Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Checking whether there really were monsters. And if possible, meeting Candice while he was at it.
The man, backed by legitimacy, took his sword, left the castle, and headed toward the Black Forest. From the moment he slipped out of the castle, he felt free.
But there was one thing he had overlooked. The fact that old memories are generally romanticized.
The Black Forest, which he had come to after a long time, was far more like a maze than he remembered. He had no sense of direction. Was he going the right way? Or was he just circling the same spot? It was hard to even grasp that much.
And it was so terribly dark too. Even though the sun should still be high in the sky, the trees blocked the sunlight, making the surroundings dark and eerie. This was the case even though summer was just around the corner.
“Did I do something pointless when I should have just stayed at the castle?”
That was how long he wandered. By the time Luke realized that quite a lot of time had passed even without seeing the sun and began to regret coming in wrong, that light he had failed to find for so long appeared before his eyes.
Unable to hide his astonishment, Luke slowly headed through the gap between the trees.
“I find it here?”
There really was a house made of sweets. It seemed a little smaller than he remembered, but it definitely looked like that house. Would there be another strange elf who built a house out of sweets in the forest?
As he got closer, he became more certain. There were traces left of the house walls and window frames having been bitten and eaten. The chocolate doorknob was intact, as if the witch had repaired it.
It was while he was looking around, comparing his memories to the scene before his eyes. He heard the clang of a bucket falling and rolling on the ground.
No way!
He turned around sharply with a hopeful heart, and it was just as he had hoped. Candice stood there exactly as he remembered her. Luke was overjoyed to finally reunite with her.
Maybe it was because she was an elf. She hadn’t aged at all. In appearance alone, she now looked to be around his age or even younger. Luke felt anew how much he had grown and beamed brightly at her.
His heart began to pound. He had wondered if even her appearance had been romanticized in his hazy memory, but no. She stirred his heart with a beauty that shone even more brightly without a single faded spot.
“Candice.”
Luke, overcome with emotion, called her name. But Candice flinched her shoulders and jumped in surprise. She blinked rapidly with a confused expression.
“H, How do you know my name?”
Candice saw the sword at Luke’s waist and gasped. She turned pale and tried to bolt away immediately.
“Wait, hold on!”
Luke, who had noticed that something was off about her reaction, shouted. Then with a clatter and a thud, Candice fell over. She had tripped on the bucket she had dropped while trying to flee in a hurry.
“Are you okay, noona?”
When he reached out in concern, Candice let out a shriek and scrambled backward on her bottom. Her blue eyes were full of fear.
“Did you come from the village to catch the witch after all? Why? Why on earth? I’ve been keeping quiet all this time! I haven’t gone down to the village or made sweets anymore!”
Had she misunderstood because he was carrying a sword?
Luke quickly raised both hands to show he had no intention of harming her. He smiled as brightly as possible and appealed to his harmlessness.
“Calm down. I didn’t come to catch a witch.”
“Don’t lie! Then why did you come all the way here wearing a sword?”
Candice asked sharply.
Luke realized that she didn’t recognize him at all. It was no strange thing. How much time had passed? The little kid whose eyes had gone wide at the sweets and wolfed them down frantically had grown into such a fine young man.
Luke smiled without a doubt, believing himself to have become a “fine young man.” With what he thought was the coolest feeling.
“It’s me, Luke. I was in your care about twenty years ago. Do you remember?”
How did he grow up so well? Luke was certain she would show a reaction mixed with admiration without fail.
Candice thought for a moment and soon nodded her head with an “ah.” Color slowly returned to her cheeks that had gone white from terror.
“Luke! The older brother of those siblings! Of course I remember. You’ve grown up so much. Is your younger sister doing well?”
Older brother of siblings? Younger sister?
The face of Luke, who had never had a younger sister from the moment he was born until now, quickly hardened. He had even revealed his name as Luke, so who on earth was she confusing him with?
No, more than that, the fact that there was another child besides him who had been in her care displeased him. Seeing that she hadn’t been surprised at the sight of a lost child, it did seem like he hadn’t been the first, but still…
Luke felt jealousy toward the siblings whose faces he didn’t even know.
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