Please Kill Me - Chapter 75
However, it was highly unlikely that Yekaterina had servants at her disposal, nor had she ever experienced such pampering.
‘Considering I don’t even have proper clothes…’
Consequently, Yekaterina found herself confined to the lounge, not in a chemise, but wearing a robe.
Of course, it wasn’t by choice. Yekaterina, whether in a negligee or a robe, wouldn’t blink an eye.
There was a time when she might have felt embarrassed about not being properly dressed, but after nearly two decades in Offenbach, Yekaterina no longer felt such emotions.
When has that changed?
‘Was it when my clothes were torn off in a fight in the arena?’
Or when she couldn’t finish a task and was thrown outside in her chemise and bare feet?
Clothing was trivial for someone who had lived as fiercely as Yekaterina.
What she wore did not matter to her.
But that was purely Yekaterina’s situation.
For Olga, it seemed to be a different matter.
Right after Yekaterina arrived at Rostislav and was seen walking around in just a chemise due to a lack of clothes, Olga had reacted as if she’d seen a ghost.
– “Miss! Why are you dressed like that?!”
– “I have no clothes.”
– “But, if you had said something, I would have brought some! Please, come inside!”
– “I’m fine.”
– “I’m not! Please go inside! I’ll speak to the master and bring some right away!”
After that, Yekaterina had, for the first time, been provided a wardrobe filled with indoor clothing.
Even now, Olga seemed visibly nervous that Yekaterina might just decide to walk out in her robe, constantly looking back before she left.
‘All this fuss over clothes.’
What importance did clothes have in life? In the end, everyone is buried in the same shroud within a coffin.
‘When will that time come?’
Yekaterina stood in front of a large window that served as one wall of the room. She then took out something she had kept hidden in her hand.
Two rough, unrefined gems, dark red in color.
These were cores she had harvested from the monsters she had faced earlier in the day.
Only corporeal monsters yield such cores, and despite her efforts in slaying them, she had only managed to secure two.
Originally being corporeal monsters, they were not common due to their high grade.
Thanks to Yekaterina washing them meticulously when she went into the bathroom, the cores were as clean as gems, credible enough to believe they were actual jewels.
Although she didn’t know their exact value, they were certainly of high quality. Yekaterina looked at the cores with satisfaction in her eyes.
‘Maybe this will offset some of my debt to Leonid.’
The cost of the horse she borrowed and everything else she owed for staying at Rostislav.
Although Leonid had told her to stay without owing anything, Yekaterina always felt the weight of these obligations on her shoulders.
Up until recently, she lived without eating properly until her tasks were completed; accepting kindness without cause felt as odd as trying to scoop soup with a fork.
But now it was okay. She could repay her debt, even if just a little.
The reckless gamble she took in the forest that day was all to acquire these cores.
‘Will he be pleased if I give them to him?’
Sergei had never spared praise whenever Yekaterina brought back such pristine, high-quality cores. It absolutely has monetary value, so surely Leonid too would be happy to see the cores.
Yet why couldn’t she imagine Leonid smiling upon receiving them?
Perhaps it’s a subtle dissonance?
Yekaterina remembered Leonid’s smile.
– “Usually, that’s what people do when they see something they like.”
He had said so, smiling faintly like frost flowers blooming across his face.
He had smiled over something trivial, like the fact that Yekaterina enjoyed horseback riding.
Given that, it seemed logical that Leonid would beam at the sight of something as valuable as these cores.
But all that came to mind was their walk through the forest, holding hands. Only the memory of how awkwardly he had draped the robe over her remained.
– “Yekaterina, what’s this inside the pocket?”
– “Sugar cubes.”
– “And why exactly are you carrying sugar cubes?”
– “It’s food for both the horse and me.”
– “You consider this food enough to carry around?”
– “If it fills me up with just the sugar, that’s enough.”
In reality, it was a provision made to keep moving without breaks, especially prepared to save Vasily as quickly as possible. On such a journey, stopping to find food seemed like a luxury.
Had it not been for such pressing circumstances, she could have ventured out with nothing at all.
– “Is that enough for you?”
– “It’s a forest.”
If she was truly hungry, she could hunt forest animals and cook them. There were streams and enough snow to melt. Although the night might bring monsters or wild beasts, for Yekaterina, there was no better place to thrive than in the forest.
And Leonid seemed to have memories of surviving in the forest too, as he rarely agreed with Yekaterina’s point.
– “Your point makes sense, but rations are better than sugar cubes. Sugar dissolves in water and disappears.”
– “Then I’ll ask for rations instead of sugar cubes at tea time.”
