Chapter 140
A Night of New Beginnings
Unlike the knights who were trembling with fear, Eleanor was perfectly calm, as if nothing had happened.
She met Ernst, talked with him, and went on a walk with both him and an overly excited Hilda to calm her down. But because Ernst also frowned harshly after hearing Hilda’s story, Eleanor had to struggle to calm the two of them down.
Her composure had a simple reason.
It simply wasn’t a big enough incident to affect her mood.
It was natural for subordinates to gossip about the person they served. And also natural for them to judge the woman their superior had brought with him.
Besides, what the knights said was much more polite than she had expected. Truthfully, Eleanor had assumed they would say far more vulgar and nasty things—like accusing her of seducing Karsian using her face and pitiful circumstances, just like a prostitute.
“I heard comments like that all the time when I first got engaged to Arlo.”
Back then, she had been even younger. The nobles, who pretended to be lofty and refined, were often far more vulgar than people from the poorhouses.
Compared to that time, the treatment she received now was surprisingly good.
Especially considering she had no family name backing her—it was almost strange.
Karsian must be a very intimidating superior to them, Eleanor guessed as she and Hilda climbed into the carriage.
“Eleanor, we’re about to set off again. Did you eat well? Are you uncomfortable anywhere?”
Soon Karsian approached and asked after her once more. Hilda puffed up her cheeks, clearly wanting to say something, but Eleanor quickly grabbed her hand and stopped her. Thankfully, Karsian’s eyes were fixed solely on Eleanor, so he seemed to have noticed nothing strange.
“Yes, I’m fine. What about you, Karsian? You look busy—are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Thank you for your concern.”
She had no intention of meticulously telling him what had happened earlier. Not only did she not want to worry him, but doing so would only spread bad rumors about herself.
Fortunately, Eleanor successfully kept it hidden from Karsian, and he soon returned to his place and gave the order to depart.
And so, the carriages rattled forward once more.
The carriage ran non-stop for hours over uneven roads. After their last break, the rain had stopped completely, and the breeze coming in through the window crack became gradually warmer. Watching the scenery shift moment by moment, they soon found themselves right at the border.
Because the lord of Royster was traveling with them, they passed the border without a single inspection. As Karsian had promised, they reached an inn on the outskirts of Roister just as dusk was settling in.
“Ugh, my butt aches so much. Does riding a carriage always feel like this?”
“Hilda, please lower your voice. How can you say something like that so loudly—”
“Do I need Sir Ernst’s permission to complain that my butt hurts?”
The moment they arrived at the inn, Hilda and Ernst immediately began bickering again. At this point, even Eleanor was getting sick of it.
“You two talk it out. I’m going to find Karsian.”
Without waiting for a reply, Eleanor slipped away from them.
Karsian was nearby, speaking with someone who looked like the innkeeper. Their schedule had been delayed, so it seemed like a minor problem had come up.
She was about to approach him to figure out what was happening when—
She heard whispers from somewhere.
“Because of who we got delayed like this, and now we’re staying in some luxury inn too. She has no shame.”
“If it were just us, we would’ve reached the grand duke’s castle by now, don’t you think?”
The voices were unfamiliar, so they weren’t the knights she’d overheard earlier.
But of all things, they were gossiping about her again—and she happened to hear it again. How ironic.
And that wasn’t all.
“Shut up, you idiots. Why are you all so talkative today—”
When she glanced in the direction of the voices, her eyes met someone she recognized.
A knight with a massive build, almost-white hair, and pale blue eyes.
Russell Kaur.
The moment he saw her, Russell froze, eyes widening in shock.
Eleanor calmly turned away and continued walking toward Karsian.
Her expression was as composed as before, but Russell—watching her back as she approached Karsian—felt nothing but fear.
* * *
Eleanor was assigned the best room in the inn. It was right next to Karsian’s room, while Hilda and Ernst stayed on the lower floor.
“In novels, this is when they always say there’s only one room left,” Hilda muttered mischievously. “So the heroine and hero have to share it.”
She said it just to tease Eleanor, but disappointingly, Eleanor only tilted her head as if it made no sense.
“An inn with only one room left? With this many people traveling, we’d never go somewhere that small. It’s unrealistic.”
“That’s not what I meant… Ah, maybe your balcony and the Grand Duke’s balcony are connected again today.”
“Hmm, probably not. How could two separate rooms have connected balconies? Especially special rooms like the ones Karsian and I are using.”
“…Yes, yes, everything you said is correct…”
Hilda stopped trying.
Her lady lacked imagination and empathy—not by fault, but simply by nature. Hilda still blamed the harsh Astria-family upbringing for it.
Completely unaware that Hilda had sighed several times behind her, Eleanor headed up to her room.
The room was nicer than she expected—though not quite Mercedes Hotel quality, the bedding and furniture were high-end, and the atmosphere was cozy.
After changing clothes, Eleanor explored the room. Watching the sheer curtains flutter gently in the breeze, she collapsed onto the bed.
“I really left Juvenile.”
A warm bedroom without needing much firewood, furniture made of wood rarely used in Cardiff, a light but soft blanket, curtains that didn’t look sturdy enough to block the cold air… Everything was unfamiliar yet delightful.
She had finally left that wretched Astria behind forever.
As she thought about it, an overwhelming sense of relief she’d never felt before filled her chest. Her heart, which had been racing since they crossed the border, finally quieted—stilled by the joy.
The reason she could face strangers’ hostility without being shaken was simple.
She was too happy.
Too happy about her new beginning to care about trivial things.
She didn’t expect everything to go perfectly from now on.
Whether in Juvenile or Royster, places where people live are never that different.
But at least…
At least, for once…
“Maybe… maybe I can be happy now.”
A normal life, where she lived pursuing her own happiness—free from lifelong helplessness and resentment. Maybe she could finally try living that kind of life.
With those thoughts, Eleanor slowly closed her eyes.
Her body ached from riding the carriage all day. She fell asleep in just a few minutes.
She didn’t even notice Hilda stopping by to deliver dinner.
Night became pitch-black, and the noisy inn grew silent.
It was a cloudless, windless night—yet, in Eleanor’s ears, she heard rain from somewhere.
Swoooosh—
Rain hammered against the ground, lightning flashed, and thunder boomed like someone screaming.
As the harsh rain continued, cold sweat appeared on her skin.
CRACK!
Lightning struck beside her bed—and though her eyes were still closed, she saw a man standing next to her.
A massive body wrapped in luxurious clothes.
Shining golden hair catching the light.
“Remember this, Eleanor. Only I decide whether you live. I made you, and I can kill you. I am your father.”
It was her father.
Huge, hard, terrifying—just as always.
“You dared betray me, forgetting your place. I will re-educate you.”
Caleb Astria lifted a long object from the darkness. Something she couldn’t possibly fail to recognize.
A thin, long whip.
The whip that had torn her skin countless times.
“Remember!”
Caleb Astria swung his arm violently.
Whoosh!
The black whip sliced through the air and wrapped around her—
“Haaah!”
Eleanor gasped and shot upright. Trembling uncontrollably, she pressed herself against the wall and looked beside her bed.
Of course, no one was there.
Not her father’s savage face, not the whip ready to strike her—it was silent.
Even the sound of rain was gone.
A dream.
Just a dream.
Eleanor muttered blankly, breathing hard.
Her father was locked in the imperial prison—alone, miserable. She no longer had to endure her skin being torn open. It had only been a nightmare. Unfortunately timed, on the very day she left Juvenile.
“It’s fine. I was too excited about the future, and it made me anxious. That’s all.”
She tried to calm her wildly beating heart.
But the room was too dark.
The pitch darkness kept making her imagine her father emerging from it.
It was hard to steady herself.
She needed someone.
Someone to tell her that what she saw was only a dream.
Eleanor suddenly let out a soft, self-mocking laugh.
It was such a fragile, unrealistic thought.
To want someone at her side just because she had a nightmare—how selfish.
“Just wait. If I stay still, the fear will pass.”
The way to endure fear was to become used to it.
That was a lesson Eleanor had learned over twenty years—forced to learn, really. It was proof of the Astria family burned into her body.
But it was the only method she knew.
So she closed her eyes, intending to wait for the fear to fade.
But then—
Knock, knock.
The sound cut through the heavy silence.
Suddenly, the door she hadn’t been able to see in the darkness came into view.
“Who… who is it?”
Her voice was husky from sleep.
She already knew what voice she would hear.
Her heart beat for a different reason.
“It’s me.”
As expected—Karsian.
