Chapter 199: Soren’s Tale [3]
’...’ Ethea stared at Soren, her chest tightening so sharply it felt hard to breathe. A sudden heat pricked behind her eyes, and before she could stop them, tears silently spilled over, tracing down her cheeks.
She had no idea he had been carrying this kind of burden all along. And, compared to what he had faced every day of his childhood, her own struggles felt almost trivial. The sheer resilience it took to merely survive that house was beyond her imagination. Living for years under the weight of everyone’s hatred without ever knowing what it felt like to be wanted or loved was a torment she could barely wrap her mind around.
Her heart ached for the boy he had been, but he spoke of his past with a calm detachment that made the tragedy feel even more profound.
’But the story didn’t end there. When I was nine, things changed once again. One afternoon, my father returned to the estate, but he wasn’t alone. He brought a little girl with him, barely three years old. There was a big fight between my parents that day.’
’Could it be...’
’Mm. I only learned the details later. As you might have guessed, she was the daughter of the woman he had cheated with. And... her mother had died, leaving her with no one, and my father decided to act on some sudden, hypocritical sense of guilt. He wanted to officially bring her into the family and give her our family name...’
His tone dipped slightly, the words slowing as the bitter memory took shape.
’Obviously, my mother refused. She was already humiliated, her standing ruined, and she wasn’t about to let the physical proof of her husband’s infidelity live under her roof as an equal. She fought him with everything she had, threatening to drag the family name through the mud if he officially recognized the girl.’
’...’
’In the end, my father backed down to save his reputation, but he didn’t send the girl away. He simply did what he always did with things he couldn’t fix. He tossed her aside. From that day on, she was stripped of her status before she even understood what it meant. She ended up exactly like me—another unwanted ghost, hidden away in the shadows of the estate.’
’Unlike me, she was at least given a room of her own and a personal maid to look after her. I suppose even my father realized a three-year-old girl couldn’t survive entirely on her own. But that was where any semblance of privilege ended. She received nothing else from the family.’
He picked up another ingredient, his hands resuming their steady pace.
’By then, I had already learned that the best way to survive in that house was to remain completely indifferent to everything around me. I kept my head down and focused entirely on my own survival. The estate was vast, and perhaps because we stayed in entirely different wings of the manor, we rarely crossed paths during those early months. However, one day, I saw something that would change my whole life.’’
He paused, his gaze softening slightly as he stared at the knife in his hand.
’She was in the garden, cornered by our cousins. They were bullying her, knocking her down and laughing as they threw dirt at her clothes. At first, I tried to keep walking. I pretended not to notice. I knew how the house worked; if I intervened, I would only bring trouble down on my own head.’
He stared down at the board, his voice dropping slightly.
’I didn’t want to get involved. But... I couldn’t take more than three steps before my feet just froze. In an instant, my own past played in my mind. I saw myself at her age, cornered in those same dark hallways, with no one coming to help me...’
Soren slowly looked back up, his gaze distant.
’I turned around and looked at her. As I watched her try to shield her face, I felt as if I were looking directly at myself. Before I even realized what I was doing, my body moved on its own. I walked over, pulled her away from them, and told them to get lost. I was a few years older than they were, and I suppose I looked intimidating enough to scare them off. They ran away back toward the manor, but to my complete lack of surprise, the little girl bolted immediately too. She probably got scared of me as well, perhaps thinking I was just another bully coming to take a turn.’
Soren shook his head, a humorless expression touching his face before vanishing.
’I figured that was the end of it, so I just went back to my chores. But actions always have consequences in that house. Later that evening, my older cousins and siblings cornered me. They beat me so severely for interfering that I was completely bedridden for three straight days.’
He picked up the knife again, cleanly slicing through the next ingredient.
’Even after that, the peace didn’t last. Over the following weeks, I kept witnessing her getting targeted more and more. It wasn’t random, either. It was likely one of my older siblings or even the adults who were deliberately instigating the bullying from behind the scenes. And like a fool, I couldn’t just sit back and watch. I ended up intervening again and again.’
His movements slowed down slightly, his mental voice softening.
’But something unexpected happened because of it. Slowly, my relationship with my half-sister began to change. Once she realized I wasn’t going to hurt her, she started to follow me around the estate. Eventually, she even began calling me "big brother." She would sit with me while I did my chores, trying her best to help with whatever small tasks she could manage. And I, too, started calling her little sister...’
He set the knife down, resting both hands on the edge of the counter as he looked back at Ethea.
"Are you bored?" Soren asked aloud, his voice taking on a casual tone to keep up the facade. "I can find something else for you to do if you’re tired of just sitting there."
Ethea shook her head quickly, offering a reassuring smile as she spoke aloud. "Not at all. I’m actually enjoying watching you cook. Please, continue."
Soren gave a brief nod, apparently satisfied, and picked up the knife to get back to work.
’You really aren’t bored, right?’
’Mmm. I’m listening to every word. Please, continue. I... I want to hear the rest.’
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