Ella couldn't remember how she had fainted. When consciousness came back she was lying on a bed, softness underneath her and a weight on top.
Something seemed to be pressing down on her waist.
"Mm..."
A wet, cold liquid landed on her lips, some of it running down her cheek and some going into her mouth.
It was very bitter. Ella's lashes trembled.
Dazed, she tried to lift a hand. There was no strength in her body.
"Cough, cough."
Coughing, she forced her eyes open, and what filled her vision was that blonde bastard.
Elos was straddling Ella's waist, one hand pinning her shoulder, the other holding a medicine bottle.
"Sss..."
Ella tried to sit up. Elos pinched her shoulder hard, nails sinking into the flesh, and the sting made Ella suck in a breath.
"You..."
Her mouth opened, and before she could get a word out the medicine was poured in, and all she could do was swallow the bitter stuff down a little at a time.
"Hmph. Awake? Can't take even that much. Worthless idiot."
Elos's mockery came down at her.
Ella turned her head aside, not wanting to look at her.
It would be nice if this one had been born without a mouth.
"I hauled you back here. Changed your clothes, and fed you some healing potion while I was at it. Relax, nobody else saw your body."
It sounded lovely. If the wretched state she was in hadn't been entirely Elos's own doing, Ella might genuinely have felt grateful.
Unfortunately, all Ella felt right now was that Elos was putting it on.
"Hoo..."
She drew a deep breath. Her head was splitting, and memory surfaced again. Ella remembered what the letter had said.
Her discount dad had given up on her. Her head a mess, she struggled her upper body upright, and let it hang.
"Hey, don't just sit up like that, you're too close! Are you trying to seduce me?"
Elos's noise clattered at her ear. Right now Ella found it nothing but din.
What now? Was she really going to be tormented here for the rest of her life? Wasn't she the protagonist? How was she supposed to get out of here, how was she supposed to get onto the proper track, how was she supposed to... go home.
"Dad, he..."
Ella thought of her discount dad again. She might call him that in her head all the time, but she was quite fond of him. She had genuinely treated him as a second father. Fifteen years will do that. Not blood, but lived into blood all the same.
"I told you so. He isn't going to do anything for you."
Seeing Ella awake, Elos got up, climbed off the bed and sat down in a chair.
"..."
Ella said nothing. She didn't know what to do, genuinely didn't know how she was supposed to go on.
Was she really the protagonist of this world? The small doubt surfaced, and was put down at once. She had to be. There was nothing else she could be.
"It doesn't matter. If he doesn't want me, he doesn't want me."
Ella sniffed, and worked hard at looking unbothered.
She got out of bed slowly, lost her footing, and went down again. On the floor, it took her some effort to stand.
It was fine, she thought. At least there was money now, so her discount mother's illness could be treated, couldn't it?
"Food. I'm hungry."
She came to stand in front of Elos, stubbornly upright, and put out a hand without a trace of embarrassment.
Eat first, she thought, get the body back in order, and go from there. Her father couldn't help her, so she would find another way.
Elos was only fifteen, still of an age to be at the magic academy, and it was the summer holiday now. In a little over a month she would be going back to school.
Once she was gone, a chance to leave would come.
Elos had no idea what Ella was thinking. She only looked at the figure working so hard to stand up straight, and went still.
Her hands closed on the arms of the chair without her meaning them to. Honestly, Elos was a little surprised. She had not expected this one to pull herself together after learning her own father had given up on her.
She had to know there was no light in her future.
"Idiot," she said. A real idiot, one who wouldn't cry. Still, stupid was fine. Stupid didn't get boring.
Elos's mouth twisted, and her gaze rested a moment on the swell of Ella's chest.
Come to think of it, when she had been feeding her the medicine earlier... hadn't she touched it?
The tips of her ears went hot, and Elos called a maid in quickly.
"Milady."
"Bring my dinner up—two portions."
There was a pause in the middle of it, but Elos decided to have a meal brought for Ella too.
She badly wanted to make her cry, but if she starved to death it would be rather hard to explain to her father.
"Haah."
The young mistress sighed. She had never imagined she would meet again the person she had run into by chance nine years ago.
Had she known someone who had handed her that humiliation would turn up, she would have had all sorts of entertaining things prepared well in advance.
Thinking it over, she suddenly noticed Ella was still standing in front of her.
"Today I'll allow you to eat the same as me."
***
It wasn't a long wait before a maid brought two meals up.
Roast lamb chops, borscht, and a few slices of bread.
Ella looked back at the window. The stripped potted plant still sat on the sill, and the light was much gentler than a high-summer noon. Early evening, then?
While she was working it out her stomach had already started growling. With the food in the room, the hunger sharpened.
Ella took one of the meals from the maid and sat on the stool furthest from Elos.
"Tch."
Elos gave a small, unreadable snort. There was no telling whether she was satisfied or annoyed.
Ella didn't care in the slightest what she thought. Sooner or later she was going to make this vicious creature apologize to her.
Throwing every unhappiness and worry aside, Ella looked at the food in front of her.
She gave her whole attention to a rare good meal.
By unspoken agreement neither of them spoke, and the room settled into quiet.
That rare quiet did not last. The half-closed door opened.
"Milady, ahem. There's someone at the castle gate asking for madam. What would you—?"
A maid stood in the doorway, watching Elos nervously.
At the news that someone was asking for her, Ella's hand stopped. She got up without thinking, still chewing, leaned out of the window from the waist and looked into the distance.
"..."
Elos frowned.
"Fine. Understood. Also, you're dismissed. Pack your things and go."
"Ah... Milady?"
"If you're still here in a moment, go and collect two lashes for yourself."
"Ah, I— I— I'm going right now."
The maid fled in a panic.
Ella took in every sound of it behind her, and her eyes darkened slightly.
This one really was insufferable. There was no telling where that maid had managed to displease her.
"If you don't want to eat it, throw it away."
Elos didn't explain, only glanced coldly back at Ella standing at the window.
"..."
Ella didn't answer. She went back to her seat and kept eating, but her mind would not stop.
She finished the meal quickly, and with a little strength back she couldn't stop wondering who had come for her.
"I'm done. I'm going out for a bit."
Ella set the tray down and left.
"Tsk. Detestable idiot."
Watching Ella's back, Elos's fist closed again. Why was she not afraid of her at all?