Chapter 18
“Huh?”
When Lilia gasped in surprise, the boy hurriedly pulled something out of his pocket and quickly put it on his face.
It was a white eyepatch.
Was something wrong with his eye?
As if he had just revealed a secret that must never be discovered, the boy asked in a low voice,
“Who are you?”
“Oh, I’m Lilia. I live inside that gate over there. I just came out for a short walk. But what were you doing here?”
The boy raised an eyebrow.
If she lived inside the gate, she was likely a noble of high status—but not only nobles lived there.
She could be a young maid.
Besides, he had never heard of a noble walking around without a guard knight. He didn’t sense anyone else nearby.
Of course, he had only heard about noble girls and had never actually met one, so he was only guessing.
More importantly, this girl smelled sweet.
Maybe she worked in the kitchen.
Thinking that, he replied,
“…Taking a nap. Someone disturbed me.”
“Ahh, sorry. Was I too loud? Actually, I came because I heard there’s no one around here. I didn’t know you’d be here.”
As Lilia lowered her voice and stepped closer, the boy flinched and quickly stepped back.
For some reason, his ears felt itchy.
“Don’t come closer.”
Lilia tilted her head at the retreating boy.
“Are you scared of me? I won’t hurt you! Kiki won’t either.”
Though she didn’t know why he seemed upset, Kiki glared at the unfamiliar boy with watermelon-seed-like eyes and hissed.
“Kiki, stop it. You’re scaring him.”
The boy sniffed the air and tilted his head.
“…Is that a wild animal? I’m not scared of that. Is it your dinner, by any chance?”
When he asked that, Lilia gasped.
“…What? No! She’s my friend. Wait—don’t tell me you eat weasels?!”
Curious, she leaned in close to his face. The boy edged away slightly and muttered,
“I—I’ve never eaten one either. I only eat the meat my uncle hunts…”
“Your uncle?”
“Yeah.”
“Where do you live?”
“In a cabin beyond the hill.”
“Really? W-wait. You live in a cabin?”
“Yeah.”
The mysterious cabin keeper people only talked about in rumors—was that boy’s uncle?
Judging by the small scars on his body and his shabby appearance…
It didn’t look like that so-called uncle was raising him properly.
Without realizing it, Lilia clenched her fists.
“Are you okay? You’re not hurt anywhere, right?”
As she stepped closer, genuinely worried and trying to examine him, the boy shrank back.
“Don’t touch me.”
“Oh… sorry.”
If he really was being abused, that reaction made sense.
Maybe it would be better to find out carefully after they became closer.
Still, she couldn’t help worrying.
If he was being abused in a remote cabin, he wouldn’t have anywhere to ask for help.
“Hey, can I visit the cabin next time?”
Lilia smiled gently as she asked, but the boy shook his head.
“No. Absolutely not…”
His reaction didn’t seem normal.
“Okay. Then I’ll come visit here again next time. Let’s meet under this tree’s shade.”
Lilia widened her eyes, then nodded as if agreeing with herself.
The boy unconsciously nodded too, then snapped,
“What? W-why would I!”
“Don’t wait for me every day. Hehe.”
Lilia beamed.
“…Who said I would.”
The boy pouted and muttered, pretending not to care.
Lilia fell into thought for a moment.
Maybe she was being overly nosy.
But Osdel was the kind of person who could create victims besides Adrian.
What if, by any chance, the cabin keeper was Osdel’s subordinate—and this boy became one of the future victims locked in a laboratory?
Lilia didn’t want to pretend she didn’t know him.
“By the way, what’s your name?”
“Why do you care?”
“What do you mean, why? Don’t say it like that. It’s a precious name your parents gave you.”
At that, the boy’s face darkened, and he lowered his head.
“…Noah.”
“Ohh, Noah. That’s a cool name.”
After hearing his name, Lilia felt relieved. She knew he wasn’t Adrian, but for some reason she still wanted to confirm it.
On the other hand, Noah felt strangely irritated by the bright girl responding cheerfully.
She didn’t even know what he was going through.
She looked like she had drifted in from a world filled with flower petals.
Soft and fluffy, like a baby bird.
The way she chirped endlessly.
Her small but noisy footsteps.
The way her hair shimmered as if stirred by a gentle breeze whenever she moved.
From one to ten, everything about her annoyed him.
Noah deliberately stepped back two more steps.
“Stop hanging around here and go back. Unless you want something scary to happen to you, like the rumors say.”
“What?”
After snapping at her, Noah swung his wooden sword over his shoulder and turned around.
Thud, thud.
Not every parent gives their child a name.
Noah’s parents didn’t.
He had been abandoned as a baby, and Uncle Humbletin had picked him up and raised him.
Even the name “Noah” had been given casually because he resembled a horse Uncle Humbletin once raised.
His uncle often said he would have sold him off long ago if he had been a horse, and then kicked him.
‘When I get home, I should climb the tree and pretend to be asleep.’
On days when Uncle Humbletin came home drunk, the chances of getting beaten were fifty-fifty.
If he passed out drunk right away, it was a lucky day.
If he hadn’t drunk enough, the anger would be directed at Noah.
On those unlucky days, the best option was to hide in the small room built up in a tree.
His uncle was too fat to climb it.
Just as he was thinking that—
Something rolled toward him like a little squirrel and grabbed onto his collar.
A sweet scent tickled his nose. It was the girl’s smell from earlier.
“W-what is it? Let go.”
“Wait, I have something for you.”
She rummaged through her pocket for a while, then pressed something tightly into his palm.
“What is this?”
“Try it. It’s as tasty as the raspberries here. I’m really going now. Bye, Noah! Oh, and next time, pick raspberries to replace the ones you crushed! Promise!”
After saying whatever she wanted, Lilia ran off with light little footsteps.
When he no longer sensed her presence, Noah cautiously poked what was in his palm with his finger.
It crinkled when touched and gave off a nutty smell.
After unwrapping it and putting it in his mouth, a crispy and sweet flavor filled him.
“…What is this?”
Something this delicious actually existed?
It was a luxurious snack he had never tasted in his life.
‘She really is a kitchen maid, maybe?’
After quickly finishing it, Noah stood there as if rooted to the spot for a moment, then ran over the hill.
When he removed his eyepatch, his eyes were a piercing blue—like a winter lake.
“You’re nothing but bad luck with those cursed eyes of yours.”
Cursed eyes.
That’s what Uncle Humbletin called them.
He told Noah to always wear the eyepatch in front of others and pretend he couldn’t see.
“Didn’t I tell you to keep them covered so you don’t cause trouble?!”
Whenever Noah tried to ask why, he would get hit with hands as big as pot lids, so he never dared to ask again.
Once, an old woman passing by accidentally saw Noah’s eyes and ran away as if she had seen a ghost.
A woman washing clothes by the stream reacted the same way.
Noah thought his eyes were hideous and ominous.
That was why he preferred being alone.
He could freely fill his eyes with the beautiful lights of the world and enjoy a sense of liberation.
For that reason, he had never fully shown his eyes to anyone.
He had been nervous that the girl might have seen them earlier, but luckily his hair had covered them.
Still…
She was really a strange girl.
