Henry Kabyl, the lord of this territory, was in a financially difficult situation, as were most of the territories on the Eastern Continent.

Henry Kabyl, the Grand Duke of this territory, had a monopoly on the Bay of Carka, the only sea route to the Northern Continent, and was barely managing the territory with the profits from it.

The territory’s situation was somewhat better in the summer, but in the winter, when even the sea froze, there were fewer ships using the sea route and all the food supplies ran out. The Grand Duke was said to be giving his people food from his own pocket every winter.

“The doctor told me yesterday that the Grand Duke’s family is looking for a maid to do the laundry.”

“Then I can apply.”

“But he said we can just take the laundry home. You don’t have to get a job as a live-in maid. I can work with you, too.”

This was a stopgap measure that the Grand Duke’s family had come up with because they had to pay more money to live-in maids.

“A pregnant woman doing laundry?”

“It’s good to move around a lot even when you’re pregnant.”

“Then since we’re talking about it, I’ll go to the Grand Duke’s mansion.”

“He said to tell them that you heard about it from Doctor Mel Burton in the city.”

As soon as I finished speaking, Sally headed to the Grand Duke’s mansion and didn’t come back empty-handed. She said that the identity verification was very simple because she was not going to be a live-in maid.

And so, we secured a stable source of income from the Henry Kabyl Grand Duke’s family.

And that summer, I had Leo.

Shouldn’t a member of the Imperial Family’s name be Leonardo?

“My goodness… I guess I didn’t even need to ask which Quinze-Nouais it was.”

Our Leo was born with shining silver-gray hair and blue eyes that shimmered like the sea. When I held the baby in my arms, my chest was filled with a sense of fulfillment.

There was no concept of a hospital here, either, so the doctor who had been treating me regularly came to the house and delivered the baby.

All the hardships I had gone through here felt like nothing.

Raising a child was by no means easy, but the time I spent with my child was so happy.

Peaceful days continued for us, as if I had never had to go through such things in my life.

 

***

 

“Leo, why isn’t Auntie here yet?”

Sally had gone to the Grand Duke’s mansion to get her work for the evening, but strangely, a lot of time had passed, and it was now night, and she still hadn’t returned home.

Leo was just starting to walk, so I took him to the entrance of the village and waited.

As time passed, the child began to whimper as if he was sleepy. Thinking it was no use, I carried the child on my back and headed to the Grand Duke’s mansion. My steps quickened, worried that something bad might have happened to Sally.

It was quite a relief that I had made a Korean-style baby carrier.

I had often gone with her to get work from the Grand Duke’s mansion, so I knew the back door that the maids used to go in and out, and the guard knight knew me.

“Lady Tess?”

“Yes.”

“What brings you here at this hour?”

The guard knight, Hugh, was a young man who had a crush on Sally. He had brown hair and freckles that gave him a cute impression.

“Sally went in to get some work and hasn’t come home yet.”

“I know. I saw her go in, and I was worried because she hasn’t come out yet. My shift will be over soon, so I’ll go inside and look for her.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Soon, his relief came, and Hugh went inside. But Sally didn’t return, and only Hugh came back out.

“I think you should go inside, Lady Tess.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know the exact situation, but it seems to be a very difficult one.”

It was the first time I had ever entered the Grand Duke’s mansion, but I followed Hugh in a hurry. After passing two buildings, we came to the separate building where Sally was. As I rushed through the lobby on the first floor, I saw Sally sitting at a small desk, writing something.

“Sally!”

When she saw me, her face crumpled.

“Oh… Mistress…”

“What’s going on?”

I adjusted the sleeping child on my back and hurried over.

This is what Sally told me.

That day, she had gone into the Grand Duke’s room to change the bedsheets.

And as she usually did, she pulled the bedsheets hard, but she accidentally hit a vase on the table next to the bed with her elbow, and the water spilled, soaking some documents on the table.

Fortunately, the letters didn’t bleed completely because she had quickly picked up the documents, but she had received an order from the Grand Duke to transcribe the entire contents of the documents by tomorrow.

She had been writing nonstop since the evening, but she still hadn’t finished even five pages.

I quickly skimmed them with my eyes, and there were about 20 to 30 pages.

Henry Kabyl, the Grand Duke of the Turk Empire’s Kabyl territory, was a person who was called the “brain of the empire.”

He had lost his wife to an illness two years ago, and his already prickly personality had become pathologically worse. Sally had never even seen the Grand Duke once.

That was because the Grand Duke would stay in his office late and only return to his bedroom at night.

“I’m going to die…”

“Who dies just because they soaked some documents?”

“They say the Grand Duke has a really strange personality. And I don’t know the contents well, but it seems like a contract, and if it goes wrong because of me, he might demand a huge amount of compensation.”

I went closer to Sally and looked at the documents. Fortunately, the language of this country was the same as Quinze-Nouais, except for a few usages.

“I’ll do it. You take Leo home.”

“What?”

“I’ll do it. I write much faster than you.”

Of course, Sally was not good at writing. Looking at what Sally had written, I didn’t think it would be usable even if she transcribed it all.

“Sob, can I really?”

“Oh… if only I had a typewriter, I could finish this in five hours.”

“A typewriter?”

Sally reacted sensitively to my muttering.

“Yes. You can do it much faster with a typewriter. But why are you like that, Sally?”

“You’re talking about the one in the Count of Ianstar’s room, right?”

I looked around to see if anyone was listening. No one was paying attention to us anymore, but it was a habit I had developed from running away so many times. Fortunately, Hugh was gone.

“Yes, that’s right. But why?”

“They have one here, too. In the side building.”

Sally said she had seen a typewriter there when she went to get the laundry. It seemed that someone from Quinze-Nouais had given it as a gift, and since no one knew how to use it, they had just left it in the separate building.

I clasped my hands together, stretched them out, and bent my neck to the left and right twice.

Who am I? I’m Cha Seyoung, who survived for five years as a secretary to the most sensitive person in South Korea. This kind of work was nothing.

“Go get it.”

Sally nodded with determination. And a moment later, the typewriter she brought back fortunately worked properly.

The typewriter, which had been treated like scrap metal because it had not met its owner, began to clatter back to life.

 

***

 

Henry Kabyl was pouring himself a strong drink to get through another sleepless night. His insomnia had been going on for quite some time. His head always felt heavy, and he had lost a lot of weight.

His eyes were sunken, and their light had been lost for a long time.

He kept alternately opening his eyes, which wouldn’t open properly, and nervously frowned.

He had not always had a personality like this. He had been a bit sensitive, but was fundamentally a rational and tidy person.

Although they were half-brothers, he lost his brother in the war, and when his wife, who had been his only support, also passed away, all he had left was a barren territory that he had to take care of and a terrible insomnia that tormented him.

He was flipping through pages of a book that he couldn’t focus on and rubbing his temples.

Clack, tat-tat-a-clack, ta-da-clack.

He frowned even more at the irritating noise coming from somewhere.

The strange maid who had soaked the contract papers for tomorrow earlier that day had made him even more sensitive.

But since it was a sound he had never heard before, he tilted his head, wondering if he had heard it wrong. But he hadn’t.

Clack, tat-tat-clack, tat-tat-clack.

“Damn it, what the hell is that noise?”

The reason the Grand Duke had to finalize that contract was because the income from the Bay of Carka was like a lifeline to the people of his territory.

A merchant from Quinze-Nouais had been the first to contact him to open that sea route, so tomorrow’s contract had to be favorable to his side.

He had ordered the maid who had made the mistake to fix it, but he didn’t expect her to be able to fix it in a single day.

He was agonizing over how to postpone the contract date when the sound came again.

Clack, tat-tat-clack, tat-tat-clack.

The bizarre noise, like a nail being hammered in, pierced his ears again as he was lost in thought. This time, it was unbearable. He slammed the book he was reading shut with a loud bang. And he pulled the bell cord with all his irritation.

Soon, the butler, Gary, appeared.

“Why are you so late?”

“Yes, my apologies for taking two minutes in the middle of the night, sir.”

Gary was the only servant who had lasted a long time by Grand Duke Henry’s side, and that was because he was an old friend of Henry’s.

But his master, who had called him so urgently, was not saying anything and was just frowning.

“But what’s the matter in the middle of the night…”

As Gary tried to urge his superior, the Grand Duke put his index finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet.

“Can’t you hear that sound?”

“What?”

“I said, can’t you hear that sound?”

“What sound are you talking about?”

“Now! That sound now, the sound like a huge hammer hitting a wooden table.”

“I apologize, my lord. I don’t hear any sound at all.”

“What do you mean, you can’t hear that dreadful sound like a sword hammering my brain?”

“Not at all.”

“This won’t do.”

As if there was no reason to listen to Gary in the first place, Henry Kabyl took him along and left the main building.

“Do you really have to do this at this hour?”

But once they were outside, Gary could faintly hear the sound as well. When he listened closely, it was coming from the separate building. Before Gary could even register the direction of the sound, Henry was already walking toward it.

The separate building was completely empty of maids because the territory’s financial situation was not good. The sound, which was heard regularly in the pitch-black night, became even more bizarre as they got closer.

Clack, tat-tat-clack, tat-tat-clack.

“It sounds like a machine screaming.”

The sound was now echoing, making the two men’s heartbeats quicken.

The two men pretended to be unbothered, but they unconsciously silenced their footsteps and slowly approached the direction of the sound.

The sound was coming from the room at the very end of the hallway, which was reached by the long light of the lamp they were carrying.