If You Wish to Have Me - Chapter 116

At those words, as dry as autumn leaves, Kisa froze completely.

That gaze that seemed indifferent to her. It somewhat resembled her father, who was a little frightening.

Moreover, from this close distance, she could see the red hair hidden beneath the hat.

The same hair color as the attending physician who had announced her mother’s passing. A color Kisa disliked.

“Th-that is…”

Under the urging gaze, the child opened her mouth as if pushed from behind.

“I mean…”

But she couldn’t manage to say much more and closed her mouth tightly.

Then the boy immediately lost interest in Kisa and turned his gaze to the newspaper in his hands.

Kisa stood there awkwardly, watching the boy’s demeanor.

‘He looks smart.’

Though he seemed only three or four years older than Kisa, every aspect of the boy’s behavior was mature, and this sight strangely encouraged Kisa.

She too needed to pull herself together. She had to find her precious friend, Mustache Jack.

“Ah, hello!”

Kisa opened her mouth again and spoke energetically.

“Thank you for helping me earlier. Thanks to you, I didn’t get caught by that man.”

The boy, keeping his eyes fixed on the newspaper, answered without any hint of pride.

“Not really. I was just annoyed that you were making noise and disrupting my thoughts.”

“O-oh, is that so? Anyway, thank you.”

“Whatever.”

Though she couldn’t sense any willingness from him to continue the conversation, Kisa didn’t give up and spoke to him again.

“But have you perhaps seen Mustache Jack?”

“Jack?”

“He hasn’t come to our house since the day before yesterday! Until now, he came to our house every day to eat, but this is the first time something like this has happened! I wonder what could have happened?”

Only then did the boy raise his head to meet Kisa’s eyes.

“Why don’t you just contact him?”

“You can contact cats too?”

“…When you’re going to talk about such things, I’d appreciate it if you’d at least let me know first that Jack is a cat.”

The boy let out a small sigh before turning to the next page of his newspaper.

“Anyway, I haven’t seen him. This is my first time coming to this area today anyway.”

“I-I see.”

The conversation was cut off again, and time passed.

How many minutes had gone by? The boy sent Kisa a somewhat uncomfortable look.

“You there. How long are you going to stay like that?”

“Huh?”

“People keep glancing this way because of you.”

“Because of me?”

“Those clothes that look expensive at first glance naturally draw attention from the surroundings. That man from earlier probably followed you with the intention of getting something out of you after seeing your outfit.”

At those words, Kisa looked down at the clothes she was wearing.

To Kisa, it was just an ordinary dress she often wore, but listening to the boy’s words, she could see there was a difference from how the people around her were dressed.

While Kisa regretted her mistake, the boy shook his head disapprovingly.

“Next time you run away from home, get some cheap clothes like mine first.”

“R-run away? I didn’t run away from home! I just came out briefly to look for Jack.”

“That’s what people usually call running away from home. Anyway, if you want to find your cat, go look somewhere else. It doesn’t seem to be here.”

The answer came after a slight pause.

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“I don’t know where to go.”

Saying this, Kisa made a pitiful face, and the boy asked in a troubled voice.

“Where might that cat go?”

“I don’t know.”

“…And yet you rushed out of the house without any plan? You’re just as hopeless as that guy.”

That guy? While Kisa tilted her head in puzzlement, she realized that her legs were hurting.

Come to think of it, as soon as she left the Vansfelt mansion, she had encountered a suspicious man, and feeling instinctive fear at his smiling face, she had run non-stop to this place.

She had been standing continuously since then, so it was natural for her tender legs to hurt.

Since the seat next to the boy was empty, Kisa said “heave-ho” and hoisted herself up to sit on the edge of the fountain.

Then she asked the boy, who was glancing at Kisa for arbitrarily taking the seat next to him, something she was curious about.

“Who is ‘that guy’?”

“Someone there. Born under the same parents, but incomprehensible in many ways.”

If they were born under the same parents, wouldn’t that be a sibling?

The boy seemed to refer to his sibling in a rather peculiar way.

“I have a younger brother. But this time he stayed in the territory and didn’t come up to the capital with me. Father says that since my brother doesn’t have a fiancée decided yet, there’s no need for him to come to the capital.”

“So you were brought along because you need to get close to your fiancée. Well, it must be nice not to see your brother.”

“It’s not nice. He’s a guy who acts badly all the time, but without him, it feels empty.”

“Ah, is that so?”

Kisa looked at the boy who answered halfheartedly and asked carefully.

“Did you perhaps run away because you hate your sibling?”

“As if. For such a ridiculous reason.”

“Then?”

The boy made a listless expression as if he didn’t know why he had to explain this, but he still gave an answer.

“Adults want children to be mature, but if you don’t act childish enough, they find it strange. Sometimes this kind of thing is necessary too. I learned it from watching that guy.”

What could this mean?

Kisa couldn’t understand what the boy was saying, but not wanting to look stupid, she roughly nodded her head.

“I see. I understand.”

Whether Kisa understood or not, the boy put down his newspaper beside him and stared at the people passing by on the street before bluntly asking a question.

“…So? How long are you going to stay here? Didn’t you say you were looking for a cat?”

“Hmm, where could the cat be?”

“How would I know? I don’t even know what the cat looks like.”

“He’s really cute! He meows, and usually won’t come close, but when you give him food, he quickly approaches and eats deliciously.”

“That’s not a clue at all.”

“And he’s white with black patterns, especially the spot pattern on his nose that looks like Mustache. Also, he has a long scar on his right eye.”

“That’s quite distinctive then.”

After a while, thinking her legs should be fine now, Kisa got up from her seat.

Honestly, it was disappointing that she hadn’t gotten much information from the boy, but somehow, looking at this smart child made her feel that she too should work harder.

He didn’t seem much older than Kisa, yet he had successfully run away from home and showed no signs of fear even in an unfamiliar place.

‘I should find Jack with my own strength rather than relying on others’ help!’

With her resolve rising, Kisa tried to bid farewell to the boy before leaving.

“Thank you. I’ll be going now. Maybe we’ll meet again—”

“Hey, little one.”

But then someone approached them and grabbed Kisa’s shoulder.

“Are you lost? Shall I help you find your parents? Where are your parents? Tell me their names.”

The middle-aged woman was making a kind expression, but Kisa’s face hardened.

It might have been her imagination, but the woman gave off a similar atmosphere to the man she had barely managed to shake off earlier with the boy’s help.

“Um, well… I’m…”

Should she run away again? While Kisa was contemplating, she heard a clicking sound.

The boy, who had gotten up from his seat, grabbed Kisa’s arm and pulled her toward him.

“She’s my younger sister, and I’ll take care of it, so you don’t need to worry.”

Taking advantage of the woman’s confusion at his crisp words, the boy quickly took Kisa and left that place.

After entering a back alley with few people, he stopped walking and looked down at Kisa, muttering.

“I told you that outfit would draw attention.”

Since it was indeed her fault, Kisa hung her head weakly.

But now she couldn’t go back home to change clothes and sneak out again, so what should she do?

“Here.”

But the boy suddenly took off the coat he was wearing and handed it to Kisa.

“It’s a long coat, so if you wear this, it’ll be less noticeable.”

“Is it really okay?”

The autumn weather was quite chilly.

“It’s fine. I won’t catch a cold from just this much.”

Come to think of it, Daniel also used to throw off his coat frequently, saying it was stuffy, and then run around.

“Thank you.”

Kisa, offering her umpteenth expression of gratitude, hurriedly put on the boy’s coat.

“Oh.”

In the process, the scarf she had been wearing around her neck fell to the ground.

“You’re clumsy.”

The boy picked up the fallen scarf, brushed off the dust, and wrapped it around Kisa’s neck.

For some reason, feeling embarrassed, Kisa giggled.

The boy looked at such a Kisa expressionlessly.

“…Miss Vansfelt seems a little too lacking in caution.”

“Huh? How did you know our family name? Did I tell you?”

“There’s no way you could have walked that far with your legs, and among the families that own mansions in this area, there’s only that family with a girl child of about your age.”

Wow. At the boy’s clever deduction, Kisa unconsciously opened her mouth and let out an exclamation.

‘As expected, this person would probably figure out where Mustache Jack is right away!’

Thinking this, Kisa quickly abandoned her earlier firm determination to find Jack by herself and clasped her hands together to ask the boy. To look for Jack together.

“Hmm.”

The red-haired boy, who seemed like he would refuse immediately, stroked his chin for a moment.

“Alright. I suppose it wouldn’t matter if I acted together with you for about two hours or so.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I finished reading the newspaper anyway and had nothing to do. Having gone to the trouble of running away from home, it would be strange to return home before the sun sets.”

The boy who said this glanced somewhere.

“And if I stay in one place too long, those people will get restless too.”

“Those people?”

“They’re there. People who are secretly watching to make sure the precious young master doesn’t come to harm.”

Even after hearing the explanation, Kisa didn’t know who they were and looked puzzled, but anyway, she felt like she could fly with happiness.

Let’s hurry and find Jack.