“Me?”
“Yes.”
The man, who answered shyly, was holding a large bouquet of roses in his hand.
Judith alternated her gaze between the bouquet of flowers and the face of the handsome man, clapping her hands once.
“Didn’t we meet here once before?”
“You remember me. We’ve passed by each other a couple of times.”
As expected, he was a man she was familiar with. And now, that man had come up to her carrying a bouquet of flowers. What could that mean?
‘I don’t mean to say it myself, but Judith is quite pretty.’
Judith fiddled with her hair nervously and tucked it behind her ear.
“Did you have something to say to me…?”
“Well, could you accept this? It’s a gift for the ……..Baron’s young lady.”
The man extended the bouquet toward her. Because of a passing carriage, she couldn’t hear the name clearly, but as a Baron’s daughter herself, Judith naturally assumed the flowers were for her.
In her past life, she hadn’t been able to date even once because she was too busy earning money. But this life seemed to be shaping up a bit better.
“I want to make a special candle for the Baron’s daughter.”
“Pardon?”
Judith’s lips, which had been curving into a smile, stopped in an awkward position.
He wanted to make a special candle for her? The person who actually made candles? It didn’t add up.
“Would you use these flowers to create a special candle for Baron Brix’s daughter?”
***
The man’s name was Zark Van Hansen.
He was the lover of the Baron Brix’s daughter and was preparing a special gift ahead of his proposal. He happened to see one of Judith’s colorful candles and thought of a great idea.
It involved drying the rose petals and using them to decorate the candle—using the red roses for Brix young lady and adorning the top of a red candle.
Zark believed this would make a much more meaningful gift than just a bouquet of flowers, so he even paid an advance.
“So, he’s taken. Our Harrington young lady must be disappointed, huh?”
“Why would I be?”
“You were excited, thinking you were being confessed to.”
“……That’s not true!”
Judith’s ears turned bright red.
She regretted inviting Erne to come with her. She had gone overboard trying to deliver everything at once and only ended up embarrassing herself.
No, Zark should’ve just started by explaining he wanted to place an order. Handing over the bouquet like that—how could anyone not misunderstand in that situation?
“Be honest.”
“About what?”
“You must be thinking whether or not to correct that you’re a Countess, not the Baron’s daughter anymore, weren’t you? Admit it!”
Thanks to that, Erne was having the time of his life.
As soon as Zark handed over the bouquet and the advance payment and entered the Brix Baron’s estate, Erne burst out laughing. And he didn’t stop, laughing the entire way back to the estate after delivering the next order.
It was so annoying she could scream. Judith tried to catch Erne off guard and throw a punch, but Erne easily dodged it with a mere shrug of his shoulders.
Once again, Judith’s fist failed to land a hit on Erne today.
“You said you’d buy me jerky.”
“Buy it yourself.”
Judith wasn’t in the mood to buy Erne jerky. She took out a coin and tossed it to Erne.
“Buy jerky with that, along with a new water bottle and five potatoes. Keep the change for yourself, Sir Erne.”
“How am I supposed to buy all that with this?”
“Figure it out.”
“What the—are you a thug or something?”
Erne muttered spitefully, catching the coin and throwing it back.
“Answer me one thing, and I’ll quietly go buy the stuff. Would you have accepted it if that guy had confessed earlier?”
“Oh, for crying out loud!”*
After teasing Judith to his heart’s content, Erne finally shut up and disappeared, but only after receiving two more silver coins as a condition.
***
Left alone in the estate, Judith immediately began drying the roses.
If she placed the dried roses whole atop the subtly red-tinted candle, it would undoubtedly look extravagant.
“Should I try adding some dried petals here and there?”
As Judith envisioned different candle designs, she pulled a small ring box from the basket.
“Could you place this ring inside the candle?”
“You mean inside the candle? It’s possible, but if I do, the ring will get covered in wax, and you won’t be able to wear it.”
“That’s fine. I just want to add a little fun.”
In all her days, Judith had never received an order to embed a ring inside a candle before.
“It’s definitely not for a proposal, but it does look quite expensive.”
Zark claimed it was a cheap ring he had bought at a street festival just for fun, but it didn’t look like something you’d find in a market stall.
“Well, it’s none of my business.”
Judith figured her job was just to fulfill the order as requested. Even though Erne had teased her about Zark, the payment Zark offered was enough to make it worth it.
“He must really love the young lady.”
Judith placed the ring back in its case, put it in a drawer, and organized the payment she had received along with the new order.
She checked the remaining supplies, added some new powder, and experimented with creating a blue-tinted candle. After sparring with Erne, who teased her at every opportunity, and having dinner, she finished her work for the day. By the time she was done, it was close to midnight.
Judith climbed onto her bed, rubbing her stiff shoulders. She wriggled under the blanket, and just as she was drifting off to sleep…
Sob, sob—
What was that sound?
Judith’s eyelids fluttered slightly. She lay still, straining her ears. All she could hear was the eerie sound of the wind blowing outside the window.
Sob—
But then, the sobbing sound came again.
What in the world was it? Was it the sound of a person crying? Judith hesitated as she was about to open her eyes. In this estate, it was only her and Erne. Could it be Erne crying?
Sob, sob, sob—
But the voice was too soft and high-pitched for Erne. It sounded like a woman crying—or maybe even a child—which sent chills down her spine. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
Sob—
The crying sound was getting closer.
I shouldn’t open my eyes.
The sobbing sound brushed past her ears. Judith instinctively thought she should pretend to be asleep.
But the moment she thought that, her eyelids trembled involuntarily.
And for a brief moment, through her slightly open eyelids, she saw it.
Something pitch-black, silently looking down at her.
***
Meanwhile, in Erne’s room.
Sob—
Erne, who had been lying in bed with his eyes closed, unable to sleep, opened them at the distant sound of sobbing.
Who’s crying at this hour? Is it Judith?
“…….….”
Was he hearing things? Erne sat up slightly, but when the sound didn’t come again, he lay back down. There’s no way Judith would be crying, anyway.
He chuckled to himself, recalling Judith shyly tucking her hair behind her ear, thinking Zark was confessing to her.
I thought she only cared about money, but I guess she wants to date, too?
“But isn’t that kind of cheating?”
Her husband’s right here, alive and well. She’ll call me ‘honey, honey’ when she needs me, but when it comes to things like this, she’ll deny it. How shameless—
Sob—
It really was crying.
Erne sat up again. There was no sound of footsteps, but just in case, he grabbed his sword and stepped out into the hallway.
Sob, sob, sob—
From behind? Just as Erne was about to head toward Judith’s room, he quickly turned his head in the opposite direction.
“……….”
There was no one there.
He carefully muffled his footsteps and slowly walked forward. Behind the pillar, above the ceiling—there was no sign of anyone anywhere.
The moment he quietly drew his sword—
Sob, sob, sob, sob.
The damp sound of crying seemed to soak into his ears. Something pitch-black. An unrecognizable, darker-than-night substance, with two gleaming eyes staring straight at him.
Eyes without whites.
Goosebumps covered his entire body. In an instant, it disappeared—to somewhere indescribable, as quickly as it had appeared.
“……What was that?”
He looked around as if he had missed his target, glancing this way and that. A hunched shadow disappearing around the corner of the hallway—was it a hallucination or something real?
Even for a while after, Erne couldn’t shake the image of those pitch-black eyes staring intently at him in that fleeting moment.
***
“Ugh, my shoulders.”
The next morning, Judith massaged her stiff shoulders and neck while fetching water from the kitchen. It felt as though her bed had been restless, making her sleep feel less like rest.
“It felt like there was a ghost, really.”
The dream had felt so real. She had been terrified last night, but with the morning light, all fear had disappeared.
“The weather looks gloomy.”
At that moment, Erne stepped out of his room and mumbled while gazing out at the dreary sky.
Judging by the gathering clouds, it looked like it was going to rain soon.
“This is perfect weather for a nap.”
After barely sleeping last night, it felt as though he had stayed up all night. He had finally dozed off just before dawn, only to be woken up by Judith bustling around.
Thinking back on it, the events of the previous night felt like nothing more than a vivid nightmare.
“You’re talking about napping already, right after waking up?”
“Well, there’s not much to do.”
Erne shrugged his shoulders and deliberately settled himself in a spot where Judith could see him, looking completely at ease.
“Why do you always have to lie down right there? Are you trying to annoy me?”
“Exactly.”
Who would’ve thought that even such a handsome face could make someone want to hit it? Judith learned something new about herself that day.
“When are the fake IDs coming, anyway?”
“You must be eager to get rid of me, huh? Well, I guess it makes sense. Once I’m gone, you can date your lover more freely. I get it.”
How long was he planning to tease her about that? Judith glared at Erne with a fiery intensity. Not that it made a difference; Erne was as cheerful as ever.
“At this rate, you might even say you’re planning to remarry.”
“I will.”
“What?”
“I mean, if I meet a good man, I’ll get married. There’s no need to live as a widow forever.”
She wasn’t actively planning on remarrying, but if the right person came along, it wasn’t out of the question. Judith had left the door to possibilities wide open.
“You should remarry too if you meet someone good, Sir Erne.”
“With my new identity, it’ll be my first marriage, not remarriage.”
“Oh, how noble of you.”*
Judith muttered to herself as she checked how dry the upside-down roses had become. Of course, her voice was loud enough for Erne to hear.
“I’m curious, though. Who would want to marry a man who just lies around all morning?”
“Save your unnecessary concerns, Miss Harrington. Even if I lie around all day, there’s a line of women waiting to marry me.”
***
That night, as late evening rain began to tap against the window, an unsettling silence filled the air.
Unable to fall asleep, Judith tossed and turned in bed for what felt like hours.
Sob—
Again. Again.
🍓;
*’Oh, for crying out loud!’ is an exclamation used to express frustration, annoyance, or disbelief. It’s similar to saying ‘Oh, come on!’ or ‘Seriously?’ in English. It’s often used when someone is feeling exasperated or irritated by a situation.
*’Oh, how noble of you.’ is a sarcastic or ironic remark, often used to mock someone’s actions or behavior that they may have presented as virtuous or selfless, but which might actually seem self-serving or unnecessary. It’s a way of saying that the person’s behavior is overly dramatic or exaggerated in a negative sense.
the horror genre really kicked in there for a sec 🙃