2

The Knight Thomas stared at the brand on the woman’s forehead. Although at a glance, it seemed the shape of the brand was in disorder, there was an exquisite pattern within itself.

“You must have given birth to a baby of a high-class aristocrat, thereby breaking the rule.”

The Knight said as he looked at the boy firmly holding the woman’s hand, finally understanding the situation.

Maids in the palace were punished in a few ways when they broke the rules. The most severe punishment for blue-laced maids was getting fired; in other words, they were expelled from the palace. As it had brought shame to their aristocratic families, blue-laced maids committing suicide after being thrown out of the palace was not a rare case.

On the other hand, corporal punishments were usually applied to red-laced maids. The main problem for them was pregnancy. So, they avoided their nightly duties around the time of ovulation when they could get pregnant. When it was unavoidable, they took contraceptives. In case they bore a baby, corporal punishments were applied to them. In the worst case, they were expelled from the court branded on the forehead, just like the woman standing in front of the Knight.

Branding a person might be as cruel as capital punishment. But they had a specific reason why they applied this kind of punishment to the red-laced maids who bore the babies of aristocrats. The intent was to prevent the babies’ fathers from taking care of the maids.

The Knight Thomas stared at the woman’s forehead once again. The exquisite patterns revealed a detailed story.

“Unbelievable…... did you not even reveal the identity of the child’s father? What a hopeless love story.”

The woman kept silent. She was shattered by revealing the hideous brand in front of so many people. As the Knight had guessed, she did not disclose the identity of the baby’s father. Her love for the child’s father prevented her from causing any troubles to him and his family. The Knight looked at George.

“Explain why you brought her here.”

George cautiously approached the Knight and showed him a piece of parchment.

“She fell into debt to get her son back. Then she landed in the slave market as she couldn’t pay the interest and principal back. I purchased them, having paid a large amount of money.”

The parchment George showed was a certificate of slavery. Thanks to his long-time experience at court, Thomas momentarily realized what had happened.

Red-laced maids belonged to the palace. The unexpected baby was also considered an asset of the court. Red-laced maids expelled from the palace principally could not take their babies out. Suppose she had revealed the identity of the baby’s father. In that case, his family might have taken care of the baby, putting up with the dishonor, and might have arranged at least the bare minimum of a living for the mother. After all, the baby was related by blood to the family.

But the woman did not reveal the identity of the baby’s father. So, the baby was destined to grow up as an attendant, property of the court. The woman, however, got back her child and took him out of the court, even falling into crushing debt. And she was forced to be sold at a slave auction market as she could not pay her debt back. Thomas shot George a surprised look.

“You paid two hundred golds for them? With that money, you could have lived your whole life a worry-free man.”

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George awkwardly scratched the back of his head.

“Those were most of my savings… I was planning on getting married and retiring soon anyway.”

“What a big spender.”

Thomas looked at George and the woman in turn. The maids, brought up in the palace from their very early ages, differed from other commoners. Even though they had been from peasant or serf families, they constantly took care of their appearance as required for their job. Compared with other commoners, who had rough skin caused by working outside, the beautiful maid with smooth, white skin must have looked like an angel for George. Thomas, who had worked a long time at court, completely understood George’s sentiment.

“Good. The documents are finished. You are allowed to pass.”

The woman hurriedly covered her face with the hood as soon as Thomas allowed them to pass the gateway. She couldn’t bear the guards’ attention anymore. With a strained expression, George touched his money pouch hanging from his waist belt.

“Sir, how much toll do I need to pay? As you can imagine, I am now very poor.”

Glancing at George, Thomas said.

“The toll is twenty silvers each. The child is exempted.”

George counted silver coins hurriedly and paid the toll immediately. A forty silver toll was much cheaper than he expected.

“Thank you, sir.”

As the Knight raised his hand, the guards retreated and opened the gate. The wicket gate on the right side of the main gate was opened with a rough sound. After George’s party entered through the gate, Thomas put his helmet back on.

“That’s not a good choice. She looks different now, but she will end up looking just the same as other commoners soon enough...”

Thomas knew that the maids accustomed to the palace life could not easily adapt to the life of a commoner. The problems would already start with the food and drinks. Having eaten soft bread made of polished wheat in the palace, the former maid would not very well eat the rye bread of lousy quality. Thomas already started predicting the problems the former maid would face, based on his experience at court.

George’s party was lodged in a shabby inn located on the outskirts of Nordburg. They could find roaches here and there creeping about the walls and floor. They washed their faces and hands at the well in the inn’s backyard and went to the little pub on the first floor. The supper was humbled, to say the least, just like the cheap inn. A loaf of dark brown bread, a small bowl of foul-smelling fish soup, and a piece of dried bacon. As Thomas guessed, the former maid did not eat well. She frowned after a bite of bread. In stark contrast, George promptly scoffed his portion of food down. As a mercenary, he often ate food far worse than this. Id tried to eat all of his shares. Though he was accustomed to the good nutrition of the palace, he did not want to worry his mother, Julia. He forced himself to swallow the food with difficulties.

Julia ate only a third of her bread. She was able to finish her soup. George swallowed the rest of Julia’s bread and her bacon which she didn’t even touch. Id ate up his portion of food.

After supper, they entered their room and shortly after, Id came out again. The room was too small for three people, so it was suffocating to stay there. Id took a walk around the backyard of the inn. There was a small well at which he washed. There stood a large old stable on one side of the backyard where several horses were eating hay. Since it still was an early evening, Id strolled about the backyard for a long time. When Id felt tired after a long walk, he heard the low neighing of a horse. Id sat on the ground leaning his back against the fence of the stable. Suddenly teardrops started to fall from his eyes. He called for his mother quietly and buried his face between his knees.

Having been expelled from the palace, Julia eagerly collected gold coins from some familiar aristocrats who pitied her. As she had entertained many aristocrats at court, she had collected many gold coins from them. Some aristocrats took her home and took care of her for a while. But when their wives came to know about her, she was cast out again.

She collected money eagerly since she desperately wanted to take her son back from the palace. But the amount of money requested by the chief attendant of the court was unbelievable as it was illegal to let belongings of the court out. Julia couldn’t get Id back until he became eight years old. In the end, Julia fell into debt to take her son back, and after a while, she was forced to go to a slave auction market with her son since she could not repay her debt.

Nobody knew if the decision to take him out of the palace would result in a good or bad future for Id. If Julia hadn’t taken him back, Id was supposed to be an attendant of the court. The main items of education were rules and etiquette. The education procedure was so intense and severe for little Id.

Having been lost in deep thought, Id suddenly shivered. The rags he wore didn’t protect him from the coldness of the northern city night. From now on, Id and his mother would live with George, a former mercenary soldier. Even though Id had never considered this kind of life, he believed it would be far better than life in the palace. It was too suffocating for him to live at court under the pressure of the intense education of rules and etiquette. Id looked up at the sky. The stars in heaven seemed sad. A familiar voice called to him.

“Id, are you here?”

“Mom.”

Feeling his eyes water, he went to the well which Julia was standing beside as she smiled at Id.

“Let’s go. It’s cold out here.”

Id went back into the room, holding his mother’s hand. George was sleeping on the bed lying spread eagle. His snoring sounds caused the small bedside table to tremble.

Julia spread a sheet on the floor and laid on it, embracing Id. Id nestled in his mother’s arms.

“Good night, my baby.”

Id fell into a deep sleep, feeling his mother’s soft hand in his hair. The day had been too much for an eight-year-old boy to tolerate.