Translator: Nox

Chapter 20

The Retired Saintess Raises House Prices Episode 20

Episode 20

Walking along following the sound of the stream amid the hooting of owls, I suddenly recalled going to a valley with my parents when I was little.

It was before Eun-hye was born.

The day I was their one and only daughter, their joy and pride.

I was happy.

When I helped up another kid who'd fallen in the valley, the child's grandmother approached, thanked me, and praised me to my mom and dad.

“Oh my, what a good girl. Your daughter is so smart and pretty.”

“Oh, thank you. Da-hye, you should thank Grandma too.”

“Thank you!”

“Aigoo, yes. So polite too.”

Hearing 'good girl' always made me happy.

That's why I met Mom and Dad.

“Da-hye is the most sensible and kind in our center. She takes good care of the younger kids and listens well to the teachers.”

“So you're Da-hye. Nice to meet you.”

“Hello. I'm Kim Da-hye, and I'm six years old.”

After that day, Mom and Dad visited the orphanage a few more times, spending time with me each visit.

“Da-hye, what do you think about living with Uncle and Auntie?”

“How would we live together?”

“If you, Auntie, and Uncle become a family, we can live together.”

“......Would you become my mom and dad?”

“If you want.”

My heart pounded like it would burst.

I knew babies had higher adoption rates.

The other teachers had said about me or the other older kids, 'They missed their chance.'

Not understanding why me of all people, I hesitated and rattled off excuses.

In my mind, I was recommending better 'babies' than me.

“......Jung-yeon is not even a year old yet, Ha-on just started walking, Tae-ho can't sleep at night without someone holding him......”

“Worried about the other kids?”

At the warm Auntie's voice, I bit my trembling lips and looked up at her.

“You might be happier adopting them. They're still babies. They don't know anything yet...... They'd adapt better. I'm already six......”

I trailed off mumbling.

I never imagined I'd repeat the words leaking from the director's office during baby adoptions.

But at my words, Auntie and Uncle just stared at me with wide eyes in surprise.

Auntie covered her mouth and turned her head.

I must've said something wrong.

“Sorry.”

At my apology, Uncle extended his hand. Thinking he wanted me to hold it, I awkwardly placed my hand atop his large one.

Uncle smiled broadly, his slightly reddened eyes crinkling in half-moons.

“No. Da-hye did nothing wrong. Uncle and Auntie have been married over eight years. If we had a child...... it would've been exactly your age. A pretty, kind six-year-old like you.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Even at six?”

“Six is perfect.”

I stared at my dark little hand atop Uncle's huge palm like a pot lid, then lifted my head.

“......Then, um, I, I'll be your daughter.”

“Will you?”

Auntie asked in a trembling voice, and I nodded vigorously.

“Yes. I do dishes and cleaning well, and I've memorized all the multiplication tables already! I can't do them backward yet, but I'll learn soon. I read well too, so sometimes I even read the newspaper for Semi teacher!”

“Really? Amazing, our Da-hye.”

Our Da-hye.

Auntie spread her arms and hugged me tight, whispering 'our Da-hye' in my ear.

Our.

Mom, Dad, me.

Us like this. The three of us a family.

I'm Mom and Dad's Da-hye now.

And so I started calling Auntie and Uncle Mom and Dad.

Then, miraculously, less than two years after adopting me, Mom got pregnant and gave birth to a daughter.

My little sister, Eun-hye.

Thankfully, even after their biological daughter Eun-hye was born, Mom and Dad loved me just as much.

They always called me their lucky charm, praised me as pretty and kind Da-hye, and proudly took me everywhere.

But why......

“Ack!”

My foot suddenly slipped, nearly tumbling down.

It was a cliff.

I'd clearly followed the stream sound down?

Where I sat was a rocky cliff with not a drop of water in sight.

The trickling sound from moments ago was gone.

Cold sweat trickled down my back.

Then, as if mocking me, a voice came from right below my feet, between the rocks.

【Trickle trickle.】

Someone with an eerie voice, impossible to tell male or female, mimicked a stream with their mouth. No space for even a bug, let alone a person.

Unable even to scream, I gasped in breath and spun around, running.

Branches scratched my face, spiderwebs clung, no moonlight penetrated—I couldn't see an inch ahead.

Why am I suddenly hearing ghost voices? Never happened before.

Despite saintess acting through countless ghost dens, I'd never glimpsed a shadow.

Why now......?

Ankle twisted, head smashed into tree roots, tumbling repeatedly—then a human voice sounded.

“Get lost.”

My heart sank again.

Though out of breath like my chest would burst, I couldn't even pant—clamping my mouth, I froze in place.

“I said she's not your mother anymore. She's become an evil spirit. Quietly get lost.”

This wasn't a ghost deceiving voice.

A real living person's. Even laced with irritation, annoyance dripping.

This rude tone—Lavel?

Meeting an enemy on a log bridge feels welcoming.

I approached him, then stopped.

Lavel irritably addressed empty air, as if others were there.

“What will you do if I drag her out? Wander the world with this evil spirit you can't handle? This one's already killed many in the forest. She's not the mother you know.”

No reply came, yet Lavel conversed fluidly, like with real people ahead.

I hid in the bushes, watching Lavel precariously perched on the cliff edge.

“What do you want me to do? You drowned at sea, Mom went mad and died—is that my fault?”

Making even the dead feel aggrieved.

Good. Definitely not a ghost—Lavel Winters for sure.

Never dreamed I'd feel relief meeting Lavel in my life.

Maybe from wandering the forest and nearly falling off a cliff—seeing a living person felt oddly welcoming.

Lavel, unaware of me, kept talking to nothing.

“Get lost. Your exploded faces are gross.”

Too much. Can't you listen to ghosts a bit?

They must have reasons for their bloated faces.

I knew from the novel Lavel was an empathy-lacking psycho male lead, but not to this degree.

Hearing it firsthand hurt even as a bystander.

Hell would welcome Lavel more.

As pity welled for these vague existences, Lavel's broad back twitched.

“......What, who's there?”

He whipped his head around.

His blood-red eyes met mine, hidden in the bushes.

“Saintess Shuana?”