𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔: 𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚
“I have safely escorted Cain-sama to the village. Ellen-sama, I know I may be overstepping, but if you don’t limit your kindness, you may put yourself in danger.”
“I considered the possibility that Cain’s pursuers might come this far. But look, in the worst case, we have that exit. Ah, that’s right. I’ll go check if that passage hasn’t collapsed yet.”
“I will do that. Please don’t change the subject.”
“I’m sorry, Stephan. Don’t be angry. It was a great gain to be able to observe the effect and progress of corossan’s antidote. It’s a poison that we rarely encounter. But I may have exposed you and Hanna to danger, and I regret causing you extra trouble.”
“I’m not angry. I don’t mind the trouble. I’m just worried about you, Ellen-sama.”
“I understand. Thank you very much. I’ll be more careful from now on. Also, I’ll think about setting up some security traps.”
Stephan decided to check the escape route, muttering “Traps…” and leaving his nagging at that.
When you remove the floorboards under the bed in the back room, there is a passage that even a large man like Stephan can crawl through. It was made to lead to the shadow of a large tree behind the mountain hut.
The one who made this hidden passage was Madame Franca, who seems to be a person who takes precautions. She seems to have had the work done by trustworthy people brought in from afar, because it would be a problem if the secret passage was talked about.
Stephan lifted the floorboard and entered the dark, stone-built passage. It was damp, but not collapsed, and he was able to proceed smoothly. He decided to cover the board at the exit with dead leaves, moving some of the soil on top of it, as it took quite a bit of strength to lift it.
When he emerged from the passage, Ellen was already waiting there.
“Good job. That was quick.”
“Were you waiting?”
“Will you accompany me to pick some herbs?”
“Certainly.”
“Ah, you have a leaf on you.”
Ellen stretched up and gently removed the leaf from Stephan’s golden short hair.
“Thank you.”
Stephan’s ears and neck were red, but Ellen, who started walking, didn’t notice.
The two of them proceeded into the depths of the forest. Ellen was keen-eyed, picking herbs one after another and putting them in a basket. Stephan followed, keeping an eye on their surroundings.
“Stephan, the tropical shells your father bought for me the other day, they seem to have sold well as processed goods. They were made into high-end buttons and accessories.”
“My father will be pleased if they were useful. Also, if we come across any rare poisons, I’ll tell him to deliver them to you.”
“That would be helpful!”
Her face, turning back and smiling softly, was adorable.
Stephan’s father runs a small trading business, and Ellen is a valued customer. She imports unexpected items, processes them into unexpected things, and sells them in this country. The people who process and sell them are the villagers Ellen has reached out to.
Stephan respects Ellen, who cares about the villagers. When Ellen got engaged, he blessed the couple as a good match. But even now, thinking of Samuel makes his blood boil.
――What was that man dissatisfied with about Ellen-sama? Melanie is a woman who flirts with any man she sees, and I had a bad feeling when I heard she would be staying at the Bowen house for several months.
Despite being engaged to Ellen-sama for five years, Melanie stole Samuel away in just three months.
Even now, I occasionally remember the conversation I overheard when I was returning from the forest. If I could kill that scoundrel, I would choose a rusty sword with a dull edge on purpose and cut him down.――
“What’s wrong? You look scary.”
Ellen-sama, who turned around, looked worried.
“I was thinking about how to deal with a centipede.”
“Centipede bites are terribly painful. The best way is to cut it into several pieces.”
“I will definitely do that next time.”
Stephan replied with a serious face.
・・・
『”𝘼𝙬𝙚𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨.𝙘𝙤𝙢” – 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙖 𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚, 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙙𝙪𝙡𝙜𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙖 𝙘𝙤𝙡𝙡e𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 “𝙙𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙪𝙥𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙨” 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙤 “𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨”.』
・・・
Meanwhile, Stephan’s sister Hanna was down at the beach collecting shells. The siblings grew up by the sea, so they are skilled at collecting shells.
――In the past, when the management of my family’s trading company was not going well, Ellen-sama, who used the company every time she came to the mountain cabin, helped us. It was when Ellen-sama was still a girl.
“If the company I’m used to is gone, it will be inconvenient for me.”
She said this to Oku-sama and asked for her help.
Then Oku-sama not only invested in the company, but also hired us siblings as servants. Our parents were greatly relieved because the two of us, who were growing and eating a lot, were able to leave home and receive wages.
Normally, working in the Marquis family’s house would be a dream within a dream, but my brother and I were given beautiful uniforms as attendants to Ellen-sama, my brother was trained in swordsmanship, I was educated as a maid, and we were given enough food.
Moreover, when the company recovered, she even said, “If you want to help your parents’ work, you can quit here.” Both my brother and I immediately decided to stay here. There is no problem because the eldest brother will take over the company.
Both Oku-sama and Ellen-sama are always doing research and experiments. I thought that noble women were people who change dresses several times a day and do embroidery, but both of them are very active.
“After all, if you don’t use your body, it will gradually deteriorate.”
Oku-sama often says this.
Tonight, I will take out the meat from the shellfish and stir-fry it with basil and garlic. Ellen-sama wants to help with the cooking, but I worry that her beautiful, white, slender fingers might get hurt. Ojou-sama always laughs and says, “If I get hurt, I can check the effect of the ointment myself.”――
Satisfied with the contents of the heavy basket, Hanna climbs the hill from the beach to the mountain cabin. She decided to carry a bucket of seawater for sand removal and return home.
――My brother… he was deeply angry with that man. I hated that man too, but it hurts to think about my brother’s feelings, who is protecting Ellen-sama like a treasure.
In front of my brother, who is faithfully and devotedly serving Ellen-sama, that man whispered love to Melanie.
At that time, I was always ready to hug my brother and stop him. I was afraid that my brother might knock that man down.
However, my brother quietly followed Ellen-sama back without changing his facial expression. How frustrating it must have been.
“But what was Cain-sama, really?”
Ellen-sama didn’t approach Cain-sama except for treatment and observation of wounds, and my brother was careful that Ellen-sama and Cain-sama were not alone.
“Cain-sama had a frighteningly beautiful face. And I feel like he was fascinated by Ellen-sama when she was treating him.”
Then I shook my head vigorously to deny my own thoughts. A person who is shot with a bow and arrow is out of the question. Even that man, who seemed decent, betrayed us.
“Being shot with an arrow… I wonder what he did.”
He seemed to be a well-bred person, so he probably wasn’t a criminal. After Ellen-sama left the deeply sleeping Cain-sama, she sadly said, “The poison used on him is used when you want to torture your opponent for a long time and then kill them for sure.”
When she sees someone suffering from poison, Ojou-sama always looks like she’s about to cry.
The mountain cabin is almost there. I will make Ellen-sama’s favorite clam and basil stir-fry deliciously.――
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