Chapter 1
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‘Youngest to pass the Imperial Civil Service Exam!’
She held the title, but Asel was not happy.
Thud! Thud!
“Hey! I hear your daughter’s doing quite well for herself! Time to pay your debts!”
Debt collectors came knocking every single day.
“Asel! You can’t even do that much for your brother?”
Her mother demanded she take out a low-interest government loan to fund her brother’s business ventures.
“Tell him to earn it himself.”
“Him? Where is that child supposed to suddenly find that kind of money?”
He wasn’t a child. There was a three-year gap between him and Asel. In Imperial years, sixteen was considered adulthood; her brother was already twenty-six. Asel bit her lip hard.
“You didn’t even give me money to buy books.”
“That’s different from you!”
Her mother would say, ‘You’re smart and capable, but he’s pure and kind.’
“You do know that I paid for his academy tuition with the money I earned working at the garment factory, right?”
At first, it was an act of kindness. She simply wanted her brother to grow up in a slightly better environment than she had. It was bit bitter to realize that her kindness had, at some point, become an expectation. For the record, her brother had been expelled after accumulating too many academic warnings.
“So? Are you trying to act superior over that now?”
“You know I haven’t heard a single word of thanks, right?”
“Why should family thank each other for that? You really are making a scene.”
Reasoning with her was useless. It was a fact she had learned painfully over a long time. Now, even Asel was exhausted.
“I’m moving out.”
As it happened, her new appointment was in a place very far from this village. Her brother, who had been watching the mother-daughter spat like a fire across a river, chimed in.
“Then who’s going to cook my meals?”
I should have left a long time ago.
Asel glared at her brother for a moment before storming out of the house. Her father, face flushed red from drink, was screaming at the top of his lungs, “You ungrateful beast! You don’t even know the grace of those who raised you!”
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Whether it was a divine punishment or not, Asel got into a carriage accident. She remembered her body floating in the air and the splat! of hitting the ground. After that, her memory went blank.
Whack!
A stinging switch struck the back of Asel’s hand. The tingling, sharp shock snapped Asel wide awake.
“Asel. Don’t doze off. I’m not paying you a daily wage for this.”
When she came to her senses, she saw dozens of children her age sitting in a row, sewing.
Wait a minute…
This sight was not unfamiliar. Until just a few years ago, Asel had sat in this very spot. Even amidst her confusion, her hands moved quickly, attaching wings to a unicorn-shaped doll.
Am I dreaming?
Was this a flash of her life passing before her eyes? But it felt too realistic to be a dream or an illusion. The smell of damp, musty basement humidity. The peers moving their bodies with lifeless eyes. Even Mrs. Medle, holding a thin switch with a fierce look in her eyes. At first, she found this phenomenon hard to believe.
“Asel. My good, capable daughter. You worked hard again today!”
Her mother, Sarnel, praised Asel with a bright smile. Seeing that face, a sudden sense of reality washed over her. That radiant smile was only seen when handing over a pouch of daily wages. The young Asel had longed for that smile. That was all she needed back then.
“Shall Mother see how hard our daughter worked?”
Sarnel naturally reached out her hand. Asel almost instinctively handed over the pouch containing today’s pay. Snapping out of it, she spoke.
“Mrs. Medle said there’s no pay today.”
“What? Why?!”
“She said she’d give two days’ worth at once tomorrow.”
“What? That woman is really…!”
“……With interest added.”
“W-well, if that’s the case……”
Sarnel bit her thumbnail, looking flustered. She had some debts to settle, so this was a bit inconvenient. However, she decided to endure it since interest was promised.
“Phew. Mrs. Medle, really… why doesn’t she recognize how much our daughter suffers? You must make sure to get that interest tomorrow. Understood?”
“Don’t worry.”
After nodding, Asel headed outside for a moment.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to go beg with the beggars outside the city gates. We have nothing to eat today.”
Sarnel stroked Asel’s hair with a proud expression.
“Who do you take after to be so thoughtful? Who would take you for a seven-year-old? Mother is truly happy to have you.”
In the past, she loved these kind words and gestures. She would have done anything for them. But looking back now, those kind words and touches were not directed at Asel herself, but at the pouch of copper coins she brought home.
My wrists are so thin and haggard…
Her mother’s wrists were not like that. Thinking back, it was a truly strange life. Her mother was someone who had to wear silk clothes even if she starved for days, and her father was someone who had to drink even if his family ended up on the streets. Asel worked while skipping several meals, but her brother never missed a single meal and had never worked a day in his life.
Did I really return to the past?
It still didn’t feel real.
Even if this is a dream, it’s fine.
It didn’t matter if she didn’t know when she would wake up. Right now, she just wanted to escape. Far, far away.
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Asel headed toward the city gates.
Let’s get away.
Two guards grabbed Asel by the shoulders.
“Hey, kid.”
“Where are you going? The sun is setting soon.”
The two guards flinched in surprise when Asel turned her head.
Her hair is short, so I thought she was a boy.
There weren’t many girls with short hair. Usually, if they did, they were children from very poor households who had to sell their hair to help with living expenses.
“I’m going to Gilia Village.”
“Now? By yourself?”
The guards shook their heads.
“I told you, the sun is setting.”
“Go tomorrow when the sun rises.”
Asel’s heart pounded. She felt as though her drunken father was about to chase after her. Her only thought was to get as far away from here as possible.
“I have to go now. My mother is very sick.”
“……What?”
“She’s in labor. I have to bring Dr. Houston from Gilia Village right away.”
“W-wait a moment. There should be someone heading to Gilia Village to clock out.”
Once they heard the situation, the guard told his colleagues, and one of them came galloping over on a horse.
“I’m just about to head home. I’ll give you a ride.”
Heave-ho!
The guard tucked his arms under Asel’s armpits and lifted her high. After placing her on the saddle, he climbed onto the horse as well.
“Thank you.”
Asel rode the horse.
“Be careful. You’ll be badly hurt if you fall.”
“Yes. I’ll be careful.”
She thought she would be used to it since she had ridden horses a few times after becoming an Imperial official, but she wasn’t. Perhaps because her body had become smaller, the speed felt incredibly fast. Asel reflexively squeezed her eyes shut.
“Even if it’s scary, bear with it for a bit. We’ll arrive soon.”
It was a kind voice. She didn’t mind the embrace of this stranger she had met for the first time today. Why did this move her so? Suddenly, tears welled up.
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The guard helped Asel proactively.
“I know where Dr. Houston’s house is. Wait here for just a moment. I’ll go and bring him right away.”
The alley was too narrow for a horse to move through. The guard handed the horse’s reins to Asel.
“He’s a very good and well-trained fellow, so you just have to stay still. Wait just a bit.”
One wouldn’t normally make such a request of such a young girl, but the situation was urgent. The guard ran off somewhere. Holding the reins with her small hands, Asel looked at the horse.
“Mr. Horse. I’m sorry. I have to run away because of my circumstances.”
There was no way the horse could understand, but she told him anyway. This was the best she could do right now.
“Wait here like a good boy. The guard will be back soon—”
From a distance, a voice echoed, “Asel! Is that you, Asel?!”
Father?
It was a drunken voice. Sitting on the terrace of a tavern, he burst into laughter.
“See! Didn’t I tell you she’d bring money today! Asel! My pretty daughter, you got your daily wage today, right? Come over and give some money to this goblin-looking guy! How can he be so petty as to pester a man over a few bottles of beer?”
The drunken man staggered toward Asel. It felt like a monster was approaching.
I have to… run.
She couldn’t get caught here. But was it because of learned fear? She was so terrified that her feet wouldn’t move. Just then, the horse snorted, letting out a hot breath. Walking irritably, the horse kicked fiercely toward her father.
“Whoa! This crazy horse!”
Blood streamed from the nose of the fallen man. As if he were glad for the opportunity, he screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Who is the owner of this crazy horse! Come out right now! Oh, my nose is broken!”
He was clearly intent on squeezing out some compensation money. The horse suddenly knelt and looked at Asel.
“……Huh? You want me to get on?”
The horse nodded. Wondering if they truly could communicate, Asel moved closer, and the horse lowered its body even further to make it easier for her to mount.
“Asel! Come here! What do you think you’re doing!”
As the horse began to move slowly, Asel’s father started to give chase, stumbling in his drunken stupor.
“P-please run away.”
“Money! My money!”
The horse kicked off the ground and began to run. And it ran for a very long time—long enough that she couldn’t even tell how far they had gone. When she came to her senses, she was flying through the night sky. The twinkling stars were so close she felt she could touch them. The horse, which had turned pure white at some point, was gallantly treading upon the night air with its large white wings spread wide. It looked exactly like the unicorn doll she had been making this morning.
I must be dreaming.
It felt so surreal that she wasn’t even particularly surprised. If it was a dream, she didn’t want to wake up. Because she felt like she would have to go back home the moment she woke. Then, a voice was heard. It wasn’t a physical voice heard through the ears, but a booming voice that seemed to be planted directly into her brain.
[I’ve finally found you, my daughter!]
