Her steps were heavy, covered in dust, and her face bore the fatigue mixed with longing.
She stood before the gate of the house, staring at the old wood that had preserved the details of her features since childhood. She gasped for breath, as if running from time, not from the road.
Her trembling hand reached out, pushing the gate slowly… and as it opened, a flood of memories rushed toward her.
"Lady!"
The maid An ran to her, her simple dress fluttering, her face filled with both worry and joy.
"An!" Mensis whispered her name, then collapsed into her arms like a lost child who found her way back.
She cried… cried as if she had been holding back tears for days, months, perhaps years.
An held her tightly, gently patting her back, but her eyes searched for answers.
"What happened?" she asked, restrained anxiety in her voice. "Did you find a job? Did the manager try to hurt you? For heaven's sake, why do you look like this?"
Mensis lifted her face.
Her eyes were red, but behind the tears, there was something else… something strange… like a shadow of an unspeakable secret.
She was silent for a moment, then murmured:
"An… there are things I can't say right now. But… I want to see my mother. I need her embrace. Now."
Mensis entered the house with slow steps, her breaths quickening as her eyes roamed the place as if afraid to wake from a dream.
Every corner… every piece of furniture… the curtains, the lights, the scent of dried flowers in the hallway.
Everything was exactly as she left it.
As if time itself had not moved.
"Mom?"
She called in a low voice, which quickly faded between the walls.
"Dad…?"
But no answer.
The moment she placed her first foot on the stairs, a light hand grabbed the edge of her dress.
"Miss Mensis…"
An's voice was quiet, but carried a worry that was unsaid.
Mensis turned to her, her gaze confused, torn between stubbornness and need.
An said softly,
"You shouldn't be here."
"What do you mean?" Mensis whispered.
An lowered her head slightly, then said hesitantly:
"You left without Count Karl's permission… If he knew you went looking for work… he would be very angry."
Mensis's heart clenched at just hearing his name.
"I couldn't just stand still… I can't bear the silence anymore."
Her voice sounded broken, almost crying but not crying.
An looked at her with a look that held a thousand unspoken words.
Then she whispered:
"Please, think… what if he sees you in the morning? You've been told not to be disturbed because you're sick."
A quiet silence passed between them.
Mensis drifted for a moment, looking up the stairs, as if her mother would come down any moment and smile at her, as if her father would come close and say: "Finally, you're back, my little one."
But no one came.
She whispered barely audible:
"I missed them, An… my heart can't take it anymore."
An raised her hand, holding Mensis's gently.
"Do you think… seeing them is worth this risk?"
The air inside the palace was warm… unusually so.
The scent of aged wood, the sounds of servants in the corridors — everything felt familiar… yet nothing was comforting.
Mensis stood before the room's door, her hand hesitant between knocking or turning back.
She heard An say behind her, voice laced with worry:
"The Count may wake at any moment… please, my lady, tonight is not suitable for visits."
But Mensis wasn't listening.
There were whispers… low, fragmented.
A man's voice… deep. Velvety. Painfully familiar.
As if the old scar in her memory had suddenly spoken.
"I will find her, no matter what it costs."
The voice said coldly… the same coldness that had made her shiver every night in her previous life.
Her hand clenched around the doorknob.
"Even if I have to kill the rest of them."
Her body stepped back… then forward again.
An grabbed her arm, but Mensis pulled it free with a harsh glare Anne had never seen before.
"Tell me... who is inside?"
She whispered in a voice she herself didn't recognize.
An hesitated, then said:
"A guest from the Imperial Court… the Tenth Prince."
Her breath froze.
The name wasn't surprising… but she had hoped it was an illusion.
"He's supposed to be in the north..."
She told herself, as her eyes widened, and her knees slowly trembled — just like in the past, when she was a prisoner of his silence, of his gaze.
Soft footsteps inside the room… as if someone had approached the door.
She remembered everything.
The whips.
The screams.
The winter that didn't end for ten years.
The open grave where her parents were buried.
The night she promised herself: "If you ever return… I won't run."
She opened the door suddenly.
But the room was empty.
Or so it seemed at first glance.
A gray curtain swayed slowly… as if someone had just passed through it.
A cup of tea still warm, steam rising from it.
"You felt my presence…"
Said a voice behind her, directly behind her, with a coldness that could never be forgotten.
Mensis froze in place.
She didn't turn around.
She knew that voice.
She knew that presence.
She knew that hell he resembled.
She closed her eyes.
"What do you want… after you've taken everything?"
She asked, as her lips trembled.
Silence.
Then a faint chuckle.
Just a whisper of a laugh, but it was enough to open within her all the wounds she thought she had closed.
Then his voice again:
"Oh… I haven't even started yet, Mensis.
His voice echoed behind her.
She gasped and turned slowly, her eyes widening…
But there was nothing there.
No one.
No man.
No shadow.
No trace.
"No… it can't be… I heard him… I felt him..."
She backed away slowly, her breath trembling, her hands shaking, her heartbeat racing.
Every cell in her body screamed: "Run."
But her feet wouldn't move.
"Am I... still there?"
She whispered to herself, her eyes desperately searching every corner of the room.
Then she heard a voice… an inner voice, familiar…
The voice of the other Mensis, from the past:
> "You won't run this time… You won't save them again either."
"No… this isn't real…"
She gasped, pressing her hand to her head, trying to push away those voices, those memories…
But the room was shrinking.
Spinning.
Drenched in blackness.
And with one last breath… her body collapsed to the ground like a wilted flower in winter.
Outside… at the entrance of the grand hall, a man and woman suddenly stopped.
An came running toward them, shouting:
"Milord! Milady! Lady Mensis… she collapsed! She's not responding!"
The Count ran swiftly, his blue eyes wide with panic.
"Mensis!!"
His voice shook the walls.
The Countess followed, kneeling beside her daughter's body, holding her face in her trembling hands.
"Wake up, my child… please…"
The mother's cry, the father's trembling, and An's panic—
All surrounded the lifeless Mensis lying on the floor, her eyes still open in silence, staring into the void.
That room…
As if she could still hear his voice.
✧ Character Notes:
Count Mervyn Carl
– A man in his late forties.
– He has pale pink hair that reaches his neck, slightly wavy, as if it hasn't been tamed in years.
– His eyes are a clear winter-sky blue, always heavy with fatigue and worry.
– He wears an old-fashioned noble coat, unadorned, in a dark gray color, with a simple, faded wine-colored neck scarf.
Countess Malia Mervyn Carl
– A woman in her mid-thirties, with delicate features like a princess from an old tale.
– Her hair is golden blonde, like cloudy gold, gently tied back.
– Her eyes are green like a forest after rain, full of love and resolve.
– She wears a simple cream-colored dress embroidered with faint green threads—old but clean and well cared for.
> "I love you, Mensis…"
Darkness swallowed her.
No ground, no time, no anything… just the sound of her ragged breathing and the pounding of her heart, echoing in her ears like war drums.
"Mensis… Mensis, come back to me…"
A faint, warm, familiar voice.
But it couldn't be here.
Not now.
Suddenly, the place lit up with a dim crimson glow…
And there she was, standing—small, trembling—wearing a white dress stained with blood.
In front of her stood a man…
His face hidden…
But he reached his hand out to her.
In his hand… was a necklace.
Black gold, adorned with a red gem pulsing like a heartbeat.
"Do you know, Mensis?"
He stepped closer, his breath brushing her neck as he fastened the necklace around it…
And he whispered in her ear:
> "I love you… Mensis."
In the next moment…
His lips touched her neck with a burning trace—
And the scene suddenly shifted.
Her parents…
Lifeless bodies in a pool of blood.
And the shadow standing between them was the same man…
Wearing royal robes,
But his face still hidden.
She screamed…
Cried…
Screamed again—
And then—
✦ Back to Reality:
"Mensis!!!"
"My daughter!!!"
Count Merfin Karl's voice was trembling, his blue eyes ready to burst into tears.
Countess Malia, her blonde hair flowing behind her, rushed over, lifting the edges of her simple dress in panic.
Despite their poverty, she held herself like a true noblewoman.
They found Mensis collapsed at the threshold of the reception room, her body curled in on itself, her eyes half open, muttering words no one could understand.
"No… no… don't give me the necklace… don't touch me again…"
"You! Servant! Who allowed her into this room?!" the Count barked.
An froze in place, trembling.
"She… she was just looking for you… she was excited… I didn't mean—"
"Enough… Mensis, I'm here. Your father's here. We're here, my little one…"
But Mensis wasn't hearing them.
She was drowning in the whirlpool of the past.
When Mensis opened her eyes, the ceiling looked dull, as if time itself had stopped above it.
Warm light leaked in through a small window,
And something pressed against her chest…
Anxiety? Fear?
Or maybe just the sound of her heart remembering how to beat again?
A familiar voice echoed nearby, soft and trembling:
"Mensis… are you okay?"
It was her mother, Countess Malia, holding her hand as if cradling all of life in her palm.
Beside her was her father, Count Merfin Karl, pressing his trembling fist to his chest, a tear silently forming at the corner of his blue eye.
"You fainted, sweetheart..." her mother whispered with trembling lips.
"My lady only suffered from exhaustion. The body is tired, but it'll be fine with some rest," said the elderly doctor, pushing his glasses up his nose, trying to maintain composure—though his face betrayed relief.
Some warm words, a touch to the forehead, a few reassuring glances…
And quietly, everyone left the room to give Mensis a chance to rest.
But the peace didn't last long—
The door swung open like a storm crashing in!
The maid Hana — the pale girl with black hair falling like a curtain of sorrow, and brown eyes that always looked downward — appeared, dragging a giant bucket of water that seemed bigger than her!
"M–My lady! I came to wash your feet like you like after trips! I brought warm water!" she said with determination—
Just before tripping over the edge of the rug!
The bucket flew into the air like a small meteor,
And Mensis saw it all in slow motion.
SPLASH!!
The hot water spilled — not on Mensis's feet —
But on her mother's dress, her father's shoes…
And even the doctor, who had come back to grab his coat!
"Oh heavens!!" the doctor cried, lifting his leg like a ballet dancer, trying to avoid the mess.
Hana sat frozen on the floor like a helpless statue, staring at the spilled water as if she had committed a sacred crime.
A terrible silence filled the room...
Then suddenly —
Mensis burst into pure laughter.
She laughed…
And for the first time in years, she laughed from her heart.
In the middle of all the chaos, the dripping clothes, the doctor shaking off his coat, her mother holding her dress up, her father lifting his leg trying to save his dignity—
Mensis felt it.
That life…
Even with all its cruelty…
Still gifted her these small, beautiful moments of absurdity.
And in that moment,
Amidst all the pain,
She realized—
She could still laugh
End of chapter