episode_0133

***

What Imina requested was to stay at the mansion for two days.

She promised to interpret In-ho’s writings on the condition that she stay at the mansion for two days.

While cleaning the mansion that had been neglected for a long time, Lee Mi-na walked around the house and swept with her hands the traces left behind by the owner of the mansion.

She especially stayed in the study a lot, and what I caught a glimpse of was Emma, who was busy cleaning, walking back and forth, looking at the scenery outside while smoothing the desk that In-ho had been using.

The first day quickly passed, and Emma offered the polished guest room to Imina.

On the last day at the mansion, Emma went shopping for the first time in a long time.

People welcomed Emma, who had suddenly disappeared after In-ho’s death, and reappeared on the streets.

It was because he thought she had finally overcome her master’s death and was out in the world.

Emma walked around the store at a brisk pace, whether she knew the feelings of those people or not, and bought ingredients for dinner.

Emma cooked with an armful of ingredients she had bought.

She made several dishes, just as she had once served her master.

Emma, who wanted to see the message left by her master, hid her burning insides and treated the foreign girl with sincerity.

Lee Mi-na had a slim appearance, but she was so good at eating that she ate all of the food Emma had prepared.

So, the last night at the mansion.

In the study, there were two women sitting facing each other.

“Okay, I’ll read it then.”

Imina said with a drowsy face.

Gurgling, Emma swallowed.

“After summer…”

Lee Mi-na began to read the manuscript in a calm tone.

Emma’s expression, which she had been looking forward to as the moment when the master’s masterpiece was finally revealed to the public, changed as the manuscript progressed.

From surprise to doubt, from doubt to confusion, from confusion to sadness.

“……”

Imina, who had finished reading the manuscript, looked at Emma sitting in front of her.

The maid keeps her head down and remains silent.

Imina woke up, and her clothes made a rustling sound.

“Have a nice night.”

Imina said as she left the door of the study.

Of course, she said this even though she knew that the mansion’s maid would not be able to have a comfortable night.

Imina entered the guest room and sat down on the bed.

Her shadow, reflected in the lamp that illuminated the room, appeared like a mural and soon moved as if dancing.

“You ate a lot today, Mr. Procrastination?”

The shadow trembled at Mina’s words. It felt good.

“I was sorry for always making you eat bad things.”

She reached out her hand and stroked the shadow on the wall.

The part that Mina touched bulged and went out.

“I think Mr. In-ho died of natural causes. I wondered if a maid was involved…”

Mina spoke while looking at the shadow.

“This is my first time at this level, so it took me a while to decide what to do.”

Slowly, a shadow moves on the wall.

“Oh, the manuscript? It was just… a whim. Anyway, it takes time to determine the dimension Inho went to. There’s nothing to do until then… Yeah. Just a whim.”

Smile very faintly.

“……”

I lower my hand from the wall and touch the bed.

” Mr. Inho….”

It was a voice filled with a lot of concern.

“Inho is very kind. You write something like that for the future of a woman you never met.”

Mina, feeling the texture of the blanket between her fingers, brought her legs together and buried her face in her knees.

“…Sometimes I wish that kindness was only directed to me.”

Imina quietly lowered her eyes and muttered.

***

The next day, Mina, who had packed her bags, and Emma, who had come to see her off, stood at the gate.

“Thank you for providing me with a place to stay.”

“No. I really appreciate it. If it weren’t for Mina, I would never have known what the owner left behind.”

Emma went out the front door and locked it.

“Where are you going?”

Mina asked after seeing Emma closing the door outside.

“I want to go to the owner. Originally, I was going to visit you on my return…”

“Have a nice trip.”

Mina smiled with her eyes and said to Emma. Emma quietly lowered her head and saw her off.

“Ah!”

Mina, who had been walking away, turned around.

Feeling like she had something to say, Emma, who was heading to the cemetery, stopped and turned to Mina.

“I don’t know, but Emma’s master wants her to be happy.”

Emma glanced at Imina.

Emma, who had been biting her lower lip, forced the corners of her mouth to raise.

“Of course. Because my master cares about me.”

“Thank goodness. Because I know.”

Imina muttered as she watched Emma walking away.

Lee Mi-na entered a quiet alley.

In a dark alley where the early morning sunlight could not reach, Mina stretched out a hand.

“Okay, then, shall we start again?”

A black shadow protruded along her arm.

The shadow, holding on to something in the air, tried its best to force the gap open.

– Ujijijijik

A bursting sound was heard in the air, and every time the shadow opened something further, the wind blew in the empty space.

Eventually, the shadow completely opened ‘something’, and a door with swirling blue swirls appeared in the empty alley.

“This is the level that Mr. In-ho has crossed over to.”

Imina, who was trying to pass through the portal as usual, stopped.

“Huh? What is this?”

Mina tilted her head as if she was looking at a machine that didn’t work even though she followed the instructions.

” Mr. Kkumul. Is this correct?”

She looked at the shadow and asked back, and the shadow moved up and down as if she had done nothing wrong.

“That’s strange. why…? Could it be that the error occurred because it was a natural death…?”

She kept tilting her head as she looked at the dimension leading from the alley.

***

“Master, I’m here. It’s been 2 months.”

Emma came to Inho’s graveyard and cleaned up the weeds that had grown around the tombstone.

“……”

She stood still and looked at her master’s tombstone.

“Luckily, I met someone who could decipher the master’s writing. So I deciphered the entire manuscript.”

“You said it was a masterpiece. Why did you lie? Haha…”

Emma’s dry laughter floated through the graveyard.

“…Master, you know. I tried everything the owner told me to do.”

Emma clenched the hem of her skirt.

“The inn in Roun village was expensive. He shamelessly took 20 darks for giving me a room that was worse than my own in the mansion.”

“The Victory Tower was ridiculously large. The streets were crowded because there were tourists around and they didn’t follow order. It was so crazy.”

“It was clear that everyone who came to pray at Eleanor Cathedral would run away because of the musty smell and construction noise. Even though all the cathedrals are big, they don’t seem to be the best.”

“And the food at El Pio was really bad. Wine, steak…”

Tears flowed down Emma’s cheeks.

“Master, I…”

“I prefer a single room in a mansion with the owner rather than a famous inn in a small town.”

“The small stone pagoda built in the garden of the mansion is more beautiful than the memorial pagoda.”

“The comfort of the master’s study suits me more than the sanctity of Eleanor’s Cathedral.”

“And the dinner I had with the owner was more delicious than the food at any restaurant in the world.”

Emma’s hands were shaking.

She suppressed her heavy breathing and continued speaking while whimpering.

“The owner is kind. The master is deep in thought. The owner is smart.”

“But… But!!!”

“There is one thing the master doesn’t know.”

Emma smiled sadly.

“Ever since I was given away by an unknown gentleman, my season has always been spring.”

Emma got down on her knees.

Her knees were wet from the dew that had not yet disappeared.

She didn’t care and hugged the tombstone.

Holding that hard rock seemed to bring back the same feeling I once had when my owner hugged me.

“But…. But!!”

“But… it’s winter now. Winter that never ends.”

She cried loudly.

“There will no longer be a flowery spring. Because without you, I will be winter forever.”

She let out words as if the wounds torn by sharp claws were welling up deep in her heart.

“No matter what I do, it’s never as good as being with my master!”

“No matter what I eat, it’s not as good as the food I eat with my master!”

“No matter where you go, you can’t beat the scenery you see with the owner!”

“No matter what I do, eat, listen, take care of, go to… To me, life is not worth living. Not even one.”

Many emotions were mixed in her desperate cry.

Emma pulled away and looked at the tombstone.

A gray stone block with Inho’s name written on it stood in front of her.

Emma carefully reached out and touched the side of the tombstone.

It’s like shaving the owner’s rough beard. Sincerely.

She lifted herself up onto her knees.

Holding on to her shaky legs, she struggled to keep from falling.

Emma bowed her head politely and greeted Inho.

“Master. Still, I’m a good maid. I will do as the master commands.”

“It’s a cold winter, but it’s so cold that you want to close your eyes and sleep… but I’ll try to stay awake.”

“Even though I can’t see spring flowers… there are probably flowers blooming in winter too.”

The sun slowly rose and illuminated the face of Emma, who was crying brilliantly and smiling sadly.

***

10 years later.

People’s eyes gathered in one place on a crowded street.

A girl was caught and held in the air by someone, who seemed to be a pickpocket, a scourge on the streets.

“Let go of this!! Let go!!”

“This guy! How dare you touch the teacher’s wallet?”

The man who lifted the girl up scolded her in a stern voice.

“Leave it at that.”

Next to the man stood a woman wearing luxurious going out clothes.

In her hand was a small wallet, which seemed to have been taken back from the child.

“But, teacher.”

The man said that children like this should be severely scolded, but the woman called teacher shook her head.

Eventually, the man put the child down.

The woman called teacher bent down and placed her hand on the child’s shoulder.

The scruffy girl with the scum flowing down her face automatically averted her eyes when she saw the elegant woman looking at her.

“Kid. Do you need help?”

The woman opened her mouth.

At the woman’s question, the child’s face became slightly tearful and then relaxed.

It seemed like he was trying to hold back the tears that were welling up.

” Also, my younger brother is sick.”

A tear fell from the girl’s eye as she spoke.

“So?”

The woman paused for a moment and then spoke kindly again.

“If it’s okay, could you guide me to my younger brother? I will help you get treatment from a doctor.”

“……”

The child looked at the woman for a long time.

There was, quite naturally, disbelief in the child’s eyes.

‘Did I have that look in my eyes too?’

The woman was lost in old thoughts for a moment.

“I understand. Follow me.”

“Thank you. Kid, what is your name?”

The woman asked, following the kid.

“It’s Annie.”

At the child’s words, the woman opened her eyes and then smiled.

“Okay, Annie. Let’s go quickly and help my little brother.”