episode_0166

From the next day, Tia woke up even earlier. It was the dark dawn, just before the sun rose.

She opened her eyes in the dark house and carefully headed to the kitchen without waking Fosao, who was snoring right beside her.

Then, she washed the laundry that had been soaking overnight, beating the clothes. As the sky gradually brightened, she relied on the twilight to clean. When the villagers started to wake up and move one by one, she prepared ingredients and cooked.

Farmers ate breakfast and left for their workplaces one by one. Tia also dressed similarly and prepared to leave the house.

When everyone in Gordburg was already awake and active, Fosao finally woke up, and the morning truly began for him.

“Yawn— Ah, I slept well.”

He stumbled out without even putting on his underwear, and the first thing he saw was Tia’s back as she was dressed and about to go out.

He called out in a flustered voice.

“Huh—? Ti, Tia?”

“Oh. Are you awake?”

“Wh, where are you suddenly going at this time?”

“Oh, right. I forgot to tell you yesterday! I’m going to help with some work I was asked to do, starting today.”

Fosao looked out the window.

People were diligently walking somewhere, all of them men. They were going to break up the frozen ground from winter and prepare to welcome spring.

But it was still chilly outside, and it wasn’t the season for women to step out and help. When she said she was going out to help with work, Fosao’s expression turned to one of confusion.

Tia hugged him tightly as he stood there blankly and said.

“The meal is ready on the table. You can eat it.”

“Ah. Uh-huh…”

“Then, I’ll be back.”

Peck.

Giving him a light kiss, Tia went outside.

A busy day had begun.

First, she met Rodya and together they went around the village, greeting various people.

“Nice to meet you! My name is Tia Anshier.”

“Oh, the one who moved in last week?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Hoho— Let’s see each other often—.”

Meeting the village women, she learned which families lived in which houses. In addition, Rodya informed her of the neighbors’ characteristics and told her the history tied to the place. As a new resident, it was Rodya’s consideration for Tia to actively show her face to people and get to know her neighbors first.

As expected, Tia exceeded expectations. With her unique cheerfulness and warmth, she brightened the atmosphere with interesting conversations. Even those who were initially awkward with her soon began to fall for her charm.

After meeting everyone one by one, Rodya stepped forward and asked Tia if there was anything she could be asked to do. The neighbors, interested in the newly appeared girl, somehow created ‘tasks’ and entrusted them to her. By the time the rounds were finished, there were almost over 10 requests.

“Hoho. I wanted to go somewhere fun, but I couldn’t go out at all because of housework. Please take good care of it—.”

“Young lady, please rub my back here. Oh dear— my whole body aches so much these days.”

“Look at my hands. They’re all cracked and chapped like this, but I still have to do laundry today and tomorrow. Could you help me a bit?”

Agreeing to receive a fixed wage, Tia began doing odd jobs.

Drawing water from the well and diligently carrying it, doing laundry, and cleaning, before she knew it, the sun was setting.

The money she earned from working so hard was about 20 silver. This was also because Tia worked so meticulously that her neighbors, out of goodwill, gave her extra.

“…”

Tia fell into deep thought, looking at the silver coins in her hand.

This wasn’t Deseo. It wasn’t a big city where one could earn 90 silver for restaurant service and 5 gold for transporting ship cargo.

Gordburg was just a slightly larger inland region than Taledon.

The people here didn’t particularly seek more money. They simply had no greed. As long as they paid their taxes to the lord properly, there was no problem living.

The two of them could have lived that way if they wanted to. The problem was that Fosao couldn’t work on the lord’s farm.

He was slow and overweight, making physical labor difficult, and more importantly, he was too old to work like a young person. It was clear he wouldn’t even meet his daily quota if he worked in the fields, so it was better to look for other work instead.

When Tia returned home in the evening, Fosao was sweating with anxious eyes.

“Did you eat dinner outside?”

“Ah, no. I didn’t.”

“Then you must be hungry… Please wait a moment. I’ll make you something right away.”

Even though she must have been tired and exhausted from working all day, Tia went straight to the kitchen and immediately prepared food for Fosao.

After they finished eating together, she asked while doing the dishes.

“Did you look around a bit today?”

“Huh? Uh-huh…”

Fosao said, avoiding her gaze.

“I, I think I can find something soon.”

“That’s good news!”

“Right. Hehe…”

He gave an awkward laugh, but his expression lacked confidence. It was obvious to anyone that things weren’t going well.

Tia had noticed, but she deliberately didn’t show it. She simply slipped five silver coins into his overcoat while Fosao trudged off to the bedroom.

The next day was the same.

She came out early in the morning and received requests. People viewed Tia, who worked diligently, favorably. She never showed any sign of difficulty and handled her tasks with a smile.

The incident in Breezedon left Tia with an unforgettable lesson. Perhaps not wanting to incur people’s hatred anymore, her eagerness to tackle the village’s troublesome tasks bordered on obsession.

About a week after she started working, rumors about the new young lady spread throughout the village.

“She’s a very pretty and gentle maiden. Hoho—.”

Naturally, this was good for Tia. At first, only odd jobs came in, but as her reputation improved, she started receiving more challenging and time-consuming requests that offered better pay.

As days passed, the level of requests gradually increased.

“Miss Tia. Could you possibly watch the children?”

Finally, she was even entrusted with the task of looking after the village children.

There were many young children in Gordburg. Originally, two women took turns looking after the children every day, but it was a very boring and arduous task, so everyone was reluctant to do it.

However, Tia was smart, could read, was young and physically fit, had a gentle character, and even said she could do it every day if paid. So, the requests came in with a ‘Well, let’s entrust it to her’ attitude.

It was the moment when the profession of ‘teacher’, which could only be seen in Deseo, was born in this village.

Tia took care of the children splendidly, to the extent that it could be called her calling. She had excellent leadership skills, enough to even lead me and Ruyef, who were two or three years older than her, back in the day. So, the children quickly grew fond of her and began to follow her.

“The gateway to Deseo. It’s incomparably larger and grander than Gordburg’s castle gate. Banners made of gold and fine silk flutter, and hundreds of people gather bustling in front of it, giving you the feeling of being caught in a storm…”

“Wow—.”

“What’s the first thing you see when you go inside? It’s the ‘Red Castle’ where the King of Deseo resides! Its roof and decorations are all adorned with red rubies, making it look like a glowing red sun from afar! And behind it, you can see the widely spread blue sea, and if you take a deep breath, you can even taste the salty air…”

Tia told them stories of her past adventures. The children sat neatly in front of her, their eyes sparkling as they listened intently. Hearing her vivid voice, as if they were truly there, they imagined the sea, a place they had never seen.

The women who came to check on the children also listened to Tia’s stories with pleased expressions. By evening, even the men who had finished work were leaning their arms on the fence, listening to her adventure tales.

March arrived.

On a warm spring evening, as children played in the open field, Rodya said.

“Our village seems to have brightened up so much since Tia came. Everyone smiles more.”

“Hmm— Isn’t it because spring has arrived?”

“You’re being modest. Of course, it’s partly because spring has arrived, but it feels like Tia brought spring early, somehow.”

“Hehe. Thank you.”

The woman held out Tia’s daily wage and asked.

“By the way, how is Fosao doing?”

“Yes. He’s doing well.”

“What about work? Did he find any?”

Tia forced a smile.

“He said there would be good news soon. He’ll probably find a job quickly.”

“Really? Hmm— I’m just a little worried, so I’m saying this.”

After a moment of thought, Rodya advised her with a sincere voice.

“Tia, you might not mind, but when a woman works too hard, some people start to think there’s a problem with her husband.”

“Ah…”

“Because Tia is truly kind and hardworking, everyone is indeed cheering for the two of you. But if the lord finds out about this, it could become a bit troublesome. This isn’t common practice in Gordburg. The lord is very strict with lazy people and might impose a huge tax.”

She had expected this.

The neighbors were simple-hearted people, so even knowing about Fosao’s situation, they just pretended not to notice.

No, rather, they were so moved by Tia’s good nature that they secretly hoped things would work out well for both Tia and Fosao.

It would have been good if things had gone that well.

“Actually, I briefly stopped by the market yesterday afternoon, and that’s when I saw Fosao go into the gambling den.”

“…Huh?”

Tia’s eyes widened at the unexpected revelation.

“It’s not really surprising for men to go to gambling dens and play. Still… Tia, you’re going to be Fosao’s wife, aren’t you? You should at least know what your man is doing.”

“Ah, yes… Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re doing well now, so just keep doing as you are. As long as Fosao gets things right, it’ll be fine. See you tomorrow—!”

“Goodbye!”

The sun set, and Tia returned home.

Clunk.

Her face was particularly steeped in exhaustion. She washed her face first.

“I’m tired…”

She hadn’t dozed off once while working until now. But today, she almost fell asleep while watching the children. Her shoulders felt heavy, and her body didn’t feel refreshed even after waking up in the morning.

She was also very hungry. Gratefully, a child offered her a small basket, saying they were cookies her mother baked, but the moment she smelled them, she suddenly felt nauseous and ended up not eating any, just bringing them home.

“…”

Tia’s eyes were vacant as she cooked.

‘That’s when I saw Fosao go into the gambling den.’

Perhaps Rodya’s words kept replaying in her mind. Eventually, Tia put down her knife and quietly headed to the bedroom.

Swish—.

Under the bed where they slept together, there was a safe.

Fosao was a merchant, so he managed the safe strictly, if nothing else. Tia hadn’t really thought of touching it either. She only knew that the money she earned each day went under the bed.

Clink.

But when she personally opened the safe and untied the money bag.

She discovered that there was almost no money left inside.

So far, Tia had worked hard and earned about 20 gold. However, less than half of that money remained.

“!”

Shocked, Tia felt something rising up at that moment.

Ugh…

She held onto the bed and gagged.

Haa— Haa—.

She calmed her churning stomach and barely managed to get up. She trudged to the kitchen, intending to drink some water, but.

Ugh…!

The moment she smelled the basket of cookies she had brought, she wretched up her empty stomach again.

Haa… Haa…

Tia placed a hand on her lower abdomen, her eyes tear-rimmed.