Chapter 12 : House

It was the next morning.

I’d finally drifted off after tossing and turning, my mind racing, when
A loud banging on the door startled me awake.

Goosebumps rose on my arms.

It was the intuition of the unfortunate.
A sense only those long acquainted with misfortune could possess.

Misfortune always followed me like a shadow.

And it was always sudden.

Whoever was banging on my door this early couldn’t possibly bring good news.

But I couldn’t ignore it.

I reluctantly got up and opened the door.

“Young lady, why didn’t you answer? I thought you weren’t home.”

The landlady frowned at me.

She barged in without waiting for an invitation. While it was her house, she showed no respect for her tenant.

As I stared at her,
She said,

“I need to talk to you. Seriously.”

There wasn’t a trace of apology in her tone.

I’d thought it before, but the landlady was rather high-handed.

“Young lady, is something wrong?”
“Excuse me?”
“I keep hearing crying every night. From your room.”

The landlady was wealthy,
And this house was just one of her many properties.

She didn’t live here, only came by occasionally for maintenance. She couldn’t have heard me crying in the middle of the night.
She must have heard it from someone else, a neighbor perhaps.

As I blinked, trying to piece things together,
The landlady sighed and continued.

“So it’s true. Look at your swollen eyes. You were crying yesterday too, weren’t you?”
“…”

I couldn’t deny it.

I’d been crying.

Because I felt down.
Lonely.
Cold.
Because I was remembering Karen.

The usual reasons.

But I hadn’t been wailing loudly enough to disturb the neighbors.
Couldn’t a person cry a little?

I didn’t understand why she was making such a fuss about me crying softly under my covers.

“I’ve been getting complaints. That it’s too noisy here.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s alright.”

She glanced around my room,
As if looking for something to criticize.

“Would you like something to drink?”
“Oh, no, that’s fine.”
“Okay.”
“Anyway, um…”
“…?”
“I’ll just be blunt. I’m a little upset.”

I wasn’t interested in her feelings.
Why should I care whether she was happy or upset?

But I had to listen.

“This house is getting a bad reputation. Because of you.”
“Excuse me?”
“It started about a month ago. People are saying it’s noisy and creepy. That a strange woman lives here.”
“…”
“Well, I know you’re not like that, so I don’t want to say much, but I thought you should know.”
“Okay.”

It was a bit unfair, but
She had a point, as the landlady.

I was more curious about who’d complained about my crying.

Did they hate me that much?
I didn’t recall making any enemies.

I nodded silently.

The landlady turned to leave, then
Added casually,

“Oh, right. Young lady, you’re aware that your deposit ran out last month, aren’t you?”
“Yes.”
“I know you have your reasons, and I don’t like saying this, but this isn’t a charity. If you can’t pay the rent… well, I’m afraid I’ll have to ask you to leave.”
“I understand.”

I realized that was the real reason for her visit.

The complaints about the noise and the bad reputation were just a pretext.
This was the main point.

I bowed my head.

“I’ll try to figure something out. I’m sorry.”
“I’m glad you understand.”

The landlady left as abruptly as she’d arrived.

I couldn’t call her heartless.

She wasn’t being unreasonable.
If I couldn’t pay, I had to leave.

My deposit had run out.

I felt my mother’s absence keenly.

It had been years since her imprisonment.

Most of her assets had been seized by the state, but
Thanks to her foresight, a considerable sum had been set aside for me.

The deposit for this house, my academy tuition,
And a few years’ worth of living expenses.

But my mother wouldn’t have anticipated
That her beloved adopted daughter would become addicted to practically every pleasure imaginable.

Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, gambling,
All expensive vices.

With no real income, I’d been burning through the money, and
Now, I was about to be thrown out on the streets.

“…”

It was inevitable.

I’d just keep living like this, scraping by, until
I no longer wanted to live, or
Couldn’t afford to.

And that would be the end.

…

It was a holiday.

Exhausted from lack of sleep, but
Not wanting to sleep, I went outside.

I had no destination.

It was a holiday, so Nadia wouldn’t be at the infirmary, and
It was too early to visit Charlotte.

Besides them, I had no one to visit.

I decided to take a walk in the sun.

While my world was crumbling,
The world around me remained peaceful.

I suddenly wanted to be praised.

For someone with no will to live, wasn’t it commendable that I’d made it this far?

But who would praise someone like me?

“Tanya! Hi!”

Having to give up the place filled with memories of my mother made me feel uneasy.

No, uneasy wasn’t the right word. It felt like
Something was gnawing at my insides, twisting my gut.

A surge of emotions.

“Tanya? Tanya?”

I realized I was more out of it than I thought.

I hadn’t even noticed the pink-haired girl standing before me, waving her hand in front of my face as if trying to get my attention.

“…Miss Lucia?”

Was it just me, or was her timing terrible?

I wasn’t in the right state of mind to deal with her, not with the weight of my depression heavier than usual.

“Why do you look so down?”
“What are you doing here…?”
“Is something wrong?”

I unconsciously nodded.

That was strange. I’d never do that normally.

I’d usually brush her off with a cold “none of your business” or
Ignore her concern, telling her not to worry, like last time.

I must be truly out of it.

Lucia seemed surprised,
Her cherry-blossom eyes wide.

But she quickly recovered,
Smiling gently, encouraging me to talk.

“If you have something on your mind, I’ll listen.”
“…”

She took my hand.

I should have pulled away, but
I didn’t.

Maybe it was the exhaustion, the lack of sleep.
Or the fear of being evicted.
Or maybe I was missing my mother.

It definitely wasn’t because she looked stunning in her casual clothes.

Lucia led me to the park.
She sat down on a wooden bench and pulled me down beside her, our hands still clasped.

I tried to put some distance between us, but
She immediately closed the gap, as if disapproving.

Our thighs pressed together.

“So, tell me.”
“Tell you what…?”
“Why you look so gloomy.”

Even oblivious Lucia could see through me.
I wondered what kind of expression I was making.

But there weren’t any mirrors in the park.

Then, I noticed my reflection in Lucia’s eyes, and
Our gazes locked.

That might have been a mistake.

I felt like I was being drawn in.

Her magnetic gaze, disarmingly friendly yet compelling, made me want to open up.

And somehow,
I found myself confiding in her.

About what had happened today.
About my situation.
About why I was so depressed.

I didn’t reveal everything, of course, but
Even this much was shocking, coming from me.

After listening patiently, Lucia acted swiftly.

She intertwined our fingers,
Smiled meaningfully, and said,

“Then, do you want to come to my place?”