Became the Owner of a Poor Estate
Chapter 16
Reflecting on a past she didn’t even know, Donghee slowly turned around and stared into the mirror.
Anna quickly wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand, then scurried over to begin skillfully styling Chloe’s hair.
The ribbons, which had caused Donghee nothing but irritation just by holding them, were twisted into fantastic shapes, and in an instant, the girl’s hair was braided into several intricate strands. Her hands moved so fast they were almost a blur.
“Wow, Anna! You’re really talented.”
Donghee genuinely marveled as she touched the hair that had been finished in no time. Since she had rarely gone to hair salons to save money, she wasn’t used to having someone else handle her hair.
“T-thank you.”
Because she had been so nervous this morning, Anna had actually made more mistakes and moved slower than usual, but for some reason, she was being complimented.
Anna curled her still-trembling fingertips and showed a bright smile for the first time.
With a light dusting of freckles across her cheekbones, Anna’s entire impression changed when she smiled.
When she had walked in with slumped shoulders and a tearful face, she looked like the gloomiest person in the world; now, she looked like a carefree, mischievous girl who might go running around the neighborhood.
“Thank you. Go on and get some rest.”
Donghee said, glancing at Anna’s still-puffy eyelids.
“Yes! Thank you.”
Just as Anna bowed her head and was about to leave the room—
“Anna.”
When Chloe called her back, Anna stopped in her tracks and looked up.
Her hair, tied into pigtails, swayed neatly below her shoulders.
“Get some bread from Thelma before you go. Do your siblings live nearby?”
“Yes, they live in Kondal.”
“Ah, Kondal!”
Though she had no idea where that was, Donghee nodded as if she knew.
“Yes, I moved them inside the castle walls once I started working at Grace Castle. It’s safer than outside, so I can work here with peace of mind.”
The kindhearted Anna seemed to instinctively know what Donghee was curious about and recited the details perfectly. It seemed Kondal was the name of the village located inside the Grace castle walls.
Kind Anna.
Donghee thought of the village inside the walls she had seen on her way out to Morta Village.
She recalled a scene that was just as desolate and bleak as Morta.
So Anna’s siblings are there, too.
Donghee’s heart grew busy once more. She wanted to finish the Morta Village mission quickly so she could fix up Kondal Village, where Anna’s siblings lived.
“Thelma, give Anna some bread. Plenty of it. Enough so the children can eat until tomorrow.”
Just in case, Donghee had stepped in and out of the Convenience Store several times as soon as she opened her eyes this morning, and now she already had a use for the items.
“Yes!”
Thelma, seemingly delighted by the Lord’s command, pulled bread out of the boxes placed in the room and held it out to Anna. As Donghee had requested, it was a generous amount that would allow them to eat their fill until tomorrow morning.
“Th-this is….”
“The Lord is giving this to you specially, so take it quickly and share it with your siblings.”
Thelma, feeling she might have pulled out a bit too much, glanced tentatively at the Lord while lifting Anna’s apron to tuck the bread inside. She had intended to pack only a few, but when she thought of the hollow faces of the little ones who surely looked just like Anna, she couldn’t bring herself to stop at a reasonable amount.
Anna’s worn apron was filled to the brim with fluffy, sweet bread.
“Is it really alright for me to receive something so precious?”
Even the paper wrapping the bread used some special magic that made the contents visible. Furthermore, it was covered in writing she had never seen before and colorful illustrations.
It was surely something only high-ranking nobles could eat.
“We’ve already eaten plenty because the Lord gave us some. So hurry along and give it to your siblings. It’s soft, so Jake should be able to eat it easily.”
Jake was Anna’s youngest brother, who had just turned three.
Because his mother was ill, Jake hadn’t been fed properly either; his nose never stopped running, and he had lived with constant minor illnesses throughout his short life.
From the moment he woke up until he went to sleep, the only thing Jake could do was whimper in a voice as tiny as a mosquito. For three years, they had been living with the warning that Jake wouldn’t survive the month.
“Thank you. Thank you, My Lord!”
Anna hesitated for a moment before giving a loud thanks and bowing deeply.
She bowed so low that the bread tucked in her apron tumbled out onto the floor.
Anna quickly and carefully gathered the fallen bread back into her apron, bowed once more, and hurried out.
The sound of Anna’s footsteps receding from the room felt exceptionally light.
“But My Lord. Where on earth do you get those breads? And where did those jewels you sold to Gold Rich come from?”
Thelma asked the question she had been curious about since yesterday. She only hoped she wouldn’t hear that they were stolen from somewhere.
Nothing had been made in the kitchen, and there were no transaction records of food being brought in from outside.
The food had literally appeared out of thin air in the room, yet seeing that she and the other servants had shared it and were perfectly fine, it didn’t seem to be problematic food.
Moreover, the source of the jewels sold for 1,100 gold was ambiguous. Even if she sold all of the late Madam’s heirlooms, she wouldn’t be able to get that much money. It meant, at the very least, they weren’t the Madam’s belongings.
“It’s a secret.”
“Pardon?”
“I’ll keep making sure you can eat well in the future, so look forward to it.”
Donghee spoke with a voice full of confidence, admiring her quite satisfactory hairstyle from different angles in the mirror.
It was her second day in a row heading to Morta Village, but perhaps because the departure time was different from yesterday, the path looked like an entirely different road.
“Is this the right way to that village?”
Donghee, who had been staring out the carriage window, couldn’t overcome her curiosity and asked Scrooge, who was sitting across from her, nodding off again today.
His head dropped several times before he jerked awake at Chloe’s voice.
“Yes, this is the road to Morta.”
Scrooge’s gaze, answering slowly in a voice still thick with sleep, lingered on the scenery whipping past the window before dropping away.
Despite Scrooge’s answer, Donghee couldn’t shake her uneasy feeling.
Even if she had a poor sense of direction, she could tell when trees she hadn’t seen yesterday started appearing.
Since yesterday had been her first time on the road and her first time leaving the castle, she had watched out the window with a sense of wonder until they reached Morta Village, so she remembered almost every scene.
“Ah! Is it because of that tree? You asked the same question last year.”
“Yes. That tree. That tree definitely wasn’t there yesterday. Those leaves didn’t exist.”
“That’s because we took a different path yesterday.”
“No, it’s the same road, isn’t it?”
Donghee pointed out the window, speaking with conviction.
However, Scrooge shook his head as he replied. His voice carried even more certainty than hers.
“It may look similar, but it is different. This road is slightly narrower than yesterday’s, and the direction of the mountains you see is a bit different, isn’t it?”
“Is it?”
Donghee stared intently out the window, trying to recall the differences from yesterday. But no matter how much she looked, it was hard to find what had changed.
Scrooge continued his explanation.
“There were reports of a pack of wild pigs appearing on the road we took yesterday, so we took a different route. Since there is no food in the villages, it seems they are attacking travelers on the road.”
“Not boars, but wild pigs?”
Donghee asked, snapping her head toward where Scrooge sat.
“If they were boars, it would be a blessing. We could catch and eat them. But wild pigs are too dangerous, so it’s best to stay away from them if possible. If things go wrong, even the carriage might not be left standing.”
“Are wild pigs that dangerous?”
At Chloe’s question, Scrooge let out a deep sigh and muttered.
“You really ought to study a bit….”
Donghee didn’t quite see what studying had to do with wild pigs, but for now, she kept her mouth shut.
I take it back, I’m not going to grow fond of him.
Thelma was one thing, but there was no reason to grow fond of Scrooge, who was subtly naggy.
Donghee shouted as she spotted a tree covered in thick, long, needle-shaped leaves.
“What is that!”
The leaves looked painful just to look at, and they were so large that some were as big as a person’s forearm.
The tree looked very similar to a pine, but while a pine has several needle-like leaves growing in clusters, these needle-shaped leaves grew individually and evenly on every branch. It almost looked like a person with green hair.
“That is a Needle Tree.”
“A Needle Tree?”
“Yes. The leaves are shaped like needles, and the residents of the territory actually use those leaves as needles.”
“The leaves? Are they that hard?”
“They are far inferior to real needles, of course.”
“Then why use them?”
At Chloe’s innocent question, Scrooge shook off the last of his sleepiness and spoke.
“Because real needles are expensive, and the people of the territory wouldn’t be able to afford them.”
In the gaze Scrooge fixed on Chloe, sadness and frustration were reflected simultaneously.
“You’re saying they don’t even have money to buy a needle?”
No matter how many times she heard it, Donghee couldn’t understand. Just how poor did one have to be to lack the money for a needle?
Feeling as though all of this was the fault of the body’s original owner, Chloe Grace, a surge of guilt washed over Donghee.
“A single needle costs over 1 Bron.”
“Is that expensive?”
