A Mother's Table
Under the evening sky where purple hues spread, Marta stood with her lips tightly sealed.
She had remained a statue until the field of vision dissolved into darkness, then slowly lifted her head.
"I couldn't afford to lose."
Marta clenched her fist. The veins on her arm stood out in vivid red from the pressure.
"Not until I find Mom... I couldn't lose to anyone."
I had vowed never to lose until I achieved my goal, yet I had lost. And it was humiliating beyond words.
I twisted my heart, cursed, distanced myself from people, and gained nothing from it — I was utterly humiliated.
"Damn it!"
Denier Zieghart had adopted her because of her talent.
But she had lost to Raon Zieghart, a collateral relative and one year younger. She couldn't predict what her father would do.
Denier was a gentle man, but it could all be an act. In the worst case, she might be expelled.
'Impossible. That's absolutely impossible.'
If that happened, the last hope of finding Mom would vanish. She had to cling to him no matter what.
"Hoo..."
"Miss."
Extremely tense, Marta didn't turn even when the butler Camel called her.
"It's a letter from Denier-nim."
Only after hearing that Denier had sent a letter did Marta's head turn. Her black eyes rippled like waves.
"Here it is."
Marta swallowed the dry saliva and unfolded the letter.
[Marta. I congratulate you on your first defeat. Losing once does not mean a loser stamp is attached to your name, so don't worry too much. Just think about why you lost and how you lost it over and over. That reflection will be the foundation for your future growth. I want to come directly to comfort you, but the mission is taking longer than expected. Sorry I can't come.]
There was no rebuke, no mockery. It was a letter from a father truly worried about his daughter.
[The traces of your real mother are still being searched. Since I haven't given up, you shouldn't either.]
Marta folded the letter with trembling hands and tucked it into her pocket. She pressed the pocket tightly, as if checking her wallet.
"Haa..."
It was a letter that seemed to gather the broken pieces of her heart again. Especially the last words, the depression and anxiety that had been pressing on her shoulders were all gone.
"I will remember this from my father. Really. Really, thank you."
"Understood."
Camel nodded slightly with a faint smile.
"However, miss."
"?"
"If you're worried about the submission regarding the bet with Raon-nim, there is also a way to pressure the annex. If we use the power of the direct lineage, we can handle it quietly..."
"No. Don't."
Marta firmly shook her head. Her black pearl-like eyes shone with clear light unlike before.
"I lost fairly. It was a miserable loss."
She knew exactly why she lost to Raon.
'It wasn't because of carelessness. I just lost.'
Raon had used his red aura to cut her sword. Since the sword was lost, the match was over there.
But the guy had thrown away the sword too and given a second win with his fist.
If she showed a shameful side to someone who fought like that, her father would definitely be disappointed.
"Even if the promise was foolish, keeping it is what Zieghart would do. Father would say so too."
"Of course. If it were Denier-nim, he would definitely say so."
"As his daughter, I can't embarrass him."
"Of course."
Camel smiled widely with pride.
"Camel. Do you have a knife?"
"Yes. But why..."
"Give it to me."
"Here it is."
Marta stared at the thin dagger Camel gave her for a long time, then took it out from the sheath.
Paaak!
Nodding as if deciding, she firmly cut the middle of her black hair.
"Ah, miss!"
"It's okay. It's just sending away the stupid and vulgar past."
Marta sent the cut hair to the wind and smiled. Her smile sparkled like snowflakes.
"..."
Camel was surprised, not thinking such a scene.
"Cancel the direct lineage training for tomorrow morning."
"Eh? Canceling is not difficult, but what are you planning to do..."
"I have somewhere to go."
Marta said that and entered the mansion.
Camel watched Marta's back entering the mansion and nodded benevolently.
***
Marta left the mansion right after finishing morning training on the last day of vacation.
She ate no breakfast, outwitted Camel and the maids who asked where she was going without eating, and headed alone to the western annex.
It was quite far, but the road was well paved, so no difficulty finding the annex.
As she walked west, a small house surrounded by a small garden appeared.
'Is that where she lives.'
Marta narrowed her eyes. It was so small and shabby compared to the main building.
However, since the house she lived in before adoption was much smaller than this annex, she didn't feel strange. Just walked into the garden as if it was natural.
'Someone is there.'
A blond boy was squatting in the flower bed digging soil and planting flowers.
'Eh?'
Marta's eyes widened.
'Is it Raon Zieghart?'
She thought it was a servant, but no. The guy planting flowers was Raon Zieghart who gave her her first defeat.
Raon also noticed her and shook off his hands and stood up.
"What is it?"
"......"
Marta didn't answer and stood in front of the flower bed Raon cultivated. The flowers looked healthy and vibrant, probably because they were watered recently.
'Did this guy have this hobby?'
She thought he was not childlike, but this was even more childlike, a bit surprising.
'What should I do.'
The reason Marta came to find Raon today was simple.
Rematch.
After hearing father's words and thinking about the defeat, she couldn't remember how she lost.
Without knowing that, she couldn't know how much the skill difference was or if there was a way to fill it.
In other words, she couldn't reflect.
So, a rematch was necessary.
She wanted to fight Raon without the fire in her head and know the skill difference.
"Hoo..."
Marta exhaled heavily and raised her head. Looking at Raon's eyes calm like a lake, she cautiously opened her mouth.
"I want to face you again."
"It's still ugly that you don't accept defeat."
"No. It's not that I don't accept defeat. I just don't know how I was defeated. I came to find out that."
"......"
Raon's eyes sparkled briefly. He seemed to think it was unexpected.
"Then, what is the prize?"
"What?"
"If the loser wants to challenge the winner, don't you have to bring something?"
"Shut up! It's not necessary to have a prize to fight!"
"I need it."
"Ugh..."
Marta let out a groan.
'This is why.'
Because of this point that never loses, Raon seemed not a child.
"Nothing? It's troublesome if not."
Raon crossed his arms as if he had given up on fighting.
"Um..."
What to do. Chewing her lips, she looked at Raon, then saw the flower below.
'Just step on it a little.'
Looking at this time cultivating the flower bed, it was clear he cherished the flowers. If she stimulated a little, he might get angry.
"You seem to like flowers more than you should."
Marta moved her foot slightly towards the flower bed.
"Not really."
Unexpectedly, Raon hit the trowel and shook his head.
"What?"
"I don't like flowers, and I don't know why I like them. I just trimmed them a bit because of my mother."
"......"
Marta, who was about to step on the flower in the flower bed, stopped abruptly.
"Why? Not stepping?"
Raon, knowing her intention, smiled faintly and nodded.
"Damn it."
Marta spat a curse and pulled her foot back. The words about cultivating the flower bed for a mother who likes flowers made her lose the desire to step on them.
"Damn."
She clicked her tongue and was about to turn her back when the door of the annex opened and a beautiful woman with long blond hair tied back ran out.
"Raon!"
"Eh?"
Panic showed in Raon's eyes, which had been ice-cold.
"Ah, Mom."
"It wasn't visible, but you were cultivating the flower bed. But who is this friend?"
Curiosity appeared in the woman's eyes.
'Is this person Sylvia Zieghart?'
The woman who shamed the family by leaving after finding her beloved man and returning to save the child, called a failure.
Because of similar experience.
To Marta, she seemed not a failure, but a mother who had courage for her beloved child.
"Friend? Not a friend, no one. I'll clean it up, so come in."
Raon spoke unusually stammering.
"This friend is pretty too. Black hair, black eyes? Ah! You're Marta!"
Sylvia clapped her hands and smiled brightly.
"......"
Marta bowed her head silently.
"I heard you had a duel with Raon, are you hurt anywhere?"
It could be seen from the eyes of a loving mother. Sylvia's rose-colored eyes were really worried about her own body.
"I'm fine."
"I was worried, but I'm glad."
Sylvia smiled faintly.
"I heard Denier-ssi brought a talented child, but it wasn't just that."
She checked her here and there and said she was really pretty, too pretty.
"By the way, what is the matter here?"
"I came to deliver a message for a moment. It's all over, so I'll go."
Marta was about to bow again and turn when.
Guruguruk.
The reward for skipping breakfast after morning training came.
"Ah..."
Marta's face flushed red. When she tried to turn and run, something warm grabbed her wrist.
It was Sylvia. She nodded with a smile.
"Eat and go."
Marta couldn't refuse the going hand for some reason.
***
What is this?
Raon looked at Marta sitting across the table and narrowed his eyes.
'I don't know at all.'
He understood Sylvia telling Marta to eat and go because her stomach was rumbling. She was kind.
But the scene of the wild woman being pulled by Sylvia to sit at the table and waiting politely for food was not something he thought of.
She cut her hair and her personality was cut too.
"Raon likes meat stew. So there's always stew on our table."
"Ah, yes."
Sylvia smiled brightly because she was happy about something, and Marta answered while lowering her head as if embarrassed.
-What the hell is this bitch doing? She wasn't like that originally.
'I don't know what's going on either.'
It was the first time such an unexpected situation happened after being born in Zieghart family.
Soon the meal came. Stew, grilled beef, vegetables, and baked bread.
"You're one year older than Raon?"
"Yes."
"No difficulty in training?"
"Not really."
Sylvia talked to Marta while eating, and Marta answered questions while eating.
"..."
Raon tilted his head.
'Why is she like this?'
Marta is a human who starts cursing when someone talks to her. She couldn't imagine seeing such a friendly side.
"Um..."
Raon gulped the stew without knowing if it went into his mouth or nose.
"We cook really well, but the meat quality is a bit inferior compared to the main building. Chew it well so you don't get stomachache."
"......"
Marta's hand holding the fork trembled from Sylvia's advice.
She was prepared to stop if she was going to have a fit, but she lowered her head and dipped the meat again.
She didn't know human emotions well, but it seemed like some unknown sadness and longing came from her hand.
"Thank you for the meal."
The awkward meal ended and Marta stood up.
"How was the taste?"
"It was delicious."
"I'm glad. From now on, get along well with Raon."
Sylvia waved her hand to Marta at the door.
"Yes."
Marta gave an unexpectedly normal answer and left the annex.
'What's really going on?'
She came to pick a fight, but she couldn't understand why she suddenly acted like that.
-Did I eat something wrong?
'Maybe.'
Human emotions are really difficult.
***
Marta bit her lips tightly as soon as she left the annex. If she didn't, tears would come out immediately.
She looked similar.
Face, hair color, clothes, voice were different, but the rose-colored eyes were too similar to the mother whose memories were lost.
That's why she couldn't refuse when her wrist was grabbed.
Raon must have thought she was crazy.
She had never seen his eyes shaking like that.
She hesitated to leave late, but it was good she ate and left. The gentle eyes and voice of Sylvia, and the nagging of the mother who said to chew well was the most she heard from her mother.
So, she wanted to find her mother even more.
'White Blood Cult. These bastards.'
The ones who kidnapped Mom are one of the Five Demons, the White Blood Cult. She would kill all those fanatics and find Mom.
Marta made a vow and vowed again as she returned to the main house.
" Where did you go, young lady... Eh? Are you crying?"
Camel, who was sweeping in front of the door, opened her eyes wide.
"What are you talking about! Who is crying!"
Marta wiped her eyes and shook her head. She quickly opened the door and tried to enter the mansion, but peeked her head out.
"Camel. Can you get some good quality beef?"
"Beef? Of course. But what are you going to use it for?"
" I have a use for it. Get it and put it in front of my room!"
Marta closed the door immediately after answering and ran upstairs to her room.
"Huh."
Camel smiled softly seeing that.
"You don't know that your current appearance is much better to look at."
***
Next day.
Raon went to the training ground right after finishing morning practice. No one arrived as usual.
Because of Marta coming yesterday, his head was complicated, but he decided to just think it was a dream.
After loosening his body lightly, he started conditioning training. As the sun rose, children came one by one to the training ground.
While swinging his sword while listening to the trainees' gossip, all sound suddenly disappeared.
When he turned his head, Marta was walking into the open training ground.
Because of the short hair cut, the trainees opened their mouths wide and stared at her.
"Raon Zieghart."
Marta stopped in front of him.
"You can't pick up words that have flown away. I won't just brush off the fights I had during that time as a poor apology."
Her eyes were calmer than yesterday. It was like looking at a still lake.
"Instead, I keep the promise."
"Promise?"
"The promise I made before the duel that the loser submits to the winner's words."
She said that and turned around. Her eyes showed she had perfectly accepted defeat.
'It's bigger than I thought...'
She changed in such a short time, she wasn't an ordinary vessel either. But she still didn't know why she ate the meal yesterday.
"Why are you blocking the way and making a fuss. Get out!"
While tilting his head, Marta kicked Dorian who was standing awkwardly in front.
"Auk! S-sorry."
"Tsk."
She clicked her tongue and went back to her usual position.
Raon chuckled. Probably, the only thing that changed was her attitude towards him.
'Here, there are only weird guys.'