She apologized by reflex, but perhapsā¦ her death sentence was already confirmed. No, the weight of her life might not be enough for them to forgive her. Still, at leastā¦
āI will offer you my life, so please, please, my familyā¦ would you please at least spare my little brothers and sisters!ā
She apologized with her head pressed against the stone pavement. Will the shopkeeper who had hired me also get punished?
Even though itās not the shopkeeperās faultā¦
āEh?? huhā¦ā¦eh? Isnāt that too exaggerated for just bumping into someoneā¦ā
As the girl stood up with the boysā help, she responded to Hannah with a soft and fluffy voice.
āNo! I have caused an injury on a nobleās face! Please, please, I will give my life if you could somehow forgive this offense!ā
āInjury!? Emma-sama!! Did you get injured?? I-I will call a doctor!ā
The freckled boy called out to the girl worriedly.
She is definitely a girl with high status. She had never seen such beautiful hair. Also, that light green eye colorā¦ was it the color of some Duke householdā¦ā¦
āHuh? Ah, Iām fine, Iām fine. The scar on my face has always been there, and my bag cushioned my fall, so Iām unscathed, you see?ā
āFufufu,ā the girl softly laughed. Even so, the boys still checked all over for any woundsā¦ was what Hannah sensed with her head still on the stone pavement.
āAs expected, she is a young lady of considerable status. My earlier hardships at workā¦ had it been heaven compared to this?ā Hannah instantly understood that her life had fallen to rock bottom.
āAlright, no injuries. Thank god. Father would make a fuss if Emma got injured.ā
A boy quickly propped up Hannahās arm and pulled her to her feet in one powerful motion.
āAre you alright?ā
A tall youth with purple eyes peered at Hannah.
Hannah was definitely not a child, so she should be considerably heavy, but he was able to help her stand up that easily. Surprised and confused, she wondered why this noble was worrying about her.
āAh, you scraped your hands!ā
The girl she bumped into also looked at Hannahās hand and made a worried face.
āAh,ā As if remembering something, the girl retrieved a handkerchief from the bag that had cushioned her fall earlier.
While Hannah was wondering what the girl was going to do, she put that handkerchief on Hannahās scraped hand to treat her wound.
ā¦ā¦ā¦ā¦!!!!!!
The smooth touch of this handkerchief isā¦ā¦ Palacianā¦ā¦ silk!?
She was shaking, not from the pain of the wound, but from recognizing the touch of the finest silk she had felt every day until just recently.
āNo way, it canāt be what Iām thinking.ā Hannah looked at the handkerchief wrapped around her hand and got even more frightened.
An unbelievably detailed cat embroidery was there.
A realistic motif of two calico cats. A glossy furred black cat. A fluffy-looking white cat.
A sense of liveliness in the knitting yarn the cats were playing with.
The Palacian silk handkerchief with embroidery that could already be considered a work of art was stained with the blood oozing from her scratch.
It was exactly because Hannah was a seamstress that she knew Palacian silkās price.
It was exactly because Hannah was a seamstress that she knew that embroideryās worth.
Hannah, a commoner, a country girl, and a freshly unemployed person, had that insanely valuable handkerchief wrapped around her scraped hand.
Her vision suddenly turned white.
She couldnāt stop her consciousness from slowly, slowly drifting away, and finally collapsed.
Now that I think about it, I havenāt eaten or slept for the past few days.
ā ā ā
Authorās note: It wasnāt the shopkeeperās fault.