Chapter 73 [An Unexpected Farewell]...
Although they were childhood friends, chatting with Chelge was much more interesting than chatting with that scoundrel Ducwato.
Cherk came from an ordinary background and had interacted with all sorts of people since childhood. He could always describe the interesting things he had seen to Mela in a witty and humorous tone, even things like two brothers from the same father and mother fighting over a shepherdess could be told in a funny and entertaining way.
In recent years, in order to avoid being searched for by others, he wandered around and traveled to almost half of the kingdom. The stories he told could go on for three days and three nights without stopping.
"...I once visited a small town with a very unique winemaking technique, producing fruit wines that were sweet and succulent. In addition, the town held an autumn harvest festival every year at the end of autumn. On the day of the festival, every young boy could present a sheaf of wheat that he had personally selected to his beloved girl. If the girl accepted, they would go to church in winter and get married happily in front of their families."
“Wait a minute, what if one of the young couple’s parents disagrees?” Mela asked curiously.
She always felt that it was impossible for every young couple to have such a smooth relationship. If they were young and easily blinded by so-called love, their parents must have had the most level-headed considerations.
For example, whether their family backgrounds are comparable or whether their dowry is generous, etc., isn't there any couple in love who have been separated?
"Then they can only stop their son from confessing his feelings to his sweetheart, or stop their daughter from accepting the confession. Otherwise, according to the town's custom, everyone who expresses their feelings on the day of the celebration will be blessed and must get married in the church."
Cherk smiled and picked up the teapot on the table, refilling Mela's nearly empty teacup with warm tea.
"Speaking of which, it's not like no one has ever done this before. For example, not allowing the son to take any ear of wheat from the house, or locking the daughter in her room on the day of the celebration and not allowing her to go out."
"Then they can't be with their sweethearts?" Mela took a bite of the shell cake drizzled with citrus jam with interest, her eyes slightly narrowed with satisfaction.
“Well, young people will always find a way to get love,” Cherk shrugged, recounting the rest of the story.
The son who was stopped went to other people's fields and searched hard, finally managing to gather the most inconspicuous and shriveled little bundle of wheat.
The daughter, who was prevented from leaving the house, stood by the window and caught the ear of wheat that her lover threw to her in full view of everyone.
"In short, as long as you truly want to be together, any difficulty is just a stepping stone to love, isn't it?" Cherk asked with a seemingly casual smile.
Mela, however, smiled and stuffed the last bite of the shell cake into her mouth, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with Cherk's words.
We're doomed.
Seeing this, Chern sighed almost imperceptibly to himself.
It seems that His Highness has a long way to go if he wants to get what he wants.
*
In the evening, as usual, Mela went to Yuriel's room to check on her.
After six or seven days of recuperation, Yuriel was clearly a far cry from her previous weak appearance, and her face had regained a healthy rosy glow.
Therefore, when she enthusiastically suggested to Mela that she wanted to leave Furhorst Manor ahead of time, Mela was taken aback.
"What's wrong? Are you worried that I'm too anxious?" Yuriel thought that Mela was being considerate of her, and her expression became awkward. "Don't worry, with my current recovery speed, I will be fully recovered in three days at the latest. I'm definitely not deliberately being stubborn."
As she spoke, she secretly glanced at Mela out of the corner of her eye.
Mela snapped out of her daze and nodded nonchalantly. "Sure, it's your body anyway. Since you think it's okay, let's leave early."
"Then it's settled? We'll leave in three days," Yuriel said excitedly.
She has been staying in her room to rest for the past few days in order to recover as soon as possible.
However, in just a few short days, Yuriel had already become secretly alarmed by the extravagant lifestyle of the nobles. In comparison, she preferred to be self-reliant and stay in her own room undisturbed by anyone.
Before proposing the idea, Yuriel was inevitably worried that she would be rejected by Mela. After all, Mela seemed to be well-adjusted to life in the manor, and she had a good relationship with the lord, distinguished guests, and other people mentioned by the maids.
Yuriel knew that Mela was not a traditional witch, and if she had a choice, she might not have liked living a life far from people and in a cold and lonely place.
Seeing that Mela showed no interest in the abundant food and gorgeous clothes, but was willing to follow her and risk danger to continue searching for Erica, Yuriel was naturally overjoyed.
She couldn't wait to sprout wings and fly out of this manor, which felt like a giant prison, the very next day.
"Alright, I won't bother you any longer. Take good care of yourself and get some rest."
Mela left Yuriel's room and bumped right into Lex, who was about to come out of the room.
Separated by most of the corridor, the two gazed at each other from afar. Moonlight streamed in through the window, casting a tranquil shadow over the entire wall.
"What's wrong?" Noticing that Mela's gaze had lingered on his face for a while, Lex walked over carrying a candlestick.
The firelight illuminated half of his face, while the other half was shrouded in deep darkness, except for his golden eyes, which shone brightly with a captivating brilliance.
"It's nothing." Mela looked at Lex who walked up to her, paused for a moment, and swallowed back her words about leaving early.
“And you?” Mela gestured with her chin toward the candlestick Lex was holding and asked.
"I can't sleep, so I'm going to get some fresh air in the garden," Lexstein replied honestly.
"Since the moonlight is nice tonight, I'll accompany you for a stroll in the garden."
Mela lowered her hand, which was about to push open the door, and instead walked into the garden with Lex.
When you finally look up at the silver moon in the sky, you realize that the moonlight streaming into the corridor is not even a tenth as beautiful as that in the garden. The silvery light flows across the ground like a winding river, and you can feel a chill even without getting close.
Despite it being a summer night, Mela instinctively touched her arm.
"Cold?" Lex didn't miss Mela's subtle gesture.
“How could that be?” Mela casually lowered her hand, then lightly and quickly touched Lex’s forearm with the back of her hand. “See? I’m not cold at all. It seems like your skin is colder.”
Lex silently savored the lingering warmth of their brief touch and admitted, "Yeah, I'm a little cold."
“I don’t think I’ve seen you come to the garden these past few days?” Mei stretched out her hand to stroke a white rose in full bloom, and even lowered her head to smell its fragrance.
"You and Cherk come here for afternoon tea every day," Lex said casually, glancing at Mela.
Although his tone didn't change, it was clear that he was in a bad mood when the topic came up.
"It's fun chatting with Cherge, isn't it? For example, he'll tell me that you were afraid of snakes when you were a child, huh?"
Mela turned her head and gave Lex a playful raise of her eyebrows.
"Of course, children have many things to be afraid of, such as snakes, which are slippery, scary-looking, and highly venomous animals."
Lex showed no shame at being exposed and met Mela's gaze with complete openness.
In the end, Mela was the first to give in and looked away.
Why is it said that only children can be afraid? Does growing up mean we must face everything bravely and fearlessly?
"Since I now have the power to protect myself, why should I be afraid of a snake?"
As he spoke, in a flash, Lex suddenly reached out and swiftly and accurately pinched the vital spot of a small snake that had suddenly darted out from the flower bushes, leaving it only able to flick its tongue in vain, unable to harm anyone.
Mela spends most of her time walking in the forest and has caught many snakes and other venomous animals. Snake gallbladders and toad venom from the backs of venomous animals are her commonly used ingredients.
Therefore, when Mela saw Lex catch this tiny snake, which was only the length of a finger joint, she was not afraid at all, and even took a closer look at its species.
"This snake seems to be non-venomous; you might as well throw it back."
However, before Lex could make a move, Mela changed her mind again, "Why don't you just take care of it, so it won't scare the passing maids later."
So the little snake that had sprung out to scare people returned to the flower bushes, now split in two.
Mela and Lex fell silent for a long time.
Even though Lex only mentioned snakes in the previous conversation, Mela knew that his answer contained more than just snakes.
People feel afraid of being powerless, and can't help but shrink back or even run away, but those things that once hurt little Lex are now insignificant to him.
This was an arrogance that Lex had never shown to Mela.
It was only at this point that Mela realized that Lex had been enduring all along, hiding all his cold, hard edges, and finally becoming the hardworking, taciturn Lex in the Dark Forest.
It was only because she had seen his most pathetic side from the very beginning that she thought he was just a little prince who only knew how to bluff.
"You lied to me tonight, didn't you?"
Finally, Lex broke the silence.
Back in the hallway, Lex knew that Mela's "it's nothing" was just an excuse to brush him off.
However, even though he couldn't help but ask the question, he subconsciously chose a more tactful way of asking it.
This also left Mela plenty of room to continue deceiving him.
Even though Mela denied it nonchalantly, he couldn't bear to press her further.
But Mela simply smoothed the strands of hair that had fallen across her face and suddenly admitted, "Yes, I lied to you. What I actually wanted to tell you was that I would be leaving this manor with Yuriel and Silas in three days."
"Three days later?" Lex was caught off guard by this unexpected separation.
A gust of wind blew by, and the flame on the candlestick flickered.
"Don't come to see me and Silas off then. Yuriel still doesn't know that the Nurengel family, whom she hates the most, lives in this manor," Mela said, feigning nonchalance.
"……good."
After a moment of silence, Lex agreed.
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