"There you go father, you are doing very well." Ginny clapped her hands as she watched her father pick up the spoon on the table and take a bite of his porridge with shaky hands. His movements were jerky and he couldn't even sit straight, if not for her tying him to the chair with a rope woven out of her hair, he would have slipped down from his chair by now.
" G..Gi...Ginny" called her father, his voice hoarse and grating even though it was unpleasant to listen to, Ginny still felt as if she was listening to some musical masterpiece. It has taken six months of treatment for her father to make a sound and another six to move his limbs.
Count Harlow was once a man of wisdom and pride, he was often regarded as a genius by many in the Empire of Edessa. But then everything went spiralling out of their control when her father went on an expedition upon the order of the Emperor, her father went to the expedition hail and hearty but when he returned, he returned on a makeshift stretcher and was dumped on the foothill of their mansion.
Nobody knew how it happened but her father was cursed, who and where did it —— the soldiers of Edessa had no answers to her questions.
They couldn't tell her anything about how this accident took place but they were sure quick to drive her family out when rumours broke out in the capital that her father's curse was transferable and could be caught by others. Her father who spent most of his years serving the Empire was driven out by the very people he served with all his heart and was thrown into this wasteland that never saw the light of the sun.
It was dark and cold, and their house didn't even have another blanket. Ginny couldn't even remember when was the last time she slept in a warm and comfortable bed.
" Gin...Ginny?" Her father blinked his eyes that had webs in them as he dropped his spoon and started to flail his hands around to look for her, well look was the wrong word since her father could no longer see her.
" I am right here, father." wiping the tears in her eyes, Ginevra hurriedly held her father's hands, she was worried that he will hurt himself because of his anxious actions. " I am not going to leave your side, don't worry. I will always be next to you like you were for me."
" Gi…Gi...Ginny." croaked her father, his throat was almost ruined by the curse and Ginny had to give away all the money that she secretly brought with her when she was being chased out of her house to treat her father. Though he still couldn't speak, at least he was able to say her name, for her that alone was enough.
She handed the spoon back to her father and wiped the mess he made while eating with a napkin. " Come on, you have to finish it all."
Her father took the spoon and then banged it around on the table until he found the bowl. If possible Ginny would have taken care of his meals too but her father was a very prideful man, he was embarrassed enough that he needed his daughter's help to go to the restroom though he never let her in and that was why he always returned with a new injury each time he wiped his body, but his pride was the only thing that was left for him that was why Ginny let her father have his way with things that weren't threatening to him.
"E..Eat Gi..Gi...Ginny?" asked her father as he finished the porridge in his bowl, though most of it was splattered on the table, Ginny was still happy that he was able to eat it all.
" I have eaten father," Ginny lied with ease as she helped her father to his bed after untying him from the chair. Eat? How was she supposed to eat? Buying this bit of magical rice cost her three gold coins, and her salary was only four gold coins forget about eating, she would be lucky if she could even drink some vegetable stew.
Her father nodded as he laid back on the bed with a painful moan, his entire body has weakened to the point where he didn't even resemble a human anymore. Seeing him like this was hurtful but at least he was breathing next to her unlike her mother ——
A dark glint flashed in her eyes when her thoughts strayed to her mother and Ginny shook her head, tucking her father in the bed, she calmly said " Father, I need to go to work, you take a nap by the time you are done taking a nap I will be back, alright?"
" Ginn...Gin...Ginny wait." Which basically meant that he would patiently wait for her at home. She patted the back of her father's hand and then took off the dirty apron, she was wearing before wiping the table that has gone messy with the porridge dropped on it.
Then she picked up the key and a lock from the kitchen cabinet and turned to look at her father before she sternly said, " Father don't open the door if Lawrence comes to find trouble with you."
Her father didn't reply, but he did humm in response. Maybe he was tired after saying so many words in just a single day.
Ginny didn't push him to say anything instead she picked up a bunch of papers and a magical quill before throwing them all in a tattered old bag. She bid her father goodbye and then left the house after locking the door.
———-
" You have done a great job today as well, Ginny." praised her boss as he walked over to Ginny and handed her two gold coins. " these were some tips left by the customers, make good use of them alright?"
Ginny nodded as she quickly wrote a 'thank you' on the paper before showing it to her boss.
" There is no need for you to thank me, just be careful on the road. I heard that Lawrence is back in the village, he will surely come to look for trouble with you." warned her boss, though he was built like a bear, her boss had the kindest nature in the village but that was because he hasn't heard her voice if he did—-
'Got it.' She wrote again on the paper before bowing to him out of courtesy, though she was no longer the daughter of a Count. Etiquettes were embedded in her bones.
" See you tomorrow, Ginny!" called out her boss just as she closed the door after waving goodbye to him.
The weather was odd today as well, it was the middle of June but it was still as cold as if it was December. Ginny drew her arms close to her as she stomped towards her house, though some villagers were kind to her, most of them feared her father's curse and thus, their house was the farthest from the main town.
And the further away it was the more silent and desolate the path to the house was, as Ginevra got closer to the woods, a hand reached out from the corner and caught hold of her waist before pulling her into the dark forest.