-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 40
Chapter Title: The Bear-Like Boy
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The voice was so loud that I instinctively turned my head.
Not because I expected it to be calling me.
But soon enough, my eyes went wide.
The owner of that booming voice was someone I knew.
And he was approaching me with a bright, sunny face.
The hulking guy who had bawled his eyes out right in front of me before—like a bear of a man.
He pushed through the crowd, arms loaded with bags and packages, until he stood right before me.
“Thank goodness I found you. I was worried I might miss you.”
The man looked overjoyed, like he didn’t know what to do with himself.
‘What’s up with this guy?’
I was just stunned.
“Me? You were looking for me?”
“Yes. Since we couldn’t meet last time, I searched even harder.”
He was so thrilled it felt like I could practically see his tail wagging behind him.
He looked like a Doberman, but his behavior was pure Golden Retriever.
Wait, but why was he looking for me?
“Hey? Isn’t that…?”
Billy, who’d been escorting me as my guard, let out a sound like he recognized the man.
“Fancy meeting you again.”
The man dipped his head slightly, clearly recognizing Billy too.
“Ah, yes. Good to see you again.”
They exchanged awkward greetings, and an uneasy air hung between them.
The man hesitated in front of me.
Mae and Bell’s curious stares bored right into us.
‘Doesn’t this big lug know he’s being a nuisance in a marketplace?’
“Do you have business with me?”
“Yes! I do!”
He answered like he’d been waiting for that exact question.
“Then let’s move somewhere quieter. This is a place of business, after all.”
“Anywhere works for me.”
I led the enthusiastically nodding man to a less crowded outskirts area.
Billy, of course, gripped my hand tightly and followed close.
He hadn’t let go even when I ate that blueberry pie earlier.
Ever since he’d lost me once, Billy had gotten extremely cautious.
We reached a spot with fewer people, but the man still couldn’t bring himself to speak right away.
He fidgeted, glancing between me and Billy, then cautiously broached the subject.
“That time you got hurt…”
“I’m fine!”
I cut him off in a panic.
His eyes went wide at my urgent shout.
After that whole disappearance fiasco, I’d gotten my butt spanked by Mom.
—Espin, how did you hurt your hand?
—Oh, well…
If she found out I’d gotten hurt trying to talk to someone from behind for revenge, I’d be in even bigger trouble.
I scrambled for an excuse.
—I got distracted while watching something and almost fell down the stairs, but someone grabbed me and saved me!
I was impressed by my own quick thinking.
Perfect alibi. Time to pat myself on the back.
But Mom’s expression, which had softened a bit after spanking me, sharpened again.
—How distracted do you have to be to almost fall down the stairs? That could’ve been really bad! Do you plan to keep spacing out like that?
—Mom! It was all my fault! Just not the butt spanking!
—What do you mean, no? You keep making me worry! If it weren’t for that kind person, you could’ve been seriously hurt! Don’t you know how bad a stair fall can be? And you spaced out in such a dangerous spot?
What I thought was a perfect excuse turned into round two.
Anyway, thanks to my fib, the bruise on my wrist became a badge of honor from my “savior.”
Dragging this out would only risk the truth coming out, and nothing good would come of that.
My parents would flip if they knew.
‘Add lying to the charges, and it might not end with just a spanking…’
So I cut the man off quick.
“My wrist is perfectly fine now.”
Time had passed, and the bruise was long gone.
I shot him meaningful glances and mouthed warnings to watch his words.
He looked puzzled, like he wasn’t sure if he got it.
‘Why’s he making that blank face? It’s making me nervous!’
But there was one quick-on-the-uptake person here.
Billy piped up like he’d just realized something.
“Ah! Could you be the one who helped our young lady that time…?”
The word “helped” made the man’s eyes go round.
‘Ugh, so clueless!’
“Yeah! That’s right!”
Before he could blurt anything, I jumped in and confirmed it.
He still seemed confused, rolling his eyes awkwardly.
“What did I…”
Good grief, built like a bear and clueless like one too.
“You grabbed me when I almost fell down the stairs last time! Sure, it left a bruise on my wrist, but you stopped me from getting seriously hurt!”
I explained it all bubbly and detailed on purpose.
There, he gets it now, right?
Just play along!
He finally caught on late, freezing up.
“So you’re the one who helped our young lady! Our master has been wanting to thank you personally!”
Billy beamed and expressed our gratitude.
“Ah, I, uh…”
The man fidgeted uncomfortably.
‘Please, don’t say anything stupid!’
I glared at him in warning.
He stiffened up like a gun was pointed at him.
He knew he’d messed up, but being cast as the helpful hero clearly didn’t sit right.
“Please visit the Samuel estate anytime. The master would be delighted.”
Suddenly inviting him home?
“Huh? The Samuel Count estate?”
Surprisingly, the man seemed more shocked by our family name than the invitation itself.
He stared at me in disbelief.
Then he started trembling like he’d realized something.
“W-Wait, are you Espin Samuel?”
“You know me?”
He startled and looked at me.
His reaction felt oddly suspicious.
If he knew me, he wouldn’t have asked my name just now.
Had he heard rumors about me?
As I narrowed my eyes, observing him, he flinched and suddenly bellowed.
“No, no!”
“Jeez, you scared me. Just say you don’t know if you don’t.”
“No, that’s not it. The invitation is fine!”
“Yeah, what invitation? I don’t want him coming to our house.”
I didn’t want this guy showing up at home either, so I tried to shut it down.
“It’s not my decision. The master said if we ever ran into you by chance, we had to invite you.”
Billy didn’t back down.
The man fidgeted some more, then abruptly thrust a large paper bag from under his left arm toward me.
“Here! I was looking for you to give you this!”
It landed in my arms like he’d tossed it, so I ended up taking it reflexively.
The bag was huge—I had to wrap my arms wide around it.
“What’s this?”
“A gift.”
“A gift? What kind?”
“Uh, an apology—er, just a gift.”
He started to say something then switched it up fast.
I caught on quick: he’d prepared it to apologize for hurting me last time.
But for an apology gift, one would’ve sufficed.
What, did he buy out the whole store?
At least he hadn’t handed over the bag from his other side.
“Since you went to the trouble, I’ll gratefully accept the gift.”
I hesitated briefly, then took it.
Any back-and-forth might lead to him slipping up.
“Thank you for accepting it.”
Accepting the apology gift meant I accepted his apology.
He let out a relieved sigh once I took it.
Just when it seemed our awkward situation was wrapping up…
“Are you showering our young lady with gifts right now?”
Billy’s icy voice cut between us.
The odd phrasing made both me and the man freeze.
“Billy, that sounds really weird.”
I tried to hint carefully, but Billy’s demeanor was off.
“Young lady, it’s not normal for someone to dump gifts on you without reason.”
No, that’s not…
Well, originally, yeah.
But this was an apology gift.
My mouth itched to spill the truth, but I couldn’t.
The man looked troubled too but didn’t clarify it was an apology gift.
“I didn’t ask because it seemed incredibly rude.”
Billy paused after that.
The man tensed up, like something huge was coming.
I was on edge too, not knowing what he’d say.
Billy eyed him up and down seriously.
“How old are you?”
“Pardon?”
The man gave a clumsy, baffled response.
Billy launched into a tirade at him.
“I mean, how old are you to be making moves on our young lady?”
I gaped at Billy’s gaze, like he was staring down a potential criminal.
What was up with the usually sharp guy?
“No, it’s not like that!”
Billy turned dead serious at my frantic defense.
“Young lady, get a grip. Child marriages were common back in the day, but not anymore. The world’s changed. An adult approaching a young lady like you is a pervert.”
Billy’s tone was utterly grave.
The man, suddenly branded a pervert, froze without a word.
“I thought you were a good person, but I’m disappointed.”
At Billy’s final nail, the man shook himself alert.
He finally seemed to grasp the situation, face flushing beet red.
He flapped his mouth in panic, then shouted with an indignant look.
“I’m sixteen this year.”
Like he was protesting he wasn’t an adult preying on kids.
But that made me and Billy freeze solid.
I knew his face looked youthful.
He had that boyish vibe at first glance.
That’s why his build felt so at odds.
But he was even younger than I’d guessed.
I figured he was at least high school age in modern terms.
I thought he just had killer baby face.
‘He really is just a kid.’
Suddenly, his actions made sense.
Crying his eyes out shamelessly in front of me, those pure, unguarded expressions now.
It was because he was still a boy.
“Y-You’re really…?”
Billy muttered in disbelief, and the man nodded with a pouty face.
“Really.”
“I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”
Billy apologized hastily.
“It’s a misunderstanding I get often because of my size.”
Seemed like an old story; he looked downcast but not angry.
Billy felt even worse at his calm attitude and apologized again.
“I’m sorry for my rash words.”
“It’s really fine.”
The man waved it off like he meant it.
Billy hesitated, lips twitching, then carefully added.
“Still, our young lady is too young.”
His serious expression was more intense than ever.
I Thought I Was the Protagonist
