Chapter 9
Chapter 9
***
After roughly drying her hair, a wave of sleepiness washed over her. Just as her eyes began to drift closed, Kin’s words struck like a thunderbolt, jolting her awake.
“I can’t stay here much longer.”
“Why?”
“…I have to go home. There’s someone sick.”
He’d been chased from his home, yet he needed to return because someone was ill? It didn’t quite make sense. Was there someone cruel living in his house, but also someone sick whom Kin had to care for? That would explain it.
‘Would Kin have taken care of me if I lived in his house?’
She was incredibly disappointed that Kin was leaving, but she decided not to show it. He wouldn’t like it if she seemed too eager for him to stay. Her mother and father had always told her not to appear greedy, to be content with what she had. But she wanted more. Unconsciously, her hand reached out to stop him. Catching herself, she pulled it back and tried to say goodbye.
“Ailee. I’ll come back tomorrow.”
Really?
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not lying?”
“Why would I lie?”
“You’ve done nothing but lie since you got here.”
Kin’s eyebrows furrowed, as if stung by her words. He was probably about to deny crying again. But what came out of his mouth wasn’t stubborn denial.
“I’ll definitely come back tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“And, although it’s not really my place to say… you shouldn’t welcome and care for strangers so readily.”
‘I wouldn’t have done that for anyone but you.’
She stared blankly at Kin. The thin, dirt-covered boy who had arrived with tears streaming down his face hadn’t seemed threatening at all. Perhaps if he’d been a normal boy, not so gaunt, with a bit more flesh on his bones, she might have felt differently. But Kin was so thin, about her height, and not remotely intimidating. Rather, he was quite pretty.
Knowing that telling him the truth would only upset him again, she held her tongue.
“How did you even get in here? And how are you going to leave?”
They’d been so preoccupied with crying that she’d forgotten to ask how he’d arrived. Kin pointed vaguely at something with a nonchalant expression.
“There’s a hole.”
A hole? Why hadn’t she known?
She followed Kin’s beckoning hand. No one came near this part of the house—not the maids, not the knights, no one—but Kin still looked around cautiously. As expected, no one was there.
Kin pushed aside some bushes, revealing a sizable opening.
There really was a hole. It was large enough for her to slip through easily, even though she was a bit bigger than Kin.
Kin bent down to go through the opening. He hesitated, then turned back to look at her.
“Do you want to come with me?”
“With you?”
It was a tempting offer. No one at home was happy to see her anyway.
After a long silence, she shook her head. Her mother and father might not love her, but she didn’t want to leave her family. Maybe if she kept trying, they would love her someday.
‘If I eat what Mother gives me and try to be a little better, she’ll love me again.’
Besides, he had said there was someone sick at his home. It would be harder for them if she went too.
‘He’s so thin, like he doesn’t get enough to eat. It must be even worse with that cruel person at home.’
She didn’t really know what life was like for commoners. She’d barely been outside her house, let alone to the village. Her knowledge came from books, a superficial understanding at best. From what she’d read, the more mouths to feed, the harder it was to make ends meet. Going with Kin would only be a burden, adding to the cost of medicine and food. It would be a financial disaster. The right thing to do was to simply wave goodbye.
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