Children of the Holy Emperor

CH 38

Martha hailed from a rural town in Rohan, known for producing high-quality grapes.

Her beauty was quite renowned in the area, and the townspeople even speculated that she might soon become the mistress of a lord and live a life of opulence. That was, until a band of bandits transformed her village into a desolate wasteland.

Martha became the woman of Jerome, the leader of the band of bandits.

Though she was unexpectedly forced into a marriage she hadn't chosen, she soon adapted to her new life. Whether laboring under the hot sun in the lord's vineyard or living as the wife of the gang's leader, there wasn't much difference in the hardship she had to endure.

Jerome, despite sometimes losing his temper and resorting to violence, generally cared for the beautiful Martha. However, another misfortune soon struck her. At a time when she was heavily pregnant, she was punched in the abdomen by a drunken Jerome. She collapsed, vomiting blood. She regained consciousness only a day later, but by then she had already miscarried.

Seeing her sitting in the cabin in a daze, Jerome awkwardly watched her. Not long after, he brought her a baby wrapped in a small blanket and dropped it in front of her. It was a handsome baby boy with soft red hair and obsidian-like black eyes.

Martha could never forget the moment her eyes first met the baby's.

The infant, swaddled in the blanket, stared at her without crying. His black eyes, deep and dark like they could reflect no light, seemed to consume the reflection of her own sorrowful state, even seeming to suck away her soul.

It was terrifying. So very terrifying.

Martha felt an immediate impulse to throw the baby away, but a vague fear that the child would retaliate somehow left her paralyzed.

"He's... beautiful," she managed to say, tears streaming down her face as she smiled. Jerome, failing to realize that her tears were born of fear, not joy, looked pleased.

The baby, named Kaien, grew rapidly.

The few women in the village envied Martha as they touched the pretty face of the child, who looked like a porcelain doll. Jerome, too, was satisfied with the quiet child who hardly cried.

The only one who felt uneasy was Martha, who spent most of her time near the child.

Whenever she couldn't feed him on time or catch him when he stumbled while playing, his black eyes would gaze at her emotionlessly, causing her heart to clench with extreme fear.

Whenever a drunken Jerome raised his hand towards Kaien, Martha would throw herself in front of the child, desperately trying to shield him from the blows. The fear of something terrible happening to her from the child if she failed to protect him filled her with baseless anxiety.

Was she going mad? She often questioned her sanity whenever she saw the innocent face of the sleeping child.

Was it because he wasn't her biological child that she couldn't love him enough? She wondered if she was unjustly hating and fearing the intelligent and observant Kaien, who had taken the place of her unborn baby.

However, her anxiety soon turned into reality.

One day, while she was away doing laundry with the other women, Jerome, who had returned home early and sober for once, unexpectedly struck the child. That day, Kaien was thrown against the hut's wall, severely twisting his left knee. Despite the severe injury, which made it impossible for him to walk properly again, Kaien silently stared at Martha as soon as he opened his eyes. His gaze was chilling to the bone.

The next day, a drunken Jerome came home and began to severely beat Martha. It was an unprecedented level of violence. Although his subordinates and the neighboring women eventually pulled him off her, Martha's left elbow was completely ruined that day.