Chapter 53

In Amelia's world, Melissa was a "maidservant who inflicted harm and could not be defied."

Now, there is no trace of her, but when Amelia was old enough to understand, Melissa was still in her twenties, slender and elegant. Since she was chosen by the womanizing Cedric, even as a child, Amelia remembered thinking, "She's so beautiful."

However, it wasn't long before her positive feelings towards Melissa disappeared.

A memory that still lingers strongly.

It was probably when I was around three years old.

When my mother, Sophie, turned her back, I was pinched hard on the thigh by Melissa.

I cried out in pain, a sensation I had never experienced before.

Reflecting on it, Melissa might have been the one who first instilled the feeling of pain, which humans most want to avoid, in my life.

"Hey, Sophie, do something. This kid suddenly started crying."

Melissa said this without a hint of remorse, sounding bothered, and a worried Sophie asked,

"Amelia, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

Amelia tried to tell Sophie what Melissa had done.

But Melissa, unseen by Sophie, pinched Amelia's bottom lightly from behind.

A message: "If you tell the truth, it will be worse."

"…Nothing…"

"Really?"

Sophie, suspicious of Amelia's frightened appearance, asked again.

Melissa's fingers tightened.

"…Yeah… sniff… I'm sorry… Mom…"

"…"

Sophie didn't ask any more questions.

Or rather, she couldn't.

Melissa's lips twisted into an ugly sneer, which Amelia did not miss.

The pain, the frustration of not being able to defy Melissa, and the guilt of lying to her mother—these various emotions mixed together, and Amelia continued to cry for a while.

It was also the moment when Melissa was ingrained in Amelia as an "undefiable presence."

Sophie probably realized what had happened, but given her position, she couldn't take a strong stance.

As evidence, Amelia vividly remembers how, after Melissa left, Sophie repeatedly stroked her head, saying, "I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"

After that, Melissa's harassment of Amelia became more overt.

She was hit, pinched, and had her food trampled on for reasons like "her eyes look insolent" or "her attitude is displeasing." Sophie tried to intervene several times, but she couldn't be strong because Melissa threatened to reveal her affair with her father.

Amelia can no longer remember how many times she heard Sophie's "I'm sorry."

One day, Melissa, laughing mockingly, poured the only meal of the day, which was given to Amelia, over Sophie's head.

"Serve you right! It's a good thing!"

Later, Amelia learned that Melissa was a maidservant from the same batch as Sophie and was envious of being favored by Cedric, unlike herself.

The various harassments after Sophie's isolation were probably a way for Melissa to vent her frustration.

However, at the time, Amelia couldn't understand such things and only shed tears over the unjust violence and malice, enduring day after day.

Still, the pain and the inability to eat were bearable.

She could still endure them.

What hurt the most was that Melissa often took away Amelia's precious things.

The beautiful stones she had worked hard to find.

The small amount of firewood provided in winter.

The hand-knitted gloves Sophie made with limited materials.

Melissa took them away for various reasons.

Things she had worked hard to find or make.

Things her mother had worked hard to make for her.

Melissa took them away unjustly.

Even after Sophie's death, the harassment from Melissa continued.

If anything, it became even worse, as it was no longer divided between Sophie and herself.

"I can't defy this person" "If I don't do as she says, I'll suffer"

Thinking this way, Amelia became passive and obedient, a state that can only be described as brainwashed.

Melissa, the short-tempered, unjust maidservant who took pleasure in tormenting the weak when things didn't go her way.

…Because such a person was always close by.

Amelia gradually became someone who "couldn't assert herself" and "followed what others said," a person who gave the initiative to others.