Chapter 19

“Lotty wrapped these things well,” Freya muttered as she sliced a big chunk of the festering apple and nibbled at the bread. She savored each mouthful because there was no way of knowing when she’d be able to find something to eat again. “But of all things, why did she put scissors in here?”

Holding the shiny scissors in her hand, Freya suddenly thought of Sophia, and she recalled what she’d said, “Listen up. A woman’s beauty comes from her long hair, white skin, neat teeth, and red lips.” It was spooky to remember her words so vividly, the same as it would be scary if Sophia, who drank in the daytime, became a member of a royal family!

“My skin doesn’t turn pale no matter how much powder I put on,” Sophia had complained. “Freya, look at you. I want to take a full bite of you.” Freya imagined Sophia sitting idly in front of the bedroom mirror, fusing over her looks and her hair for hours on end.

She also recalled Shiloh, who had claimed to be her father, whispering sweet nothings to her as he swept her long hair over her shoulders. As soon as Freya thought of the two people, whom she hated most in this world, she felt like throwing up the bread she’d just eaten. “I don’t need that kind of beauty,” she said bitterly.

Parting her hair in the middle with her fingers, she placed the two sections over her shoulders. And without a second thought, she cut the thick hair. As the large clumps of hair fell to the floor, the wind started blowing in all directions and swept most of it away. After a few more snips with the silver scissors, the job was completed, and she walked over to a puddle nearby. The face reflecting at her looked more like a boy with a short haircut, and Freya was happy with the result.

Once she’d put her cloak back on and placed the scissors in the breast pocket, Freya decided to go for a walk. She had to figure out a way to survive because she had no desire to starve to death from lack of food. Do I have to beg again? Or steal? That was the only thing that came to mind right now. But soon, Freya shook her head. There was a high possibility that she would get beaten up in this unknown place if she attempted to do those things, and she mumbled, “I hope I can find a job, like housecleaning or working as a maid or something.”

Having begged on the streets for so long, she had learned that the people in this world were diverse. There were people high up in social ranking, whom she couldn’t stare at, and those at the bottom of the totem pole, like herself. A housemaid seemed like a position around the middle. It would be awesome to walk next to a lady in well-tailored, neat clothing, carrying a fancy handbag.

“A lady like that would be the exact opposite of me, begging in rags.” Freya was already jealous of the non-existent lady, but she shook her head, snapping her out of the despair she felt, “How can I become a maid?”

Freya’s identity was unclear to her, and all she knew how to do was beg. For the next two days, she walked the streets in deep despair, trying to figure out how to move forward and what the future would look like for someone like herself.

The bread she had been saving fell to the muddy ground, adding to her woes. But luckily, the rain had prevented her from dying of thirst, although her stomach felt shriveled up like a raisin. In desperation, Freya stripped a piece of tree bark from a tree and tried to chew it, but it wasn’t enough to satisfy her burning hunger. Soon, Freya began to feel dizzy, as if she were about to faint, and even taking one step felt like a challenge.

“What’s that over there? Is it real?” Freya exclaimed. She’d been walking for hours, and in the distance, it looked like there was a whole bunch of food spread out on the grass. Not believing what she saw, she waved her hands back and forth in front of her eyes. A large-framed man was leaning against a thick tree trunk. It seemed like he was taking an afternoon nap. The meat and bread in front of the man waved at Freya, and she wiped her eyes in disbelief.

When she noticed that the straw hat covering his face was shaking, Freya was sure that the man was asleep, and she whispered, “It’s not a bad thing to take a little bit of food since there is plenty.” Under normal circumstances, she’d never do such a thing, but she was so hungry that it wasn’t possible to think straight.