North x Northwest

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Side story 3 – Liloa’s Chapter 1: The Fruit

“Why? If you just stop being annoyed, we don’t have to waste any more time either. Unless you think I’ll never be able to make up for it? I know it’s hard to do big things, but I have my arms and legs… How can you be so sure I can’t give you back even just a minute? Or, do you not consider a single minute worth the effort? How could someone who can’t spare a minute whine about his wasted hour? All your words are a mess! You’re an ill-tempered and incoherent little crab!”

“What? Little crab? You’re the one who doesn’t even know how to do it right!”

“If you think my digging is wrong, you can tell me! Why are you getting so mad without telling me anything? Of course, I do it the wrong way because you’re not teaching me! How about you, were you born knowing how to dig a furrow? If you think I’m useless, then someone pretending to be an adult should teach me. Do you want me to live as a useless being forever? Do you want me to remain as an annoying child who only knows how to keep her mouth shut? Is this your way of showing off because you’ve been so useful since you were born? It’s not me who’s annoying, it’s you!”

“…”

At the end of her speech, Liloa shouted out her most honest feelings.

“I don’t ever want to hear people say that sitting still is the best thing I can do! I wasn’t born to stay still!”contemporary romance

Silence fell over the garden when Liloa’s shouting came to a halt. The two locked their eyes on each other as their shoulders moved up and down with their breathing. The boy then swept his sweaty bangs using the back of his hand, soiling his smooth forehead. The look of irritation slowly disappeared from his flushed cheeks, and he asked a serious question.

“Are you sure?”

“…What?”

“You want to do one’s part? Is that what you mean?”

Liloa snorted and lifted her chin.

“At least your brain is smart enough to understand! I guess being a doctor isn’t nonsense after all, right?”

Now that the boy became impressed by Liloa’s boldness, he was no longer annoyed.

He quietly looked down at her and turned himself around.

“Follow me.”

Liloa quickly stood up and followed him, not even bothering to shake off the dirt from her skirt. Liloa looked up at the boy’s tall physique as she grabbed her dress and caught up with his steps. Under the Malus’ early summer sun, his sweat-soaked shirt clung to his back and glimmered. The cicadas* that woke up to welcome summer were chirping loudly.

Liloa hastily moved her feet and stuck next to him.

“But what kind of seeds were that?”

“Can’t help being curious, huh?”

“Yes! So tell me, what kind of seeds were that?”

“It’s the seed of a herb that has pain-relieving properties. It grows well in hot climates, so I brought it all the way to Malus to grow it.”

“Oh, you’re trying to grow herbs.”

‘I can’t believe he grows herbs by himself. Perhaps he really is a doctor. If that’s the case, his actions have been misunderstood…’

The thought upset Liloa, so she muttered to him.

“…You were actually doing something good, but you were misunderstood… The others saw you digging every day and it made them think you were burying a body. That’s why they called you a murderer…”

“I told you to be polite and call me doctor.”

“But… you were rude to me from the very beginning. So I don’t have to be polite to you. You’re actually the first person to treat me so arrogantly.”

“It looks like you grew up being treated very well.”

The boy’s remark was accompanied by a peek at her. Liloa felt a peculiar, incomprehensible emotion whenever he narrowed his eyes and gazed at her like that.

Liloa scowled and pursed her lips, attempting to suppress her feelings.

After a while, they reached the entrance of a small forest on one side of the garden. The dense mesh-like tree branches draped coolly over their heads and shoulders. The cool and refreshing scent of the trees spread along the wind, and the wings of birds could be heard intermittently through the leaves.

The boy soon pointed to a tree that wasn’t very high. It was full of fist-sized red fruits that were easily reachable by adults.

“Pick the fruits of that tree. I know you can’t use a ladder because you’re wearing a skirt, so try this instead.”

“..?”

He demonstrated the action using a thin wooden pole. At the end of the pole was a sharp metal bar similar to a hook, which was used to cut off the upper stem of the fruit, causing the fruit to fall down.

“Hold it like this and hold it firmly, once you hit the fruit lightly, it comes off easily. It’s not difficult.”

“Can the fruit fall directly on the ground?”

“It doesn’t matter, I’m going to juice it anyway.”

“…”

Liloa watched closely what the boy was doing. When he handed her the pole, she roughly imitated his actions and made the fruit drop. Just like the boy said, it didn’t take that much effort.

When Liloa moved her feet in search of the next viable fruit, the boy spoke from behind.

“Good. You’re a good observer and have sharp eyes. Actually, you also dug a decent furrow earlier.”

“..?”

At his unexpected compliment, Liloa jerked her head around to look at the boy, but the latter was trying his best to not look embarrassed.

“I’m not trying to be friendly, so don’t get me wrong.”

“…Then why?”

“I just figured that what you said was right. It’s unfair to be criticised without even being given a chance to make up for it. I apologise for belittling you.”

“…”

The boy turned around with a stiff expression on his face as if he was also embarrassed to apologise.

“Now, pick up the fruit and put it in the basket over there. This much will be enough.”

Liloa thought as she grabbed the fruit.

‘The boy is so strange. There must be dozens of servants to manage his mansion, but he moves and sweats his body as though it’s ordinary for him. And even though I volunteered to do it too, he had no qualms about putting me to work.’

Liloa was then reminded of the rising nobility that the people visiting the salons had criticised.

‘They earn by working, and they take pride in it… So, could he be an emerging noble?’

Liloa’s thoughts slowly turned defensive without even realising.

‘If a person does something good, such as growing medicinal herbs for healing people, they should be recognized for their work and rightfully rewarded with a title. However, the people in the salon simply and unreasonably criticise the new nobility for being vulgar.’

Liloa couldn’t follow those adults’ reasoning at all.

That night, Liloa covered herself with a blanket and reflected on her day. Although her shoulders were sore, the joy and satisfaction of jumping around eased her discomfort. She was indescribably proud of herself. The boy told her that the red fruit that she picked today could help disinfect wounds. He also explained that disinfection was a technique to clean the wound and prevent it from getting worse. It was truly rewarding for her to know that her own labour would help someone’s treatment. From that point on, she became even more detached in her comprehension of the grownups who labelled individuals, who utilised their bodies for labour, as vulgar.

But at the very next moment, Liloa suddenly became downcast and weakly pulled her blanket. She exhaled a frustrated breath. Her change in mood was because the boy told her that her harvest had been enough and that there was no need for her to come again. He said her work was equivalent to more than an hour’s worth of help, and that she did better than expected. Those praises came from the very doctor who had a high opinion of himself. And even though she was happy with the compliment, it also made her a bit disappointed, because she wanted to work there again. Picking up fruits felt much more meaningful than learning how to use a fan at the salon. Although she had to keep holding the pole while looking up at the tree, her whole body felt energised enough that she didn’t even notice that it was physically tiring. The moment she could help someone was nothing short of brilliant.

Moreover, the boy’s praise made Liloa’s heart flutter more than any praise she had ever heard. She never truly appreciated the compliments that were showered on her when she ‘stayed wonderfully still’. But the boy’s compliments were different. He didn’t find Liloa’s movements strange or rude, but rather praised her when she ‘moved brilliantly’. He didn’t hold back in predicting what her arms and legs could accomplish, and indeed, Liloa achieved it. For Liloa, the series of experiences she had with the boy were unfamiliar and overwhelming. But at the same time, it made her wonder why people kept telling her to stay still and maintain such a beautiful figure when she could move so well.

Liloa was tempted to ask the boy those questions.

‘He looks very smart, so maybe his answer will be unique and refreshing…’

Footnote:

Cicadas: …Cicadas are large insects made conspicuous by the courtship calls of the males. They are characterised by having three joints in their tarsi, and having small antennae with conical bases and three to six segments, including a seta at the tip… [WIKI]

For the people who aren’t familiar with the Cicada, you could compare it with a plain old cricket. Don’t take that statement too literally, though. There are big differences between them in terms of appearance and they don’t even belong to the same insect family, but the idea remains the same; a larger bug-like insect that creates sounds.

TN: Happy holidays everyone! Hope you have a wonderful time with friends and family.😊

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