It was a very damp, dark space, and it was filled with the smell of blood, but no one here looked disgusted. They were people who were familiar with such cruelty, except for one man.

That man looked the most miserable here. Even if he went out of this prison, he would look the most miserable as well. His skin looked black from the dryness of blood. The hair that shone under the sun lost its light. The eyes were very cloudy. All his senses were faint. Only pain pounded throughout the body.

Beyond the bars, he could see a few familiar people — a couple of guards that he saw on the first day, and the king of this country.

In fact, he didn’t know that the first day had passed, and the concept of time was twisted. He was not sure when it was, was it morning, or was it a night? The day when he was dragged here was clear, but he was not sure when that happened. It was such broken thinking.

“Your Majesty. I have a word for you.”

The king beckoned without seeing the guards.

Seeing the king made him feel upset. All emotions were jolting, and he wanted to say let him go. He could say all that in one word.

“Ploca!” Hetiron called her screaming.

“Your Majesty, the sinner’s tongue has been cut off, for he dared to speak vulgarly. Please understand that he cannot answer.”

Delfinus gestured roughly as if he knew. After all, the king did not want to hear the answer.

“Don’t think you can be forgiven for debasing the king and for deceiving the royal family.”

“No.” Hetiron’s eyes turned red, and tears shed. There was no moaning sound. “Please, at least she…”

“The bitch will not even know about your death.”

He thought that would be better. The sorrow like tearing flesh was not important.

To him, the wish that she to be happy was the first. It was always like that from the beginning.

“But is this really a happy thing for her? Is she happy now?” He was not sure. He thought she would not be happy. She was a young girl and a delicate child. She was a simple woman who made a smile for little consideration. He knew how much she loved him.

“How good would it be if God gives the last mercy? How good would it be if God is willing to make my wish come true?” Hetiron really didn’t want anything. He could die here at this moment. What he wanted was only one person.

“Would it be better to let her know about my death? Or ask for help to escape from the king?” Which one would be happy, and which one would be despair? He could not know.

“Ploca.” It was so mournful. The man staggered and fell down like a dripping tear. It was a futile end.

Delfinus turned away without regret.

***

The atmosphere was still very bad in both Lotte Bishel and the palace. Ploca knew the reason. No matter how much she learned the manners, changed her family register like a noble, her root was a gypsy. Was gypsy a problem? No. The gypsy dared to sit next to the king was a problem. She was sitting in the high place overrated herself, she was for sure, that everybody would think. The thinking of nobles was so obvious. They even not liked the performance of gypsies. Even the palace workers stared at her intently.

No matter how strong she had a mind, no matter how strong she bore the will, she was shunned by the people, and this thinking rose in her head: “Why should I stay here accepting this treatment? I never wanted this place. Hetiron was enough for me. But the king eventually used all kinds of tricks to get me. He said I have to behave myself for Hetiron. That is why I am here. I really can’t help it. I can’t run away. If there is no Hetiron at the end, then everything is just meaningless.”

It really didn’t mean anything.

“Your Grace, you succeeded Squirina’s blood, Congratulations.”

That was what she thought when she heard that.

Hetiron said he used contraception, and she spent many nights with the king. It must be the king’s child. So, it is meaningless. It didn’t mean she hated a baby. The baby didn’t have any fault, but this baby won’t save my life, this baby won’t give me any meaning of life.

But it looked like the king’s thought was different. Delfinus said only one word after seeing the palace.

“Take care of her well.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Delfinus felt this way: “Is this bitch is daring to try me? Does she want to see how much I can stand?” It was not funny, but feigned laughter came out.

“How dare you do this to me. I moved on to the fact you were not a virgin. I gave you Lotte Bishel. I made you enjoy riches and honors. I hugged you more after that, and you dare show me this result? You deceive me and dishonor me to the end.”

“How dare you hold the blood of that low fellow.”

Delfinus was convinced. He obviously had contraception after the first day. “So, that bitch must have had several nights with that man before she really had the coming of age ceremony. And she must be pregnant from that. With that dirty body, she smiled in front of me? With that dirty body, she became the concubine shamelessly?”

He already knew how Ploca was looking at him. She tried to hide it, but he was a prince since birth. He noticed false respect. It was ridiculous and funny.

The anger was so strong that the mind could not exert any power. It was the first time he had an attachment to a person, and it was the first time he tried that much. It was like he was out of patience. It was like all the emotions he had felt had been lost.

It was even more disgusting than the fact that the bitch was not a virgin. It was frustrating to think that the gypsy’s child would stick to the palace, claiming to be the king’s child and to be treated excessively more than it deserved. The mother also was enjoying excessive wealth, and now even her child. The word irritated was not enough to express it. Only betrayal, hatred, and anger remained. They pounded and broke all of the heart.

Delfinus had not visited Lotte Bishel for a while.

Ploca felt strange seeing her pod up. At first, she felt frustrated. “I’ve got a child from another man, will Hetiron even look me back? How much should I beg to see his face?” A bitter smile came out. “If I birth this baby, Hetiron might despise me. I will not stand if he hates me. I will really not able to live. I really hope he forgives me. This child was not my intention. Hetiron. What I know is only you. I didn’t die and survive just to see you one more time.”

“Ploca.”

“He was such a kind and genial man, so he might understand this baby.” Ploca considered it a lifeline. If she did not think that way, she would really want to die. So, the second was a hope.

The third was a relief. The king was no longer seeking Lotte Bishel. She felt like her mind was getting clearer when she was not seeing the king. It healed naturally or made her have a stronger will.

As if walking on thin ice, the thin peace continued. Even though everyone was looking down and laughing at her, Ploca bit her lips and endured it.

Even when giving birth, she did not know how much blood smelled in her mouth. It was a pain that she rather wanted to die. Hetiron was the only person who came to her mind during labor.

She hoped this child would not resemble the king. Would there be a baby only looking like the mother? Ploca prayed to God dozens and hundreds of times during pregnancy.

And a baby was born. It looked like the god listened to her prayers.

“Ashtie-Ploca. You name her childhood name.”

A few days later, the king came to her at night and said that. On his late visit, the maid seemed embarrassed, and Ploca was surprised, too. “Did he just come to give the name to a baby? He had not shown interest in the baby so far. He didn’t say anything. He shamelessly pretended not to know like when he even hugged me.”

Ploca checked his gaze. The eyes looking at the baby was not good. She heard the childhood name in Skara was something important, and he didn’t want to intervene in that. His voice was strangely cooled down. At that moment, Ploca realized.

“Wait, you. You do not think that this baby is yours. Is that why you didn’t come to Lotte Bishel so far? Do you hate me now?” Ploca felt odd excitement. The fact that she was not a virgin was not easily moved on.

Nevertheless, when she first saw the baby, she thought it was strangely different from the king’s impression. She was so glad that the baby didn’t resemble the king. “Possibly, Hetiron?” Ploca immediately denied a sudden question. “No, Hetiron would never lie.”

Anyway, Ploca said it as her impulse. Her voice trembled with excitement.

“Joanena.”

It was a word that she encountered a while ago when she had learned ancient languages: the most blessed child. Ploca smiled the charming smile that she practiced so many times.

“I would like to name her with that.”

She used a formal tone now. Ploca was excited.

Delfinus frowned at the moment. Ploca was really excited. “That man’s feelings are really messed up. I didn’t know he was frustrated by deluding himself.” She liked it. “I am living in mud. You have to somewhat payback too.” Or she had this impulse. She wanted to see the man who had thought that he was the greatest so far, now got disturbed by the one word of the commoner. The impulse made a successful result. Ploca smiled as satisfied.

To her, whose blood was this baby was not important. She herself thought the baby’s father was the king, so this baby didn’t give her any meaning to her life, but it looked like the king’s thinking was different. And if he really was thinking that way, this baby would not give you any positive feelings.

“So, I will cherish and care for this baby, dearly,” she decided.

“Your eyes are shaking now. The man who called the king not even manage to hide his own face.” It wasn’t important when she turned bitter like this. This relationship was twisted from the beginning. So, it was okay to tell a lie.

Ploca gently touched the baby’s cheek. In front of Delfinus, she even kissed the baby as if acting proudly.

Ploca really cared for Ashtie. It was not difficult to give love because she knew how to do it well. All she had to do was give as she had been given from Hetiron. The child laughed often. Ploca could smile when she saw the smiling face of the child who did not know anything.

She thought this child could not give any meaning to her, but more than she thought, the baby gave her more power. The life shined a bit. She thought, at the end of the end, when she ran to Hetiron and told him the baby was quite lovely, he might reach his hand to her once again.

But directly opposite to her, Delfinus felt worse and worse when he saw the baby. The newborn baby did not seem to resemble him at all. It was not a logical perception. It was an instinctive feeling. To just considering that baby only resembled the mother, didn’t feel quite right. The baby’s eyes were not bright golden color. Especially, the hair color was annoying.

The affection for Ploca was already falling apart. He didn’t care about the baby from the beginning. He just needed solid proof. Evidence that the child was not really his child. So, he intended to leave and just watch. Of course, he kept silent. It was not something that he did to considerate Ploca. He just didn’t want to raise an issue in the royal palace with that small thing.

And apart from that, Ploca, who he had encountered after a long time, was still beautiful. His heart was cooling down like even he wondered when he had affection and put effort, but she still had soft skin and shiny hair. So, Delfinus hugged her a while later. Once, twice, and again and again. She was a suitable opponent to solve his rough lust.

It had been a while since she spent the night with the king. Ploca’s frustration and hope still remained, but relief broke immediately. But she endured and endured. She could not say that she did not know why she is alive. It was a desperate and frantic reason for life.