Towards the Winter Cabin of Serenity and Madness, Cinderella Runs - Chapter 3
Hunting until this hour likely meant he hadn’t eaten and was famished. Roel felt a pang of pity as if encountering a starving animal.
Knowing she would be scolded by Roniti, Roel still handed him a piece of bread. Her hand trembled as she offered it. She felt courageous for initiating contact but internally fearful of his reaction.
“….If you haven’t eaten, please have this.”
The man looked up from the bread pushed in front of him to stare directly at Roel with his bright yellow eyes, so sharp that she instinctively shrank back.
Her trembling hands and shrunken shoulders must have made her fear evident.
He bowed neatly towards her and accepted the bread, then promptly made his way away. His behavior, cautious unlike his bandit-like appearance, took her by surprise.
‘How can his eyes be so yellow?’
Roel appreciated his cautious demeanor.
Despite his intimidating look, he seemed polite. The men in the village often equated loud voices and rough behavior with masculinity, which usually led them to be overbearing and rude towards women.
The man’s demeanor, which was so different from the village men, felt refreshing. Although they hadn’t spoken much, Roel felt a closeness to him.
Upon returning home, Roel was slapped for the missing piece of bread. Roniti raised her voice in suspicion, accusing her of snacking on her errand.
However, Roel wasn’t scared of Roniti’s anger. It was unlike her usual self, who would have cowered like a wet puppy. She simply bowed her head and endured quietly.
‘I wonder if he had his dinner alright?’
Lost in thoughts of the man who took the bread, Roniti’s sharp words failed to penetrate deep into her heart.
* * *
Bang!
Roniti slammed the table, snapping Roel back to reality from her daydreams. The relatives were still discussing Roel’s marriage.
“So, go talk to Hetter already!”
Celua chimed in.
“Yeah, Father. Hetter, that is in heat, will surely take her. Maybe if you sweet-talk him, he might even give us some money.”
Celua thought this might help with her own dowry.
“Just find some rich old pervert. She’s pretty enough to sell well. Oh, but maybe her flat chest will be a problem?”
Howson laughed crudely at his own dirty joke while Ger sighed deeply, casting a guilty and sympathetic glance at Roel.
But Roel had no expectations from Ger. To her, the relatives and Ger were all the same.
Ger had squandered the condolence money from his father’s mercenary group on gambling. Then, making excuses about securing her dowry and a good marriage to ease his conscience, he only offered cowardly justifications.
While unable to utter a word to Roniti and merely standing by as Roel suffered, he was that cowardly and weak. Eventually, he would just let go of Roel’s hand, making excuses and rationalizing, because that was the easiest way out.
“Right, Hetter isn’t a bad guy. He likes women, but maybe he’ll treat her well because of that. What do you think, Roel?”
See? Ger was pushing the decision onto Roel. It seemed like he was asking for her opinion, but did she really have a choice?
“…”
As soon as Roel remained silent, the other family members buzzed like wasps.
“Hey, why isn’t she saying anything?”
“Oh my, she must have disliked him.”
“Look at her, acting all high and mighty.”
Roniti, Celua, and Howson added their comments in a row.
“What do we need her opinion for? Just send her off, and that’s that.”
Roniti snorted derisively and stood up, followed by the others one by one.
The table they left behind was a mess, as they were accustomed to dumping the cleanup on Roel without feeling it was out of the ordinary.
Naturally, Roel was left alone to clean up. She was already exhausted from a day of enduring their relentless torment.
* * *
It had been a grueling day, from morning till evening without a break.
After clearing breakfast, she went to draw water from the well. Then, it was either cleaning or laundry.
On days without cleaning, she tackled mountains of laundry at the well, and by the time she finished, half the day had already passed.
She went to the market two or three times a week to buy groceries, only to have Roniti inspect everything she brought back, leaving her drained by the time she started preparing dinner.
The chores seemed endless, and by the next day, more work was piled up. The repetitive housework left her physically drained.
‘Even a servant in someone else’s home wouldn’t live like this.’
Even Roel, who endured silently, couldn’t help but lament her situation. At least a servant gets paid, whereas Roel received nothing but scolding.
It had been four years since her father passed away.
But the first year in this house wasn’t as torturous. She was just an extra pair of hands then. Roniti’s change of heart began when Ger gambled away the family’s fortune, tightening the household’s finances.
“The devilish Roniti. The filthy and greedy Howson. The annoying Celua.”
Sitting by the laundry area, Roel muttered to herself, grimacing as she dunked Howson’s dirty underwear into the water.
“Haa…”
If there had been anywhere to escape to, she would have run away long ago. Her relatives knew too well that Roel, an orphan with nowhere to go, was easy to exploit.
