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II.

Chapter 12

“I’ll do anything, so tell me what to do.”

Luke had said that, but Candice couldn’t easily give him tasks. Ever since she began living in this forest, she had done everything with her own hands. Receiving someone’s help was extremely rare, and much less had she ever given direct orders even once.

“Candice, what should I do?”

“Uh, um… let me think about it for now.”

An hour had passed since she had told him to sit for the time being. Candice still hadn’t entrusted him with any task and was busily moving about alone.

“Candice, give me the broom. I’ll do it.”

Unable to watch any longer, Luke stepped up first. He took the broom Candice was holding and volunteered to clean.

Was it really okay to leave it to him?

She was worried, but she couldn’t exactly take back the broom he had already taken either. It seemed better to obediently leave the cleaning of the goat pen to him here. She had plenty of other things to do.

To make it easier for him to clean, Candice took the goat and came outside the pen. It seemed good to milk the goat while the pen was being tidied up.

“Now, you have to stay still. Don’t rampage like last time.”

Candice quietly warned the goat. Since it was something she normally did inside the pen, she felt a bit awkward and nervous.

On the other hand, the goat chewed the hay in its mouth with an indifferent expression. It was hay piled up generously in front of it like a bribe, meaning to stay quiet.

Carefully, carefully. Candice approached so as not to upset the goat’s mood and safely succeeded in placing the bucket under its belly. Now it was time to properly start milking.

“Good. Good boy. Very good.”

She crouched down and gently took hold of the teat, and fortunately, the goat didn’t move. Normally it would have resisted, but today it seemed to be in a good mood, perhaps pleased with the pile of hay.

It was a golden opportunity. Candice nervously worked hard at milking. As she focused and milked, the bucket quickly filled up. Candice felt proud seeing the full bucket and got up from her spot. Today she hadn’t made a single mistake.

“Ack…!”

Had the problem been that she let go of her tension too quickly? Or perhaps the excessive tension from moments ago had been the root cause. Suddenly she got a cramp in her leg. Losing her balance, she ended up headbutting the goat.

The startled goat, having been attacked, kicked the bucket with an angry kick and fled from the spot. The goat milk that had been filled to the brim spilled all over the dirt ground.

“No! Aaah!”

Candice screamed as she watched the milk seep into the dirt ground and become useless. But this was not the time to keep worrying about the milk. The goat, angered by being headbutted, was running farther and farther away as if seizing the moment.

“Wait! Stop!”

Flustered, Candice shouted and began chasing the goat. The goat was her only livestock, and losing it would cause problems in many ways. She ran desperately to catch the goat.

The unfortunate thing was that the goat was faster on its feet than expected, and Candice was slow. No matter how hard she ran with her slow legs, the distance from the goat didn’t close.

“Come back! No, agh!”

On top of that, she even fell hard. Sprawled on the dirt ground, she felt choked up watching the goat grow distant. She had lost a goat like this once before, several years ago.

She should have driven the stake in more firmly so the goat couldn’t run away. Even as she regretted it belatedly, the goat bounded away with the rope around its neck fluttering.

It was just as she was completely giving up, thinking she had lost her precious goat. Someone snatched the rope hanging from the goat’s neck.

“Are you okay, Candice?”

Luke, who had grabbed the goat’s rope and kept it from running away any further, asked over his shoulder. Candice, who was on the verge of tears, sniffled and slowly raised her body.

When she staggered because the place she fell hurt, Luke approached and held her hand.

Thanks to him, Candice was able to stand up straight, but for some reason she couldn’t meet his eyes and hung her head.

How much had he been watching from? Had he seen everything, from her begging it to please wait to her ultimately falling and crying? Belated embarrassment washed over her, thinking he would find her pathetic.

“You should have called me to help. I was surprised because you suddenly disappeared.”

Fortunately, Luke didn’t find her pathetic or mock her. In a worried tone, he gently brushed the dirt off Candice’s cheek with his fingers.