Chapter 29
When he gave no response, Prina felt even more embarrassed. Why did she keep wanting so much when she was just a guest living off him?
“Ah… Anyway, c-could you buy them for me…? Ah, if you can’t, then that’s fine. I’m just suggesting it. Just…”
“Alright.”
It was a short reply, but also an agreeable one.
Hunter not only bought what Prina had asked for, but also, with recommendations from the herbalist and the general store, brought back plenty of other things that might be useful.
That alone was enough. There was no need to be greedy for more.
She tried to spend the day in a fulfilling way. She cleaned the already spotless mansion once more, ate meals from the food Hunter had prepared for her, read books, played with the animals, even took a solid afternoon nap.
And yet, Hunter still hadn’t returned.
Though she knew it wasn’t yet time for him to be back, Prina found herself wandering out to the first-floor hall without realizing it. She didn’t cling to him even when he was home, but the mansion felt completely different depending on whether he was there or not. Without him, it seemed desolate and vast.
“It’s stuffy. Maybe I should air out the room.”
She pulled back the curtains and looked outside. Even though it was daytime, the surroundings were dim.
“…Looks like it’s going to rain soon.”
When she cracked the window open, the damp air brushing against her cheeks made her look up at the sky. Heavy clouds hung low overhead.
What if it rains heavily?
Will he be able to come back?
What if he gets lost in the deep forest? What if he meets dangerous people? Or a vicious wild beast?
What if… he never comes back?
“…Nothing’s going to happen.”
Prina muttered to herself, as if to reassure herself.
She knew it was nothing more than her own needless worrying. Unlike her, weak as she was, he was a strong man.
It had already rained on two Sundays before, and each time, nothing had happened.
“It’s just… rain.”
Even if it poured so hard you couldn’t see ahead and the forest paths became treacherous, all he had to do was take shelter somewhere safe and return once the sky cleared. As long as he came back, she could wait as long as needed.
And he had already once saved her from Arthur on a day when the rain came down in torrents, returning home safely afterward.
To a huntsman like him, the forest was a familiar workplace.
It was only because of the bad thing that had happened to her on a day of heavy rain that she felt this irrational sense of foreboding now.
This was nothing more than a meaningless train of thought.
As if shaking off the dark unease pressing in, Prina gave her head a firm shake and closed the window.
The grandfather clock on the first floor still pointed to three in the afternoon.
The sky was already heavy, and it probably wouldn’t hold out for long.
The rain would come regardless.
Standing here waiting wouldn’t accomplish anything. It would only make her more restless.
“I’ll just go upstairs and pray.”
She had read in a book that dwelling over and over on something you couldn’t control was the same as praying for it to happen.
Prina decided she would pray for the rain not to be too heavy.
No, she would pray that even if it did pour, he would be able to return home safely.
Her steps up the stairs felt heavy, as though she were walking through water.
* * *
The rain drummed down viciously.
Looking at the clock on her desk, she saw that the time was approaching midnight. Prina kept her anxious gaze fixed on the downpour slashing against the glass as she prayed.
That he would be safe.
That he wouldn’t be wandering in the pounding rain.
That, as if nothing had happened, they could return to their daily life together in this mansion.
He really isn’t coming back tonight… is he?
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