episode_0074

[Episode 74] – Once upon a time, in a certain world (1)

Long, long ago, in a certain world.

There lived a girl named Catherine.

Although her father passed away early, Catherine was happy living with her mother. That is, except for her mother’s strange delusions.

A story she had heard from her mother whenever she had the chance since she was little. Even when eating or before going to bed, her mother would always tell stories to the young Catherine as if she were telling her a fairy tale.

“Catherine, we are descendants of fairies from long ago.”

Catherine was also amazed when she first heard the story. A magic that turns a pumpkin into a carriage, a magic that turns old clothes into beautiful dresses, and even some wonderful magic spells!

The fairy tales her mother told her gave Catherine dreams of a happy future when she was very young. Catherine bragged about them to her village friends, but they laughed at her and called her a liar.

Despite such bullying, Catherine firmly believed that she was a descendant of fairies and that one day she would be able to use magic as her mother had said. Catherine had no doubts about it.

Because there’s no way a loving mother would lie.

But as time passed and Catherine grew up, her mother’s constant stories became increasingly tiresome to Catherine.

No matter how much I listened to fairy tales and dreamed of a happy future, my hungry stomach wasn’t filled right away.

Catherine realized that it was not her mother’s stories that filled her stomach, but the money she earned from doing odd jobs in the village, and the bread she bought with that money, that filled her and her mother’s stomachs.

Catherine eventually decided to leave the village and leave her mother behind. She could no longer bear to see her mother not even doing her job properly and only telling fairy tales every day.

Because all I could think about was that if I continued living with my mother, I would starve to death. All I could think about was how I could go to the capital and earn money to feed my mother.

Even on the day before leaving the capital, her mother told Catherine a ‘fairy tale’. Catherine, who really thought this would be the last time, suppressed her rising irritation and listened to her mother’s story.

“Catherine, don’t forget when you go out into the city. We are descendants of fairies.”

“…Yes, Mother.”

“I know you’re sick of this story. But don’t doubt it. You’re a descendant of fairies, and you’ve shown me what fairies can do.”

“…? Yes, Mother. I won’t forget.”

“If you have any really tough times, come back anytime. The solution is always at home.”

Catherine tilted her head slightly and smiled as if she understood.

What solution could there be for this house that is falling apart? If I could make a carriage out of pumpkins and sell it, I could make a fortune. If I could turn old clothes into dresses, I could become the richest person in the country.

If there had been such a solution, my mother and I wouldn’t have been living like this.

Money, money, money. This world was all about money. Isn’t money magic? If you have a lot of money, you can easily do the magical things your mother used to tell you about.

So Catherine left town early in the morning, before her mother could even wake up. She left her hometown where she had lived her entire life, but she had no regrets.

Catherine felt free as if she had been released from a tight cage, and the weather was so nice that she almost felt as if the sun was blessing her.

Even during the carriage ride, I couldn’t stop humming. No more listening to my mother’s fairy tales, and no more doing odd jobs for pocket change while being called the daughter of a crazy woman in the village!

“Ahahahaha!!”

Catherine laughed louder than she had ever laughed in her life on the carriage ride to the capital.

The coachman scolded him, saying that it was such a good thing to leave his hometown, and that he should be sad, but what reason was there to be sad on such a happy and joyful day!

Catherine drank the wine she had secretly brought in her water bottle in a toast. The cheap wine was bitter and sour, but it still tasted very sweet.

Was it because she was drunk? Catherine even had the illusion that she could do anything in the capital. It seemed like the magical happy life her mother had told her about was waiting for her in the capital.

The intoxication of cheap wine gave me cheap courage that made me feel like I could easily overcome the hardships of capital city life that I had yet to experience.

*

Contrary to Catherine’s belief that she would be happy once she left the village, life in the capital was harder and more painful than the village, which she had thought was hellish.

With no place to work, he worked day and night in a bar, his hands swelling and cracking. With no place to sleep, he had to live in a dusty attic with rats.

It was hard, painful, and painful, but Catherine still worked hard to earn money. When things got really tough, she would drink cheap wine and get drunk to get her courage up, but that didn’t last long.

It was only after Catherine had been in the capital for half a year that she realized that what she was doing was not something that could be done by one person.

With an absurdly low salary and ridiculously high prices in the capital, Catherine was able to save only five silver coins in half a year.

Considering that even in the village, the only money she earned from doing odd jobs for a month was five silver coins, Catherine could see how little her savings were worth.

Yes. It took Catherine half a year to realize that the bar owner, whom she had thought was kind, was actually giving her small amounts of money and treating her like a slave.

But even if Catherine realized it, what could she do? Should she return to her hometown where her mother is? Should she return to that miserable house, where she would be bullied by the townspeople and starve to death?

No, no! She couldn’t do that. Until she was successful and made money and could tell her mother, ‘Money comes before magic!’, Catherine could never return to the village.

Catherine worked harder, cut down on her sleep, and even cut down on her mealtimes. She worked so hard to save money that even the bar owner thought it was terrible.

Then one day.

Catherine met a woman who came as a customer at the bar where she worked.

With bright green eyes like early summer sprouts and softly wavy golden hair, the beautiful guest was gulping down cheap alcohol with an expression that looked like she might burst into tears at any moment.

While I was wondering what kind of customer she was, the bar owner next to me clicked his tongue and grumbled. The way the bar owner looked at the woman was like looking at a customer who was causing trouble.

“Tsk, here we go again.”

“Do you know who it is?”

“They are Cortisans. They are people who flatter the nobles and take their money.”

“Cortisane..?”

“In simple terms, it means prostitute. They are women who sell stories to high-ranking nobles, sell their bodies, and make a living by flattering nobles and making money.”

Catherine’s face turned bright red like an apple at the answer, “Prostitute.” There was no one in the village who had the profession of a prostitute. At the same time, Catherine was puzzled by this thought.

I thought to myself, “Wouldn’t it be great for the bar owner to have such a wealthy customer come into the bar?” But I realized in less than 10 minutes that this thought was a foolish one.

As expected of a cheap bar, there were a lot of cheap customers. Just like bees flocking to flowers, the cheap customers approached the flowers, gulping down their drinks.

The moment such a cheap customer spoke to the woman, an incident occurred that made Catherine doubt whether her eyes were deceiving her.

The moment the man sat down next to the woman to talk, the woman’s fist hit the man in the face. The man fell backwards, blood gushing from his nose, and the woman screamed loudly.

“I’m not some cheap girl you can touch!”

In an instant, the bar turned into a scene of chaos. The man’s friends rushed at the woman, and she used her glass as a weapon to hit the heads of the men who approached her.

“Hey, that crazy bitch! Here we go again!”

Every time the woman’s glass hit the men’s heads, a “Crunch!” “Crunch!” sound echoed through the bar. The moment it hit the third man’s head, the wooden glass shattered and the man fell down.

The bar owner, who was watching the scene, wiped his face and sighed deeply. The woman grumbled, then lifted the drink of another customer sitting next to her and drank it in one gulp, letting out a refreshing ‘Phuha!’

The bar owner sighed, pressing his forehead as if he had a headache, and ordered Catherine to bring a towel so the woman could wipe off her drink.

Catherine quickly realized that even though she was destroying everything and causing a ruckus, the bar owner couldn’t say anything because he was paying her that much.

Catherine thought that money was magic. If a big, scary bar owner couldn’t say anything or even yell at a slender woman, what could it be if not magic?

“Here… here’s a towel.”

“Oh, huh? Thanks.”

Catherine approached the woman with a towel in her hand. Seeing the woman so close, Catherine could not help but look at her with a look of envy and longing.

The hands of the woman who received the towel were so different from her own hands that were swollen and cracked while washing the dishes, and even the skin that was wiping the alcohol that was stuck to her skin was so different from her own skin that lived in a pile of dust.

Catherine’s face turned red with emotions that she couldn’t even explain, such as embarrassment, shame, envy, and jealousy, at being compared to other women. She returned to the kitchen with her head bowed and only handed over a towel.

How long will I have to do this? Will I ever be able to get away from this bar for good? Catherine sighed and put her hands in the dishwashing tub.

I wanted to be free like that woman, so I left the village, but in the end, the reality was that the place I was trapped in had changed. I knew that negative thoughts were eating away at me, but I just couldn’t stop thinking about them.

While I was washing the dishes, sobbing like that.

“What’s your name?”

“Yes, yes..?”

“What’s your name?”

“Ca, Catherine…Iyo…”

When he turned his head with tearful eyes, the woman from before was standing there. The moment his eyes met with the woman’s, she smiled faintly and looked at Catherine’s face as if examining it.

“Uh, over there..?”

“Um… There’s no scar on your face, you haven’t gained weight, and maybe you’re too skinny? Well, that would be fine if you gained weight… But your face is also half and half…”

The woman who had been mumbling something incomprehensible laughed heartily and pulled Catherine’s cheeks to both sides. Catherine wanted to cover her nose at the smell of alcohol coming from the woman, but was it because she had just seen the brawl? She couldn’t say anything.

The woman who had let go of the ball she was holding looked down at Catherine for a moment as if she had thought about it. Then, as if she had made up her mind about something, she smiled and patted Catherine’s head.

“If you like it… Would you like to work at our store? We’re looking for someone, but I haven’t found anyone I like.”

“Yes? I, I’m in the car…window…?”

“Oh, I don’t mean to sell your body. There are all kinds of people in Cortisans. People who sell stories, people who sell their skills, and… Selling your body is the easiest, but not everyone sells their body. Me too.”

“Ha, but…”

Catherine couldn’t decide. It was so suspicious that someone she had just met would suddenly make such a suggestion. Thanks to the bar owner, Catherine had learned to be suspicious of all people.

“Sorry, sorry-”

“Are you going to live your whole life in a cheap bar like this and die? You’re still young, but do you think that guy would take care of you when you’re old and sick? He’d just send you back to your hometown or throw you away?”

“…..”

“You, you ran away from your hometown, right? I can tell just by looking at you. You didn’t know anything, you didn’t prepare anything, you just hated your town and your family, so you ran away to the capital, and that’s why you ended up going around and around, rotting away in a place like this.”

Catherine was speechless. Everything the woman said was correct. Catherine blushed at the fact that she had been caught running away to the capital, having heard that she could make money there, without knowing anything or preparing anything.

The blonde woman stroked Catherine’s head with pity. She smiled at Catherine as if looking into her own past.

“I know, because I used to be like that. So… Don’t rot away here, come to our shop. At least, I’ll teach you how to survive in the capital.”