If You Wish to Have Me - Chapter 141

Knock knock knock. Knock knock knock. At the repetitive sound with slight intervals, her vision gradually brightened.

A grayish-white ceiling. Kisa blinked several times as she looked at it with a dazed mind.

After taking some time for her consciousness to become clear, she quickly sat up.

It took about 20 seconds to roughly fix her appearance while looking at the small mirror hanging crookedly on the wall.

Next, it was time to open the door that required kicking the bottom part with her foot each time to open it, and greet her visitor.

“Good morning, Mana.”

The middle-aged woman who had been knocking on the door just moments before smiled apologetically when she faced Kisa.

“Oh my, did I wake you from a sound sleep?”

“No. I woke up earlier and was just about to get out of bed.”

The next moment, Kisa’s expression became slightly clouded as she caught the savory smell wafting from the kitchen.

“……But I’m late again this time. I’m sorry. Making you prepare breakfast alone.”

Mana, wearing an apron, hurriedly waved her hands.

“It’s fine, I tell you. You can stay comfortable. It’s something I’ve always done alone anyway, so I can do it alone.”

“I appreciate your words, but how could I do that? Just having me as a freeloader is more than enough kindness.”

“Oh dear, there you go again. It’s nothing special, but I feel embarrassed when you praise it so highly.”

She took Kisa’s hand and led her toward the dining table.

“Come, come here quickly and have your meal. The soup I made with the pumpkin that came in yesterday is quite good.”

Mana, who had seated Kisa with a kind attitude, looked upward and shouted.

“Daisy! You get up too! At this rate, breakfast will get cold!”

The third person appeared not long after the two had started eating.

“Good morning, both of you.”

The girl who came down the stairs rubbing her eyes lazily sat in the empty chair.

Mana cast a disapproving look while pouring water into a glass and placing it in front of her daughter.

“You stayed up late reading novels again, didn’t you? I can tell without even looking.”

“That’s not true, Mom. I went to bed early yesterday.”

“Don’t lie. I saw the dim light shining from your room when I was checking the front door.”

With nothing to say, Daisy shut her mouth tight, and Kisa opened hers before Mana could pour out more nagging, partly for Daisy’s sake.

“Speaking of which, Mana, today is the day Mr. Gale comes to this village, right?”

The story of the visitor who appeared at most once a month successfully caught Mana’s attention.

“That’s right. So today I plan to close the general store early and prepare dinner. That person is unknowingly picky about food, so I need to show my skills.”

“I’ll definitely help with dinner.”

“I can handle it alone just fine.”

“It’ll be better with two people.”

Then Daisy, who had been quietly listening to their conversation, interjected.

“Uncle will remember to bring the novel I mentioned last time, right?”

“Daisy, no matter how kind Mr. Gale is to us every time, don’t ask for too many things. It just makes his luggage heavier.”

The child’s lips pouted at her mother’s nagging.

Kisa gently stroked Daisy’s messy hair and spoke softly.

“Don’t be too harsh. From what I can see, Mr. Gale also seems to secretly enjoy giving gifts to Daisy. Seeing the happy face of someone opening a gift is also a joyful thing.”

Hearing those words, Daisy grinned, and Mana shook her head.

“Thank you, Sister Bella.”

“Bella, you’re spoiling Daisy too much, so she’s gotten quite bold lately.”

Kisa just kept a smile on her lips and quietly listened to their words.

Bella, that was the new name Kisa had gained when she settled in this place.

Gale, the very person who had recommended the name Bella when she was staying on the ship, had explained that it was a very common name in Octava.

Since there wasn’t any particular name she wanted to use, Kisa accepted his suggestion.

More important than the name were the place where she would live and the people she would live with.

About two and a half months ago, this place that Gale had brought Kisa to was a small village located in the quiet outskirts of Octava.

Actually, when Manoa first recommended Octava as a new settlement, it would be a lie to say that Kisa felt no worry at all.

If possible, she wanted to go somewhere farther than Octava, which was a neighboring country of the Sorbi Kingdom.

To a distant place where he couldn’t find her.

But after actually coming to Octava and living there, she could see that Manoa’s choice had been right.

First, geographically adjacent to Sorbi, Octava had many similarities in language as well, so Kisa was able to learn Octavan by reading books that Gale had brought during the voyage.

Moreover, she had roughly learned about this place’s culture and history as part of her education when she lived as the daughter of Count Vansfelt.

Thanks to this, as long as she didn’t talk too long with people, even the fact that she was a foreigner wouldn’t be discovered.

Of course, it was impossible to deceive Mana and Daisy who lived under the same roof, but other villagers simply knew Kisa as Mana’s niece who came from a distant region and had a distinctive way of speaking.

“…….”

Kisa, who was bringing bread to her mouth, looked back and forth at the two people sitting next to her.

“Daisy, don’t be picky and eat your carrots too.”

“I don’t want to. Carrots don’t taste good.”

“Oh my. You shouldn’t leave food.”

The mother and daughter, who resembled each other, were busy bickering with each other this morning as well.

Mana and her late-born daughter, Daisy.

Regarding the person who would be Mana’s husband or Daisy’s father, she had never met him and had never heard where he was or what kind of person he was.

Kisa didn’t bother to ask, and they also didn’t ask about Kisa’s circumstances.

Mana and Daisy simply welcomed Kisa, whom they met through Gale’s introduction, and gave her a place to stay.

They were really good people.

Thanks to their consideration, Kisa was able to adapt to her new environment more easily than expected.

Especially, Mana’s cooking skills were excellent, so even Kisa, who had a small appetite, ate considerably more than when she ate expensive dishes at the Vansfelt mansion.

‘It might just be because my mind is at ease.’

There was no oppressive father here, no indifferent Daniel, and… he wasn’t here either.

Wanting to be of some help, she tried to assist with housework and general store work as much as possible, but given Mana’s personality, it was impossible to make Kisa work, and at best it was just busy work.

Even when she offered some of the money she had brought from home, Mana firmly refused.

She didn’t know the details, but it seemed she considered having Kisa stay as natural repayment for the help she had received from Gale in the past.

Therefore, Kisa had to be satisfied with secretly buying snacks for Daisy when Mana wasn’t around, or occasionally giving money to Gale and asking him to bring a few more books for Daisy to read.

‘……It’s really peaceful.’

It was a thought that suddenly came to mind.

Since she was someone who had lived her entire life being served by others, naturally the life of having to handle most things alone was unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

There were many times when she wandered around not knowing how to do simple things that even Daisy could do, and when she had to catch large insects that came into her room with her own hands, she almost cried.

But there was definitely a satisfaction that surpassed that.

Since there was no one to serve her, she was free from others’ gazes, and the sense of achievement when she accomplished things she had never done before was tremendous.

Kisa quite liked this current life.

But after surveying her current situation overall like that, a gloomy question invariably followed.

How long could this peace last?

Just how long would this dream-like and fragile-looking life continue?

If she continued to quietly hide here, would the people looking for her eventually give up?

“What is Sister Bella going to ask for?”

At that moment, a cheerful question was heard, as if cutting through Kisa’s thoughts.

The child who had won the fight with her mother and ultimately didn’t eat carrots asked while swinging her legs.

“I mean what you’re going to ask Uncle Gale for. As for me, this time I’m going to ask him to buy sweet desserts. Ones sold in the capital.”

Watching this, Mana groaned as if she couldn’t win, and Kisa smiled warmly.

“Well, maybe I’ll ask for a good alarm clock. I overslept again today.”

At Kisa’s answer, Daisy asked in a low voice.

“Did Sister Bella also stay up late like me?”

“Not really, but I’ve been getting sleepy a lot lately.”

“Well, they say beauties are sleepyheads.”

“Thank you for the compliment. But rather than that, isn’t it because the weather has been continuously warm?”

The conversation with the innocent child brought liveliness, but they couldn’t keep doing that forever.

It was time for the adults to leave the house to open the general store, and for Daisy to go to school.

“I’m going!”

“Don’t fight with your friends and listen well to your teacher!”

After parting with Daisy, the two headed to the general store located at the village entrance.

The customers were only villagers and occasional travelers, and for some reason there were particularly few customers today, so time passed leisurely.

Then in the early afternoon, seeing a man entering the store, both Kisa and Mana opened their eyes wide.

Gale had arrived earlier than usual.

“The business I had earlier finished quickly.”

To Mana’s question about what was going on, he said while running his hand through his shortly cut hair.

“Both of you, it’s been a while. Have you been well?”

“I’m always the same.”

Mana, who answered like that, got up from the chair in front of the counter.

“Wait a moment. I’ll bring you a cool glass of water right away.”

Taking advantage of Mana disappearing to the back of the store, Kisa exchanged glances with Gale.

“Was there anything wrong?”

Gale also knew well that she wasn’t simply asking about his well-being.

“There’s nothing particularly concerning, but if you’d like to hear a more detailed story……”

He glanced once in the direction where Mana was and parted his thick lips.

“Tonight at 9 o’clock, in the backyard.”