Chapter 26
‘But why isn’t Hunter coming back?’
Prina looked down over the banister at the grandfather clock in the first-floor hall.
She’d set the time just the other day, but now it had slowed down again.
It really did feel like time was moving more slowly.
Hunter had gone out, saying he would go to the market to buy groceries and daily necessities.
‘He said the knights are everywhere. Could something have happened to him?’
Even though he probably wasn’t as much of a target as she was, she couldn’t help but worry.
Since he didn’t hide his black hair, he was bound to be scorned by people. And if the knights were stopping people for inspections, his suspicious appearance would make him a likely target.
It had been the same for Prina back at the monastery.
Just because she was ‘that unpleasant child with black hair’, whenever something went missing, she was unfairly suspected and always the first to have her belongings checked.
She was afraid something like that might happen to Hunter as well.
‘But telling him to cover his hair… that would be rude.’
She remembered the voices of people who used to scold her for not covering her hair properly. So maybe it would be safer for him to cover it too, but…
‘See, I keep worrying about Hunter’s black hair. That’s why I keep misunderstanding him… I shouldn’t do that.’
He might have the same wounds. At the very least, she felt that she, of all people, shouldn’t do that to him.
She wished he’d come back soon.
In the past, just being in the same mansion as him had made her anxious, and she would hide in her room. But now, she felt anxious when he was away.
Had she grown used to his presence? It was a strange thing.
Prina glanced at the grandfather clock again.
Maybe because she was anxious, but she’d checked it several times in just a short span of time.
When he wasn’t here, when she was waiting for him in the hall, time seemed to crawl by.
Kiiing—
“Lucky?”
Just then, Lucky appeared from the upstairs hallway and hopped down the stairs. She had left him in the room while cleaning, but it looked like he had come out through the open door.
Lucky came up and tapped Prina’s skirt with his front paws. Prina smiled affectionately and picked Lucky up.
“Did you come because you were bored too?”
At her gentle question, Lucky snuggled into her arms as if in answer.
“Then should we wait for Hunter together? He’ll bring you your favorite carrots and apples from the market.”
As Prina hugged Lucky and headed down to the first-floor hall, she heard the sound of a door opening from the hall.
Creak. Thud. Thud. Thud.
The heavy sound of boots was unmistakable…
“…It must be Hunter. Let’s go, Lucky.”
Prina’s eyes sparkled. She was genuinely happy.
She whispered to Lucky and hurried toward the entrance. Hunter, carrying a sack over his shoulder, was coming in, holding something in his hand.
When she got close enough, she peered into his hand.
It was a baby bird with a broken wing.
“How did this happen…?”
“It had fallen under a tree. Looks like it fell out of its nest. If I leave it as it is, I think it’ll die.”
The fluffy baby bird was trembling in fear in Hunter’s large hand. Prina looked at the chick with a sympathetic face.
“Prina.”
“…Yes?”
“Do you think you can fix this?”
Hunter carefully held out the baby bird and asked. Prina looked back and forth between Lucky in her arms and the baby bird.
She saw Hunter’s figure overlap with the man who had handed Lucky to her in the secret forest that day.
Yes, it’s the same situation.
She realized she had misunderstood then too.
He had only been trying to save Lucky. Just like he had saved her.
Prina felt a strange sense of relief at his actions.
“Yes, I think I can do it.”
She was confident when it came to healing. After all, she’d been doing it at the monastery for years.
Though the baby bird was still so young, its injuries didn’t look too serious. With proper care, she was sure it could survive.
After all, she’d managed to save Lucky when he was bleeding and barely breathing.
This was a task the master of the mansion, Hunter, had entrusted to her.
For the first time, she felt as though she’d found her own role.
“Hunter, could you hold Lucky for a moment?”
Prina handed Lucky to Hunter and took the baby bird into her own hands.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.