Chapter 104 – Chapter 3: Tia – 1
“Ha…”
Tia got up from the bed in a daze.
I couldn’t sleep all night and tossed and turned for a long time before finally being able to fall asleep. When I woke up, the sun had already risen.
It was the first time I overslept like this.
The moment she set foot on the floor, her legs shook.
She barely leaned against the wall and caught her breath.
She couldn’t sleep well.
It’s hazy, like her mind is full of fog.
There was a smell from her body.
Although she had faded a lot, the smell of her semen was still there.
There was also a squeak coming from her tangled hair.
“First… Let’s wash.”
She went down to the Bigeok stream and got some cold water.
She washed her face and washed her hair lightly.
Fortunately, she felt like she came to her senses a little after pouring cold water on her.
It was when she returned home and was in a hurry to get dressed.
Thump thump thump!
Someone knocked roughly on the wooden door.
Tia opened her front door without even tying her hair.
“Have you woken up now?”
The person behind the wooden door was Uncle Marvin.
A cracked voice and fierce wolf-like eyes.
She felt it intuitively.
She came all this way to catch me.
Tia hid her nervous expression and said her greeting.
“Joe, good morning. Uncle Marvin…”
“Morning? I’m still half asleep. Does it look like morning now?”
“…”
“Open the door.”
Tia walked down the stairs with trembling steps and opened the wooden door.
“Why are you waking up now? Did you do something else all night?”
“Oh, no. I had a hard time sleeping at night. As you know, Ritsu’s condition has suddenly worsened… I was worried…”
She was lying without realizing it.
That worry was just one of the many reasons why she couldn’t sleep.
“Ritz said she was fine. “She was on patrol last night too.”
“…”
“I do useless things and worry about unnecessary things. “You do all kinds of things.”
“… “I’m sorry.”
Uncle Marvin crossed his arms around her.
“But did you finish organizing the warehouse yesterday?”
“Yes? Yes. “I’ve done everything.”
“Meticulously?”
“Yes.”
She could be sure of that much.
Because I couldn’t even eat dinner yesterday because I had to clean up that large warehouse.
Uncle Marvin sighed and asked again.
“What if I go and check it out and see even one flaw? But can you really be confident that you did everything ‘meticulously’?”
“I don’t know what the flaw is… I really finished everything…”
“Say it again. ‘I’m done’?”
“Yes.”
“Finished?”
“Yes. I’m done…”
It was that time.
Wow!
My eyes lit up.
I couldn’t control my body and fell backwards.
Cradangtang!
When I came to my senses, I was collapsed on the stairs.
My arms and back hit the sharp edge, causing tremendous pain and soreness.
But more than that pain.
The shock to my head hurt more.
Me… Did you get slapped?
To Uncle Marvin?
The man warned in a heavy voice.
“Come to your senses, Tia. There is no end to ‘warehouse management’. When did Ruyev ever say that he had done his job? Have you ever overslept until the sun was in the middle of the sky?”
“…”
“The village is currently facing a very difficult time. It’s so difficult that it’s hard to even imagine how we’ll get through this winter. “Women wake up early in the morning to work, and men are constantly digging wood.”
My cheeks became tingling and hot.
“But Tia. You don’t do anything for the village, you leave without saying a word, and you have the guts to oversleep like a brat. How long do you think you can act as you please?”
The heat in my cheeks goes down to my heart and I scratch myself.
“I have treated you while remembering my respected sister Helina. Just before she took her last breath, she asked us to raise you to be free, brave, and strong. So I left you free to do whatever you wanted.”
The heat from your cheeks rises to your face, warms the corners of your eyes, and creates tears.
“But I can’t stand it anymore. “I will exclude you from this baptism.”
This is how it happens.
I had no intention of resisting a fate that had already been predestined.
“And I will not allow you independence. “Vacate the big house and go back to Sherry’s house.”
“… Yes?”
“Sherry said she would understand. “You are admitting that you no longer have the power to allow people to pamper you.”
Tia’s eyes wavered.
She knew that the christening would be canceled, but she never imagined that she would be kicked out of this house.
“Wherever you go from now on, ask for permission from the elders and report back. Attend all important events in town. “This is not a caution, it is an order.”
What Uncle Marvin said… It was an attempt to take away even the slightest bit of freedom that Tia cherished.
A stern voice fell on her head.
“Go back to the warehouse right now.”
“…”
I didn’t think anything of it.
Her whole body was shaking because she was so scared that she couldn’t breathe.
“Right now!!”
Uncle Marvin grabbed her small hand.
As she was dragged outside, Tia saw people gathered on the hill.
The elders were buzzing while looking at her Tia.
There were also Aunt Olivia and Aunt Merid.
Aunt Sherry was also looking down from the hill with her back to her.
Everyone just… I just stared quietly.
Uncle Marvin dragged her and pushed her into her storage room.
“Don’t even think about leaving here until evening.”
Bang!
The warehouse door was closed.
There is silence.
The darkness without any light and the musty smell of dust settle on her delicate shoulders.
“…”
She raised her head.
In a large warehouse. There are objects older than Tia.
Tia let out her breath, sobbing.
Deseo comes to mind every time I see this place.
People said that the city was swallowing everything.
It was fearfully said that it was a city stained with greed and sucking up people and goods.
But that’s how this ‘Brisden Warehouse’ seemed to me.
Things that come into this place just accumulate dust and can never escape on their own.
The same goes for people.
If you didn’t have the courage to leave like Ruyev, you would be trapped in this mountain forever.
Because that was the fate given to me.
Brisden. Where the wind stays.
The red wind flows to the distant coast where the sea meets, and then returns to the mountains.
In the end, I ended up trapped in this dark and cramped space.
Nevertheless, why did the wind not scatter the pieces into dust?
Perhaps it’s because of the only name I hold in my heart.
“Ritz…”
Yes.
This is a punishment.
Punishment given to me by Ritz.
The time has finally come to pay for the sin that hurt Ritsu’s body and mind.
If only Ritz could feel at least a little reassured by the sight of me remaining in this small, shabby warehouse.
If so, I will be happy to do so.
Because that is what Ritz wants ‘Tia’ to be.
* * *
Whisk.
Tia placed her butt on the cold warehouse floor.
Her body didn’t move.
She raised her hand absentmindedly.
She didn’t even have the strength to move a single finger.
It’s been a long time since I felt this tired.
She thought she had gotten used to this level of helplessness after going on adventures.
I guess not.
She raised her head.
Unlike yesterday, the warehouse had changed again.
I understood Uncle Marvin’s words, ‘There is no end.’
She has to somehow create something new.
That meant there was no end.
If you are flawless, you have to make flaws.
So she turned the warehouse over and put it back in order.
More perfectly this time. Be blameless.
But I’ll have to organize it again tomorrow.
It’s just an infinite repetition of meaningless events, but if Uncle Marvin is satisfied and Ritz feels relieved, wouldn’t that be enough?
She sat down in front of the pile of firewood that had been neatly put away.
Ah, I’m tired.
Because I couldn’t sleep… I’m so tired.
Ouch-!
Tia pinched her arm hard.
She woke up from her foggy mind, but it was only for a moment.
As her pain disappeared, the fog swept before her eyes again.
I was sleeping… Because people get scolded when they see it.
I have to wake up.
Wow!
She pinched harder than before, but she didn’t feel the pain anymore.
Sigh.
I rolled up her sleeves and looked at her arms.
I pinched it too much and there was a blue bruise.
Now, pinching won’t get me far.
Would it be okay if I stabbed you with a knife?
Tia shook her head.
Now I… What are you thinking?
I’m so sleepy that I feel like I’m going crazy.
I looked at the window.
You can see the sunset beyond the ridge.
Those eyes that look at the beautiful red light are also slowly turning orange.
“…”
Come to your senses.
It’s all my fault.
I did what I wanted, and the village became difficult because of what I did.
Rather, you should be thankful.
Because the villagers have been patient with us all this time…
I hugged my legs.
It reminded me of Uncle Posao.
When I was in such pain and difficulty, I remembered that voice that said it would always help.
“…”
I knew it.
… The more you do that, the more you ask for.
Uncle Po Sao was willing to give me what I wanted, and he was careful to ask for that much.
They say you don’t have to do a favor if you don’t want to.
Every time I refuse, he looks so pitiful.
I felt like a coward who took what he received and ran away, so I eventually gave in to his request.
I was honestly worried.
I hesitated a bit last night because I didn’t know what the man would ask.
However, he could not overcome his hunger and ended up going to the general store.
Also, he hasn’t touched it yet.
I was scared because it felt like they kept trying to put their hand under my lower abdomen when I was massaging my legs.
Maybe now… I thought maybe I shouldn’t go see him.
I held the ruby necklace.
The more I thought about Uncle Posao, the more I missed Ritz.
It felt like it had been too long since I had seen Ritz.
Miss you. I want to hug you.
Therefore… If I want to meet Ritz, I need to gather strength again…
Whisk.
Tia tried to get up from her seat, but her body felt heavy, and she sat down again.
And she just closed her eyes.
“Tia. Come to your senses.”
How much time has passed?
I don’t know.
My ears are itchy.
For a moment… I thought I heard Ritz’s voice.
“Come to your senses!”
Flashing.
Suddenly my whole body shook.
“… Ah?!”
She raised her head.
I saw the face I missed through blurred vision.
Ritz.
It was Ritz.
