Chapter 27 [Mostly about Hall's storyline]
"call."
"call."
The wind, carrying heavy breaths, blew through the branches and leaves, flowing into the distance.
In the pitch-black night, two figures supported each other, stumbling and running forward.
The cabin nestled deep in the forest still emitted a dim, yellowish light. Inside, the two people and the bird were unusually awake.
Therefore, as soon as he heard the knocking, Lex, who was closest to the door, reacted quickly and went to open it.
The man looked disheveled; his face was covered in mud, broken leaves, and even tiny black thorns, as if he had rolled on the ground before coming here and unfortunately gotten stuck in the bushes.
Fortunately, he was incredibly patient and managed to get through it all with that kind of face.
In contrast, the woman whose arm he was supporting, though pale and with a sorrowful expression, only had a few sparse strands of hair falling loose at her temples.
Upon seeing the unfamiliar young man standing behind the door, she hurriedly brushed her stray hairs behind her ears and tried her best to maintain a composed expression, as if she were not rushing to the door with her husband in a panic for help, but merely making a routine visit.
Hall's wife seemed to pay particular attention to her appearance. Lex thoughtfully observed this.
"Come in." Lex stepped aside, making way for the two of them.
Hall gave Lex a grateful look, then helped Joanne into the cabin.
Mela was leaning against the desk, teasing Silas with a foxtail grass.
Because of his guilty conscience, Silas gripped the perch with his claws and dared not dodge. He could only grit his teeth and endure the furry touch scratching at his beak again and again.
Fortunately, as Hall and the other person entered, Mela's attention shifted away from it, and she stopped what she was doing.
Silas breathed a sigh of relief and stealthily moved himself into a corner.
Mela ignored it.
Her gaze fell upon Hall's utterly wretched face, and she looked on with great surprise.
If she weren't absolutely certain that the potion she concocted wouldn't go wrong, she would surely be wondering whether the lucky potion she drank earlier had actually worked.
Otherwise, how could it have turned out so badly?
If this was already the result of the luck potion taking effect, Mela couldn't help but look at him with pity. How unlucky Hall must have been originally.
Seeing Mela's gaze made Hall feel a little uncomfortable. He subconsciously reached out to scratch his face with his free hand, but he accidentally touched the small thorns scattered on his face, and immediately winced in pain for a while.
"Be careful." Joanne noticed Hall's movements, and her eyes immediately welled up with heartache. She wanted to help him remove the thorn, but she was worried that the thorn was too small and she might make things worse.
If a thorn accidentally breaks off inside, that would be a real problem.
"If only I had a sewing needle," Joanne thought, "that way I could pick all the thorns out of Hall's face."
"Do you need to borrow a sewing needle?"
Mela seemed to have mind-reading abilities, speaking Joanne's thoughts aloud.
“…If possible…” Joanne hesitated before speaking.
Hall has been making deals with witches for years, so Joanne should know something about Mela and shouldn't be afraid of her like the others. But this is the first time Joanne has met Mela.
When the young and beautiful witch looked at her with a smile, Joanne instinctively felt a sense of fear, as if looking at a rose, where a beautiful scene concealed a thorny danger.
Joanne was unsure whether she should reach out and accept the witch's gift.
“Of course, no problem. Lex—” Mela drawled, “help them find the sewing needle.”
Lex walked straight to the low cabinet by the door, bent down, pulled open one of the drawers, and took out a gleaming sewing needle.
"Thank you," Joanne said timidly to Lex.
Then, using the light from above, she carefully cupped Hall's face, found the right spot, and gently inserted a sewing needle to pick out the tiny black thorns one by one.
"Speaking of which, how did you end up like this?" Mela asked curiously.
"us……"
Upon hearing Mela's question, Hall opened his mouth to answer without thinking, but as soon as he uttered a syllable, he received a glare from Joanne, so he quickly shut his mouth again, indicating that he would not say anything more.
“Let me tell you,” Joanne said, pursing her lips. “Hall became like this to save me.”
Joanne wanted to keep it short, but Mela stopped her: "No, I have plenty of time to listen to your story. You can tell me slowly."
Okay, since it was Mela who asked for it, Joanne recounted the whole story.
To tell the whole story, we have to go back to before Joanne was taken away by Howard.
Yesterday, as usual, Hall pushed his wooden cart away from the village before it was fully light, without disturbing anyone along the way.
Joanne stayed at home and first opened the fence to let her several large white geese, which she had raised for several years, go out to forage for food on their own.
Then she took a spindle, sat down in a chair, and began to twist the pre-treated nettles into threads, preparing for the next step of weaving.
A morning passed quietly.
Just as Joanne felt a ache in her lower back and couldn't help but stand up and walk around the room, Howard suddenly burst in from outside.
Saying he barged in isn't quite accurate, because Howard simply swaggered in from outside.
"Long time no see, Joanne," Howard greeted Joanne insincerely.
Those brown eyes, just like Hall's, kept darting around, but the more they looked, the more disgusted they became.
Simply put, in Howard's eyes, who was used to seeing nice things, this family was far too poor.
There were no soft carpets, no brightly colored paintings, and very little furniture; a spinning wheel took up most of the corner.
Howard's disdainful expression caught Joanne's eye. Joanne, who was already not welcoming of Howard's visit, pursed her lips and said coldly, "It has been a long time. The last time I saw you was at the funeral."
That was Hall's parents' funeral.
Although Howard hadn't seen his parents and brothers for eight or nine years, and Hall's relationship with Howard wasn't particularly close, Hall couldn't very well not inform him about such an important event as his parents' funeral.
After discussing it with Joanne, Hall sent a message to the town to inform Howard of the time and place of the funeral.
However, Howard didn't rush back until just before the funeral began.
Finally, after the pastor Hall had invited finished the ceremony and the coffin was lowered into the ground, Howard couldn't wait to speak.
He said he demanded that Hall split the inheritance left by his parents equally with him.
"Divide the inheritance equally?"
When the relatives and villagers who came to the funeral heard Howard's words, they couldn't help but whisper among themselves.
Despite being stared at by so many people, Howard showed no embarrassment whatsoever. Instead, he held his chin high, stroked the small mustache he had deliberately grown, and acted with complete self-righteousness.
“According to the kingdom’s inheritance law, I should have taken two-thirds of the inheritance. Now that I’m only taking half, that’s already more than enough for you, my brother. Besides, I haven’t even asked you to include the money for the land. You should be content, Hall.”
Howard treated Hallough as if he were giving her charity.
Hall, his face dark, loudly retorted, "Back then, it was clearly you who looked down on the little money the family had, and you didn't want to continue being an honest farmer like Father. After marrying a merchant's daughter, you moved to town with him and never came back. Father had no choice but to leave the land to me to farm."
And now Howard is saying that all these things originally belonged to him? It's utterly ridiculous that Hall has to pay him for inheriting his parents' money and land!
Joanne stood beside Hall, equally indignant for her husband, but she could only clutch the rough linen hem of her dress, remaining silent.
Because Howard was right, this is the law clearly stipulated by the kingdom.
Even though Howard's behavior over the years has been despicable, as the eldest son, he naturally possesses an advantage in the right of succession that Hall does not have.
If Hall disagrees with dividing the inheritance equally, Howard can take him to the lord's court.
The pastor who had not yet left was Howard's best witness.
Thinking of this, many relatives gathered around and persuaded Hall to agree to Howard's conditions, so that at least he could keep half. Otherwise, if the inheritance law were applied, he would only get one-third in the end.
Left with no other choice, Hall had to agree.
Joanne will always remember Howard's smug look as he walked away with a large sum of money that day, and his triumphant gaze.
Fortunately, after Howard took the money, he probably felt that there was nothing else about his brother that he could covet, and he never came to see Hall again.
Now, Howard, whom she hadn't seen for many years, suddenly appeared, saying he wanted to talk to Hall about something, and Joanne couldn't help but feel a strong sense of vigilance.
When Howard pressed her for answers, Joanne kept beating around the bush, refusing to tell him where Hall had gone or when he would be back.
"Okay, okay, I'm thirsty after talking for so long. Go get me a bowl of water."
Howard spoke to Joanne in a condescending manner, as if she were a maid in his house.
Joanne's face darkened, and she wanted to pick up a stick and drive him out, but in the end she suppressed her anger and took the ceramic bowl to scoop a large bowl of water for Howard.
If she continues to maneuver, Howard might get impatient and leave on his own.
After Howard left, she would tell Hall about it when he returned and try to find out the purpose of his sudden visit. Joanne made up her mind.
Just then, Joanne suddenly felt something was wrong behind her and tried to turn around to see what was going on, but it was too late.
A dull pain shot through the back of her neck, and Joanne couldn't take it, so she fainted.
Before she fainted, she mustered her strength to turn her head and saw clearly that the person standing behind her holding the wooden stick was Howard.
—I should never have let him in.
A final thought flashed through Joanne's mind.
*
When Joanne woke up in the darkness, she found herself locked in a small room filled with all sorts of clutter. Her hands and ankles were tied with rope, cutting off any chance of escape.
It must have been Howard. Joanne thought with certainty.
She just didn't understand why Howard did that.
She was just an ordinary woman, and since that accident, the only person she could rely on was Hall.
Was Howard planning to use her to threaten Hall?
Joanne felt a chill run down her spine, but there was nothing she could do. After all, she was tied up here, and even if she guessed Howard's purpose, she couldn't tell Hall in time.
Not only that, Howard was heartless. After bringing Joanne back, he abandoned her and refused to give her even water or food.
Joanne had only eaten breakfast that day, and the endless hunger tormented her until she fainted again from hunger.
Later, Joanne was abruptly jolted awake.
She stared at the constantly moving ground, but couldn't see who was carrying her with their hand on her waist. It was as if she were floating in mid-air in a strange posture.
"Hall, is that you?"
Even though she knew that no one else would come to her rescue except Hall, Joanne still couldn't help but ask.
"It's me," Hall's voice came through the air.
As always, it was heavy and somber, like a hammer pounding on an earthen wall, yet it gave Joanne a sense of immense peace of mind.
“What happened to you? I can’t see you anymore,” Joanne said.
“This is an invisibility potion I bought from Miss Mela. After drinking it, no one can see me. I originally left you half a bottle, planning to let you drink it and escape with me, but seeing that you fainted, I put the other half of the potion away,” Hall explained.
Hall was reluctant to give the medicine to Joanne, who had fainted.
They decided to change their plan and, taking advantage of Howard's inability to see them, simply knocked him unconscious.
"You're dizzy? That's good." Joanne was completely relieved; she had no sympathy for someone who had hurt her.
After letting Hall carry her for a while, Joanne said again, "Are you tired? Why don't you put me down and let me walk by myself?"
"Don't worry, I also bought another bottle of strength potion. I can carry you all the way back without any problem," Hall patted his chest and assured Joanne.
However, he quickly realized that Joanne couldn't see his movements at all.
"Oh dear, I'm such an idiot, I forgot you can only see me after the drug wears off," Hall said, feeling extremely annoyed.
Joanne smiled and offered Hall a few words of comfort.
“It sounds like things are actually going quite well for you guys?” Mela suddenly interjected, interrupting Joanne’s narration.
At this moment, Joanne not only cleaned all the thorns off Hall's face, but also helped him remove the grass blades that had accidentally gotten on him.
So Hall was finally able to speak, and he gave Mela a wry smile. "But an accident happened very quickly."
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