Chapter 10.

Terrible Food

He doesn’t feel like the Empress Dowager.

Kallian resembled the Emperor whom Yeongryeong had loved in her previous life.

From his gaze to the way he spoke, even his habits.

That was why she had wondered whether Leona, Kallian’s mother, might perhaps resemble the Empress Dowager as well.

But Leona was nothing like the Empress Dowager she remembered.

Then is Kallian’s resemblance to the Emperor merely a coincidence?

The resentment that had raged within her soul was unmistakable, but the moment of her death remained unclear in her memories.

Perhaps once she remembered everything, she would also understand how she had come to this place.

Regardless, this body has had terrible luck both in this world and the next.

Yes. She did not know whether this place was another world or hell, but one thing was certain: in both lives, she had married the wrong man.

And in both lives, her husband’s mother had been obsessed with tormenting her.

The Empress Dowager had despised Yeongryeong, calling her a woman from some lowborn family of unknown origins.

Her only pride was her noble and beautiful son, while the concubines were nothing more than tools for producing heirs.

Yeongryeong was neither the daughter of a meritorious family nor someone who possessed anything useful as a woman of the Emperor, aside from her beauty and martial arts.

That was why she had been a thorn in the Empress Dowager’s side.

She had suffered all kinds of petty persecution because of the Empress Dowager’s hatred, but…

I had never lost to the Empress Dowager either. At least, not until the last moment I remember.

The corners of Essika’s lips twisted.

Much less to a Head Lady.

Was it any wonder that the concubines had feared her as the Supreme Wicked Woman Under Heaven?

When others played dirty, she responded with something even dirtier. When they insulted her, she returned an even greater insult.

Of course, her schemes had always been flawless.

She had dreamed of becoming the only woman of the man she loved.

It was only in her later years that she realized even that dream had been nothing more than an empty and futile illusion.

I don’t care if this place is hell. But one thing is certain…

Essika lightly landed on the windowsill and entered the room, casually dusting off her clothes.

They will repay everything they did to me twentyfold.

Making her enemies squeal like animals in a slaughterhouse might take time, but she would accomplish it.

Because she was no longer the ignorant Essika she had once been.

* * *

Hemos had reached the greatest crisis of his life.

He had been caught by Emilia, one of the Head Lady’s maids, while preparing food and medicinal dishes.

Juicy meat, fresh vegetables, and even an orange-colored drink that appeared to be carrot juice…

Annie’s eyes narrowed into triangles as she alternated her gaze between the dishes and Hemos.

“What is the meaning of this, Chef?”

Of course, Leona had never openly ordered them to serve rotten bread to Essika.

She had merely clicked her tongue whenever she saw the neatly prepared meals being served to Essika, calling them unnecessarily extravagant.

As this happened repeatedly, Essika’s meals had gradually deteriorated.

Everything provided to Essika had undergone the same process until it reached its current state.

Preparing such an excellent meal under these circumstances was effectively an act of defiance against Leona.

“I can hardly believe my own eyes. I understand that the Head Lady has been dissatisfied because she hasn’t been paying much attention to the chef lately, but to openly rebel against her like this…”

The maid spoke sharply.

“It seems you no longer wish to work for House Klaus, Chef.”

Sweat trickled down the back of Hemos’s neck.

He regretted that a few pearls had gotten him into this situation, but the damage had already been done.

Hemos called out to the maid as she turned around.

“Wait.”

The maid looked back at him with sharp eyes.

Hemos handed her the cup sitting on the tray.

The maid frowned and asked,

“What are you doing? Are you telling me to drink the carrot juice meant for the Duchess and keep my mouth shut?”

“Don’t be like that. Just taste it first and then we’ll talk. Honestly.”

Hemos spoke in a firm voice, causing the maid to flinch slightly before taking the cup.

She had no idea what he was plotting, but she had no choice but to taste it.

Slowly, the maid tilted the cup and took a sip of the carrot juice.

“……”

She stopped for a moment.

Then she suddenly spat the juice out.

“Pfft!”

Hemos barely managed to catch the cup before she dropped it.

The maid’s face had turned bright red.

The taste of the juice she had sampled was so horrible that even calling it terrible did not do it justice.

How could anyone in the world possibly call this juice?

Even if someone squeezed juice out of garbage by stepping on it, it would probably taste better than this.

“Ugh…”

The aftertaste of the juice lingered in her mouth, making the maid gag several times.

Only after seeing her reaction did Hemos finally understand what Essika had meant.

“Prepare the medicinal dish according to the formula, but never taste it. An ordinary person like you won’t be able to endure it.”

He was glad he had listened to her.

“Also, if anyone questions the food being served to me, let them taste it. They won’t question it afterward.”

The maid searched for water and gulped it down.

There were even tears in the corners of her eyes.

Just how terrible must that stuff taste for her to be suffering like this?

And how in the world did the Duchess drink it?

A shiver ran down Hemos’s spine.

“This is the most bitter and disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted in my life.”

The maid spoke to Hemos with the tips of her eyebrows raised.

Hemos stared blankly for a moment before coming to his senses and clearing his throat.

“A person naturally becomes accustomed to eating nothing but rotten food every day. So sometimes, you have to give them a change.”

The maid nodded and looked at the food prepared for Essika.

Just like the carrot juice with its bizarre flavor, those perfectly normal-looking dishes must also taste terrible.

“How amusing would it be if someone eagerly put it into their mouth expecting something delicious, only to discover that it tasted awful?”

It was something worth reporting to the Head Lady.

I thought Hemos was a thoroughly boring man, but perhaps he isn’t so boring after all.

Unlike before, the maid smiled as she spoke.

“I’ll be sure to tell the Head Lady all about the chef’s adorable little prank.”

Hemos gave an awkward smile and nodded.

“Good. Don’t go suspecting people so carelessly from now on.”

“I’m sorry about earlier. The food looked so beautiful…”

“Would you like to try a piece of meat?”

“Ugh! Get that horrible food away from me.”

Hemos deliberately held the plate toward her, making the maid recoil in disgust.

“Then I’ll be going. Oh, right. The Head Lady is planning to go out into the garden around dinnertime, so bake some cookies.”

With that, she turned and left the kitchen.

Only several seconds after the maid disappeared did Hemos place a hand over his chest and release a sigh of relief.

He had deceived her perfectly.

A smile spread across Hemos’s lips.

No one would suspect him for the time being.

* * *

“…I see.”

After hearing Sella’s report, Essika smiled faintly.

She had expected the Head Lady to investigate the food.

After all, her complexion had noticeably improved as a result of circulating her internal energy.

Of course, eating genuinely fresh food was also a factor.

Previously, whenever she had been forced to survive on hard, poor-quality bread, she would fall ill every few days.

She frequently developed rashes as well, but there had been nothing she could do if she wanted to avoid starving to death.

There had even been times when she had begged Yuri to exchange her jewels for fresh food.

But Yuri had pretended to worry about her and said,

“The Head Lady is punishing you right now… If she finds out that you’re avoiding your punishment, she’ll be terribly disappointed. What if she says something bad about you to the Duke?”

Essika had thought that there was nothing she could do about being hated by the Head Lady.

But when she imagined her relationship with Kallian deteriorating even further…

She had resolved to endure even rotten bread without complaint.

That was the foolish, naïve Essika who knew nothing before recovering her memories as Yeongryeong.

“Anyway, now that such an elaborate menu is being served, no one will suspect anything.”

Sella spoke with relief.

She had been constantly anxious about bringing good food to Essika while avoiding the eyes of others.

“……”

Essika gazed out the window.

The enormous garden of the residence stretched out before her.

It was beautiful to look at, but this place had always been a prison to her.

A prison where she could not even properly obtain something to wear or something decent to eat.

The things she had initially considered unjust had gradually become familiar to her, leaving her helpless.

Since marrying into House Klaus, she had left the residence only twice.

And even those occasions had been shortly after her marriage, when she had merely stood there under Leona’s watchful gaze before returning home.

Leona had never permitted Essika to leave the residence for personal reasons.

Not even when she heard that her father was ill.

Not even when a letter arrived announcing that her sister-in-law had given birth.

“Essika Klaus. Even if it concerns your family, leaving the residence on your own without my permission is no different from showing disrespect to House Klaus.”

With that piercing gaze and icy voice constantly imposed upon her, Essika had lived like a sick dog kept inside the household.

Meanwhile, Leona freely attended all kinds of events and parties both inside and outside House Klaus, participating in high society while keeping Essika’s feet tied down.

No.

She had cleverly belittled Essika until Essika willingly tied her own feet.

“You want to attend a tea party? How much do you think the wives of other families will look down on Klaus when a country bumpkin from the Friehat region sits there pretending to be a Duchess? Are you trying to bring shame upon House Klaus?”

Yuri had been no different.

“Essika… The Head Lady is right about this. They say the noblewomen of the capital, Torres, hide blades beneath their smiles and refined language. If you aren’t familiar with the customs of the capital and fail to understand their true intentions, you’ll only become the subject of ridicule.”

Because of this, despite receiving such unjust treatment, Essika had never even considered telling her family or anyone outside the residence.

At some point, she had grown accustomed to the shabby room and rotting meals, as though they were simply what she deserved.

She had been completely conditioned by the abuse within the confined space called House Klaus.

After thinking for a moment, Essika picked up a piece of paper and began writing something.

Then she crumpled it up and handed it to Sella.

“Take this to Hemos.”