No sooner had Joel and the siblings left the cottage than John began badgering his three remaining sons to hurry down to the village for help.
However, the young boys refused to leave, citing their fear, and John and Nora remained bound hand and foot, bickering incessantly until the tavern owner arrived much later with a group of thugs.
“How on earth did you raise those children!”
“They take after you and your cowardice! What do you expect me to do!”
“Alright, alright, that’s enough. Look here, John, where did that prostitute go? You said you’d drug his soup and have him sleeping soundly.”
The tavern owner spoke irritably, prying John and Nora apart.
“Well… I don’t know how he found out, but he sensed something and fled beforehand.”
“Good grief.”
The tavern owner shot John a look of pure disdain.
He had actually allowed himself to get his hopes up after all the talk of a big payday, but it was a fool’s errand once again.
Typical.
Disappointed in John, the tavern owner left with a parting shot: “Everything you touch turns to rot. Get back to the mines this instant. And know this—I’m adding the cost of the drinks you gulped down yesterday to your tab.”
He then headed back down the hill.
Grinding his teeth, John forced himself up with the help of a cane.
His chest still throbbed where the mule had kicked him, but he was nearly out of his mind with the thought of having lost a once-in-a-lifetime chance to wipe out his massive debt.
Shoving aside his wife who tried to stop him, he dragged his aching body to the Lord’s Manor.
“A thief broke into my home! A guest who said he’d stay for a few days fled without paying his dues after beating me! You must catch him at once!”
John grabbed every person he saw to make his plea, but naturally, no one listened to a man who had never paid his taxes on time.
Instead, he was met only with sarcasm—people suggested he had probably tried something unspeakable to a guest and got what he deserved.
“Dear, it’s already over. Let’s just go back and stop making a scene.”
Nora tried to soothe her fuming husband.
She was also furious, having lost both the prostitute’s price and her stepdaughter’s dowry in one go, but being at least slightly smarter than her husband, she recognized that causing a ruckus at the Lord’s Manor could lead to a severe lashing.
As they scuffled in the hallway of the manor, they accidentally elbowed the Lord of Versa, who was passing by with an armful of papers.
“How dare you commoners block my path? Do you wish to be flogged until your thighs burst?”
The enraged Lord shouted, pointing his finger.
He looked ready to order a corporal punishment on the spot, causing John and Nora to immediately bow and scrape in apology.
As Nora repeatedly bent her waist, her eyes suddenly caught the contents of the papers the Lord held.
“Wait…? Th-That face!”
Though she was illiterate and couldn’t understand the dense script on the pages, she could recognize the dozens of identical portraits printed on every sheet.
She nudged her husband’s arm. John, busy groveling, finally noticed the portrait and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
“What is it? Do you people recognize this person?”
The Lord, who had been treating them with annoyance, suddenly changed his tone.
Nora sensed a dangerous shift in the air and shut her mouth, but the clueless John gleefully spilled everything.
“Recognize him? Why, of course! That fellow stayed at our house for several days and then ran off without paying a single copper!”
“Master Joel stayed at your house?”
“Joel? Is that brat’s name Joel? He told me it was Robert. Whether it’s Robert or Joel, it was definitely this face. But seeing as there are flyers out for him, he must be a major criminal, eh? I knew he was suspicious from the way he hid his identity. I should have slapped him three times instead of just once.”
Excited by the prospect of catching the man and getting paid, John continued to babble, failing to notice the Lord’s face turning pale with horror.
“My Lord, that fellow is a born swindler to the bone. He stayed for days and insisted he couldn’t pay a penny. And that’s not all! When I told him he should pay with his body if he had no money, he actually set his mule on me!”
“Slapped him? Pay with his body? Are you saying you dared to insult the person who is to be the future Crown Princess?”
“Yes, My Lord. If one has no money, one should naturally pay with their backside… eh?”
John, who had been boasting triumphantly, finally processed the word ‘Crown Princess’ and his mouth fell open.
Crown Princess? That guest he had tried to sell as a prostitute… was the future Crown Princess?
It made no sense.
Why would a noble of such high status be wandering around alone without a single servant?
However, there wasn’t a trace of a joke on the Lord’s face, and as John finally grasped the situation, he turned white as a sheet.
“That is… ah, w-well, saying he should pay with his body was just a joke! In truth, I served him most devotedly!”
John tried to change his story quickly, but it was already too late.
The enraged Lord pointed at John and Nora and shouted fiercely, “Take these two away and interrogate them immediately!”
During their journey south, Joel grew close to the siblings quite rapidly.
On the slowly moving wagon, the only way to kill time was to talk to them.
Now that Becky and Rob were free from the cycle of endless labor, they regained their childlike energy and chatted with Joel proactively, chirping away like skylarks.
“Rob, when did you start working as a shepherd?”
“Since I was ten. Around that time, my stepmother became pregnant and we needed a lot of money.”
Joel couldn’t hide his pity upon hearing Rob’s answer.
Tending to livestock was not easy, even for an adult.
Since Rob at fourteen was only about the size of a ten-year-old, it must have been even harder to handle animals four years ago.
When Joel asked worriedly, “Goodness, didn’t you get hurt while learning?”, Rob answered stoically, “At first, I got kicked and headbutted. I once nearly died after a donkey kicked me for touching it the wrong way. But thanks to that, I’m better at tending livestock than anyone my age, so it’s fine.”
While Joel was having a serious discussion with Rob about the differences between mules and hinnies, Becky, who had been quietly driving the wagon, joined the conversation.
“Master, look over there!”
Joel turned in the direction Becky pointed.
At the end of her finger stood a crumbling, abandoned house.
Joel and the siblings had already agreed to take shelter in any suitable abandoned house they found while heading south.
The house Becky pointed out was isolated deep within a lush forest, and its appearance seemed decent enough to hide in for a month or two.
Joel instructed Becky to drive the wagon toward the house.
Up close, the house looked like it hadn’t seen a human touch for several years.
The small vegetable garden only held traces of past crops, and the thatched roof had long since rotted.
“There are quite a few places to fix, but… the pillars are intact, and there are several pieces of furniture and utensils left that we can use. I think it’s not bad. Rob, how’s the barn?”
“It’s completely collapsed. There’s a plow, but it’s badly damaged, so I’m not sure if I can fix it. Still, it’s better than nothing.”
While Becky and Rob scoured every corner of the property, Joel stood blankly in the middle of the house with a skeptical face.
The siblings seemed to quite like the cottage, but to Joel’s eyes, it looked like nothing more than a falling-down pigsty.
There was even a large hole in the ceiling.
No matter how skilled they were, how long would it take to turn this ruin into a place fit for a human to live?
“It’ll be livable with a bit of work, but I wonder why such a useful house was left empty?”
Becky muttered to herself with a cautious look as she surveyed the interior.
Rob, who was inspecting the fireplace, was the one to answer.
“Sister, our house in Versa was in this state before we fixed it up. And since it’s almost time for the predators to wake from hibernation, it’s dangerous to keep moving through the forest. We’re far enough from Versa now, so why don’t we just stay here?”
“Hmm…”
A pondering Becky looked at Joel as if asking, ‘What about you, Master?’
Joel still only saw a crumbling pigsty, but he decided it was better to trust the judgment of Becky and Rob.
“I’ll follow your lead,” he said.
After more discussion, Becky and Rob eventually agreed to stay.
Once the meeting ended, they rolled up their sleeves and began cleaning the house diligently.
They dragged out the rotted furniture and tattered blankets and began sweeping and mopping the dust-covered floor.
While the siblings cleaned busily, Joel also tried to help by picking up trash.
“Master, it’s too dusty in here, please rest outside. We will invite you in once we are ready.”
Of course, it wasn’t long before he was caught by Becky.
“I can’t just lounge around while you young ones are working so hard.”
“Since you promised to pay us, it’s only right that you put us to work. Besides, Master… you aren’t exactly in a condition to overexert yourself right now.”
“Ah! How did you know?”
Joel asked, startled.
He hadn’t breathed a word about his pregnancy.
Becky replied with a grin.
“Well, you often stroke your lower abdomen with such a happy face. I have four younger siblings, so I’m quick to notice things like that.”
“Ah…”
Joel’s face immediately filled with apology.
“It’s—It’s not that I didn’t tell you because I didn’t trust you…” he began to explain.
Becky patted her master’s hand.
“I know. Anyway, please go bask in the sun outside. There are broken glass shards scattered here, so it’s dangerous.”
She nudged her hesitant master out of the house.
Honestly, doing so was the best way he could help her and her brother.
