Although the man was a traveling physician, his body was not strong. After eating a meal, having rushed all night and been caught in the rain, he developed a high fever and fell into a daze. She let the man stay in her small hut to recover. Over the next few days, she had the first friend of her life.
And she also got a name of her own.
"I'm Hideki Hagiwara. What's your name?"
"I don't have a name," she said calmly. The most common address she had heard in her life was "hey," and the rest were all malicious titles.
"Why don't you give yourself one?" Hideki was clearly surprised, and then he enthusiastically suggested it.
"There's no need," she shook her head, but a ripple appeared in her usually numb and gloomy eyes.
"Of course there is! A name is very important..." Hideki earnestly and passionately persuaded her. Annoyed by his persistence, she let him pick one for her.
"Mmm—how about Momoko?" Hideki said, his eyes exceptionally bright. "It sounds cute and suits you very well."
"Momoko..." (Peach Child). She lowered her eyes, a hint of joy quietly sprouting in her heart.
Hideki was a knowledgeable man. He knew the names of all the plants outside her hut.
"This is a hydrangea. It always changes color, like a fickle enchantress."
"But look, its flowers always cluster tightly together, like a family happily reunited. So, the hydrangea is also a symbol of happiness and hope."
"Ah, this is a dayflower. The purple flowers are beautiful, aren't they?"
"They always bloom in the early morning and wither by noon, like the morning dew, never seeing the sunset."
"And the morning glories outside, they are also fleeting and fragile..."
Hideki always loved these beautiful, ephemeral things: the dayflower, the morning glory, the falling cherry blossoms in spring, and the red maple leaves in autumn. He was moved by the beauty of the life cycle and often praised the great force of life.
But Momoko didn't like it. She wished those flowers would bloom a little longer, that they would never fade. Because they were the only beauty left in her eyes... no, perhaps now there was one more.
After Hideki recovered, he practiced medicine in the town. He only charged the rich and treated the poor for free, quickly earning the respect of the people. Momoko would also help him, collecting and drying herbs, and assisting in brewing medicinal soups. For the first time in her life, she received people's gratitude and blessings.
She suddenly felt that humans were perhaps not always so ugly.
Hideki stayed in the town for a while before he had to start his travels again. Upon hearing this news, the world before Momoko's eyes dimmed once more. She desperately wanted to follow him, but she couldn't, because she was the Calamity Woman, a despicable thief who only stole others' happiness.
But Hideki extended an invitation to her.
"No, I am the Calamity Woman. I will bring you misfortune," Momoko said, covering the birthmark on her cheek and shaking her head in refusal.
"How could that be? The Calamity Woman would not be so loved by the plants," Hideki said seriously. "I think you must be a child blessed by the god of nature! He must have accidentally left a mark when he kissed your cheek." His words were always so sincere and gentle.
"A blessed child... am I?" After so many years, Momoko, who thought she would never cry again, suddenly broke into sobs.
For the first time, Hideki's face became clear in her eyes. It was a refined face, very delicate, with a gentle and beautiful smile that no one had ever shown her before.
"Why do you want to take me with you?" Momoko asked softly after a long time, as if in a dream.
"Because I want to take Momoko to see all the beautiful scenery in the world," Hideki's cheeks instantly turned bright red. "Isn't that Momoko's wish?"
"Why do you want to fulfill my wish?"
"Because I like Momoko! Very, very much!" Hideki's face felt like it was on fire.
Momoko was stunned. "Why? I'm so ugly, so ignorant and malicious, and I have such a wretched past..."
"No, Momoko is a very gentle person," Hideki said sincerely. "I knew it from the first time we met."
"At that time, the smile Momoko showed was more beautiful and gentle, more full of life than all the flowers around."
"I want to protect that smile."
Momoko wept silently. She didn't understand what feelings she had for Hideki, but she wanted to follow him. And so, the two began a life of traveling together and practicing medicine.
Momoko learned a lot from Hideki, from identifying and preparing herbs to simple medical skills. She could also always find some rare medicinal herbs to help Hideki. She gradually stopped covering the birthmark on her face. Although there were still strange looks, the patients would still express sincere gratitude.
People's faces seemed to become more vivid, not as blank and indistinguishable as before.
Within half a year, the two naturally came together and were engaged. They finally settled down in a town and opened a clinic when she became pregnant. Because Hideki's medical skills were excellent, they were welcomed by the townspeople. The rich trusted his skills, and the poor were grateful for his free clinics.
Later, their son was born. The small baby had a birthmark similar to Momoko's on his face, which worried her, but also made her more determined. She would not let him suffer the pain she had experienced. She wanted him to love this world. Even if Momoko herself could no longer truly love this human world.
Everything was peaceful, but misfortune always arrived unexpectedly.
At that time, their child had just turned one month old. Hideki was invited to the lord's mansion and spent half a month successfully curing the lord's young master. He came home drunk but very happy, constantly talking about how the lord had promised to support his free clinics.
Just two days later, a group of men from the lord's mansion burst into the clinic, smashed everything wantonly, stole all their valuables, and took Hideki away. Momoko tried to stop them, fighting with a fierce determination and injuring a few of them, but was then beaten for a long time. Even though she had been used to beatings since childhood, it felt so painful now.
Hideki was quickly executed, hanged in public along with villains from outside the city, on the charge of colluding with bandits. People watched and whispered, pointing at the man on the gallows. No one raised any objection to the absurd verdict. At that moment, all people's faces became blank in Momoko's eyes once again.
Colluding with bandits? It was clearly just being a sacrifice in the lord's mansion's power struggle.
Momoko held her child and dragged her bruised body back like a walking corpse. The clinic had been sealed, she was penniless, and once again homeless. The people who had been so grateful to the couple now avoided her like the plague. Some even made sarcastic remarks and spoke ill of her.
"That Dr. Hagiwara, he looked so kind, who would have thought he was a villain colluding with bandits!"
"Pah! He always put on a sanctimonious face, who knows how many wicked things he did behind the scenes."
"He must have done too many bad things, that's why his wife and child were born so ugly..."
"Will they bring us bad luck? They look so ominous."
"Why were people like that even born? It would be better if they were dead..."
"..."
The foolish masses pointed and gossiped, while the smart ones lowered their heads and stayed away. The ugly faces of humanity were once again revealed before Momoko, naked malice appearing on those blank masks.
Yes, it has always been like this. How could I have forgotten?
This world had a thousand beauties, ten thousand hopes, blooming flowers, and thriving life, but none of it belonged to her. Everything she had before was just something she had stolen from others. She had stolen all of Hideki's happiness, so he died, like a plant entangled by dodder vine, withered after its nutrients were drained.
She had always been that... Calamity Woman.
Round and round, everything had just returned to the starting point.
She curled up in a dilapidated, drafty shack and sat numbly for a long time, until she was brought back to her senses by her son's weak cries. The baby's face was unnaturally flushed. She touched his forehead with the back of her hand; it was burning hot.
She panicked and ran to other clinics with her child, kneeling and begging for the doctors' help. But no one was willing to lend a hand. She understood. These doctors' incomes had plummeted because of Hideki's free clinics; they were bound to be gloating. And fearing the lord's power, they were bound to stand by and do nothing.
Looking at the black birthmark on the baby's face, similar to her own, she suddenly calmed down and stopped seeking help.
"This is a filthy world."
"So be it. Let's see if you have the same tenacious life force as me," she smiled. "If you can make it through, I will raise you."
"If you die, it will be a blessing for you."
"After all... you are a child of calamity too."
A night passed. The baby in her arms gradually stopped breathing, his body slowly growing cold. He did not have such a vigorous life force after all. She buried her child, her eyes already filled with coldness and deathly silence.
In the following days, she collected many poisonous plants, ground them into powder, and planned to put them in the drinking water of the lord's mansion. But the defense of the lord's mansion was formidable. Unsurprisingly, she was caught and thrown into a dungeon, where she was subjected to endless torture.
Until one night, the sounds of blood and screams echoed in her ears. A man with plum-red eyes was creating a bloody massacre, slowly walking towards her, and then stopped in front of her.
"Kill me. Hurry up and kill me," she looked up at him, her eyes lifeless. "If you're too slow, they'll all get away."
"Then you can kill them yourself," the man before her chuckled lightly.
That night, a plague broke out in the city. People grew black peach blossom-like spots on their bodies, and their bodies withered and died like plants.
After that night, she became Enyo. The memories in her mind were gradually forgotten, and all that remained was a deep hatred—for herself, for humanity, and for this human world.
"It's okay! It's okay to resent humans, and it's okay to hate this world!"
"No matter where you go, I will walk with you!"
A familiar voice awakened her consciousness from its silence. A pair of warm arms reached out from the darkness and held her tightly. She was stunned, and tears suddenly streamed from her eyes.
Looking at the raging fire around her, she suddenly raised her hand and fiercely pushed the person before her away, pushing him into the brilliant light.
"I detest humans, and I will never walk with a human again." She said, then resolutely turned and threw herself into the scorching flames.
"Never again will I come to this human world."
-------
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