Chapter 6
“I know men like them. I lived in the capital before I married.”
“What do you think they do? At first I thought they were nobles, but now I’m not so sure.”
“Nobles? Hmph.”
Missus Basti snorted.
“They may be dressed up nicely on the outside, but inside they’re no different from butchers.”
“I… see.”
“So from now on, even if you see them, pretend you didn’t. Alright? Don’t even think about speaking to them. Just avoid them. Do you understand?”
“But…”
Ella owed the head priest an enormous debt of gratitude. Without the church hospital, she would never have been accepted this fully into the village of Ragusa.
Those men, and that man in particular, had clearly been watching the hospital.
If they had come here intending to harm such a place.
“But nothing!”
Missus Basti suddenly raised her voice.
It was the first time she had spoken so sharply since Ella had met her.
“…I’m saying this for your own sake. A good girl like you will only ruin her life if you get involved with a man like that.”
Perhaps realizing she had gotten too worked up, Missus Basti hurriedly finished speaking, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Ella gave an awkward smile. Missus must have her own reasons.
“I’ll be careful. Thank you for worrying about me.”
“…Good.”
Their conversation ended there.
It was unusual. Missus Basti was such a chatterbox that she rarely ever kept quiet.
The woman remained silent until they reached her house, where she finally patted the back of Ella’s hand.
“Go on inside. Thank you.”
“Rest well, Missus.”
The moment Ella entered her house, she leaned her back against the door and closed her eyes.
The anxiety she had forcibly suppressed in front of Missus Basti surged up again.
“Avoid that man…”
Could she?
She could still feel the man’s glinting amethyst gaze clinging to her skin.
Ella rubbed her arm as she pushed away from the door.
She drew every curtain shut without leaving so much as a crack, then looked out at the alley. No one was there.
And yet she could not shake her unease.
‘What if that man is watching me from somewhere?’
Even to Ella, it was a strange thought.
But the vague sense of apprehension did not disappear even the next day.
If anything, it only grew stronger.
“Surely he isn’t outside.”
Was it because she had been plagued all night by unpleasant dreams she could not remember?
She could not rid herself of the anxiety that ‘he’ would be standing right outside if she opened the door.
With that cold expression, one hand tucked into his pocket.
The image was so vivid that it felt as though she had seen him like that before.
‘That makes no sense. A man whose name I don’t even know…’
His overbearing attitude had probably left such a strong impression precisely because it contrasted so sharply with his noble-looking appearance.
But even so, this was an excessive reaction.
“Get a hold of yourself, Ella. You have no reason to be afraid of that man.”
Ella bit her lip and muttered to herself.
As if chiming in agreement, Missus Basti’s wall clock sounded from the house next door.
Dong, dong…
Exactly seven times.
Ella always left for the hospital at precisely seven o’clock.
“……”
She tightened her grip.
Whatever that man did in the capital, whatever kind of person he was, and whatever business had brought him here.
What mattered to Ella was not him, but the church hospital. It was where her precious everyday life resided.
‘Missus Basti told me to pretend I didn’t see anything, but if he harms the hospital, I can’t just stand by and watch.’
At last, Ella turned the doorknob.
Beyond the front door, now thrown wide open, was nothing but the same familiar scenery as always.
The man was nowhere beneath the pouring sunlight.
“…Phew.”
Ella released the breath she had unknowingly been holding.
She really had been overreacting.
* * *
The daily routine of a hospital assistant was no different either.
It would have been a perfectly peaceful day if not for the visit from Missus Anani.
“You seem to be doing well today too, Ella.”
“Hello, Missus Anani.”
Missus Anani was the woman who would always stop Ella whenever she passed her on the street and ask her to bring ointment.
For a woman like that to come in for an examination herself.
Ella looked her over worriedly.
‘Is something seriously wrong?’
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