Chapter 2
The three brothers' place sat at the foot of a mountain, just outside the city.
The walls were stacked with stone; the roof was laid with sturdy wooden beams, and was topped with a thick layer of thatch.
There were three rooms in total, a kitchen that opened into the living area, and an outhouse tucked away in the corner of the yard.
It was rough, but it did keep out the wind and rain.
The place was pretty much empty—aside from a couple of chairs, a table, and some pots and pans, there was nothing worth mentioning.
Anthony laid me down on the stone bed in his room and told Eden to boil some water.
"Go boil some water so she can clean up," Anthony said. "I'll head up the mountain to pick some herbs and see if we caught anything in the traps."
Eden nodded, shot me a sympathetic look, and went to get the water boiling.
While the water was still heating, Eden came over to chat with me.
"I'm Eden, eighteen. Anthony's twenty, and Stephen's twenty-two. From now on, the three of us will be your husbands. We'll look after you, and no one's ever going to mess with you," he said.
I looked at him, steady and silent. His eyes were clear and bright, holding a kind of simple honesty I'd never seen in the Capital.
Back in the Capital, at the Carlsons' estate, when we were just kids, Sebastian once swore to me, "You're my betrothed, the one I'm meant to protect for the rest of my life. I promise, I'll always be there for you, and never let you get hurt."
But every bit of misery and hardship I'd ever faced was because of him.
Even after we got married, he kept living with me at the Carlsons' place.
One day, a wild goose dropped into the garden, and Sebastian acted like he was possessed, insisting on saving it. But it was obvious to anyone that the goose was diseased, carrying some kind of plague.
My poor family, soon after, all caught that strange sickness, and everyone in the estate died. The one who caused it all was just fine and ended up running the whole place.
Now that I thought about it, maybe my family didn't die from the plague at all. Maybe Sebastian had it all planned from the start.
He set everything up just to take over the Carlson family.
As I got lost in those memories, I gritted my teeth, jaw tight with anger.
Maybe my face looked so messed up that Eden went pale with panic.
"What's wrong? Did I freak you out?" he stammered.
He looked totally lost, then suddenly grabbed my hand and used it to slap himself hard across the face.
The sharp smack jerked me back to reality.
Eden gave me a goofy grin.
"If I ever get on your nerves, just hit me. I'm pretty sturdy, built to take it," he said.
At that moment, the gate to the yard swung open.
Stephen came in, his face stony and cold, carrying a bag stained with blood.
He walked into the room and threw the bloody bag straight into my arms.
"You're running things from now on," he said.
Then he went out to the yard to wash his knife.
The blade was black and heavy, and when he rinsed it, the water ran red with blood.
My chest tightened, and I instinctively looked down at the cloth bag in my arms.
I knew this bag; it was the one the boss of those bandits used to stash their food.
How did he get his hands on this?
My hands shook as I untied the bag, revealing rows of silver inside.
We both drew in a sharp breath.
"Those guys were all wanted," Stephen said.
He heard us and turned back, his face cool and unreadable.
"Now that you're our wife, we can't just scrape by. So I cashed in their heads for silvers. From now on, you're running things—buy whatever you want. If we run out of money, we'll go earn more," he said.
I clutched the bag tight, my heart twisting with mixed feelings.
These past days, I'd been forced to travel all day, and at night, I was nothing but a plaything for those bandits. Every time I tried to end my own life, they only made my suffering worse.
I hated them, but I hated Sebastian even more.
There was no way he didn't know what would happen to me once those bandits got their hands on me.
There was a time when Sebastian treated me like I was the most precious thing in the world. He gave me all his earnings, and whenever a holiday rolled around, he never forgot to bring me a present.
Every flower in my room, he'd go out and gather them himself.
Spring meant roses, summer brought lilies after the rain, autumn had chrysanthemums and wintersweet, and even begonia, flowers so rare you'd hardly ever see them in the Capital.
But in the end, he was the one who personally delivered me into the hands of those bandits.
Childhood sweethearts, growing up side by side. What a joke.
When Anthony came back, lugging something that looked like a huge rat, he noticed me hugging the blood-stained bag of silvers and arched his brow.
Turning to Stephen, he said, "Eight bandits, and we only got this little? I figured they'd fetch more than the Kharguns."
Stephen's face stayed blank as he took the giant rat-like thing from Anthony, pulled out a small knife, and in one clean motion slit its throat, letting the blood pour out.
"Just like with the Kharguns, it's ten silvers a head. The total bounty was 80 silvers, but after the magistrate took his cut, we were left with just 35," Stephen said.
Anthony let out a cold snort.
"That greedy bastard's gotten even bolder these days. If it weren't for our father... ah, forget it," he muttered.
Stephen ignored him and walked over, giving my shoulder a pat.
"From now on, you'll stay in this room. Anthony and Eden will share the other one. When you finally decide who you want, just leave a pair of shoes outside his door. Anthony's shoes point in, Eden's point out," Stephen said.
I pulled my shoulder away, just bit my lip and said nothing.
After a moment, I hesitantly pulled out a silver from the bag and handed it to Anthony.
"Could you help me buy some clothes to change into?" I asked.
Anthony gave me a long, cool look from head to toe. Just as I started to feel uneasy, he finally took the silver.
He said flatly, "If you want fancy embroidered clothes stuffed with cotton, one silver won't cut it."
I shook my head.