Chapter 94 A Moment of Heartbeat [Lex's Perspective]...
When exactly did he realize that he had different feelings for Mela?
Lex couldn't remember.
Perhaps when he first realized that Mella was completely different from the ladies he had met before, and had already made excuses for Mella's impolite behavior, his heart uncontrollably tipped to the other side of the scale.
Or perhaps it was because he was no longer embarrassed or annoyed by Mela's teasing, but instead, when he stared at her smiling face in a daze, his heart was pounding wildly.
However, Lex kept this trivial, romantic thought to himself. He knew that Mela still saw him as the boy she had first met, even though he had long since turned fifteen and his shoulders had gradually broadened into those of a grown man.
*
As the first rays of dawn streamed into the cabin, Lex opened his eyes and, as usual, quietly rolled up the blanket.
During this time, Lex subconsciously frowned because of the pain in his leg. He didn't know why, but similar things had happened many times recently. However, Lex knew very well that he was not injured.
Fortunately, the pain didn't last long, and Lex quickly opened the door and went outside with a normal expression.
When he returned from washing his face by the river, it was time to prepare breakfast.
Silas had already woken up and was lazily pacing on his perch.
Mela reached out and pulled the blanket up until it covered her entire face, as if that would allow her to sleep a little longer without being disturbed.
However, Lex knew very well that soon the aroma of pumpkin would lure Mela to stand up and sit at the table.
He ladled the steaming pumpkin soup into a bowl and placed it in front of Mela.
There was also a basket of white bread on the table, just right to be cut open and filled with fried bacon.
Sure enough, Mela ate with a satisfied expression.
Sometimes, Lex wondered if he was simply working on recipes every day to please Mela, or if he felt some secret pleasure from seeing Mela's satisfied expression.
"Lex! Why did you put carrot bits in the pumpkin soup!" Mela finally swallowed the food in her mouth, then immediately looked away with disgust, refusing to look at the pumpkin soup in the bowl again.
Ah, another failure. Lex let out a very soft sigh in his heart.
If Lex had known Mela hated carrots when they first arrived at the cabin, he would never have done this on purpose.
But now, Lex is finding a rare pleasure in trying to figure out a way to trick Mela into eating the carrot.
Unfortunately, Mela has not taken the bait even once so far.
After finishing breakfast and washing the dishes, Lex, as usual, carried a watering can to the back of the house to water the plants Mela had planted.
To be honest, these weren't plants that should have grown in the Dark Forest, but Mela often asked Ducwato to search for seeds for her and then plant them all in terracotta pots.
Perhaps the witch has a unique talent for planting, because every seed she plants sprouts. However, she must be very careful when tending to them, otherwise the plants that were fine yesterday may wither completely today.
For example, the red clover in front of Lex.
The slender branches seemed to be under immense pressure, almost bending to the ground.
Left with no other option, Lex had to ask Mela to come and see what was going on.
"Hmm." Mela squatted in front of the red clover, carefully examining it for a while, stroking its leaves, inserting her fingers into the soil, closing her eyes to feel it for a moment, and soon, she showed a somewhat troubled expression.
“No,” Mela shook her head. “This red clover is no longer viable. We can only move it to another open space for now, otherwise it is very likely that another red clover will suffer the same fate.”
Since Mela had said so, Lex naturally bent down, intending to move the pottery basin away.
However, Lex had only taken a couple of steps when he felt another indescribable pain in his leg. Just then, a small pebble in his path tripped him.
Lex then fell forward uncontrollably.
"Lex, are you alright?"
Because it all happened so fast, by the time Mela realized what was happening, Lex was already sitting on the ground, next to a broken ceramic pot and a mess of dirt.
Then Lex saw Mela crouch down beside him, her skirt brushing lightly against his arm.
Even though there was fabric between them, Lex involuntarily flinched, as if he had been burned.
"It's nothing," Lex heard himself reply.
He was indeed fine, except for a scraped area on his palm that was constantly throbbing slightly.
This is a minor injury; it doesn't even need bandaging. It will heal on its own in a couple of days.
“I think I noticed something was wrong with your leg just now. Does it hurt here?” Mela suddenly reached out and pinched Lex’s left leg.
Lex instinctively tried to pull his leg back, but Mela only tightened her grip, staring at him strangely and asking, "Why are you pulling back?"
Lex fell silent, unsure how to respond.
Seeing that Lex was determined to remain silent, Mela had no choice but to return to her original question, "Then you should at least tell me where your leg hurts, right?"
“...It doesn’t hurt at all,” Lex replied.
He was telling the truth. After the initial pain subsided, his leg returned to normal.
But Mela didn't seem to believe it.
“It really doesn’t hurt.” Lex had no choice but to repeat himself.
“Okay, okay, then it seems it’s not because you got some inexplicable injury, but rather…” Mela pondered for a moment, then her eyes lit up, clearly having figured out the reason, “It’s because you’re going to grow taller.”
"Growing taller?" Lex was puzzled. Why would growing taller cause leg pain? But since Mela had said so, perhaps that was the reason.
“I’m not lying to you. My father has encountered several children who had leg pains because they were growing taller. Often, when they finally grew up, they would be taller than average.”
As she spoke, Mela patted Lex on the shoulder with a smile, "Looks like you're going to grow really tall, Lex."
"Hmm," Lex responded softly.
Because of Mela's words, he inexplicably thought of what Fernandi had once mentioned: that the men of the Nurenger family were all exceptionally tall, and that in the portraits of his ancestors that he had seen in his childhood, there were ancestors with physiques as strong as bears.
However, Lex remembered that Mela had said, almost jokingly, that the men who pursued her in Whitepine Town were either very thin or as strong as oxen, and she didn't like them at all.
"Lex, what are you thinking about? Why are you suddenly spacing out?"
Mela waved her hand in front of Lex's eyes, instantly snapping him out of his chaotic thoughts.
"It's nothing. I'll clean up here first, then find a new ceramic pot to put this red clover in." Lex stood up, pretending to be nonchalant.
He knew that Mela had only asked casually, and that her curiosity was less than the small flame on a candle, and would soon disappear.
Sure enough, when evening came, Mela didn't mention his absent-mindedness again. Instead, she excitedly took a small spoonful of medicine to the pot.
He tried to pour it into the soup that Lex was cooking.
"What is this?" Lex had to stop Mela.
To prevent her from ruining the whole pot of soup by carelessly pouring in the medicine.
Mela had done something similar before. Back then, she thought that with Lex's cooking skills as a foundation, plus some herbs that she thought were good, she could definitely create a better soup.
The result was that the taste of that pot of soup was completely indescribable.
To say it tastes bad is not to the point of being unpalatable; to say it tastes good would be a complete lie.
In short, after this experience, Lex learned never to let Mela get close to food that is being cooked.
Therefore, this time, before Mela even got close to the pot, Lex stopped her.
Mela seemed to recall the good deeds she had done in the past, and as if suddenly realizing something, she said, "Oh right, this shouldn't be poured into the whole pot of soup, just into the bowl you want to drink."
Lex was puzzled: "?" What is this thing, and why is it being poured into his soup for him to drink?
"Don't worry, this is something I researched all afternoon. It's something that will make your legs stop hurting in the future," Mela assured her confidently.
As she spoke, she blinked and stared directly into Lex's eyes. "Don't you believe me?"
Given Mela's abilities, if she says that adding a spoonful of medicine to the soup and having Lex drink it can cure his leg pain, then it definitely can. But... since it's a problem caused by growing taller, it should heal naturally whether he drinks it or not.
“…I believe you,” Lex said.
He didn't want to see Mela lower her eyes and look disappointed.
Even if that was very likely a tactic put on by Mela to try and get him to compromise.
But since it's not poisonous, it might just make the soup taste a little worse, so what does it matter?
What's more, this was a potion that Mela spent an afternoon developing to relieve his leg pain.
Thinking this, Lex ladled out a bowl of soup and watched as Mela poured the potion in, then stirred it with a spoon until the two were mixed together and turned into a strange color.
Lex put the soup to his lips and tasted it.
He managed to keep his face from turning green with great difficulty.
It tastes absolutely awful.
It tasted like bile had been poured down my throat; it was incredibly bitter.
"Hahahaha." Seeing Lex drink the soup, Mela couldn't help but burst into laughter, her eyes revealing the slyness of someone who had successfully pulled off a prank.
She did it on purpose. Lex realized it immediately.
"Okay, it's true that it will stop your leg pain, but I deliberately made the taste different. You're not allowed to secretly give me carrots anymore, understand?"
Mela said, thinking herself to be very aggressive.
In fact, the vivid expression on her face made Lex pause for a moment.
It just felt like being brushed against by some soft animal; I had no intention of blaming her at all.
"It was his fault," Lex thought. "He shouldn't have forced Mela to eat the carrots she hated."
Therefore, he deserves to drink this soup with added ingredients.
Before he knew it, Lex had even finished the soup.
It wasn't actually that bad, Lex swallowed the last mouthful of soup.
At the same time, he realized with a clear mind that the problem wasn't with his sense of taste, but with his heart.
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Author's Note: Lex: The favoritism is so extreme it's blinded my five senses (shakes head)
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