episode_0008

Pouring down-

A downpour was pouring down outside the window. What’s the occasion for rain.

I buried myself in the armchair and stared blankly out the window.

Squeak- Squeak- Clang-

As the armchair moved, the shackles also rattled, making an unpleasant sound. I was annoyed and swung my foot bound by the shackles.

“Ah, shit. Damn it.”

After having sex, there was almost nothing I could do until Mikhail visited again.

Bath and meals were all taken care of if I was dragged along by the group of maids.

After that, it was waiting for Mikhail to come in the room that had been cleaned and made tidy. Endlessly.

No one entered the room. The only people I could meet were Mikhail, the doctor Ivan, and the group of maids.

I tried talking to them because I was so lonely, but the group of maids completely ignored my words and only carried out their duties.

Ivan was somewhat receptive to my words, but if the conversation seemed to be going on a bit, Mikhail would storm in and immediately have vigorous sex, so a personal conversation never lasted longer than 5 minutes.

In the end, the only person I could have a proper conversation with was Mikhail. Fucking hell.

No matter how lonely I was, it wasn’t that I didn’t have the guts to talk to the rapist bastard. I suppose talking to him would probably be right before I go insane.

Therefore, in a room with nothing, I somehow devised ways to entertain myself alone.

First, reading books. I usually wouldn’t even look at them, but when there was really nothing to do, nothing made time pass as well as this.

It was somewhat fun too. But this method didn’t last very long.

Once, I had ignored Mikhail’s words while reading a book, and Mikhail used that as an excuse to take away all the books.

Fucker.

Where the bookshelf had been, only a large painting was hanging. At first, I looked at this painting to soothe my loneliness, but that was only for a time or two. Now I couldn’t even bear to look at it.

Second, cat’s cradle. In the dressing room, there were things like thread or sewing supplies so I could mend things on the spot or attach lace or jewels.

For some reason, there was also knitting yarn. Using the same nimble fingers I used to secretly take 500 won coins from my old piggy bank, I stole one ball of knitting yarn.

With that, I played cat’s cradle excitedly. I had stopped playing cat’s cradle since starting middle school, but fortunately, I still remembered.

Things I had forgotten also came back to me little by little as I played cat’s cradle.

I would always kill time playing cat’s cradle in the armchair I had obtained by using muscle pain as an excuse.

But even cat’s cradle didn’t last a full week.

Mikhail, who found it strange that I wasn’t experiencing loneliness to a suspicious degree, raided me, and the knitting yarn was taken away just like that.

That fucking bastard.

After that, I would smooth fallen pieces of wood from the floor to play Gonggi, or intentionally put out all the candles to play shadow puppets.

But the pieces of wood were taken away by Mikhail, and I quickly got tired of playing shadow puppets.

In the end, all that was left was looking at the wallpaper pattern or staring at the scenery outside.

I’m bored. I’m so bored. I feel like I’m going to die from boredom.

Tap tap tap tap tap

I hit the armrest with my fingers and played air piano. At least by moving my hands, the boredom disappeared a little. Only a little, though.

“I want to go out.”

Now that I think about it, it’s been quite a while since I’ve breathed fresh air. Suddenly, the air felt stuffy.

Although there was a large window in the room, it was locked so I couldn’t open it.

To break the window just to breathe some air, I was too afraid of what Mikhail would do to me using that as an excuse.

“Has it gotten hotter outside?”

When I ran away with Tatiana, it was early summer, and the heat hadn’t fully arrived yet.

It was a good season to escape, moderately cool and with the ground thawed.

I wanted to see the forest. I wanted to hear the scent of fresh leaves and the sounds of insects that had awakened from hibernation and started their activities.

Since I was young, I would often go to the forest to play, saying I would go hunting. I missed that terribly.

The fresh wind that hit my face while riding a horse. Because it wasn’t early summer, it wasn’t a hot wind but a cool wind.

Neigh-!

‘Asha.’

My beloved horse Adele’s neighing and, in time with that, Mikhail’s……..

“Fuck.”

In an instant, the beautiful memory was defiled. As the happy feeling plummeted instantly, only a sticky unpleasantness remained.

Annoyingly, Mikhail’s voice kept lingering in my ears.

‘Asha.’ ‘Asha.’ ‘Asha.’ ‘Asha.’ ‘Asha.’

The voice of a boy who hadn’t yet gone through puberty gradually deepened, and soon it turned into the voice of a full-grown man. Along with that, the boy’s face gradually transformed into the face of an adult man.

‘Asha.’

No.

‘Asha, I love you.’

I hate it.

‘Asha. Asha. Asha. Asha. Asha. Asha. Asha!’

No. Get lost. I’m scared. Disappear. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost. Get lost-!!!!!!

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah-!!!!!!”

I covered my ears with my hands and screamed. Nevertheless, Mikhail’s voice lingered in my ears.

He’s calling my name. He’s pinning me down. He’s touching my leg. His hand is inside my skirt……

I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared.

There’s a very big centipede over there. The centipede is coming towards me. The centipede is climbing up my leg.

No. No. No. No. No. No. No. No.

“Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaah-!!!!!”

Scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch scratch-

At the horrifying sensation of the centipede crawling up, I scratched my thighs fiercely. Even though my skin turned red. Even though blood and fluid flowed from the scraped skin.

Nevertheless, the horrifying sensation did not disappear.

It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. But I’m so scared. No matter how much I scratch, this sensation doesn’t disappear.

I want to forget. I want to forget. I want to forget. I want to forget.

Thud-! Thud! Thud! Thud!

I hit my leg against the corner of the bed. Splurt! Blood splattered everywhere, staining various parts of the room.

I felt an intense pain as if my leg would break off. But the sensation still didn’t disappear.

Ah- if I break my head, that will work. If I break my head, I won’t feel this sensation anymore, right?

I staggered towards the opposite corner. The corner was sharply edged.

Bang!

I hit my head once. Instantly, my head became hazy, and my vision spun.

As if the skin on my forehead was scraped off, a burning sensation rose, and blood trickled down.

Nevertheless, the horrifying sensation did not disappear.

Let’s do it one more time. I tilted my head back. And the moment I was about to hit……

Grab!

Someone grabbed my body. Instantly, my body was pulled back, and I saw the ceiling. And a man’s face appeared.

“Asha!!!!”

The voice that had been whispering in my ear echoed resonantly.

I’m scared. I’m scared. I’m scared. He squeezed my body with a strong grip. I feel like I’m going to burst. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts!!

This is a centipede. It can’t be a person. No. It must be a centipede.

My body was trembling. No. No. No. No. No. No. No-!!!!!

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-!!!!!”

“Asha!!!”

My body collapsed. My vision spun, and everything went blurry. Soon, complete darkness arrived.

—

“Asha!!!!”

Receiving a report from a maid that Asha’s screams were heard from the room, I rushed to the room and found Asha hitting her face against the corner of the bed.

The sharp corner was already blunted from her hitting her head against it once, and it was dripping blood.

The opposite corner already had bloodstains clearly visible, with the corner part torn off.

On Asha’s head, a long trail of blood extended down to her chin. Asha was trembling and trying to hit her head against the corner again.

I quickly ran and held Asha in my arms. She screamed and struggled, but she couldn’t move due to my strength.

“Asha! Asha! Asha!”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah-!!!!!!”

Asha saw my face, let out a dying cry, and her eyes rolled back. She went limp in my arms.

Foam came out of her mouth. I instinctively sensed danger and quickly carried her and ran to the doctor’s office.

“Ivan! Ivan!!!”

Hearing my call, the doctor quickly ran over and was startled upon seeing Asha’s completely battered state.

He immediately laid Asha on the bed and began emergency treatment. After first securing her airway to prevent suffocation, he began to stop the bleeding.

Looking now, it wasn’t just her head that was severe. Her left thigh was in a terribly severe state.

What on earth happened in the bedroom? With an anxious heart, I bit my fingernails.

Click- click- click-

Unable to even tidy my blood-soaked clothes, I hurriedly waited only for the treatment to finish.

Several tens of minutes later, the emergency treatment was finished. The bleeding had stopped, and a pure white bandage was wrapped around the injured areas.

I approached the doctor, who was exhausted and worn out from the sudden situation, and asked.

“Thi…. This….. Um…. How did this happen…..?”

Words didn’t come out properly. I was in a state of panic. My mind wasn’t working properly.

The doctor wiped his sweat and said.

“There are large contusions on her head and left thigh. There are no signs of brain hemorrhage, but we’ll have to keep an eye on it….. The worst is the left thigh.”

The doctor glanced at the thigh with his eyes and continued speaking.

“It looks like she scratched it with her fingernails, her skin is peeled off, and there were deep lacerations. We’ve applied ointment to the wounds for now, but we can only rely on natural healing power.”

“Ah……”

I sat down, feeling deep despair. What if a scar forms? Imagining hideous scars forming on that soft skin, I felt an unspeakable despair.

Perhaps understanding how I felt, the doctor said in a hesitant voice.

“Still, the healing power of the golden lineage is strong, so she’ll recover quickly. Like when she had a big injury on her head before, it healed quickly…..”

“A scar won’t form, right?”

“……. Uh…. Hmm….. We’ll probably know that after some time has passed. Since her healing power is very good, a large scar won’t form, but as for no scar forming at all…..”

“Treat it so no scar forms.”

“Yes…. Yes… I understand.”

The doctor mumbled something quietly. I ignored that, approached Asha, and held her hand.

What on earth happened, Asha. Seeing her so injured, my heart ached. How much it must have hurt.

Asha groaned, sweating cold as if she was having a nightmare. I stroked her forehead.

Please get well soon. I wanted to see her beautiful golden eyes again. Kissing the back of her hand, I waited for her to wake up.