novelraw Chapter 36 : Chapter 36
Chapter 36 : Chapter 36
Volume 2, Chapter 5. Suddenly Discovering a Possibility
“Why are you staring at me?”
Quietly staring at the ordinary boy in front of her, Leticia’s face flushed slightly red from dizziness.
“Don’t get the wrong idea!”
The boy who called himself Joey rubbed his backside. “I just hadn’t seen you before, so when I saw you sitting here, I got curious, that’s all...”
“Haven’t seen me... don’t tell me you know everyone here?”
“Mm, that’s right!”
To her surprise, Joey admitted it outright, then smiled a little sheepishly. “I know all the residents of our village! So whenever I see a new face, I get curious and want to take a look.”
What kind of I-know-everyone feeling is that...
So weird! So gross!
Just kidding.
Leticia nodded lightly. “Fine, just like you guessed, I’m indeed an outsider. My guardian had other things to do, so they let me walk around on my own.”
“So that’s it.”
He nodded in relief. But then Joey immediately added, “How could they be so careless! Even if this is a small place, there are bad people around, you know!”
“S-sorry...”
She didn’t even know why she apologized, but looking at this righteous little guy in front of her, Leticia instinctively lowered her head.
Speaking of bad people... by the Church’s standards, wasn’t she also a little bad?
“Why are you apologizing?”
Joey pulled on Leticia’s hand, his face glowing with a warmth and cheer she had rarely seen before. “I wasn’t blaming you!”
“Ah, um, sorry, I’m just used to it...”
That smile felt too dazzling, she couldn’t even look straight at it. Turning her gaze aside, Leticia muttered, “Um, could you let go of my hand first?”
“Ah, ah, sorry!”
This time Joey was the one apologizing. “Wait—you’re a girl? Sorry, sorry, I didn’t notice! Ahhh, I just held hands with a strange girl...”
Her hand dropped in a panic.
Ragged clothes, messy hair, undeveloped facial features and body, the voice still that of a child—being mistaken for a boy was only natural.
“No, you weren’t mistaken. I’m a boy.”
Consciously adjusting her posture from the reserved one beaten into her by Yemi Ai’s long-term discipline, Leticia sprawled carelessly. “Yeah, same as you, not a girl.”
“Ah, so you’re a boy too.”
Relieved, Joey leaned close again, smiling. “I thought you were a girl, scared me for a second!”
“What would be wrong if I was a girl?”
“I’m a boy!”
Joey made a face. “If I get too close to a girl, my friends will laugh at me!”
So realistic, huh...
Feeling mischievous, Leticia hooked an arm around Joey’s neck, grinning. “I thought you were afraid of girls, figured you were a coward!”
“I am not!”
He retorted angrily. Leaning closer to this stranger, Joey caught a scent unlike the golden wheat or blooming flowers—sweet and fragrant, very pleasant. “I’m one of the bravest kids in the village!”
“Ah yes, yes, brave one, brave one...”
Thinking of how he’d just fallen from the tree in fright, Leticia’s expression turned strange. “But seriously, why can’t you play with girls? Aren’t you all just village friends?”
“Well, that’s true...”
Joey sighed, propped his chin on his hand. “But the villagers say we’re already grown. If we get too close, people might misunderstand. Even my parents say that since I’m a boy, I shouldn’t always be with girls... Because of that, Rona and I barely talk now.”
“Rona?”
“Ah, she’s the kid next door!”
Joey hurried to explain. “We grew up together, so we were close. But now, we’re separated... Don’t get the wrong idea! There’s nothing between us!”
“I get it, I get it!”
Leticia smirked. “You’re just afraid of being laughed at, and since your parents warned you, you don’t dare approach her, right?”
“...Mm...”
Joey nodded gloomily, sitting on the grass, looking at the fields and carriages passing along the road. “Now even if we meet in private, we don’t greet each other. We don’t even make eye contact... Rona, maybe she hates me because I stayed away...”
So that’s what he was worrying about...
Leticia leaned against the tree, trying to relax her emotions and ward off dizziness. “Actually, you could just go ask her.”
“Eh?!”
“Aren’t you worried she hates you?”
Leticia blinked. “The most direct way to know is to ask her yourself.”
“But, but...”
Seeing Joey’s hesitation, Leticia gave him a reassuring smile. “What’s there to but about? Is there an easier way? Joey, you’re a boy, right? Don’t act all shy like a girl.”
“Ugh!”
Choked by her words, Joey mumbled for a while before finally whispering, “Th-then, could you... stay here a while longer?”
“Sure.”
Glancing at the sky, Leticia nodded in puzzlement. “As long as I’m back before evening, I can use the time freely.”
“Great!”
Joey grabbed her hand tightly, like grasping a lifeline. “Please come with me then!”
“Huh?!”
What kind of weird logic was this kid running on?
“B-because it was your suggestion, so you have to cheer me on!”
Grasping at such a flimsy excuse, Joey exposed his innocence and simplicity without defense. “But right now, Rona probably went with her father to the forest to gather herbs. So we’ll have to wait a bit.”
“Gather herbs?”
“Yeah.”
Joey nodded naturally. “Rona’s family does that. Her father, Uncle Nicola, is the only physician in our village! Rona’s the eldest, so she has to help him. They should be back this afternoon.”
Pharmacy, herbs, medicine, physician...
Medicine?
Medicine!
Leticia suddenly jumped to her feet—then nearly fainted on the spot, collapsing weakly back down...
Even so, she couldn’t suppress the flush of excitement on her face.
“Joey.”
Looking at the freckled boy’s face beside her, Leticia found him far more pleasing to the eye than before. “I’ll wait with you!”