Memories unspooled in her mind like faded film.
It was a snowstormy evening. The leaden sky hung low, as if to crush this border town.
The biting wind howled like a blade, whipping up dirty snow from the ground and slamming it against the dilapidated wooden buildings and mottled earth walls.
The streets were empty, eerily silent. Only the wail of the wind and snow echoed through the narrow alleys.
A bone-chilling cold hung in the air. It was an era of famine—economic depression, food scarce.
In the heavy snow, a small blue figure stumbled and sprinted through drifts nearly ankle-deep.
She wore only a tattered, thin cloth garment. Her exposed limbs were already purple from cold, covered in frostbite and bruises. The biting chill pierced her marrow like countless needles.
But the girl seemed numb. The only thing keeping her conscious was the dark, hard-looking loaf of bread clutched tightly to her chest—and the curses chasing after her.
“Grab that little bastard!”
“Get the bread back! Beat her to death!”
“Don’t let her get away!”
The voices came from several gaunt, equally ragged adult vagrants. Their eyes glowed with a wolfish hunger, fixed on the fleeing girl ahead.
Carrying those death-knell shouts, Sefina—barely 6 or 7 years old—pushed herself faster.
Her lungs ached like a broken bellows. The icy air seared her throat with every breath.
Each step felt like dancing on knives. This body was too weak. Malnutrition and extreme cold made every muscle and joint scream in protest.
Suddenly, Sefina stumbled. Her small body lost balance and pitched forward, crashing hard into the freezing snow. It instantly flooded her collar and sleeves, the numbing cold making her shiver.
Before she could get up, rough hands grabbed her. Fists and feet rained down like hail, accompanied by filthy curses and sneers.
“Stealing, huh?! Running, huh?!”
“Hand over the food, you little mutt!”
Sefina curled up, taking most of the blows on her back and shielding the bread with her life.
Pain was routine. She barely felt it anymore—only a deep, marrow-deep cold and numbness.
The curses and beatings continued for a while, until they ripped away the bread she’d fought to protect. After venting their anger on her, they left, still swearing.
Only a more pathetic blue figure remained in the snow.
Sefina struggled to push herself up from the snow.
Her already frostbitten limbs now bore fresh bruises, scrapes, and bloody marks, mixed with mud and snowmelt—a shocking sight. But Sefina just glanced at them expressionlessly, as if she didn’t care about the battered body.
It doesn’t matter anyway. Compared to this physical pain, her empty stomach was the real torment. Hunger gnawed at her like a parasitic worm, eating away her will and strength.
She grabbed the cold, rough earth wall beside her and stood up shakily, moving forward aimlessly.
Where to? She didn’t know.
Her body temperature was draining away. Overwhelming despair washed over her. So hungry… so cold… so miserable… Her consciousness was already blurring.
This world was strange and cruel to her. She only felt that if she didn’t find food soon, she probably… wouldn’t survive the winter.
This was the third or fourth month since Sefina had been transported to this world. She was starving almost every day, with no hope in sight.
Just as her vision blurred and she was about to collapse again, a figure appeared at the mouth of an alley. It rekindled a faint spark of her dying will to survive.
It was a girl who looked about her age, with strikingly pink hair that stood out in this gray-white world.
She wore an old but relatively thick cotton coat. More importantly—
In her hand, she carried a small linen bag. The opening was slightly loose, revealing a few pieces of… bread!
Bread!
A nearly beast-like gleam of craving lit up Sefina’s hollow eyes.
Reason and conscience screamed at her, condemning such a despicable act. But—
The burning in her stomach and the instinct to survive surged like a tidal wave, drowning that faint morality.
There was no food anywhere. Living was barely possible. She… she just wanted a bite of bread, just wanted to live…
What’s wrong with wanting to survive… In this cruel famine year, it’s either plunder or die…
So, when the pink-haired girl turned into a narrower alley, Sefina used her last bit of strength to spring out of the shadows like a ghost and snatched the bag of bread!
“Give it back!”
The girl’s frantic shout came from behind, her voice trembling with tears.
That sound pricked Sefina’s heart like a needle. But she didn’t dare stop or look back. Survival drove her to grip the bread bag like a lifeline.
She blindly ducked into a side path, only to find in despair—a dead end.
A high wall blocked the way.
No retreat.
Sefina slid down against the cold wall, sitting on the ground, gasping for breath.
Her trembling hands tore the bag open almost roughly. Inside were two pieces of bread that looked softer than what she’d had before.
She grabbed one and shoved it into her mouth, chewing and swallowing with all her might.
The dry, hard crumbs scraped her throat, stinging a little, but she didn’t care.
At worst… at worst they’ll beat me… she thought in despair. As long as… I can fill my stomach for now…
Hunger was truly unbearable…
Just as she finished devouring the first piece and reached for the second, the pink-haired girl caught up at the alley entrance.
She was panting, her face full of anxiety and sorrow as she looked at the last piece of bread in Sefina’s hand.
With a burst of courage and speed she didn’t know she had, the girl dashed forward.
In the nick of time, as Sefina opened her mouth to bite into the second piece, the girl reached out and blocked Sefina’s mouth with her own wrist.
“Mm—!”
Sefina’s teeth clashed against the slender wrist, leaving a faint mark.
She looked up in shock. What met her eyes were the girl’s tear-filled pupils, clear as pink crystal.
Tears rolled down her reddened cheeks. But when she looked at Sefina, besides urgency, there was no anger—only an indescribable sadness and pity.
“Don’t… don’t do this… please…”
The girl’s voice choked with sobs. Her wrist stayed stubbornly in front of Sefina’s mouth.
This was Sefina’s first meeting with Theresa.