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Belinda looked around before knocking again. This time with the secret signal requesting entry. Soon, a sleepy voice spoke from behind the door.

“We aren’t opening anytime soon. Who’s there?”

Apparently, the signal had stayed the same. It was a great relief to Belinda, who was just about to get Daisy to kick the door down.

The door creaked open, and a man with disheveled hair appeared.

The thick door opened with a harsh sound of iron. The man with disheveled hair stuck out his face.

“What the…”

The sight of a girl on a horse raised a lot of questions.

Although he often saw Belinda when she was a child, he didn’t recognize her. She was now cuter and prettier than any woman he knew.

“What are you here for?”

A neighborhood swarming with vulgar people wasn’t the best place to run into a noble girl – weren’t aristocrats supposed to shudder at the sight of someone lowly and dirty?

Belinda simply smiled.

“Take me inside.”

The man blinked.

“…So, is it true that you’re going to settle the inn’s mortgage?”

“Yes.”

Belinda replied calmly, sitting on the sofa.

The room was shabby but organized. The building’s owner, who let her in, offered her the only seat.

You had to be born with a good sense of the back alleys, know to bow down to the strong and to trample on the weak. Otherwise, your life would be left up to others.

Judging from the man’s deferential attitude, Belinda was likely to come out on top this time.

“Why on earth… Well, he should be very grateful.”

He looked at her with wonder.

The moment Belinda came in, she had started to ask about a certain Nordi from the next town over and whether he had any unsettled debts.

She was already more than certain of the answer.

During her time at the inn, Nordi always spent his nights gambling. Then she’d have to visit to pay back the stakes he lost, mostly with money from jewelry left “unattended” in the inn, but…

By now, Nordi would be accumulating huge debts here. She was sure of it, and her guess was right. Not only was he in debt, but even the inn that had been owned by his family for generations was being held as collateral.

He’ll be grateful, all right.

She originally planned to pay off his debts and thus have an excuse to take over the inn. The inn that held all of Nordi’s savings, work, and pride.

The inn already being collateral for his debts was a stroke of luck.

The gambling den’s owner carefully questioned Belinda.

Of course, it was a no-brainer to hand over the collateral to an aristocrat girl willing to pay extra money way above the interests, but if she got him in trouble…

Aristocrats were prone to change their minds on a whim.

“Lady, you know that Nordi couldn’t pay his debts, and I can’t be the one to blame for that.”

“What can you do with the pennies he gives you?”

“….”

“What is there to think about? You have nothing to lose.”

The man thought for a while before responding to Belinda’s calm comments.

“There’s just one thing I want to ask you. Why would you come all the way here? What’s so special….”

“The daffodil field behind the inn is beautiful. I want it.”

The man chuckled. It didn’t surprise him to hear such immature reasoning from an aristocrat. He shook his head and wondered how anyone could come to understand their thinking.

The aristocrats he knew of would cut an orphan boy’s feet off for stepping in their shadow and demanded to have the milliner’s daughter on her wedding night for no reason other than her prettiness. Buying an inn because of a daffodil field behind it didn’t seem like much of a stretch in comparison.

Nordi’s inn was a bit of a waste since the interest was so high. Despite the debt being repaid properly, it didn’t come near to the amount of money this girl was offering.

The man smiled weakly.

“But… How are you going to make the payments?”

Belinda unclasped her necklace and tossed it onto the table. It seemed like a nuisance to her, but its worth easily surpassed a couple of inns.

“What about this? Of course, I can give you more if it’s not enough.”

She rolled up her sleeve to show a bracelet and took out a small bag of money.

The man lifted the necklace to examine it.

Authentic.

His greed was evident. A deal would be made in no time.

***

Nordi couldn’t believe his eyes.

“T-this…”

He tried to speak in a trembling voice. The paper in his hands was his inn’s certificate of ownership.

Belinda reached out her hand, and Nordi gave it back to her willingly as if possessed.

“As I said, the inn’s payments and therefore the inn itself have been transferred to me.”

“…….”

Belinda’s words went in one ear and out the other.

His inn was being held by Sechs from the neighboring village. He was paying his debt and the interest in full, and although it was due to expire soon, Sechs said he would let it go. He couldn’t pay off his debt without the inn, after all.

Of course, in truth, he was de facto banned from the gambling table.

But this situation… The little girl in front of him… He didn’t understand how someone that once worked for him could have such nerve.

She had to be lying.

“I c-can’t believe it!”

“It says so right here. It’s not my problem if you don’t believe the certificate.”

Belinda smiled innocently, leaning back against a chair.

Nordi shook his head. His alert eyes and clenched fists let on his fear and shock.

“Again! Show me one more time!”

“It won’t be any different…”

Belinda murmured casually before handing over the paper.

Nordi stared at it with bloodshot eyes, holding on to it so tightly it was about to crumple.

“But this doesn’t say ‘Belinda’!”

“It’s my maid’s name. She’s been working hard for her reward.”

She couldn’t just write “Belinda Ryn Athez” on the certificate. Although the emperor had been gentle with her the last few years, she didn’t want to push the limits.

“…I can’t, I can’t believe…”

“Unfortunately, it doesn’t make a difference whether or not you believe it.”

Nordi picked the certificate up again.

She was right – nothing had changed. It said that a complete stranger owned his inn.

Arin Sheil.

Belinda’s maid? What the hell…

Even if all this turned out to be a lie, it wouldn’t end with a beating as it would’ve in the past. It became clear that Belinda was untouchable.

Nordi fell to his knees.

“Have mercy on me, I beg you! I can’t pay all my debt back by the expiry date!”

“Exactly. You’ll have to get out of here before then. You could sell yourself to pay off your debts instead of the inn.”

“Please!”

He appealed again desperately.

The begging didn’t inspire any sympathy in Belinda for her abuser. Her heart only got colder.

She was once in his same exact position, crying and begging not to be hit again. In his view, she was a dumb child that needed to be taught with violence, and when her blood started to stain her clothes, he kicked her again, because he was in a bad mood.

“Why me?”

Nordi sobbed. His tears started to collect in a puddle on the floor. Mrs. Ribera was right next to him.

“For my family’s sake, have mercy!”

He shouted passionately.

The inn was the pride of his family, passed down through the generations. It gave him food and shelter. Without it, he’d be left to the streets.

“Where should we go now, with nothing to our names?”

He tried with an emotional appeal.

Belinda played with Aymon’s feet, smiling. She raised her head and answered with an emotionless expression.

“Is that my problem?”

“….!”

The softness in Belinda’s voice made her sound even crueler.

It was still vivid in her memory. It was the middle of winter. The constant cold wind which she was exposed to while she did the laundry had made her sick. A high fever dried up her whole body, and she was dizzy and disoriented.

“Madam, let me take a day off, please. I’m really sick.”

She could barely get her trembling body to stand up as she begged. But Nordi replied apathetically.

“Is that my problem?”

He shoved her into the kitchen, saying he’d kick her out if she didn’t wash all the dishes right then.

And if she – a young and ignorant girl – was kicked out, she’d be sold to a pedophile or end up at a brothel.

Belinda stopped reminiscing and looked back at the owners with cold eyes.

Mrs. Ribera eventually collapsed, still whimpering. A rough whine escaped Nordi. It was the sound of despair.

***

It was a dark and desolate night. Nordi’s large figure was crawling along like a shadow. All that could be heard was his shallow breathing.

The wooden floor weakly creaked. He stopped and held his breath for a moment, but he was safe.

He was heading to the third floor of the inn. To the room with a view of the daffodil field. It was where Belinda was staying.

“Stupid bitch…. God damn you… How dare..!”

The man’s eyes suddenly filled with malice.