Chapter 45 [Mera and Erica's Past]...
Mela returned to the basement of the cabin after a long absence.
Aside from Lex occasionally bringing a duster to clean the dust between the books, Mela rarely went to the basement. This was because she had already memorized most of the content in the books, so there was no need to verify it by flipping through the books.
Today is an exception.
Mela chewed on her pen and thought for a long time, but she couldn't recall a certain obscure spell she had seen many years ago. So she took down the key hanging on the wall and found the hidden wooden door under the carpet.
The gray key was inserted into the lock, and with a gentle twist, Mela heard a "click" sound.
alright.
Mela pulled on the ring and, with some effort, finally managed to lift the heavy wooden door, revealing the steps leading to the deep shadows below.
Using the light streaming into the room from the window, Mela walked down the steps.
In the basement, the mountains of books, piled up crookedly, cast heavy shadows. Mela had to occasionally stand on tiptoe or bend down to check the titles of the books one by one.
Finally, Mela squeezed through the narrow gap and found a thin booklet in a nook and cranny.
Carrying it out of the basement, Mela pushed the wooden door back in, locked it again, tidied the carpet, and then sat down in front of the chair.
Mela laid the booklet flat on the table and saw the still-childish handwriting on the title page.
Every stroke reveals the care and attention the writer put into the writing.
"Hey, why does this writing look like it was written when you were a child?" Silas strolled over curiously, not forgetting to bring a small dish of peanuts that he had just peeled.
“This is the booklet I wrote when I was nine years old,” Mela replied.
"Oh? Let me see what's written here!" Silas was so excited that he seemed to have been injected with adrenaline. He insisted on bringing his furry head closer and examining the booklet closely.
"...Sneezing spell, hiccup spell? Tickling spell, laughing spell? Wait a minute, what kind of nonsense are these spells?" Silas's eyes widened, feeling that these spells were simply made for pranks.
Mela chuckled softly, looking quite pleased with herself. "Don't let their appearance fool you; they've helped me teach a lot of annoying guys a lesson back in the day."
The "annoying guys" that Mela was referring to were, of course, the people of White Pine Town.
The adults might try to justify their actions by offering a plausible excuse. For instance, they wouldn't openly speak ill of Mela, but would instead subtly remind Wipdo, under the guise of Mela's well-being, that Mela should be kept away from herbs and dirty wounds.
Look at Mela yesterday, carrying an injured rabbit and parading around in public. The rabbit's fur was covered in blood, but Mela didn't seem afraid at all. Her cold-blooded appearance was really startling.
In contrast, the children's malice was real and undisguised. They would gather in twos and threes, waiting on the road that Mela was bound to pass by, and then let out snickers, some loud and some soft.
There were also mischievous little rascals who would call out silly nicknames they'd given Mela, then scatter before Mela could even look at them.
Mela coldly withdrew her gaze, continuing to immerse herself in the world of herbs as if nothing had happened, not even bothering to send out a single extra glance.
She wasn't going to bother arguing with an idiot who couldn't even write his own name.
While Wipdo wouldn't have taken the former's sarcastic remarks to heart, he was worried about the latter. Although he didn't know what kind of ridicule Mela had been secretly suffering, seeing Mela always alone made him feel anxious as a father.
“Mera, would you like to go up the mountain to collect pine cones with the Jensen kids next door?” Wipdo asked gently.
He hoped Mela could make some friends so she wouldn't feel lonely. After all, he was in charge of all the patients in the town and couldn't possibly focus all his attention on Mela.
"Forget it, I don't want to get involved in their war over a hairband."
Mela saw right through Wipdo's thoughts, but deep down she felt more comfortable being alone. Besides, she'd rather play with Susan's newborn lambs than bother with the Jensens next door.
Because there were so many children in the family, Mrs. Jensen was a mother who was prone to favoritism. She would only buy gifts for her favorite child and ignore the longing looks in the eyes of the other children, which caused the children in the family to often quarrel and almost fight over a hairband or a piece of candy.
Meanwhile, Mela next door changes her headband to a different color every day and occasionally feeds old Boogie's horse candy, making the Jason family's children green with envy.
They were also the children who hated Mela the most.
As she grew older, the mischievous boys would deliberately pull Mela's braids.
Although they usually only succeed once in ten attempts, their frequent troublemaking annoyed Mela to no end.
Later, Mela met Erica on the mountain and asked the witch if she had any spells specifically for pranks.
“There are so many! Sneeze spell, tickle spell, laugh spell…” Erica rattled off a dozen spells and asked Mela which one she wanted to learn.
Mela thought for a moment and decided to learn three spells at once.
"Alright, big-appetite girl, listen up."
Erica recited three incantations in a row without stopping, and then, without caring whether Mela remembered them or not, she closed her eyes for a nap, looking as if she wouldn't answer no matter what Mela said.
Mela remembered the spell and happily went down the mountain.
Then every guy who tried to mock her suddenly became itchy and had to scratch himself in a ridiculous way; some started laughing and couldn't stop; and finally, someone was hiccuping so badly that even choking him didn't help.
A faint smile played on Mela's lips as she cheerfully stepped into her home.
"Mera, Susan's lamb seems to be sick. She wanted to come and ask you to take a look at her lamb, but unfortunately you weren't home, so I told her to go back first."
Wipdo came out of the kitchen, carrying a pot of freshly boiled potatoes.
"Then I'll take two potatoes to see her." Mela thought for a moment, wrapped two warm potatoes in a clean cloth, slung her little basket over her shoulder, and headed towards Susan's house.
*
"Speaking of which, Lex, did you have any playmates when you were in the palace?"
Mela's reading of the booklet today sparked some childhood memories, making her curious about Lex's past.
Lex paused in his hammering and tapping of the wood. "...I have no playmates."
If one had to name a few, the only people who accompanied Lex every day were Fernandez and Chelgo, who occupied Lex's morning and afternoon time respectively.
Compared to Fernando's need to teach Lex how to be a good crown prince, Cherk's teaching of Lex was much simpler. The two would usually stand in the training ground, Cherk would toss Lex a wooden sword, and let him start attacking at will.
After Lex was exhausted, Cherger pointed out one by one all the useless things he had done and all the places where he had wasted his energy.
If Lex makes a similar mistake again after being given this instruction, Cherk will replicate Lex's attack exactly the same way, letting him experience firsthand which attack hurts the most and which he can bear.
At that time, Lex will naturally know how to swing his sword accurately and ruthlessly to attack the enemy's vitals.
"...It sounds like your knight commander beats people pretty badly." Mela rubbed her shoulder and shivered for no reason.
No, that's not what she wanted to ask.
Fernandez and Chergo were at best ministers of Lex, far from being true playmates.
"Don't you have any brothers or sisters?"
“Not many children from my father’s generation survived. Besides my two aunts, there was only one uncle who was chronically ill,” Lex said.
Lex's two aunts were Princess Naif and Princess Benny. One married Earl Bayard, while the other fell seriously ill before finding a suitable fiancé. Even the royal physicians were helpless and could only watch as Princess Benny lay weakly in bed and breathed her last.
As for Lex's uncle, Duke Dusser, he has been staying in the territory to recuperate, and it is said that every winter he is so weak that he cannot get out of bed.
As for Nurengel IX's only surviving siblings, Princess Naif and Count Bayard naturally had many children together, but every time Lex saw them, he felt that they had inherited the Bayard family's foolish arrogance and couldn't be bothered to deal with them.
As for Duke Dusser, his health is so weak that he naturally has no heir.
Lex had hardly ever seen this uncle before, only remembering that the man in the family portrait had delicate features and a frail demeanor that was the complete opposite of the surname Nurengel.
"The stool is finished." Lex inserted the last piece of shaved wood into the hole he had chiseled with his knife, applied some force, and handed the newly made stool to Mela only after confirming that it was sturdy.
Mela sat down without any hesitation and commented, "It seems a bit high."
“Then I’ll shorten the stool legs a bit more.” Lex nodded and modified the stool to Mela’s satisfaction, just as she had requested.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Silas smacked his lips as he passed by the two, only to find that Lex was gradually learning how to be a cook, a carpenter, a tailor, and so on, under Mela's unreasonable demands.
Even if he doesn't become king in the future, he should be able to keep himself from starving with the skills he's honed over the years.
"What are you up to now?" Mela grabbed Silas by the back of the neck and lifted him up.
Suddenly, Mela noticed something was amiss.
Her gaze swept over Silas's entire body, finally settling on the corner of its mouth.
Silas's mouth was clean, but Mela could smell a faint fragrance.
"I didn't do anything!" Silas panicked instinctively under Mela's gaze and blurted out a blatant attempt to cover up his mistake.
It would have been better if it hadn't opened its mouth; once it did, the aroma wafted out.
“Silas! Did you secretly eat jam while hiding in the house just now?” Mela was very certain.
There was absolutely no room for Silas to lie.
Silas closed his eyes, surprised that Mela had noticed. He had been restraining himself, only eating two spoonfuls of jam, and had even washed his face with a clean cloth to make sure there was no trace left.
I should have known it wouldn't have said anything, sob sob.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
