At the crack of dawn, Joel, awakened by John’s snoring, was passing the time sitting beside his mule.
Joel had skipped breakfast.
Normally, he was someone who never missed a meal, but the thought of sitting at the same table as that man, John, made his appetite vanish so completely that he couldn’t swallow a thing.
John had tried to handle the ham and rye bread with his grimy, dirt-caked hands, so Joel had been forced to cut off just enough for Becky’s family and wrap the rest back up tightly.
Joel had intended to leave John’s house as soon as the sun rose, but when daylight finally came, he had to tearfully postpone his plan.
Dark clouds had gathered, and it looked as though it would rain at any moment.
With a baby in his belly, he couldn’t travel a long distance while getting drenched.
“It was clear all this time, so why does it have to be cloudy today of all days…?”
As he looked up at the sky with a face that refused to give up hope, Becky approached the pasture where Joel was sitting with brisk steps.
“My Lord, when are you planning to leave?”
Becky, who reached him in an instant, whispered her question in a low voice.
Even while speaking to Joel, she kept glancing anxiously back at the cottage.
Knowing she was aware of his plan to leave in two days, Joel sensed something was wrong and lowered his voice in turn.
“Why?”
“I feel like something suspicious is going on in the house…. Father said we don’t need to bow and scrape to creditors anymore, but that’s impossible. His debt wasn’t just a few coins…. And somehow, I feel like the reason is related to you, My Lord.”
“What?”
“I don’t know the details, but it’s just my intuition.”
Joel bolted upright from his seat.
Had that bastard John rummaged through his belongings and stolen his money?
He had hidden his gold and silver coins in small pouches inside his clothes and shoes, but his copper coins were in his bag.
Even if they were just coppers, the amount was quite significant when gathered together.
Just as Joel was about to go check the money in his bag, he stopped dead in his tracks upon seeing Becky’s swollen eyes.
“Becky, what’s wrong with your eyes?”
Until she left the cottage this morning, Becky had been mopping with her usual expression, but now her eyes were as swollen as if she had been crying for hours.
When Joel asked out of concern, Becky wiped her cheek with the back of her hand sheepishly.
“It’s nothing, My Lord.”
“Don’t tell me it’s nothing. Tell me right now. What happened? Did that woman refuse to give you ham again? Or did your father steal your portion?”
Joel asked in an angry tone, remembering that he had cut plenty of ham so that Becky and Rob would get their share.
Had that damned John tried to fill his own stomach by stealing food meant for his children again?
John was so shameless that he had devoured as much ham in one meal as Joel and the siblings had eaten over the past three days combined, yet he was still anxious for more.
When Joel stopped bringing out more ham because he felt it was a waste to see it go into that man’s mouth, John had even tried to snatch pieces from Becky and Rob’s plates.
“No, I wasn’t crying because of the ham….”
“Then what is it?!”
Under Joel’s fierce interrogation, Becky finally had no choice but to confess that she was suddenly being forced into a marriage.
Joel grew even more furious upon learning that Becky’s suitor was a hunchback twenty-six years her senior.
“How does that make sense? You’re only seventeen! Setting aside your stepmother, did your father actually accept such a match?”
“He said the family’s situation is difficult, so we have to reduce the number of mouths to feed somehow….”
“What kind of crazy household is this!”
Joel stomped his foot in rage.
Having almost been forced into a marriage with a noble thirty-five years his senior in his past life, he was even more incensed by Becky’s plight.
Come to think of it, why did that bastard Crown Prince force such a humiliating marriage on him in the past?
Since the Crown Prince couldn’t remember the past, Joel couldn’t even demand an answer, but he had always wanted to ask what on earth the Prince had been thinking when he issued that command.
If he hated Joel that much, he should have just followed the Emperor’s wishes and cut off his head to hang on the city walls.
Giving his former fiancé as a bride to a middle-aged man was a punishment more cruel and insulting than execution.
Considering the Crown Prince had later given his soul to a devil to turn back time, it seemed he had regretted it in his own way, but why did he do something so regrettable in the first place?
Suddenly seeing his own past face reflected in Becky’s, Joel fumed once more.
“He really is a terrible bastard!”
The Becky before him was too young and fragile.
He couldn’t leave her to be sold off to an old man like this.
Joel grabbed Becky’s thin wrist and said, “Becky, leave with me instead.”
“…My Lord, I appreciate the offer… but I must decline.”
“Why!”
“I can’t leave my brother behind. And the bride-price has already been paid.”
Becky answered with a lonely smile.
“Then we’ll just take your brother too! How much is your bride-price?”
Joel asked confidently, but when the hesitating Becky replied, “…Six gold coins,” he couldn’t help but flinch.
Six gold coins was a massive sum even for him.
Furthermore, because he had spent so much money buying the mule, his remaining fortune—even if he scraped together every silver and copper—was slightly less than six gold coins.
Becky had seemed to harbor a glimmer of hope at Joel’s bold attitude, but seeing his face stiffen, she gave a resigned smile before even hearing his answer.
“My Lord, you don’t need to trouble your heart over a lowly commoner like me. I am grateful enough for the care you showed while we stayed together.”
“But, Becky….”
“Don’t worry about me and please go. I’ll tell Rob to have the wagon ready,” Becky said, pushing Joel toward the house again. Even as she was about to be sold into marriage and leave her young brother, she was worried about Joel’s safety.
Joel wanted to help her by any means necessary, but at this moment, there was nothing he could do for her.
When Joel returned to the cottage and opened the door with a grim face, Madame Nora—who had been so cold until now—approached him with a fluttery, pleasant air for some reason.
“Oh, My Lord. I was worried since you skipped breakfast, and you’ve come back at just the right time. I’ve made some soup; would you like some?”
She pointed toward the table. In the bowl sat a soup so thin it could have passed for tea.
There was no way Madame Nora would show him such kindness without a motive, and Joel realized the atmosphere was definitely different from usual.
Joel turned his eyes to check the state of the room.
The most threatening presence, John, was sprawled in a corner of the room, fast asleep.
It was a loathsome sight considering Becky and Rob had been working without rest since dawn, but for Joel right now, it was a stroke of luck.
“No thanks to the meal. More importantly, I’m leaving now.”
Joel spoke while firmly pushing away the woman who was trying to grab his arm with feigned friendliness.
The smile hanging on her lips stiffened awkwardly.
“Pardon? But there are still 2 days left until the promised date. Is… is the remaining payment not a waste to you?”
“It is a waste, but it’s none of your business.”
Leaving a panicked Madame Nora behind, Joel gathered the ham and rye bread.
Outside the window, he could see Rob pulling the wagon out from the barn.
Joel had intended to take all the food, but thinking of Becky and Rob, he sliced off a hunk of bread and a piece of ham and left them on the table.
As he walked into the yard clutching the food, Rob, who was checking if the wagon moved well, spoke in a lively tone.
“Ah, Master Robert! I’ll go get the mule from the pasture now. Please wait a moment.”
Rob’s expression was bright as ever, but his eyelids were also swollen.
He had clearly heard the news of his sister’s marriage.
Joel felt his heart grow heavy.
If he gave up on his escape here and revealed his identity, he could save these two poor children.
But… then he would have to return to the Crown Prince’s side.
After everything he had done to get here, he couldn’t do that.
Joel firmly believed he was not a suitable match for the Crown Prince, and having already experienced being abandoned once, he didn’t want to return to a life of constant anxiety, worrying that the Prince’s affection might cool again.
‘I have to protect this child.’
He felt sorry for Becky and Rob, but he couldn’t give up on his and his baby’s future.
Joel stroked his lower abdomen, hardening his weakening heart.
It was then, just as Joel had loaded the ham and bread into the wagon and returned to the cottage to get his bag.
“Hey there, Noble Lord. You’re leaving already?”
John, who had woken up at some point, glared at Joel.
His eyes were still bloodshot from the alcohol, but even while drunk, he was not an easy opponent.
John’s physique was more than twice the size of Joel’s.
“That won’t do, no. Not at all. Just stay there and eat your soup,” John said commandingly, standing beside Madame Nora, who held a club.
The couple’s three young sons were huddled in the corner of the room watching with frightened eyes, but Joel didn’t feel sorry for them at all.
Considering what they had done to Becky and Rob, they were devils on par with their parents.
He had planned to escape before John woke up, but since things had turned out this way, he had no choice but to face them.
With a hardened face, Joel drew the dagger from his waist.
