AWDC Chapter 40
by VolareIt was partly out of desperation, but also for the sake of her adorable child.
Around the capital, the potato crop failure cast a shadow, and the economy was poor.
Salomé, having given birth and now able to work, couldn’t find a good job. It wasn’t that she would immediately starve, but considering her child’s future, having money was better.
At that time, there was a job opening in the distant Toriholi Village. She knew that Samuel’s family home was there. Furthermore, she received an advance payment on the promise of going to the village.
“Father, if I sell myself, this child can have a good life. I’m going to Toriholi.”
Along with the gathered laborers, she traveled by boat up the Mulan River to the village. Upstream from Toriholi Village, the river narrowed and the current became rapid, so it could be said to be almost the final landing point.
When Salomé disembarked at Toriholi Village, a full 600 kilometers from the capital she was used to, she felt utterly alone. She had no relatives or friends here.
Upon arriving in the village, she immediately started working at the Mulan Inn. Although the agreement was to be hired as a barmaid, she had honestly prepared herself to become a prostitute, so she was relieved.
Having been brought to a distant land, it wouldn’t have been surprising if the promise had been broken.
She came to the village with the determination to have her child recognized as a Robertson family child at any cost.
Among the customers, there were unpleasant ones and crude jokes were thrown around, but Salomé didn’t care.
The five other women working there were from nearby villages, and most were new to serving customers. Based on her experience working at an inn, Salomé was by far the most successful at attracting customers.
If there was any trouble, Salomé was put in charge of handling it.
“Listen, you can’t go against what the customers say. But it’s even worse to do whatever they want,” Salomé was even in charge of training the new recruits.
However, after arriving in the village, Salomé was at a loss. She immediately recognized the Robertson family’s mansion. It was the largest and most magnificent in the village, and it was clear at a glance that it was a noble’s residence.
Compared to the nobles she had seen in the capital, it could be said to be a poor construction with no gate or fence. But she had no idea how to enter the mansion.
“Oh, what a beautiful lady,” she saw an elegant woman in the mansion’s garden.
“She looks like Samuel. It must be his mother,” she thought, but she didn’t know what to say.
“I bore Samuel’s child.” Would they believe such words?
Now that she thought about it, she had nothing to prove her connection to Samuel.
How could she get them to believe her story? She could only hesitate in front of the mansion.
Thinking that standing there for too long would only arouse suspicion, she left the mansion.
That’s when she met Krim.
As a doctor, Krim was probably familiar with the lord. If she became friendly with Krim, she should be able to get closer to the lord.
Krim was 24 years old, but he had no romantic experience. He had studied medicine with his father in the capital and came to Toriholi Village at the direction of Lord Midland.
He was told by the lord and Lord Midland to work as a doctor and engineer so that Toma wouldn’t stand out in the village. And he learned that Toma was a person with extraordinary knowledge and skills.
The difficult childbirth surgery the other day was also a first for Krim. From Toma’s surgery to the resuscitation of the baby and the suturing of the mother’s body, his smooth skill was always surprising.
Even if he had stayed with his father in the capital, he probably wouldn’t have been able to experience that. As a doctor, Krim even wanted to ask Toma, who was younger than him, to teach him more.
“Don’t let Toma stand out. And don’t isolate him.” He now understood those words well. At that young age, his knowledge far surpassed that of famous doctors in the capital.
There was no way Toma wouldn’t stand out in a small rural village. If that happened, someone would try to use, or rather, abuse him. Krim understood well his role of keeping Toma from standing out as much as possible.
However, he was inexperienced with women. The only woman he was close to was his mother.
He had a gentle personality, but he wasn’t handsome, and he wasn’t good with words.
He had never even approached a woman, let alone tried to seduce one.
It was Salomé who boldly approached Krim.
Salomé was assertive. She quickly approached Krim when he was alone and said she wanted to see him during the day.
And she brought him lunch to his one-person home (which also served as a clinic).
“Thank you, it looks delicious.” “You can eat it right now,” their date began with such conversations.
After that, Salomé began to visit his house (which doubled as his clinic) and take care of things like cleaning and cooking.
Krim was a shy and cautious type. He was meticulous and did things like cleaning up, but he was hopeless at housework.
He felt comfortable with Salomé taking care of him in various ways.
Before he knew it, romantic feelings had sprouted in Krim.
“Oh, what a dirty woman I am.”
Salomé lamented when she was alone. She had become friendly with Krim with the intention of ingratiating herself with the lord for her son’s sake.
Then, he confessed his feelings to her.
“That person is like a baby. He knows nothing about the world.”
She could feel her cheeks turning red just thinking about Krim.
“It’s only been two months since we started dating, and he’s already confessing his feelings. He’s too naive.”
He was too innocent.
Salomé fell in love with a man, had a child, and was abandoned. Since then, she had experienced various things.
She had seen men’s selfishness, tyranny, malice, envy, and lewdness enough to throw them away.
“But that doctor has no ulterior motives. He doesn’t know that people are in the habit of betraying each other.”
“I approached the doctor, plotting to get into the lord’s good graces.”
“I’m a prostitute from the capital. What does that doctor think he’s doing getting together with a woman like me?”
“Who made me this kind of woman? Ha, I’ve really become a nasty woman.”
She had been deeply hurt by being betrayed by a man before. But this time, she was doing the same thing.