Chapter 98 – Side Story – Girl From the Village Where Peppermint Flowers Bloom (2)
Luca!
“…”
Even after the mint flowers bloomed, the lingering scent of the past could not dissipate. The call of the world, which I could not let go of, kept leaking into my ears. Now, it sounds good, but I couldn’t help but feel that it was annoying to my ears.
Luca!!
“…”
No matter how much I looked away, her cries clung to me persistently. At that moment, the power of the past filled her fingertips and hot blood surged to the tips of her shoulders. It’s as if he’s saying that if he wants, he can run right now and rip that female knight’s head off.
“…”
Lu…!
“Luca.”
“Huh?”
But before that, Ellie’s voice calmed my heart. Only now did the girl, who had scattered the dirt from that day, separate her lips from hers and grabbed my cheeks.
“If we stay here, we’ll get caught. Right.”
“… Sure.”
“I don’t know why, but you don’t want to do that, right?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm…”
Ellie stared at me with one of her eyes squinted. Then it suddenly occurred to me that maybe I was in too much of a hurry. She was finally held in her arms after many years and pain, but for Ellie, it all happened overnight.
But Ellie was much smarter than I thought. That’s why she brushed away the many questions that arose with a mischievous smile.
“Actually, I don’t want to be bothered by anyone right now.”
“…”
“You’re like that too, right?”
“I…”
“Then we should run away quickly.”
Before I knew it, Ellie’s hand was wrapping around my palm. She tapped her sweat-covered forehead against me and whispered softly.
“Let’s run away. Quickly.”
“So this is what you came up with?”
“It’s a somewhat dissatisfied voice.”
“No, it’s just… It feels like it’s been a while since I’ve been here.”
“It’s been a while. Come to my house once or twice?”
“…”
That’s right.
But still, it feels like it’s been such a long time.
I pushed my private thoughts into my heart. At this point, I’m probably like last week too. Maybe he stopped by here even yesterday.
But my reason still couldn’t accept that fact. All of this still felt faint, as if it were a dreamscape.
I feel like if I stay like this, I will be buried in the past. So I deliberately brought up a different story.
“Rather than that, wouldn’t I get caught if I stayed here? The only place I could run to would be your house or Sarah’s house.”
“Luca. Who would come to search this place? At most, it’s the village chief, and you know he’s not the one to do that.”
“Still…”
“Okay, just sit down. Don’t be noisy.”
“Ugh.”
Ellie playfully pushed me towards her bed, and her soft sheets hugged her hips. Then, the scent that had been sleeping on the surface along with the moldy dust seeped into the inside of my lips.
The stringy sensation clogged her throat. It felt like something was locked in my throat.
“No way would a knight from the capital come all the way to a place like this. Instead, let’s eat something. I have some leftover soup from breakfast, how about it?”
“Thank you, Ellie.”
“Thank you. I just… Think of it as a gift in its own way.”
Ellie smiled a little shyly as she looked at the flower ring on her hand. Then she walked towards her kitchen, gently shaking her waist as if she was in a good mood. Soon, the scenes of everyday life began to return with the sound of her crockery clinking.
“…”
I sat on the bed and carefully savored all the sensations. Or the white nape of Ellie’s neck that was revealed beneath her high-tied hair. Like the refreshing mint scent you feel when you come to her house. Landscapes that were once taken for granted gradually filled in the missing sense of reality.
“Hmph…”
“…”
As Ellie hummed to her, her hungry heart desperately opened her throat to seek her warmth. I grabbed the blanket for no reason, feeling Ellie’s body temperature, and lifted her nose to smell the dust floating in the air. On a warm weekend morning, the feeling of stretching from the laundry I washed yesterday helped me relax my tense muscles little by little.
Only then did she finally begin to feel that she had returned to her normal life. There is no longer any need to swallow blood and cry out for revenge. There is no longer any need to be tied down by fate and lead a forced life.
Such obvious thoughts belatedly wet my eyes. My pounding heart stopped beating and found peace.
And at the same time, someone else’s heart was filled with my arms.
“Luca?”
“Uh…”
When I came to my senses, I found myself hugging Ellie’s waist tightly. After receiving a back hug without warning, she gave me a strange expression.
“Why are you doing this? You’re secretly putting your hands in strange places.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“Just because you’ve decided to get married doesn’t mean you can touch me all the time. It’s almost done, so go and wait.”
“Wook.”
Ellie lightly bounced her butt and pushed me away, and I hurriedly sat down on the chair, driven by the inevitable male instinct. The soft touch that came in an instant continued to linger around my lower body.
The end of the wandering perfume was the flowering of a strange desire. While I was feeling slightly guilty, the sweet smell of soup invaded my nose.
“I haven’t looked at the liver, but it’s probably fine.”
“Thank you. You didn’t add mint this time, right?”
“He’s a bit picky. It’s a good husband’s trait not to complain about the food his wife cooks for him. And food is more about appearance than taste.”
“It doesn’t look that good on the outside.”
“I’m pretty.”
Ellie held her face in her hands and blinked her long eyelashes at me. She had a really shameless attitude, but she wasn’t wrong, and I couldn’t bear to refute it.
“It’s okay to add peppermint. Thank you, Ellie. I’ll enjoy it.”
“I don’t like the reaction. Are you being sarcastic?”
“It’s not like that.”
“If you keep complaining, I have no choice but to feed you. Now, open your mouth.”
“No. Even so…”
“Open your mouth quietly. If you don’t, I’ll send you back to that scary knight?”
A playful smile suddenly appeared on the corner of his mouth. I was a little anxious, but there was nothing I could do if he showed up so stubbornly.
“Okay, let’s do it, Master. Come on.”
“Ah…”
As I obediently opened my mouth, a spoon full of soup slowly crept towards me. When she smelled it, it smelled good, and she felt quite excited seeing Ellie’s pretty face in it.
Should I say that somehow the concept of love is expressed through actions? I’ve done similar pranks before, but the situation was different then. I slowly closed my eyes with even a glimmer of anticipation.
But at that moment, the spoon that was going straight to her mouth bounced slightly and stuck to the tip of her nose.
“Sigh.”
“Oh my. Mistake.”
The soggy soup went into her nose and I coughed helplessly, and Ellie covered her mouth with her hand as she watched. It was as if he was trying desperately to prevent laughter from coming out.
“It’s hot. This isn’t fun.”
“It was a mistake, Luca. Come back again.”
“Ah…”
She opened her mouth again, but this time Ellie flicked her spoon up at the last second. Once again, the soup stuck to my nose, and the refreshing mint scent filled my mouth and nose.
“Big…”
“I’m sorry. I’m not used to putting things in other people’s mouths.”
“Ellie…”
“Maybe you’re not taking it well? Let’s try again.”
Ellie wasn’t even trying to hold back her laughter anymore, and she thrust her spoon at me. She opened her eyes straight this time and followed her spoon, but Ellie avoided my lips with her delicate movements. Then she ended up sticking all the soup left on her spoon into my nose.
“Wow.”
“Luca, you’re terrible at this kind of thing. You’re not doing that on purpose, are you?”
“You…”
I couldn’t just sit there and take the spoon away. But at that moment Ellie jumped up on the table and pressed her face close to mine.
“Why? Try it with me too?”
“…”
Ellie’s face suddenly approached me and covered my lips. I’ve done a lot of dangerous pranks like this before, but for some reason I thought it was hard to handle. This gentle warm air was more fatal to a wounded heart than cold air.
At that moment, without realizing it, my hand relaxed, and the spoon fell to the floor. Feeling embarrassed, I held on tightly to the table, and Ellie smiled and asked.
“If you really want to do it, you won’t be able to do it, right?”
“I didn’t want to dirty my pretty face.”
“I’m too noble and cute for that.”
“Let’s put it that way.”
“Then should I just do it?”
At that time, two small hands grabbed the nape of my neck. At the same time, Ellie’s cheeks turned red, and her dimples became prominent. That was a kind of signal that they were going to cross the line of being childhood friends.
I almost closed my eyes. But before that, Ellie’s cute, upturned nose came towards me. The moment her nose slowly approached my nose, the condensed soup dripped down and seeped between her lips.
It was sweet. Not the soup, but this moment. I moved my lips to find more intense sweetness. But before that, Ellie bumped my forehead and pushed my face away.
“Wait a minute.”
“Huh?”
“Let me do it this time.”
A low voice tickled my ears. Without noticing it, my heartbeat accelerated and the blood flow throughout my body rapidly vibrated. When Ellie’s lips came again, her hand holding the table became even stronger.
The moment I tightened my grip, the old table cracked open and a loud scream came out.
“Kyaaak?”
“Ellie…!”
The power that emerged unconsciously spread throughout my body. I quickly picked up Ellie who was about to fall and slammed her back on the floor. Just like that, we were all buried together on the shattered table.
“Are you okay, Luca?”
“Yes. You?”
“I… What…”
“…”
Ellie was in a hurry to ask how I was doing, but then she realized where she was sitting and scratched her cheek awkwardly. And I, too, felt the touch of her sitting on my stomach and closed her mouth. Then, I finally managed to get one word out.
“… The table must be very old.”
“Yes.”
“I need to change.”
“Someday.”
Of course, that atmosphere didn’t last long. Ellie looked down at me and made a strange expression, then lowered her waist and held me in her arms. A thin breath passed under my earlobe.
When she lifted her head, she saw Ellie raising her eyes from her chest and looking at her face. Then, when her eyes met mine, she buried her head back into her arms. I asked Ellie in a quiet voice.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m starting to realize that you are mine.”
“Hmm…”
For the first time in a long time, Ellie’s body felt heavier than she thought. And her unchanging heart. I wiggled my fingers in embarrassment and then let out a meaningless noise.
“You’re talking like it never happened in the first place.”
“Because I didn’t. You don’t know.”
“No. It’s always been that way. I don’t know about you.”
…
“As expected, you’re strange today, Luca.”
A legitimate question pounded my heart. The playfulness in Ellie’s voice had suddenly faded.
“You know that, right? You’re a little weird.”
“Maybe a little bit.”
“He suddenly confesses. He hides and avoids the villagers. He acts like he’s the first person to come to our house.”
“Some things happen suddenly sometimes.”
“Even the way he speaks seems to have become a bit more mature.”
Ellie raised her body and looked down at me from her stomach. The weight of my heart, heavier than her body, weighed me down.
“But if you think about it, it’s not that strange. I’ve known for a long time that you like me, and sometimes you act like an idiot. The way you talk has changed, so you might think you’ve finally grown up.”
“Thank you so much.”
“At least it doesn’t seem like you’ve changed into someone else. You’re definitely the Luca I knew. It just feels a little weird.”
“…”
“That’s why I’m asking.”
At that moment, a heavy tension tightened her chest. The problem she had forgotten in her relief suddenly came face to face with her. She thought that maybe she should tell everything that had happened.
Ellie looked at me with a mysterious expression. She then opened her mouth very cautiously, but without hesitation.
“Luca.”
“Yes.”
“… Aren’t we going anywhere now?”
“Huh?”
I tilted my head at the unexpected reaction. But Ellie’s expression was infinitely serious. Even the slightest dew seemed to form around her eyes.
But for some reason, that expression wasn’t unfamiliar. I felt like I had seen Ellie’s face like this before. A long time ago, somewhere along the border of leaving the village.
Ellie, who was standing there, looked at me clutching her backpack and whispered.
…
Just.
Just being my own knight is enough.
At that time, she did not see the tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She was so blinded by empty dreams that she didn’t know what the girl who loved me was most afraid of.
But now I know. Ellie has always had only one wish.
I am an idiot who doesn’t leave and just stays by his side.
So now I was able to answer with sincerity.
“I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know.”
“Where should I go?”
“I see. Why did you think that?”
“…”
“Strangely enough, I just felt that way.”
Emotions that couldn’t be explained in words flowed out through small laughter. At the same time, the tension eased and a sense of relief came over me. I felt like my body was belatedly adjusting to the life I had finally regained.
And it seems the same was true for Ellie. The red glow of the sunset seeped into the hair that was held with a fluttering sound. Ellie took a deep breath and then spoke in a hoarse voice.
“I’m happy.”
“Me too.”
“It’s too late, though.”
Perhaps because she was relaxed, it was difficult for her to open her mouth. I wrapped my arms around Ellie’s waist tightly, and she was also hugged deeply by me. Soon, a word like a whisper put an end to the return to reality.
“Thank you.”
“Yes.”
And Ellie didn’t ask anything. I also didn’t add anything more. Under the blushing sky, the story that left each other’s lips became a peppermint scent and passed through her hair.
