Anything But Study - Chapter 2

Melia didn’t hide the expression that she was utterly dumbfounded. She barely managed to steady her breathing before opening her mouth.

“Your words are too much.”

This was beyond excessive. There were things one should never say as a human being.

Besides, what did her attending the academy have to do with her younger brother Ervan being sick?

“I have no intention of getting married. I told you last time as well, that I would refuse.”

Her uncle’s marriage proposal was nothing new. Back then too, he had tried to push her into becoming the second wife of some fifty-year-old noble.

And this time was surely no different.

To bring up such revolting matters so casually…

How could such a person ever be called family?

“Think about it. If you had quit the academy and married with that offer from before, your brother would have received plenty of treatment and already been cured.”

Only because he didn’t think of her as family could he spout such absurd nonsense.

His eyes were filled with greed, his face preoccupied only with thoughts of how to sell Melia off at the highest price.

“Then that makes it your fault for studying that your brother is crippled. Am I wrong, Melia?”

Melia was speechless.

How could someone wearing the mask of a man say such things?

One niece treated as a cripple, the other he tried to sell into the bed of an old noble.

“It’s a fine match. Do you think you could ever set foot in a count’s family otherwise?”

Melia was appalled.

If it was truly such a fine match, shouldn’t he be sending his daughter, Melia’s cousin Riarit, instead?

The words that had surged up her throat could not be held back any longer and burst out of her mouth.

“If it’s such a fine match, then why not send Riarit?”

Slap—

In an instant, with a harsh crack, her cheek burned.

‘It hurts…’

Her head rang. Her cheek stung hotly.

“Riarit is still young!”

The moment Melia spoke her daughter’s name, her uncle flew into a rage.

“As her older cousin, you have no shame! Learning nothing but insolence at the orphanage!”

It was laughable.

There was only a single year’s difference between Melia and Riarit.

Last year, when her uncle had tried to force a similar marriage on Melia, she had been twenty-one.

The very same age Riarit was now. Did he even realize?

No, even if he did, it clearly made no difference to him.

Melia’s chest was filled with words she wanted to spit out. But she could not press further.

The reason was…

“Haa, anyway. You need to repay the debt. I’ve brought you an easy way to do it, haven’t I?”

Yes, it was all because of the debt.

The debt her late parents had owed to her uncle.

Parents whose faces she did not even remember had left her with no love, only a crushing burden.

A full 8 million Erin.

With just 10,000 Erin, a common family could live comfortably for a month.

That meant 8 million was nearly sixty years of living expenses.

Though Melia was of noble blood, she lived no differently from a commoner. She and her younger brother together barely managed to survive on less than 2,000 Erin a month.

Even if she graduated from the academy and found a good job, there was no imagining how she could ever repay such an enormous sum.

As she confronted the amount, it felt like the blood drained from her whole body.

Yes, she had to repay it.

Money she had never even borrowed herself.

Why had her parents taken such a massive debt from her uncle?

It was bitter. To not have parents who could protect her. To have no choice but to endure and swallow this violence.

As Melia fell silent, her uncle’s smug tone grew even more arrogant.

“That was my entire fortune. If your father hadn’t borrowed it, I wouldn’t be living like this now!”

Melia bit her lip. It was something she had always heard. That if not for that money, he wouldn’t be living so miserably now.

If she counted the interest, in truth, she had to repay an even greater sum, but he always said she should be grateful since he was showing leniency because they were family.

The rest of his words were always predictable. Even without hearing them, Melia could recite them herself.

“Because of your parents, our whole family is staggering, you know? Riarit is a victim of that. And yet you dare to say such a marriage should be for her? How could you say something so wicked!!”

The loud voice stabbed at her ears, but Melia, as always, could say nothing.

Her uncle’s promissory note was like shackles on her.

The repayment period written on that note was this very year.

Last year, she had somehow managed to resist and avoid marriage, but in truth, even after graduating from the academy, the thought of paying off such a massive debt was overwhelming.

“So now, at least, you need to return to your place.”

Her uncle looked at Melia’s pale face and, as if deciding to change his approach, suddenly began to coax her.

“Anyone can make a small mistake.”

His tone was suddenly far gentler than it had been a moment ago.

“If they hear you graduated from the academy, the elders will find it burdensome and your price will only fall, so just quit the academy now, alright?”

But the content was still outrageous beyond belief.

“You need to bring in a high price so you can repay the debt and still have money left over to cure your brother quickly. You know that better than anyone, don’t you?”

Her situation was wretched, having to sit and listen to this nonsense that made his money more important than her brother’s health.

Melia’s fingertips trembled.

“They’re offering a full ten million Erin. With that, you can pay off the debt and cure Ervan.”

But she didn’t want him to notice her weakness. With her other hand, she tightly gripped the one that was shaking.

“You’ll need some time to think, I’m sure. But think carefully, Melia. This is all for the best.”

Her uncle patted her shoulder. The unpleasant, disgusting sensation wrapped around her body.

Melia gave no reply, but her uncle smiled, as if satisfied with her lack of denial. It was utterly repulsive.

“Good, then think it over. We’ll talk again next week. The Count is generous enough to wait one week.”

With that, her uncle turned his back and left. He left with the promise of returning.

Clack—

The door closed. Once the dreadful sight of her uncle was gone, Melia collapsed onto the floor.

In the cold winter, the ground was freezing.

A house with no proper heating. Yet what bit into her more sharply than the shabby, frigid reality was the crushing weight on her shoulders.

A sorrowful emotion surged from her chest and spilled out, making her body shake.

“Hhk, sob…”

Tears fell of their own accord. The drops rolled down endlessly, showing no sign of stopping.

Melia didn’t even bother to wipe them away, simply sitting there blankly, staring at the ceiling.

The old ceiling came into view. On days of heavy rain, water would drip steadily from above.

Just like the tears streaming from Melia’s eyes.

Her circumstances were pitiful.

She hated it. So very much.

But the reality before her eyes was even more dreadful.

The debt her parents had left when they died.

And the medical expenses she had no choice but to bear for her younger brother.

In truth, even now, Ervan’s condition was only barely being maintained, not truly treated.

Because there was no money.

A complete cure required a sum far too great.

The academy tuition could be covered with scholarships, but in truth, all the additional expenses were something she had to manage herself, so there was not a single thing that wasn’t a burden.

It was hard. To endure all of this alone had reached its limit.

Melia’s powerless gaze slowly moved, sweeping across the interior of the house.

A space so cramped it was hard to believe it belonged to someone holding a noble title. Her eyes landed on the door in the corner.

She slowly lifted her body and walked toward the door.

She placed her hand on the worn doorknob and turned it. Today, the doorknob felt unbearably heavy.

It felt as though the weight pressing down on her shoulders was being passed to her hand.

Clack—

The door opened slowly, revealing the inside space beyond the gap.

Inside the room lay her sick younger brother, Ervan.

Before she knew it, Ervan was already nineteen.

Three years younger than her, he too would be an adult next year.

But even if Ervan became an adult, what could he possibly do properly with his sick body?

And cruelly enough, there were no signs of his condition improving.

A deep shadow fell over Melia’s face.

As the days went by, Ervan’s breathing grew more unstable.

If, gradually, his gasping breaths worsened until he could no longer breathe properly and his life ended…

The moment the thought she did not want to imagine flashed through her mind, Melia squeezed her eyes shut.

Such a thing must never happen.

Melia steadied her trembling body, then sat down beside Ervan’s bed and looked at him. He was asleep with his eyes closed.

“Ervan…”

Just being alive made him precious and something to be grateful for. Except for the uncle’s household, who could hardly be called family, Ervan was her only blood relative.

Melia grasped Ervan’s hand.

‘Already like this…’

The hand that had grown larger made her feel the passage of time. In childhood, it had been smaller than hers, but now it was the hand of a man, bigger than hers, clasped in her own.

And through all that time, Ervan had only been sick.

Next year, he would turn twenty, yet unlike her, he had never even had the chance to enter the academy.

Without proper friends, without future dreams, Ervan’s world had stopped inside this small room.

Thinking that way, tears seemed ready to rise again.

Yes, compared to Ervan, she…

Melia realized the academy was a luxury for her.

She didn’t want to admit it, but that was reality.

“Haa…”

A heavy sigh spilled from her lips.

How had it come to this?

If it was to end up like this, then perhaps those childhood days spent in the orphanage had been happier.