Neighbour
The young boy and girl joined us around the fire at night with Leah’s help. Angelina tossed some meat into the pot of soup suspended above the flame. The young girl took care of the young boy after she came to as though they were siblings. She carefully helped him onto the ground and looked at our pot with anticipation in her eyes. When she made eye contact with Leah, she used a hand gesture that we interpreted as her begging us to share some food with them.
Veirya looked at me for direction, and I nodded. There was no need to lash out at a child. Leah filled up two bowls and carefully passed them to the girl. The girl went onto her knees and bowed. I reactively went to help her up. Kneeling to us was being far too formal. There was no need for a child to go that far, in my opinion. However, everyone reacted in a surprised manner, including the two of them, thereby making me feel awkward. I blanked out for a second or two then sat back down…
The young girl didn’t utter a word, so I assumed she was mute. The boy was more mature and bold than her. I swept my gaze over the two heads of black hair, three heads of silver hair then recalled Sisi’s burgundy long hair. There was also the late Edward’s blonde hair. None of them had the black hair I was familiar with. I got used to their hair colours after spending so long with them, but black hair was still what I considered most “normal”. That was why I was puzzled when I saw the two kids with black hair. What surprised me most was that their eyes and hair were black as mine were. Also, there was that odd kneel… I could name a certain group of people similar to them…
“By the way, Count Lin, when we were at your town, the daughter of the tavern owner told me to bring this to you.” The boy took out a torn paper back from his shirt and placed it on the ground. Fortunately, the pouch was sturdy.
I asked, “Ear dish?”
“I do not know. I just brought it with me.”
“Why did you bring it to me if you were going to assassinate me? If you succeeded, you wouldn’t need to give it to me.”
Although I thought he was a skilled assassin, I suspected an intellect deficiency… He wasn’t even on Ross’ level…
“… Do the two conflict with each other? I promised to bring you something, and I want to kill you. They are not the same, are they? Why do they conflict with each other?”
Okay, Kiddo, whatever you say.
I didn’t want to debate the issue with a kid. Although the two apparently dropped their guards around us, they could’ve just been looking for another opportunity to try and come for me again. Either way, I just had to leave them to doctors after reaching the imperial capital. A pair of unarmed siblings wouldn’t be a threat for us in the imperial capital.
The boy was embarrassed about being fed in front of people. Plus, he fractured his leg, not his arms. More importantly, though, he didn’t want to hut the girl’s feelings, so he awkwardly ate, trying to finish and escape her pressure as soon as possible. Anna however seemed to care about them, going out of her to spare some for them.
Inquisitive, Leah queried, “Are you two lovers?”
“Pfft!”
Out went the soup. The young girl quickly placed down the bowl and stroked the boy’s back as he coughed profusely. He wiped his mouth and explained, “No! We’re not lovers! She’s just my younger sister! You heard that right!”
Yeah, usually anybody who says that has fantasies about their so-called sister. That is the first law of Lin Dongqing’s laws of the universe. Note that down, readers.
“Oh, sister…” Leah remarked with a nod.
The young girl frantically pointed to her mouth and waved her hand.
Leah replied, “Oh, so similar to my elven sister… Sister Linna can’t see…”
I assumed the young girl might’ve been born mute as I didn’t spot any exterior wounds.
“Judging from your skills, you’re not very cruel assassins. If my conjecture is correct, you didn’t train to be killers. What did you want here?” questioned Angelina, arms folded. “You don’t have an aggressive and violent aura. You’re more similar to soldiers than assassins.”
The two kids exchanged eye contact. The girl didn’t seem to understand, but her brother did. He didn’t reply, possibly because it was a private matter. That said, he could’ve been shy or insulted. Angelina didn’t press them for answer nor did I. Instead, I asked what I was most concerned with. “Does everybody look the way you do where you came from?”
“Hmm?” responded the boy.
I cleared my throat and chose a different approach. “What I meant was does everybody look the way you do with black hair and eyes? So, do you all look different to us?’
“Yes.”
My fingers shook rhythmically. Their appearance was similar to one I was familiar with. I didn’t miss home because the South wasn’t the origins of the ceramic products Albert sold. He obtained them from the East. Therefore, it shouldn’t have been the country that was famous for producing silk…
China’s old neighbours popped into mind… If my assumption was correct, I had a good reason to make a trip there… I needed to see what was going on. Obviously, that was attributed to my own curiosity.
MYSD Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/wjzmysd
Previous Chapter l Next Chapter
