Chapter 3 (2/2)

It looked like the carriage was coming too close towards me, so I tried to take a step back, but tripped over my own foot.

Just like that, I fell backward and landed on my bottom.

“Owwww…”

Of all places, why did I have to fall in the mud?

My clothes were completely ruined.

Unaware of my fall or had no intention to help, the carriage continued on its way.

When I lifted my head up, it was long gone.

I had only a moment’s glimpse of it but it looked quite fancy.

Perhaps the carriage belonged to an aristocrat who came to enjoy the festival.

‘In any case, here or there, guys who have fancy wheels seriously have awful manners.’

I really wanted to curse them out, but there was no one to curse at.

Instead, I calmed down by mumbling to myself.

I patted my dirtied clothes and trudged toward the village.

I wanted to go back home to change out my clothes, but even that time was too precious.

It was the beginning of May Day festivities, so the village already started to become crowded early in the morning.

There were people taking out and tuning their musical instruments and others were rushing to fix up their fences and finalizing last-minute details.

Between them, a lady carrying around a basket full of food loudly reminded those around her to eat.

While everyone was busy preparing for the festival, I hunched over and tried to avoid others’ eyes as I rushed over to the apothecary.

Judith’s memories remained, but even so, it made me uneasy to meet other villagers.

On top of that, I didn’t want to deal with them if they saw Judith’s sullied appearance.

I was trying my best to dodge their sights, but of course, it was impossible to be invisible.

“Oi, Judith. Did you come to find a guy again? But what’s up with you? Is that a new look?” a sneering voice asked, filled with sarcasm and curiosity.

‘Judith’ was quite infamous around the village of Emden.

She was known for wanting to be wed off to a rich man to live comfortably, a gold digger.

To be more specific, she only relied on her looks to size up potential men, but her prime marriage years passed by.

Older women who couldn’t get married early enough had a saying between them, “you became just like Judith.”

But, what’s wrong with being 27 years old?

That’s still quite young, come on.

I sighed and I stared back at them.

Those unsightly toads had smirks plastered over their faces.