<Episode 10>
“I hate Herwin, huuuhuuu, I really hate him……”
The crying, mixed with resentment, didn't stop.
Creatures living in the mountain, such as birds, squirrels, and rabbits, stared blankly at the crying Lucia. In the midst of this, the animals' ears all turned backward at once.
The animals all discovered something and began to flee in a hurry.
Grrr-
An unfamiliar growl was heard nearby. Lucia stopped crying and turned around.
“Uh, uh……?”
Something huge and brown was visible through her blurry vision. After wiping away her tears, she could tell what was approaching her.
“A, a stray dog?”
Approaching Lucia was a stray dog wandering through the forest.
To an adult, it was only a medium-to-large size, but to Lucia, who was only eight years old, it felt as scary as a wolf.
Woof! Woof! Grrr-!
“Mommy… Daddy……”
Lucia, her legs giving way, sat down on the ground. All she could do was move her bottom backward.
The dog bared its teeth as if it would harm the child in front of it at any moment.
Even the saliva dripping onto the grass was terrifyingly scary.
Grrr, Kwaang!
Lucia instinctively protected her head with both arms and squeezed her eyes shut.
Yelp-yelp!
Suddenly, the dog's moan was heard.
When she opened her closed eyes, the dog that had been right in front of her was collapsed.
“Get away from Lucia!”
“He, Herwin……!”
Herwin was panting, holding a fist-sized rock, from the path Lucia had come from.
Coincidentally, there was also a large rock where the dog had fallen.
Thwack!
Herwin threw the rock at the stray dog again. The dog dodged the rock with a quick movement.
“I said get away from Lucia!”
This time, Herwin took out the wooden sword hanging from his waist.
The dog, startled by Herwin rushing at it with his sword raised, took a step back.
As the dog moved away from Lucia, Herwin quickly approached her side.
And he stood in front of Lucia, gripping his sword again.
Lucia's wet, blue eyes stared at the back in front of her.
Even though it was the small back of a child who didn't even reach adulthood, it felt as huge as her father, Johann.
Lucia couldn't take her eyes off the small back of his head, where his black hair fluttered.
The frightened dog, thinking it could easily win, had already begun to bare its teeth again, pressuring the two children.
Herwin swallowed hard, unnoticed by others, and didn't let go of his tension.
‘It’s okay, I can do it.’
He hadn't been learning swordsmanship for show. His father had praised him for having talent, hadn't he?
Herwin believed in his abilities and glared at the dog with his red eyes wide open.
Kwaang!
The dog leaped high, revealing its sharp teeth without hesitation.
Herwin showed no sign of wavering and raised his wooden sword.
Thwack! Yelp!
Fortunately, the wooden sword that Herwin swung managed to hit its target properly.
The dog, hit in the face, rolled around on the ground.
Blood trickled down from the dog's head. The dog's eyes, staggering from the impact, changed in an instant.
The dog rushed in threateningly once again.
“Kugh!”
“Herwin!”
The dog opened its mouth wide and climbed onto Herwin. If he hadn't had the wooden sword, a dizzying situation would have unfolded.
Woof! Grrr! Woof woof!
The sharp teeth began to chew on the wooden sword as if it were a dog treat. The dog aimed for Herwin's neck and pressed down with increasing force.
It was too much for an eight-year-old child to handle the power of a rampaging beast.
Knowing that if he backed down here, not only he but also Lucia would be seriously injured, Herwin gritted his teeth and glared at the dog right in front of him.
Lucia's body, sitting down, trembled like an aspen tree. Fear washed over her that Herwin might get hurt.
Lucia quickly looked around. Then, the rock that Herwin had thrown came into her view.
Lucia crawled towards it and quickly picked up the rock. And she staggered to her feet.
“Yaah!”
Lucia's voice echoed loudly.
Naturally, the dog's gaze also turned to Lucia.
Her legs were trembling, and she felt like she was about to burst into tears, but Lucia didn't let go of the rock in her hand.
“Don’t hurt Herwin!”
Lucia squeezed her eyes shut and threw the rock with all her might.
It wasn't as strong as Herwin, but it was close enough that the rock hit the dog's head.
Yelp!
Taking advantage of the weakening pressure, Herwin quickly swung his sword.
The dog, hit properly in the side, backed away, and he quickly got up.
The dog's energy had subsided a lot. It had decided that there was no chance of winning if it kept getting hit.
The dog glanced at Lucia and Herwin with its limping body and then ran away.
“Huk, huuk, huk……”
Worried that it might come back, he kept watching the place where the dog had run away, but even after time passed, the dog didn't return.
Only then, relieved, Herwin wiped away the sweat streaming down and turned around.
“Lucia, are you okay?”
“Uu, uuu… Herwin.”
Lucia sobbed and hugged Herwin.
“I, I was scared……!”
“That’s why I told you not to go too deep. There are more dangerous beasts than stray dogs here.”
“Sniff, sniff, uuh… I, I was wrong……”
Lucia stuttered, panting.
The soft brown hair tickled Herwin's cheek.
When he first saw Lucia in front of the stray dog, his heart had dropped, but now it had returned to its place.
As the tension completely eased, Herwin felt like he was about to cry like Lucia. He tried his best not to cry so that he wouldn't show her an unsightly appearance in front of her.
“Don’t ever go into the forest alone again. Got it?”
“Yeah, uuh!”
“And here, this.”
Herwin wiped away Lucia's tears with his own hands and held out what he had put in his pocket.
“Oh? A four-leaf clover……”
“I found it after you left. I’ll give you this, so don’t cry anymore.”
“You’re giving it to me?”
“……Well, you went into the forest because of me.”
Herwin, meeting her tearful eyes, blushed and turned his head away. At the same time, he placed the four-leaf clover in Lucia's hand.
The four-leaf clover was withering as if the leaves would fall off at any moment, but to Lucia, it was more precious than anything else.
“He, hehe…….”
As Lucia regained her smile, Herwin glanced at her.
“Okay, let’s go now.”
“Sniff, yeah!”
The two of them held hands tightly and came out of the forest.
Their tightly clasped hands were wet with sweat. It was unpleasant enough to shake it off, but neither of them let go of their clasped hands. They held each other's hands tightly, afraid of letting go.
* * *
When the children, who had safely come down from the mountain, arrived at the Duke's residence, the mansion was turned upside down.
“Oh my! Herwin! What happened!”
“Why are both of your clothes like that?”
Herwin and Lucia's clothes were a mess with dirt and grass stains.
Lucia was relatively fine because all she had done was fall on her bottom, but Herwin had rolled around on the ground with the dog, so not only his clothes but also his face and hair were covered in dirt.
It was obvious at a glance that something had happened.
“Did you fall or something? But your condition is a bit strange for that……”
“I fought with a dog.”
Herwin said confidently in response to Scarlet's question.
“What?”
“A stray dog was threatening Lucia, so I defeated it.”
It was an unbelievable story. However, the faces of the two children were too serious to dismiss it as a lie.
“Were you seriously injured anywhere? Did the dog bite you?”
Scarlet carefully wiped Herwin's face and asked.
“I’m okay… but my wooden sword is broken.”
The wooden sword was full of scratches and sharp teeth marks. It was a part that showed how fiercely he had fought.
Until then, the adults who hadn't believed the children began to stir.
Scarlet couldn't even speak. She was proud of her son, but the fact that he could have been seriously injured brought fear.
“First of all, let’s get you checked by a doctor in case you have any injuries.”
“Yes.”
Scarlet quickly moved the servants to call a doctor.
While the people were moving in an orderly manner, Julian asked Lucia about her condition. However, she didn't even hear him, as if she couldn't take her eyes off Herwin.
“Herwin!”
In the midst of this, Lucia called Herwin with all her might.
“I like Herwin the most! So I’m definitely going to marry Herwin!”
Lucia's bombshell statement instantly silenced the noisy hall.
Hyle and Johann, who had rushed over in a hurry after hearing the news that Herwin and Lucia were injured, Lucas and Henry, who had changed into new clothes, and the other servants.
Everyone couldn't speak and looked at Lucia.
She revealed the emotion of love, which she had never shown before, clearly in her clear blue eyes and blushed.
“Huh…….”
Julian, who was examining Lucia, let out a hollow sound.
Even though everyone was embarrassed, the person most shaken by the statement was Herwin.
He could immediately feel that an emotion he hadn't been able to see even a few minutes ago was directed at him.
Thump, thump, thump.
Whether it was because he had received Lucia's confession, his quiet heart revealed its presence.
Just as Herwin's face was about to turn red, the children standing far away came into his view.
Whisper, whisper.
The Gods' children were looking at Lucia and Herwin and talking among themselves.
Thump, thump, thump……!
This time, his heart was pounding for a different reason. The tickling sensation had turned into a queasiness, bringing discomfort and fear.
Once he became aware of them, he could see that the eyes of all the adults around him were directed at him.
He felt nauseous.
Herwin's complexion, which had been about to turn red, turned pale in an instant.
“I, I don’t like it!”
Herwin rejected Lucia's confession and hurriedly left the scene.
The atmosphere, which had been stiff with embarrassment, now cooled down eerily.
The servants turned their eyes to Lucia, forgetting to breathe, worried that their breathing would be annoying.
Lucia, who had suddenly made a public confession, was one thing, but Herwin's public rejection also made the atmosphere freeze.
“……Lucia, are you okay?”
Julian carefully asked, watching Lucia's expression.
Everyone watched the little lady with tension in their hearts.
She's definitely going to cry…….
The adults, who had been waiting for the moment when Lucia would cry, were puzzled by the child's appearance, which remained quiet even after time passed.
“……Lucia?”
Surprisingly, Lucia overturned everyone's expectations.
She wasn't that sad or embarrassed about being rejected. She was just blankly watching the place where Herwin had disappeared.
Despite the somewhat embarrassing situation, Lucia didn't make a crying face, but rather pouted her lips as if she had made a firm decision.
“Mommy, let’s go wash up.”
“Oh? Are you going to be okay……?”
“Yes! You said I need to wash up. Let’s go quickly!”
As if nothing had happened, Lucia took Julian's hand and led her to the stairs.
