THNW 02

To My Husband’s New Wife Chapter : 02

To recall my first meeting with Lancelot, I have to go back ten years into the past.

The year I had just turned fourteen.

Late spring, when the early summer monsoon rains poured down ahead of time that year.

Anita had attended the grandest banquet of her life, following her father.
“Anita.

There are many frightening people here, and many dangerous people too.

Today, you must be careful of your conduct no matter what.”
“Yes.”
It was the first time in her life she had seen such a splendid mansion and such a dazzling banquet hall.

Up to now, the mansions she had visited with her father had either been far more modest than her home, or, even if the grounds were wide, they were old enough that their wear showed plainly.

But wasn’t this place like a prince’s castle out of a fairy tale?

Unable to contain her curiosity, Anita asked her father.
“Is this His Majesty the King’s royal palace?”
“The royal palace?

No.

This is the Edenbahir estate.

We’ve been invited to the birthday banquet of His Grace the Duke of Edenbahir.”
“It’s the first time I’ve seen a house nicer than ours.”
Her father quietly reproached Anita.
“You mustn’t say such things.

You must always be humble, Anita.

Especially in front of the people here.”
“Why?”
“The nobles here dislike people who are well-off without a title, like us.

It’s foolish.”
Because Father always said only what was right.

It was difficult advice, but it was clear he meant for her to be careful.

She resolved not to do anything that could be ‘picked at,’ as he said like a habit.

The banquet was noisy and dull.

A long time had passed, but the adults still seemed to have plenty to say.

Anita, who had been hovering at her father’s side the whole time, was eventually pushed into a large room with other children her age.

It was when Anita entered the room, looking up at the ceiling painting packed with all sorts of colors.
“You can’t.”
Suddenly, a strict voice that allowed no exceptions blocked her.
“Mother said not to associate with you.

So go back.”
Anita blinked blankly.

Then she hurriedly looked down at her clothes.

Far from being dirty, they were neat, without a single crease.

What did it mean, not to associate with her?

Steadying her breath, she asked calmly.
“D-did I do something wrong?

If I made a mistake, I’ll apologize.

It wasn’t on purpose.”
She thought it was a polite question.

But the girl suddenly burst into cackling laughter.
“Look at her.

She says she’ll apologize to us!”
Ahahaha.

At that cry, the children who had been circling around Anita began to laugh along.

It was unmistakable mockery.
“Is she an idiot?

She must think apologizing raises their family’s standing.”
“My mother said so.

She said we mustn’t mingle with those who sell their dignity for money.”
“Right, right.

My grandmother said their father is a sewer rat wearing a gold necklace that doesn’t suit his station!”
Anita’s heart began to pound.
‘A sewer rat.

My father is a sewer rat….’
Though she hadn’t committed any crime, her shoulders hunched.

She wanted to run far away from the malicious gazes that pricked at her cheeks.

But my father isn’t a sewer rat.

He’s a better, smarter, more wonderful grown-up….

The girl who stepped forward one more pace, her face brimming with excitement, shoved Anita’s shoulder.
“Your father is a mongrel with no dignity, no sense of his place, and no roots.

And the daughter a mongrel bears is surely a mongrel too, so it’s right to stay far away so we won’t be tainted.

Do you understand now?”
Yes, she understood, belatedly.

That an invisible line had been drawn between the girl and Anita.

A vivid red line that separated noble blood from those who were not.

But Anita could not accept that line.

All the more so if it had been drawn to mock her father.
“Uh….”
I won’t accept it.

He’s not someone who should be treated like that by you.

Clenching her trembling hand into a tight fist, she gathered her courage and denied it.
“My father i-isn’t, a-a mongrel.”
I s-said it.

Now they’ll know that disgusting word, “mongrel,” is wrong, right?
“…Pff.”
The girl threw her head back, exposing her throat, and cackled.

Her breath quickened with bewilderment.

What?

Did I say something wrong?

Was my voice too small?

Then, at the sound that followed, Anita’s face turned bright red.
“M-my father i-isn’t, a-a mongrel!”
The children began to imitate her.
“That’s wrong!

My father i-isn’t, a-a-a mongrel.

That’s how it goes.”
“There, you have to make an even stupider face.”
It was humiliating.

I want to run far, far away to somewhere with no one around.
“She must stutter.

A mongrel and a stutterer—how pitiful.”
But her legs, as if frozen, wouldn’t budge.

Even as her heart felt like it would burst, only her legs wouldn’t move an inch.

All Anita could do was bow her head low to hide her face, red as an apple.

I’m not a stutterer.

This is just, just….
‘Because I’m flustered, because I’m flustered.’
Tears welled up.
“Look at her!

She’s crying!”
Cackle, cackle, cackle.

The girl who had been laughing gleefully pressed two fingers firmly against Anita’s forehead.

With a bright, innocent smile, the girl warned Anita.
“Now that you understand, hurry up and get lost.

If you act like you know us from now on, you’re dead.

Well, if you’re bored, go play with the maids who are your level.”
Several of the children who had been surrounding her passed by, thumping her head and arms with a tap, tap.

After they surged into the room, she was the only one left standing in the corridor.
‘…Ah.’
As the last boy shoved Anita, her body toppled helplessly to the floor.

Creeeak.

The door in front of Anita slowly closed.

In the pale white face seen through the narrowing gap, a clear sneer was laid bare.
“Goodbye, mongrel.”
The door closed.

Even the last thread of light vanished, and beyond the ringing in her ears, the children’s delighted laughter faded away.

Anita was left alone in the chilly corridor where only silence hung.

Her shoved shoulder and the knee that had struck the floor throbbed.

But what hurt more was herself—frightened in front of the children who had ridiculed her father, unable to offer even a single proper retort.
“Ugh….”
It felt as if scorching desert sand were pouring into her chest and throat.

But she couldn’t stay sitting for long.

She could hear footsteps coming from a nearby staircase.

She sprang up as if burned and ran off as if fleeing.

Anita kept running and running, putting as much distance as possible between herself and that room.

The mansion was high and wide, no matter how much she ran until she was out of breath.

Thank goodness.

If I come this far, Father won’t catch me.

But when her father’s face came to mind, her nose stung again.
‘No, if I cry… if I make a sound while crying, Father might hear….’
With her lips twisted, she pushed open the nearest door.

Unlike the other rooms, it was a room that felt particularly lacking in warmth and cold.

So it was all the more sorrowful, and all the more reassuring.

So much so that the tears that had been pricking up trickled down her cheeks.
“Hic.”
Leaning against the door, Anita slumped down and buried her face in her knees.
“Hhng.”
I want to go home.
“Hic.

Hhng….”
When she thought of her warm home, the tears pooled at the tips of her lashes began to drip, drop by drop.
“Sniff.”
I really want to go home.

Go home and see our nurse and our Mary and our Berry and also….
“You’re noisy.”
At that, Anita’s crying stopped short.

It was a voice that could only be described as sudden.

Anita sprang to her feet and looked around.
‘Just now, who said I was noisy….’
What is it?

A-a ghost?

Just as goosebumps rose along her arms, an unfamiliar voice sounded again not far away.
“Don’t cry in the library.

You’re in the way.”
The library?

She turned her head blankly.

That was right.

She hadn’t noticed because she was too distraught to see, but the space she had stumbled into was not a simple room—it was a vast library.

Bookshelves packed tightly with neatly arranged spines were set all around.

The books lined up along ladders all the way to just beneath the ceiling looked spotless, without a speck of dust.

Rolling her reddened eyes, Anita exclaimed in admiration.
‘It’s so big.’
Then, with a look of oh no, she asked toward the voice.
“Th-then where can I cry?”
A cool voice followed.
“What do I care?”.