Chapter 007
Freya, sprawled on the floor, saw the frame in Sophia’s hand and mustered the last of her strength to lift her body.
‘Is she going to throw it?’
In this tense moment, her only concern was protecting Lus.
“I saved a filthy rat on the brink of death, and this is how you repay me?”
“Aunt, please… don’t do this.”
Freya shielded Lus with her wounded body, pleading.
Tears streamed down her cheeks, soaking the carpet heavily.
She steadied herself with one hand against the wall and grabbed Lus’s arm.
“Lus, hurry and apologize to her… quickly.”
She begged him anxiously, fearing the situation would end in disaster. But despite her pleas, Lus remained still, unmoving.
‘What’s wrong with Lus today? Why is he acting like this?’
Freya’s heart pounded violently.
Images of her friends, whose lives Sophia had taken, flooded her mind one after another. Seeing Lus’s defiance, Sophia flew into a rage.
“I’ll discipline both of you tonight and correct all your mistakes.”
With bloodshot eyes, Sophia looked as if she had completely lost her mind. In her fury, she hurled the frame forcefully at the wall.
“Nooo!”
Freya screamed, standing in front of Lus. Her tears blinded her, and she saw nothing, only hearing the crash of the frame as it smashed against the wall.
“…Ah!”
The frame shattered into pieces, and small wooden shards flew through the air.
“I don’t know how those shards got there.”
Sophia spoke in confusion, then hurriedly fled the room.
“Freya, why are you doing all this for me…?”
Lus sat on the floor, carefully embracing her trembling body as he wept.
Freya didn’t calm down until she confirmed that his face wasn’t scratched. Then she forced a cheerful tone.
“Don’t cry, Lus. I’m fine.”
‘Even if another scar is added, it won’t change anything for me.’
She kept these words in her chest while Lus muttered in a strange language she didn’t understand. She closed her eyes in pain, listening to his sweet voice as if it were a prayer.
That night, when Freya was badly injured, Lus came to the large, empty dormitory to care for her himself.
The room that once held dozens of children was now empty except for its cold walls.
He brought a cloth, water, and a candle, whispering, “Freya, you need to see a doctor.”
“I’m fine, Lus. The wound missed a bit; it’ll only leave a small scar.”
“Freya, please don’t do this again. Promise me.”
‘But, Lus, I’d do the same thing if it happened again.’
She swallowed what she wanted to say and murmured softly, “I’ll heal after some sleep.”
But the pain in the wound on her forehead stung, making her furrow her brows.
‘If I say I’m in pain, Lus might cry.’
She tried hard to smile. She didn’t want to see those beautiful eyes clouded with sadness.
Freya wanted to protect the first person she had opened her heart to.
She wished Lus would stay far from the shadows and darkness of this world.
As the days passed, her wound healed hastily, leaving a thick scar because she hadn’t received proper treatment. But she didn’t care, as long as the pain was gone.
However, a new worry began to haunt her: ‘It seems like Lus has changed recently.’
While cleaning a mirror with a dry cloth, she called out to him repeatedly, but he didn’t respond.
“Lus, is there a strange bird outside?”
“You were calling me?”
He finally answered with a faint smile.
Though he was younger than her, his aura had become mature in a way that weighed on her heart. True, he always gazed at the birds outside, but lately, he did so endlessly.
‘Lus, do you also want to fly away like them?’
His expressionless face as he stared at the birds instilled fear in her heart. She dreaded that one day he might disappear like a bird from the window.
One night, overcome by sleep while curled up on the floor, someone gently shook her awake.
“Freya… Freya.”
She opened her half-closed eyes to find Lus standing over her.
“What’s wrong at this late hour?”
“Something urgent came up. I have to leave for a bit.”
For a moment, she thought she was dreaming.
“Where? Where are you going?”
Lus reached out and gently touched her scar.
“Listen carefully. I’ll come back to take you soon.”
He removed a necklace with a crescent-shaped pendant and placed it around her neck.
He seemed taller and his gaze deeper than usual. But, overwhelmed by drowsiness, she couldn’t process the situation.
“Lus, the outside world is dangerous.”
“True. So you have to hold on here until I return.”
That was the last thing she remembered from that night.
Since Lus’s disappearance, there was no word of him.
Sophia raged and sent her men to search for him.
“Where did he vanish to? Did he ascend to the heavens or was he swallowed by the earth?!”
She cursed him with the vilest words, accusing him of ingratitude.
Freya didn’t show it, but she kept waiting for him.
Whenever the window rattled in the wind, she rushed to open it.
Even seeing a pigeon on the windowsill was enough to make her eyes well up.
‘Lus, you promised you’d stay by my side.’
On rainy nights, she trembled alone in fear. With only a few children left in the massive building, it became even more desolate.
Still, she endured Sophia’s whims and wrath, her body growing frailer.
Finally, after Sophia failed in all her ventures, she abandoned running the orphanage.
Even Shaylo stopped appearing. Freya no longer understood what was happening.
‘What if Lus comes back here?’
Though she had never believed anyone, she didn’t forget his promise.
‘He told me to wait for him.’
But perhaps it was better if he didn’t return. Maybe he was safe somewhere, far from this hell.
‘This life didn’t suit the frail, little Lus.’
It was time to preserve their memories together under the name “nostalgia.”
Birds fluttered outside the window, and she turned her back to them. Under her eyes, shadows of melancholy settled.
* * *
The morning she left the orphanage.
Freya stood on the ground wet from the night’s rain, looking up at the building she had never left.
A massive, cold structure, shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere.
It held only memories of hunger and cold, yet she felt a pang of loneliness bidding it farewell.
‘Sister… Sister…’
Lottie’s voice, which always followed her, echoed in her ears. Then, for a brief moment, Lus’s angelic face reappeared in her mind.
“…Goodbye.”
She whispered a short word and climbed into the carriage with a terrified face.
The scenery outside the window changed every moment, beautiful and majestic to the point of frightening her.
“What’s with that dull face? You look like a stupid peasant.”
Sophia, suffering from motion sickness, grumbled at Freya’s distraction.
“I’m sorry.”
Freya was used to small, single-story buildings, so when she entered the capital and saw three-story buildings as commonplace, she was awestruck.
‘If I keep looking up, my neck will break.’
She wondered who built those towers and how.
Her amazement grew at the crowds filling the streets, her heart trembling with awe at the new beginning in this bustling place.
‘What will happen to me here?’
The carriage didn’t stop until it passed the bright, prosperous districts and entered a dim alley.
It halted at a building adorned with red lanterns. Freya shivered at the ominous atmosphere, seeing rats scurrying at her feet.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry and carry the bags.”
She dragged a bag larger than her body, panting under its weight, until she entered the building. A thick scent of perfume filled the place.
Then it mingled with the smells of smoke and sweat.
‘What is this place?’
But she didn’t feel completely out of place, as she saw familiar faces from the orphanage.
Women were cleaning the floor or applying heavy makeup in small rooms.
They were among those said to have gone to the capital.
There wasn’t enough warmth among them for a greeting, so she averted her gaze.
“Freya…”
A faint voice called her. There stood Lottie, holding a mop, staring at her in shock. Only then did Freya feel some reassurance.
But before she could open her mouth, Sophia’s scream rang out: “Why are you dawdling?!”
Unable to even greet her, Freya had to continue on.
When she entered a small room carrying her bag, she asked, “Aunt, should I unpack the luggage?”
“No, leave it. I won’t stay here long.”
Sophia eyed the room with contempt, shuddering at the walls and bed, as if nothing pleased her.
Freya, comparing it to the orphanage, found it luxurious and didn’t understand her disdain.
“I’m not someone who accepts being thrown into a place like this. Impossible,” Sophia said with cryptic resolve, then began preparing to leave.
