“Elena, don’t be afraid.
I’m here.
No one is going to send you away.”
Daniel stood in the cool morning air, his chest still rising and falling slightly after the argument.
But when he looked at Elena, most of the anger had already faded from his eyes.
Elena looked up at him without answering immediately.
She knew Daniel was not merely trying to comfort her.
The night before, when he learned that George and Agnes intended to ask around for another marriage prospect for her, he had been angry enough to march straight back to the main farmhouse.
This morning, he had already argued with the family over the same matter.
At least in the Miller family, there was someone besides her parents who was genuinely on her side.
Edmund, standing a short distance away, finally frowned when neither of them spoke.
“Enough.
It’s already morning, and there’s work waiting in the fields.
How long are you planning to stand here talking?”
The anger Daniel had only just managed to suppress immediately returned.
He turned toward his eldest brother, his voice noticeably colder.
“If the wheat is harvested half a day late, the sky won’t fall.
But if Elena’s marriage is decided carelessly, it’ll be too late for regrets afterward.”
“When did I say anyone was going to decide it carelessly?”
Edmund’s expression darkened as well.
“Father only wants Mrs.
Howard to ask around and see whether there are any suitable families nearby.
No one said we’re arranging a wedding today.”
“You’ve been arguing about this since last night.
What exactly do you want?”
As he spoke, Edmund glanced toward Elena.
She had clearly rushed outside after hearing the argument.
Her light brown hair still hung untidily around her shoulders, and her old wool cardigan was not even fully buttoned.
Standing quietly in the morning yard like this, she did not look very different from the girl the family had always needed to watch over.
Edmund’s voice softened slightly.
“Besides, even if you tell her all of this, does she really understand?”
“The village children used to laugh at her right in front of her, and she didn’t even know why they were laughing.”
Daniel’s expression went cold.
“Whether she understands is her business.”
“Whether I protect her is mine.”
“She’s my niece.
The fact that she didn’t understand these things before doesn’t give the rest of you the right to make every decision for her.”
Edmund had no immediate answer.
Daniel did not bother continuing the argument.
He turned toward the wooden rack outside the barn, picked up his sickle and tin water flask, and clearly decided he had wasted enough time already.
“I’m going to the east field.”
With that, he walked away without looking back.
Dew still clung to the grass along the path.
Daniel’s work boots crossed the damp ground, and before long he disappeared down the narrow lane beside the stone wall.
Edmund remained where he was, watching him go with a grim expression.
Just then, the door to the main farmhouse opened.
George stepped outside, already dressed for work in an old shirt, suspenders, and a dark brown work coat.
He had clearly heard the argument.
His brows were drawn together as he approached.
“What are you fighting about this early in the morning?”
Edmund looked toward his father, his tone easing slightly.
“Still Elena.
Daniel was already unhappy about it last night, and he argued with Mother again this morning.”
George’s expression immediately darkened.
“Wasn’t there enough arguing last night?”
He glanced toward the sky.
Morning light was beginning to spread across the horizon, but a layer of gray-white cloud still hung in the distance.
The farm wagon in front of the barn had already been hitched to the horse.
Empty sacks, sickles, pitchforks, and water flasks were arranged on the wagon bed, ready to leave as soon as everyone gathered.
“The weather’s been unreliable for days.
If we don’t get the wheat in from the east field and a hard rain comes through, all that work will be wasted.”
“Anyone who’s supposed to be in the fields should get moving.
Whatever else there is to discuss can wait until tonight.”
“Yes, Father.”
Edmund nodded and turned toward the wagon to check the supplies.
George was about to leave as well when another raised voice came from the spare room beside the main farmhouse where Thomas was recovering.
Agnes.
She sounded angry.
A moment later came Martha’s quieter voice, apparently trying to calm her.
George stopped.
Elena raised her head at almost the same moment.
Because beneath those two voices, she had heard someone else.
Hoarse.
Weak.
But unmistakable.
Thomas.
Father’s awake.
Elena immediately forgot about the argument in the yard and hurried toward the room.
The moment she opened the door, the bitter smell of medicine washed over her.
The window had been opened only a crack.
Pale ashes remained in the fireplace from the night before, and the room felt close and stuffy, filled with the smells of herbs, sweat, and damp wood.
A clay medicine cup lay shattered on the floor beside the bed.
Dark brown liquid had spilled across the wooden boards, soaking one corner of the old rug.
Agnes stood beside the bed, pointing angrily at the mess.
“Do you have any idea how much that medicine Dr.
Brown left costs?”
“We only paid his fee yesterday, and now another cup has been knocked over.
How much money do you think this family has to waste?”
Thomas was awake.
But he did not look well.
His face remained pale, and a thin layer of sweat covered his forehead from the pain.
His injured arm had been secured against his side, while his other hand gripped the bedsheet tightly.
When he heard his mother, he took a moment to steady his breathing before speaking.
“I knocked it over.”
His voice was rough and weak.
“It wasn’t Martha.”
“Do you think I’m only talking about one cup of medicine?”
Agnes had been holding back her anger since the night before.
Hearing her son defend his wife only made her voice rise.
“The whole family sat up half the night discussing how we’re supposed to pay for your treatment.”
“Now all we’ve done is suggest asking around for a suitable husband for Elena, and the two of you are acting as if we’re trying to sell her!”
Thomas’s expression changed.
“She’s sixteen.”
“So what if she’s sixteen?
We’re only asking around. New chapters come out on novelping.com first.
No one said she’s getting married tomorrow!”
“If you were simply thinking about her future, I wouldn’t object.”
Thomas slowly lifted his head despite the pain.
“But Daniel already told me what happened.”
“You’re looking for a family willing to help pay for my treatment.”
His voice was weak, but there was nothing uncertain about his words.
“My legs are my problem.”
“Elena’s future is not something you use to pay my bills.”
Elena stopped just inside the doorway.
Thomas had clearly awakened only recently.
Even speaking took effort.
Yet after learning what had happened, his first concern was not whether his legs could still be treated.
It was that his daughter would not be traded for help.
At least in that respect, he had not disappointed her.
Agnes, however, was furious.
“You can say that easily enough while you’re lying there.”
“What happens when Dr.
Brown comes again?”
“What happens when there’s no money left for medicine?”
“In another two months it’ll be cold.
Coal costs money.
Flour costs money.
Feed for the animals costs money.”
She pointed at Thomas.
“You can’t even get out of bed.”
“Do you expect Martha to support three children alone?”
“Or are your brothers supposed to keep paying for your household forever?”
Thomas pressed his lips together.
After a moment, he said, “I’ll find a way.”
“What way can you possibly find like this?”
Before Agnes could say anything more, Martha stepped forward.
She had remained beside the bed all morning, terrified that Thomas would become upset so soon after waking.
Now his breathing was already growing faster.
“Mother, Thomas has only just woken up.”
“Dr.
Brown said he needs rest.
He shouldn’t be getting worked up.”
“Can we please talk about this after he’s stronger?”
Agnes was already angry, and the moment Martha spoke, that anger turned toward her.
“You have the nerve to say that?”
“You were the one refusing to listen last night.
If you hadn’t stood there crying and objecting to everything, would this have turned into such a mess?”
Martha went pale.
But unlike before, she did not immediately lower her head.
“I only think Elena’s marriage shouldn’t be rushed.”
“She’s a Miller.
Am I not allowed to think about my own granddaughter’s future?”
“But she’s also Thomas’s daughter and mine.”
The words came out before Martha could stop them.
The room suddenly went quiet.
Even Martha seemed startled by what she had said.
She rarely spoke to Agnes that way.
After years as part of the Miller family, she had learned to endure small grievances rather than argue over them.
But this was not about a meal, a household chore, or a few harsh words.
This was about the person her daughter might spend the rest of her life with.
Martha could not remain silent.
Agnes clearly had not expected her usually obedient daughter-in-law to answer back.
“What did you just say?”
Martha was frightened.
Elena could see it.
But Martha glanced toward her injured husband and did not take the words back.
“I said Elena is our daughter.”
“Whether she marries, and whom she marries, should at least wait until Thomas is stronger and the three of us can discuss it properly.”
“We shouldn’t rush to find someone just because we need money for his treatment.”
Agnes stared at her for several seconds.
Then she stepped forward.
Martha instinctively moved back.
“Mother…”
Slap!
The sound cracked through the room.
Martha’s face snapped to one side.
Elena’s eyes turned cold.
Martha herself seemed too stunned to react.
For several seconds, she did not move at all.
Only when the burning pain spread across her cheek did she slowly raise a hand to the reddening skin.
Thomas tried to push himself upright.
“Mother!”
The sudden movement pulled at his injuries.
His face went even paler, and his breathing immediately became ragged.
Martha forgot her own pain at once and rushed toward him.
“Thomas, don’t move!
You’re hurt!”
Elena stepped fully into the room.
She said nothing.
She simply looked at her mother.
One side of Martha’s face was already swelling.
Five clear finger marks stood out against her skin, and several strands of her neatly arranged hair had come loose.
Elena’s hands slowly curled at her sides.
Martha had barely slept since Thomas was brought home.
She had cried through much of the night over Elena’s marriage.
And now, before the morning had properly begun, someone had left a handprint across her face.
In Elena’s previous life, if anyone had dared to strike someone in front of her like that—
A cold light flickered through her eyes.
She forced it down almost immediately.
Now was not the time to reveal herself.
At least, not over a moment of anger that might make everyone wonder why Elena Miller had suddenly become a completely different person.
Agnes noticed her then.
Remembering the two handfuls of muddy ash Elena had slapped onto her face the night before, her expression became even uglier.
“What are you doing in here again?”
Elena did not answer.
Instead, she looked down.
The broken pieces of the medicine cup still lay beside the bed.
Dark brown liquid had spread across the floor, soaking the edge of the old rug.
Elena blinked. The source of this chapter is g.com.
The coldness disappeared from her face.
“Cup…”
She pointed at the broken pieces as though they had suddenly captured all her attention.
“Broken…”
Then she started toward them.
Martha immediately became anxious.
“Elena, don’t go over there.
There are sharp pieces on the floor!”
Elena behaved as though she had not understood.
“Shiny…”
Agnes happened to be standing between Elena and the broken cup.
The moment she saw the girl coming toward her, the memory of last night’s muddy ash returned.
She instinctively stepped backward.
“Stay there!
Don’t come any closer!”
Elena paused.
She tilted her head as though confused by the sudden hostility.
Then she shuffled one small step forward.
Agnes backed away again.
This time, she had forgotten that the edge of the rug behind her was soaked with spilled medicine.
The moment her shoe landed on the wet surface, her footing disappeared.
“Ah!”
Agnes cried out as she fell backward.
George had just reached the doorway.
His expression changed instantly.
“Agnes!”
He reached for her, but the distance between them was too great.
Agnes hit the floor hard.
In her panic, she threw out one hand to catch herself.
Her palm came down directly against the sharp edge of a broken piece of pottery.
She screamed.
Blood quickly welled from the cut.
Martha instinctively stepped forward.
“Mother!”
But before she could reach Agnes, Elena suddenly recoiled as though frightened.
“Blood…”
Her face went pale, and she grabbed Martha’s sleeve.
“Mom…
blood…”
Martha stopped immediately.
Elena had only just recovered from the fever and the pond accident, and she had always been easily frightened in the past.
Martha turned and pulled her daughter into her arms.
“It’s all right.
Don’t look.”
She gently blocked Elena’s view.
“Mom’s here.”
Elena obediently leaned into her.
To anyone watching, she seemed genuinely frightened by the blood.
But the eyes hidden against Martha’s shoulder were perfectly calm.
She had not touched Agnes.
Not even the edge of her dress had brushed against her.
Agnes had backed away on her own.
She had stepped onto the wet rug on her own.
As for landing her hand on a broken piece of pottery— that was simply unfortunate.
Agnes, however, was furious.
She sat on the floor, her injured hand trembling with pain.
When she looked up and saw Martha comforting Elena instead of helping her, her anger flared again.
“Martha!
Can’t you see I’ve fallen?”
Martha finally seemed to remember herself.
She was about to move when George entered with a grim expression.
“Enough.
Stop shouting.”
He looked at Agnes’s bleeding hand, then at the spilled medicine and broken pottery before helping his wife to her feet.
Agnes had gone pale from the pain, but she still refused to let the matter go.
“It was her!”
She pointed at Elena with her uninjured hand.
“If that girl hadn’t suddenly rushed toward me, I wouldn’t have fallen!”
George followed her finger.
Elena was still in Martha’s arms, several steps away from where Agnes had fallen.
Then he looked down at the soaked rug.
His frown deepened.
“Did she touch you?”
Agnes hesitated.
“She didn’t touch me, but she came running over—”
“You stepped onto the spilled medicine yourself.”
George cut her off.
“Get your hand cleaned and bandaged first.”
Agnes still wanted to argue, but the throbbing pain in her palm made it difficult to continue.
The room finally grew somewhat quieter.
Thomas, however, had not looked at his mother’s injured hand once.
His eyes had remained fixed on Martha’s face.
More precisely, on the five red finger marks across her cheek.
Thomas was already pale from blood loss and pain.
Now something in his expression tightened.
His jaw slowly clenched.
“Martha.”
His voice was quiet.
But everyone in the room heard it.
Martha stiffened and slowly turned around.
Thomas stared at the swelling side of her face for a long moment.
“Your face…”
He paused.
His fingers tightened around the bedsheet.
“Who hit you?”
Martha instinctively raised a hand as if to hide the mark.
Too late.
Thomas had already seen everything.
Elena slowly lifted her head from her mother’s arms.
First, she looked at her father lying in bed.
Then her gaze moved toward Agnes beside George.
The frightened, foolish look she had been wearing moments earlier gradually disappeared from her eyes.
This time, she did not smile.