If You Wish to Have Me - Chapter 151

It had only been a week since she last met Gale, so it was surprising that he was coming again next week, not next month.

“If Sorbi had gone to another foreign country, it would have been difficult to return this quickly, so you must have been in Octava all this time.”

“That’s right. Did you have a lot of business to handle in Octava? Anyway, if Mr. Gale is coming, Daisy will be happy.”

Thinking of the child returning from school and jumping with joy upon hearing the news, Kisa’s lips relaxed into a smile.

But then Mana’s tone, which had been bright, subtly changed.

“Um, Bella.”

“Yes.”

“If you have a moment, would you like to come out and have some tea while we talk?”

Seeing her cautious attitude, Kisa quietly swallowed. Had what she expected finally come?

Mana refused Kisa’s offer to help and personally brewed the tea, placing it on the dining table.

Kisa sat in her usual spot and waited patiently for the other person to speak first.

“Well, that is… it’s somewhat awkward for me to say this as a third party, but…”

Seeing how reluctant she was to speak, it was clear as day what topic she was about to bring up.

What else could it be besides the life growing in this belly?

‘I expected this, but it really wasn’t something that could just be overlooked.’

The day after visiting the hospital in Matera with Gale, when Kisa was alone with Mana at the general store, she had confessed the truth about her pregnancy.

Of course, she kept her detailed background and exactly who the child’s father was a secret, only correcting Mana’s mistaken perception.

After all, Gale, who was still an unmarried bachelor, couldn’t continue to bear unfair misunderstandings.

Mana seemed quite surprised when she heard the story, but just as when she first welcomed Kisa, she didn’t pry into the detailed circumstances.

Not only did she say it was perfectly fine when Kisa asked to continue staying in this house, but she also firmly declined the compensation Kisa offered.

However, after that day, Kisa had no choice but to prepare herself mentally as she occasionally saw Mana’s expression grow clouded.

Naturally, she didn’t feel even a bit of desire to blame her.

Even if she had decided to take Kisa in at that moment because her heart softened for someone with nowhere to go, it wasn’t wrong to change her mind after thinking it over calmly later.

‘Rather, it’s realistic.’

Even Kisa, who had no experience, knew well that giving birth to and raising a child was no ordinary matter.

Mana, who had raised Daisy alone, would know those hardships better than anyone, and it was natural for her to worry about the future with Kisa.

Once the child was born, no matter how much effort Kisa put in, it would be difficult not to cause even a little inconvenience to Mana and Daisy, who lived in the same house.

Moreover, Kisa wasn’t really Mana’s niece but was close to being a complete stranger.

There was no reason for them to endure unwanted hardships.

‘Let’s not show any signs of disappointment. What they’ve given me so far is already tremendous kindness.’

With that resolution, Kisa looked at Mana sitting across from her.

It seemed that the kind-hearted woman found it difficult to speak first, so she should take the initiative.

“Mana, it’s okay, please tell me. It’s about this child, isn’t it?”

At that question, Mana showed a noticeably surprised expression.

“Oh, yes. That’s right. How did you know?”

“I just had a feeling it would be something like that.”

“Haha… I guess I’m the type whose thoughts are completely transparent. I can’t deceive anyone.”

She tried to joke around, but soon wiped the smile from her face.

“Bella, please don’t be too upset when you hear this.”

“I told you it’s okay. Please speak comfortably.”

“About Bella’s child.”

“Yes.”

“How would it be if we made it seem like it’s Mr. Gale’s child?”

“…What?”

At this completely unexpected story, Kisa reacted a beat too late.

Perhaps understanding that Kisa was hurt, Mana continued as if making excuses.

“No, I mean just pretend in front of the village people! Of course, we’d live normally among ourselves.”

Seeing Kisa make an “ah” sound, she touched her forehead as if embarrassed.

“I don’t want to deceive people either, but honestly speaking, Bella’s belly will start showing soon, and everyone will notice that Bella is pregnant.”

“That would be the case.”

“I know because I’ve experienced it. How much people gossip when a child doesn’t have a father. Their looks change, and sometimes there are those who say things outright.”

Her weary life was automatically painted in Kisa’s mind.

“Mr. Gale is mostly in other regions, but he often stops by here and the village people see him coming and going, so they know him. It would be better than having no father at all. No, the Manoa Trading Company is quite famous even in Octava, so they won’t dare look down on us easily.”

Kisa considered her proposal realistically for a moment before speaking.

“That makes sense. But since this is such a matter, I think we should get Mr. Gale’s consent first. Do you think he would agree?”

“Well, we’d have to ask him to know for sure, but wouldn’t he say it’s okay? After all, he doesn’t stay here much anyway, and he probably doesn’t care what the village people think of him.”

“I’m not sure. I don’t really know…”

Even though he had shown considerable goodwill toward Kisa so far, wasn’t this a problem of a different dimension?

“It’s about claiming someone else’s child, who doesn’t share a drop of blood with him, as his own child. Honestly, I feel too sorry to even dare ask about his intentions.”

“Hey, have some confidence. Mr. Gale likes Bella quite a bit, so he’ll probably cooperate.”

“Mr. Gale likes me?”

“Yes! When a man takes care of a woman who is neither his lover nor family to this extent, how could he have no feelings for her? It’s natural.”

“Well, he might have some human fondness, but…”

“I guarantee it. It’s definitely more than simple fondness. How else would you explain the excessive kindness Mr. Gale has shown?”

“Hmm.”

For Mana, who was completely unaware that Gale was taking care of Kisa under orders from his superior Manoa, it wasn’t strange for her to have such a misunderstanding.

‘I can’t explain the situation, so this is awkward.’

She had barely cleared up the misunderstanding about being lovers with Gale, but it seemed very difficult to do anything about the misunderstanding that he liked her one-sidedly.

“Anyway, we’ll talk about it when Gale comes. Got it, Bella?”

In the end, Kisa couldn’t express any particular opposition to Mana, who was smiling as she said this.

To be honest, she was considerably moved by the woman who spoke as if it were natural to embrace Kisa, which was part of why she couldn’t speak up.

‘It wasn’t something else, but she seemed to have been worrying all this time out of concern for me.’

In reality, Kisa had been so busy worrying about where to go and how to live if she were asked to leave this house that she hadn’t even paid attention to problems like the village people’s gazes.

Her heart warmed at that thoughtfulness of worrying about Kisa’s future based on her own experience.

‘Right, I just need to speak well to Mr. Gale so he won’t be offended.’

He was an understanding person, so even if he rejected the proposal, there was a high possibility he would understand.

Having made that judgment, Kisa looked fondly at Mana, who was pondering how to bring up the topic with Gale, and waited together with her for him to come.

However, a few days later, his answer that Kisa encountered was completely unexpected.

“What? What did you say?”

To Kisa’s somewhat dazed question, Gale, who had been sipping tea, answered calmly.

“I said it’s fine.”

“It’s fine?”

“Yes.”

“So that means…”

“Let’s make it seem like I’m that child’s father.”

At that moment, Kisa almost asked loudly if he was serious, but barely held back.

It hadn’t been long since Daisy, who had finished dinner, went upstairs.

Since Kisa’s pregnancy was still a secret from the child, they had to be careful.

Mana, perhaps conscious of this fact, spoke in a small voice while unable to hide her joy.

“You thought well, Mr. Gale. Your answer is very refreshing, that’s good.”

“Not at all. It’s nothing major.”

“Anyway, we’ll make sure no harm comes to you, Mr. Gale, so you can rest assured.”

The two people were strangely in sync, leaving no room for Kisa to interject.

Somehow, it had become the moment when the child in her belly gained a fake father.

‘…What is he thinking?’

Kisa couldn’t understand at all and stole a glance at Gale’s face as he conversed with Mana.

She had thought that maybe, with low probability, he might accept the proposal.

But still, wasn’t he accepting too readily? It was very different from what she had vaguely imagined.

Her eyes met with Mana’s, who suddenly looked her way.

She pointed toward Gale’s direction with her eyes, visible only to Kisa, and winked. It was as if her expression said “see, I told you so.”

Mana’s confident declaration from not long ago came to mind, and a suspicion of “could it be” crossed Kisa’s mind.

‘That person likes me? In that sense?’

No way. The voice in Kisa’s mind answered that way first, but it seemed to have lost some strength compared to before.

To be honest, she could no longer completely deny Mana’s words.

In fact, she had been aware from before that Gale’s kindness was more than ordinary, and adding today’s incident, it seemed unreasonable to dismiss it as merely a personality trait.

‘Does Mr. Gale really like me?’

Kisa bit the soft flesh inside her mouth and looked at the black-haired man with distinct facial features.