WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Malfoid

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◈ Fragments of Thorns and a Cradle ◈

Chapter 41

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Content Warning: bereavement; child abuse; physical violence.

"Have I been disrespectful? I only stated the truth, Mother."

Endymion gave a low scoff and twisted his face. He seemed determined to scrape out every last part of his mother's heart and leave it bleeding.

Lucrezia looked at her son, who was humiliating her before the servants without the smallest hesitation. Her eyes felt ready to fill.

"Pack your things and prepare to leave."

"Marquess, what are you saying...?"

"I said pack. Are you deaf? I said get out of my house."

Madam Retman's face hardened. Her face had gone so pale it was almost laughable.

Endymion trembled from head to toe with a rage he had never experienced before. He wanted to seize someone, throw them to the ground, and beat them soundly.

He wanted to smash whatever came to hand. But the people before him were the mother who had given birth to him and the nurse who had raised him.

He wanted to kill them anyway.

If he acted on his desires, he would become a monster who murdered his mother and nurse.

He had to endure it. He had to crush down the killing intent and disgrace them so completely that they would never dare rise against him again.

He had to make them understand that taking Marie from him, no matter who they were, was madness. That no one could challenge the authority of the marquess.

"Are you saying you are driving me from my husband's home?"

"Yes."

"You..."

"You speak as though you were once a happily married couple. You were the one who ordered Father, the marquess, to be subdued and confined."

"What are you saying?"

"Is there a single servant in this castle who does not know?"

"Be quiet! How dare you...!"

Lucrezia's face twisted like a demon's as she trembled and stared at Endymion.

Endymion drove his mother further with a calm face. Lucrezia bit down hard, tears in her eyes.

"Where is Marie?"

Smack!

Her palm struck his cheek.

Endymion pulled at the corner of his lips. He looked mad.

Lucrezia's pupils widened. Her red face turned pale.

She thought of Randolph.

Even if she did not want to, the sharp smile traced across Endymion's smooth features looked like that man's. It was chillingly dreadful.

There had once been a time when she had been proud that her son resembled Randolph. Whatever her relationship with her husband, she had taken pride in bearing a son who resembled him. As the future heir of San Arzok, he should resemble his father.

But now...

"Bring Marie back."

"Marquess."

"Now."

Endymion turned away.

Having delivered that order as if driving in a nail, he left his crying mother and went up to his bedroom.

Marie was drawing water.

She had never drawn water before. There was no way she could be skilled at something she had never done even when her parents were alive.

After dropping the bucket several times, Marie sniffled. She no longer knew how many times it had happened.

Madam Modis will scold me...

Thinking of the strict woman made her teeth chatter. Madam Modis, Madam Retman's maid, had made Marie work in the kitchen from her first day at the estate. She said that if Marie was a female slave, she should do a servant's work.

Madam Retman was a maid at San Arzok, but at her own estate, she was no different from a queen. Everything happened at the movement of her fingers, and everyone obeyed her orders.

Marie was no exception.

Two weeks ago, Marie had left San Arzok at Lucrezia's command and been moved to Madam Retman's estate.

She remembered waking that morning and packing without knowing why. Her head felt as if it would spin.

She stopped sniffling and wiped her cheeks. Then she remembered how the servants' attitudes changed as soon as Endymion left. A chill ran through her, and she shook.

The servants had never been especially kind to her. Whenever they looked at Marie, they smiled brightly, then the smiles vanished. They had never spoken warmly to her, so Marie always lived timidly.

Still, Endymion was kind to her. He was sometimes cold and sharp, but he was not as fickle with her as he was with other people.

Marie liked Endymion because he cared for her, after all.

Endymion was the only person in San Arzok who liked Marie. In that enormous castle, he was the only one who checked on and cared for her every day. Endymion was the only person she could become attached to.

Then she had suddenly been separated from him.

When will you come back?

Marie remembered crying in Endymion's arms, wetting his chest with tears.

When Endymion said he was leaving the castle for a war without a set end, Marie had felt as if the sky were falling.

San Arzok still frightened her. Marie could not sleep or eat without Endymion. Under people's watchful eyes, she could not tell whether food was going into her mouth or nose.

I do not know.

Endymion had kissed her cheek by habit and smiled in satisfaction at her tears. He was a man who smiled when Marie cried because of him.

I will come back soon.

I do not want to be alone...

Marie cried.

She was as frightened and miserable as she had been the day her mother died. The thought of enduring those gazes alone after Endymion left made her feel as if she would wet herself.

She clung to his chest and burst into tears.

No. No. Take me too!

There will come a time when I take you with me even if you do not want to follow me. But you are too young now. I will tell Mother to look after you well, so wait for me. All right? When I return, I will bring you pretty sugar sweets and dolls.

Endymion soothed her.

Marie turned red as an apple and clung to his neck. Her crying only grew louder. Endymion held her and patted her back. His hand moved slowly and leisurely, as if he intended to wait until she stopped.

"What on earth are you doing here?"

Someone shouted angrily at Marie, who was still sniffling after dropping the bucket.

Marie startled and turned.

It was a servant from the estate, the one who had assigned her the work.

After being driven from San Arzok to the Retman estate, Marie had worked like an ordinary young maid. But she could not do anything well, and the servants scolded her. Every task she was given took too long, and she did not accomplish any of them properly.

"They call you a female slave, but you have never done a single hard job. That is just like a female slave."

The servant glared at Marie, who stood with her hands folded and head bowed.

They were both servants, yet one lived comfortably while the others did only unpleasant work. To the servants, a female slave was no different from a prostitute who lived well in exchange for spreading her legs for a man.

So no matter how lovely and pretty Marie was, to them she was only a little prostitute.

Marie did not fully understand her position, but she knew she would never receive anyone's love. Perhaps Endymion was the only person whose favor she could earn.

And someday...

"What did you do so well that you are crying? You only make more work for us. Do you think crying is enough?"

The shout poured into her ears.

Marie bit her lip to hold back her tears, but that only made them fall harder. She thought not of Endymion, but of her dead parents. Her father and mother, who had died for reasons she still did not know.

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