Chapter 2
Helena arrived in Frantor in the heart of winter. At the time, Frantor was desolate, like a withered ghostly hand. The dense mountain ranges and biting cold had drained the life from the plants, leaving them dormant.
Amidst this barrenness, Helena wandered around a clearing with a sickle in hand. It looked unmistakably like she was preparing to farm, leaving the servants bewildered.
After all, the northern land was too barren to cultivate crops successfully. The servants scoffed, dismissing her efforts as the foolish whims of someone ignorant of farming. Most expected her to give up in a matter of days—after all, such pointless ventures were typical of privileged nobles who had no sense of reality.
While busy with their morning tasks, the servants were equally busy ridiculing Eskel’s daughter.
But after a week, the scornful gazes toward Helena began to soften.
The clearing behind the mansion had originally been a neglected space, overgrown with weeds and strewn with dead trees. Ideally, they would have liked to plant flowers, as other nobles might, but the soil was so hopelessly barren that they had simply abandoned it.
Yet, after a week, Helena had thoroughly cleaned up the clearing.
“Is there something you need, Madam?”
Moreover, one day Helena approached the servants gathered in the kitchen.
“I came to give you something,” she said.
“What is it?”
What she handed over was a wooden box containing finely ground medicinal herbs.
“This is good for treating wounds. Sprinkle it on, and it’ll stop the bleeding. Keep it in the kitchen and use it as needed.”
“Why… are you giving this to us?”
“I heard medicine is expensive in the North.”
Medicines weren’t common in this era, and wound treatments were prioritized for soldiers on the battlefield.
When servants got cut, they usually just pressed a clean cloth against the wound to stop the bleeding and waited for it to heal naturally. There was hardly any proper medicine available.
“You’re giving us something so valuable?”
“It didn’t cost me much,” she replied nonchalantly, pointing to the wooden box.
The servants, who had considered her nothing but a fool, were left speechless with surprise.
In contrast, Helena remained indifferent, speaking in a dull and disinterested tone, as if she couldn’t wait to finish the conversation and leave.
“These were made from the herbs I gathered in the clearing,” she explained.
“From the clearing? Herbs like these were growing there?”
“There was plenty of ‘Ecru’ growing there. Harvesting the roots in winter enhances its effectiveness, which is why some herbalists specifically seek it out.”
“What does this herb look like?”
“It usually hides among the underbrush. In summer, it blooms with tiny, rice-grain-like red flowers…”
“Really? I thought it was just a weed…”
The servant, clutching the wooden box, spoke hesitantly. Though Helena’s words seemed detached, the gift was a thoughtful gesture.
The servants, who had done nothing but badmouth her behind her back, never imagined receiving such a considerate present.
“Madam, you’re quite knowledgeable about herbs,” one of them remarked.
“I wouldn’t say knowledgeable, just interested,” she replied. “Anyway, I’ll be going now.”
Helena left the kitchen abruptly after finishing her piece.
Normally, the servants would have whispered snide remarks about Eskel’s daughter as she left. They would have grumbled about how unpleasant and self-centered she was, someone who didn’t associate with servants.
But now, they realized she wasn’t as selfish as they’d assumed. If she were the kind of person they thought she was, she wouldn’t have given them this medicinal box in the first place.
—
As she left the kitchen, Helena was already planning to properly cultivate the field next spring, sowing seeds and nurturing crops.
A field didn’t simply bloom and bear fruit just because seeds were planted. It required the right timing and the right soil.
So, Helena spent the winter preparing the field to sow seeds for the next season.
Winter didn’t mean there was no harvest at all. Occasionally, she found vegetables slumbering beneath the frozen ground.
This morning, she discovered a cabbage buried in the snow. Digging around, she realized it wasn’t just one or two.
She blew on her cold hands to warm them and tore off a cabbage leaf to eat. It was sweet and delicious. The sweetness lingered on her tongue the more she chewed.
“…”
She was just starting to think how much better it would taste with a pinch of salt when she realized a child was standing nearby.
Jeremy.
The boy, perhaps around twelve years old, had golden hair and was glaring fiercely, his small hand clenched into a fist.
He was one of the two adoptees brought in by Caligo.
Known for his stubborn personality and quick temper, the servants often struggled with him. People said he wasn’t even Caligo’s biological son, yet he’d inherited his fiery disposition.
However, Helena had no intention of getting close to this boy.
Caligo had told her as much, and Jeremy himself didn’t seem to welcome her. Besides, Helena felt she had no right to speak warmly to the child…
In any case, there was no need to force anything.
“Do you need something from me?”
But after more than an hour of being stared at, Helena started to feel a bit concerned. At this rate, the boy’s blood vessels might burst from all that glaring.
It was clear he had something to say but couldn’t bring himself to speak first, likely because of his pride.
In the end, Helena broke the silence, and Jeremy’s eyes widened.
“Yeah, yeah! You! I’m talking to you!”
He seemed to have been waiting for her to speak first, judging by his overly loud reaction.
Meanwhile, Helena paid him no mind, calmly gathering the harvested cabbages.
“Don’t you know this is ‘my’ territory?”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes! All the trees and vegetables in this land belong to me! Someday, when I inherit Father’s estate, everything here will be mine!”
Helena hadn’t seen the boy once in the past week. For it to be his territory, there should’ve been some signs of his presence, but all she found was an entirely neglected field.
Even so, the boy was claiming ownership just to pick a fight. He wanted to drive her away and probably hoped she’d leave the mansion altogether.
But what Jeremy didn’t realize was that Helena wasn’t an easy opponent. She had no intention of leaving the mansion just because the boy wanted her gone. Besides, she had nowhere else to go.
“I see.”
“Are you listening? I said everything here is mine!”
“Sure, it’s yours.”
“…What?”
Jeremy looked dumbfounded, as though this wasn’t the reaction he’d expected.
True to his fiery nature, he’d come prepared with a plan. He would assert that this was his territory, the woman would argue back, and they’d end up fighting.
Then, he could show his father her true nature. To him, this was a flawless, creative plan.
But this outcome was so anticlimactic it was downright deflating.
“Do you want it? How about some cabbage?”
“Who would eat that garbage?!”
“Suit yourself.”
Jeremy wanted desperately to hurt her somehow. He couldn’t bring himself to accept this woman who had suddenly appeared, claiming to be his mother.
He didn’t need a mother. As far as he was concerned, his father and Joshua were enough. Everyone else in the world was utterly useless.
Once, he had been happy at the thought of having a mother. He had even trusted her at one point. But all he got in return were wounds…
So, he decided he wouldn’t trust anyone anymore.
“You, you! Let me warn you in advance!”
Jeremy, who had made up his mind, stood boldly in front of Helena, who was squatting on the ground. He clasped his hands behind his back, mimicking his father’s commanding demeanor. In reality, it was just a child’s attempt to pick a fight, and Helena’s gaze remained indifferent.
“You are not part of our family!”
“Alright.”
“You’re not my mother either! If you dare try to act like my mother, I won’t stand for it!”
“Got it.”
“I’ll never, ‘ever’ acknowledge you, even if I die!”
“Good.”
Wait, this isn’t how it’s supposed to go…
The boy was flustered.
At that moment, something caught Helena’s eye. Jeremy, for a twelve-year-old, looked undernourished. While he was tall, he had no weight on him at all. Was he eating properly?
At an age where his cheeks should be round and full, his cheekbones were prominent. His lips were dry and cracked, showing signs of malnutrition.
Even though Caligo was away at war, Helena had heard that there were servants tasked with looking after Jeremy.
But since he spent many days alone in the mansion, there were rumors that he often skipped meals.
It was possible that the boy, in his own way, was acting out because he craved attention.
Regardless, the servants were deeply concerned about the young master who refused to eat.
His pale complexion, already ghostly white, had grown almost translucent from standing outside so stubbornly.
For the first time, her perpetually dispassionate gaze changed.
She didn’t mind the taunts or the provocations. She had resolved to remain indifferent.
But still…
“What are you staring at, huh?!”
“You.”
“What?!”
“Did you eat?”
“…What?”
Hearing such an unexpected question, Jeremy was completely dumbfounded.
