Chapter 138 – In the Rain.
Time must have passed. It seemed that the rain hadn’t passed the day before. Time doesn’t wait for them.
“Is there really no way?”
Sif muttered bitterly as he looked at Usher, who still couldn’t wake up. He knew from Helena that this was an incurable disease. Also, no matter what kind of herbal medicine he tried, it would only be a waste of time. Still, she struggled with decoction of her herbs, just in case, but her Usher’s condition worsened as the days passed.
“Sif, it’s time.”
“Ah, yes, I’ll prepare it.”
Hearing Helena’s voice knocking on her door, she realized it was time to go, and rose by Usher’s side. Today was the day I was invited to Mr. Pyalyar’s house for Donar’s business. Although Usher was in such a state, he was reluctant to party.
“I heard from Helena. It’s not something that can be solved just by nursing. You haven’t been able to rest lately. Let’s think of resting today and find another way.”
Sif bit her lip at Donar’s plaintive words as he handed her an invitation from her Pyallar. Even though you are now a lord, what kind of expression do you have on your face if you do not take off your armor out of habit? When she gets ready for her outing, it’s not too different from her usual outfit. And the place Sif headed was where the wagon was prepared.
“Are you ready?”
“…Huh.”
There, she saw a neatly dressed girl standing with an umbrella, probably helped by Helena. As usual, Belka couldn’t take her eyes off the side of the room where Usher was. In fact, it was Donard and Sif’s idea to take the girl to this party, who was going to stay to look after Usher. While reassuring her that Helena, who left her castle, will take good care of her intentions to stay. Fortunately, Helena agreed with them.
“Are you ready? Hurry up and get on. Let’s go quickly.”
Soon Donnar came and urged them on. After putting them in the carriage, he climbed into the coachman’s seat instead of getting into the carriage. He said he just wanted to get wet in the rain today. The girl in the carriage was still looking at the castle. Normally, we would have said something to each other. Sif couldn’t even open her mouth.
The castle where the Donnars were away. In Usher’s room, the sound of flipping books echoed through the room. Helena was reading a book about the plants that live on Lantua. Next to it was a piece of paper with a picture of an herb called Amarat that Belka had drawn. Helena had read all the books on herbs, but she couldn’t find them no matter how much she searched, so she was looking for an illustrated book about all plants, wondering if it was an unknown herb.
However, the harvest was rarely seen. Could she have missed something about this herb? While going through her books, she did not forget to take care of Usher, wiping him with a towel. It was fortunate that she could extend the time, at least she had a precedent, but she knew that was the limit for now.
“…Many people want you to get better. Please hold on until you find a way.”
Helena whispered, recalling the golden light of her girl who stared at her eagerly. She knew Usher that the words would never reach her.
“What kind of opportunity are you talking about?”
Today, while digging for herbs in the dreadful rain, he repeated his words from Pyalyar two days ago. He wanted to ask what that meant, aside from the nonsensical nonsense that he thought of him as a son.
“Oh hey. He’s quick-tempered, so take it easy and wait.”
Saying that, Pyaryaar promised two days later, that is, today. Then, if he’s lucky, he’ll have a chance, or else he can’t help it, so he couldn’t erase his feelings. Furthermore.
“You’re like a terrible old man. Why am I going through all this hardship?”
He had to go around every nook and cranny of the mountains, digging through fields reminiscent of swamps in order to gather more herbs than usual. The reason was because Fjalar had told him to gather as many precious herbs as possible. He didn’t say a word, but he had a subtle way of telling me to bring some medicinal wine, which he likes to drink, so it was even more difficult to carry a heavy bottle of alcohol with him when he went to collect herbs. It was fortunate that today was not the day Helena came to get the herbs.
As he was digging for herbs, more than usual, heaps of herbs came out of the basket and landed on his neck. In any case, things from the ground make me feel even worse. It was still irritating to have dirt on my body, thinking that it would be washed away anyway. That’s why I cut as few herbs as possible. Patience was running to the limit with just one Pyaryaar. It was already near evening when he had dug out the required amount of herbs.
I barely made it back to the village, but headed a different route than usual. The reason was that Pyajar had invited her to his house today for some reason. He went to his house, feeling that it was related to the opportunity that Pyajar had spoken about. The appearance of the house made him murmur incredulous.
“Ha, whoever sees it will know that this is the lord’s castle.”
His mansion was truly huge. There were no strong and solid walls like a castle, but its splendor reminded me of a nobleman’s house. The people who live here are just the village chief of a well-to-do village. Perhaps even hiring gatekeepers, it looks more like a lord’s house than an unoccupied lord’s castle. When he extended the invitation to one of the gatekeepers, the gatekeeper looked at him suspiciously.
“Alvis, where did you steal it from?”
He stopped a sigh from coming out. I don’t know how far this town intends to make people stupid. Even if he couldn’t believe he was invited, if he did such a thing in a town like this, he would be exposed and rumors would spread in a day.
“It’s true that you got it from Mr. Pyalyar. And if you steal it, you’ll be kicked out right away.”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
The gatekeeper opened the gate bewildered. As he enters, he hears their conversation behind him.
“Did he really talk like that?”
“He’s a kid who can distinguish herbs well.”
It really is a sick town. And also in the mansion you entered.
“Welcome… What is it? Alvis? Why are you?”
He silently held out the invitation. The woman hired here to do chores also seemed suspicious and wiped off the water he dripped more nervously.
“Get out of the guest room now! We have to clean again!”
Apparently he was formally invited. It was so funny that no one welcomed him in this situation. It was his ability to make people miserable and angry like this.
“Where is the guest room?”
“How stupid! It’s that hallway over there!”
What should he think of someone who says he’s stupid, not considering that he’s new to this place? He swallowed her sneer and walked down the hallway she pointed to. He wasn’t interested in what Pyarjar was doing, but the opportunity really bothered him. Anyway, it was certain that it was related to that girl. It was when I was walking down the aisle. Discovering Pyalar walking this way from the end of the hallway.
“Hmm? Oh, you’re here! I’ve been waiting for you.”
It was obvious that he had forgotten to invite him, but it was funny how he was telling an obvious lie, but he didn’t show it.
“Keuheum, so did you bring what you promised?”
At the same time, he coveted the herbs and alcohol he had brought. When he showed him the medicinal herbs he had collected and the medicinal wine he had wrapped in a cloth separately, he smiled as if he was in a good mood.
Hehe, that’s for sure. Then follow me.”
And the place he guided was a room that seemed nothing special. Rather, it surprised him that the room was fine. I thought he’d give me a room that wasn’t even close to a storage room.
“Then I’ll call you soon in the evening, so come down then. Change your wet clothes.”
Pyalyar left those words and left. Even giving him dry clothes to wear seems clear to him. I checked to see if there was something wrong with my clothes, but I didn’t see any problems, so I changed my clothes and lay down on the bed. Then when I go out to the sound of a knock on her door, the woman from earlier frowns at her and looks at him.
“What did you do to the chief?”
“What are you doing?”
He never really did anything. She seems to be glaring at him, then jerks her head away.
“Don’t do anything stupid and follow me quietly.”
And the place that followed her was her banquet hall in her mansion. He was surprised to see the people there. Even so, the owner of the house, Pyalyar, was there. There, the lord he had seen in the castle and the beauties he could take his eyes off of were sitting at a long table. But it wasn’t them that caught his eye. Because there was a red girl they saw that day next to them. As he was absent-minded and absent-minded, the lord noticed him.
“Hmm? You.”
“Ah! I’m late to introduce you. Lord, this is Albis. Sometimes, when I order herbs, I invite you to dinner like this.”
Of course, he had never been to Pyajar’s house like this before today.
“Oh, how are you?”
When he greeted him awkwardly, the lord nodded his head without pretending to know him. In that sense, I was very fortunate. Pyarjar seemed to think something had happened between them and confronted them, but they didn’t show any sign of anything special, so they talked with the lord as if they had lost interest. Dinner was so quiet that I doubted whether it was really a party, matched with the sound of pouring rain outside. Wouldn’t it be more lively to have a small party with the elderly?
Pyarjar tried hard to continue the conversation lively, but he felt sorry for the lord as he only answered diligently on business matters. Either way, his attention was now on the girl rather than on them. Perhaps because of the food, the girl took off her mask and placed it on the table so that she could closely observe her face. I want to keep that image even if I stop time, but it’s a pity that I can’t.
He wanted to say something to the girl as she ate her food, wondering what she was thinking.
“Such an idiot! He couldn’t even dare to talk to me!”
And when dinner is over. He was speechless at the bruises of Pyalyar, who had called him into his room. Because he was obviously an idiot. But he doubted. For this man had no reason to be genuinely favourable to him.
“Well, that’s good. I can’t help it because you’re so lacking in courage. Look forward to tonight.”
When he left the room with those words, he could see the girl once more. She was standing by her window. He blankly fell into it. The window was a picture frame, and the sepia-toned world under the dark clouds was an old painting. In that old painting, a girl wearing a mask was straddling her body. Let’s approach the girl who stands still with the painting in the same tone as the world and looks at the distant place in the melancholy golden light. The girl frowned and looked back at him.
“…You are.”
I must have seen him at dinner, but now I seemed to recognize him. The moment I was saddened by him.
“How’s the kid doing?”
“Yes? Oh, yes.”
“I see.”
The child the girl was talking about was obviously the field mouse she had taken with her back then. Could it have been more effective in attracting women’s attention than I thought? It was a time when he felt a bit regretful. The girl seemed to lose her interest at once, and she went into the room behind the window. She regretted not being able to see more of her, but now, wondering where the girl was looking through this window, she stood where she stood, but she didn’t see anything in particular. If I had to pick one, it was the lord’s castle visible up there, but I couldn’t even see it well.
There’s nothing else to see except the mansion’s garden. What was she looking at? He soon lost his interest, and when he got out of his window and found his room, he realized something odd. The room right next to the girl was his room. If that was the case, he might have thought that Pyarjar would have acted purely out of favor. If it weren’t for the place where Pyarjar had called him, it was also on the other side of his room, adjacent to the girl’s room.
