Chapter 3

“Really?”

Mister Robin Hood’s eyes glinted in interest.

But then, I saw him shake his head roughly for a moment and took the bottle of wine in his hand.

“I can’t even imagine how violent it is.”

“That’s why even the noble ladies are stamping their feet.”

“Why?”

“Why you say. The Crown Prince said that he will grant any wishes of the person who succeed. Isn’t that a great opportunity to become the Crown Princess? But the question is, who can approach a leopard that big? I’m sure, any girl will faint even from just seeing it from afar. Ha ha ha ha.”

The more I listened, the more tempted I became. Mister One-eye is really a good talker, but what he said caught my interest.

[Anyone who could cure the leopard, will be granted a wish. ]

If that’s true, it means that it doesn’t matter if it’s money, honor or even position. I’ll be able to get whatever I want at once!

I can’t confirm it because I don’t have a mirror, but now my eyes must be glistening like a glass bead right now.

I eventually got up and approached them like I was possessed.

“By the way, Your Highness has such a unique taste. Of all the animals, how in hell did he thought of raising a leopard?”

“How can I know what the high people think?”

“Excuse me, mister.”

“Eeek! you surprised me.”

Mister Robin Hood was terribly surprised. I threw the bait first with a smile on my face.

“Are you hunters?”

“Yes, little miss.”

I was agitated by the word ‘little miss’, for a while but luckily, I was able to keep the smile on my face.

Maria is 16 years old right now. She’s ten years younger than me and she had a bright face.

I might seem like a small girl in the eyes of a haggard old man, but I’m still unhappy to be treated like a little kid.

Well, that’s not what’s important right now.

“Then did you make this leather vest from the creature you hunted yourself?”

“Yep, it was from a hideous black bear. I fought very hard to catch this guy.”

“Wow! That’s amazing!”

When I exclaimed and even clapped my hands together, the shoulder of Mister one-eye went up to heaven.

I thought this was enough, so I didn’t miss the atmosphere and continued.

“But, about what you said earlier. Are you serious about that?”

“That, His Highness, the Crown Prince is looking for someone to cure his leopard?”

“Well, I’ll tell you. This place is a bit far from the capital so it hasn’t spread here yet but there’s already a lot of buzz around the capital.”

“Really?”

“Yep, I told you so. Why? Do you know any veterinarians around here?”

“Yes.”

I smiled brightly with my eyes crinkling.

I know a competent veterinarian who can talk to animals and she’s already right in front of you!

◆◇◆◇◆

I went to the backyard with extra light footsteps today.

I hummed and sang la la la as I walked along with the baked bread in my hand.

I could see a Boraeng-i lying down under the tree like usual.

“Bo~Raeng~Ah! I’m here!”

Boreang wriggled his eyebrows and slowly opened his eyes.

I soon crouched in front of him and stroked his neck. Waah, how soft and nice.

“How are you?”

[Fine. You look so happy today.]

Yes, I feel happy indeed.

I tore the bread that I had brought and put it in a bowl, and I also put the crushed sweet potato I had put in my apron beautifully next to it.

“Eat a lot, Boraeng-ah.”

[Eung, thank you.]

Then Boraeng-i started eating his late lunch slowly.

A smile naturally came out of my lips when I saw him deliciously eating his meal. When I saw that the water bowl was empty, I ran to the restaurant and got him some fresh water.

After confirming that Boraeng had already finished his meal, I whispered in a small voice like a I’m holding some kind of secret.

“You know, I might go to Hardel if I do well.”

[Hmm? What’s that?]

“It’s the capital of this country. Uhm, that means it’s the most important place.”

I tried to explain it kindly, but I guess Boraeng-i didn’t understand it…

He doesn’t even know what I’m talking about so I grabbed his cheeks with both of my hands and squished it painlessly.

Of course, with a big smile on my face.

“Boraeng-i is really cute!”

[Im mah eysh, sho kyucher.]

“Huh?”

[In mah eysh, yow cucher]

“In your eyes, I’m cuter?”

[Eung.]

His pronunciation became like that because I’m squishing his cheeks and it turns out that he’s actually saying that I’m cuter.

No, you silly Boraeng-ah. To my eyes, you’re a hundred and ten thousand times cuter!

I patted Boraeng-i’s head repeatedly and continued the conversation in easier words.

“There’s a big town far far away from here. His Majesty the Crown Prince lives there, and his leopard is very sick. So I’m going to go see if I can be the one who can cure the leopard.”

[Prince? ]

“Yes. You can think of him as rich person.”

[I see. Is the leopard hurting a lot?]

“I don’t know. They say it’s being violent, but maybe it’s because it’s sick.”

“Yes.”

Boraeng-i’s tail swayed slightly.

[You’ll do fine]

Boraeng-i’s unexpected compliment raised the corners of my mouth.

“Thank you.”

[But don’t go.]

“……eh? “

Hey! You just said I’ll do a just fine but why?

“You don’t want me to go? “

[Eung]

“Why?”

[Because I’ll be lonely without Maria.]

“Boraeng-ah…. “

Overwhelmed by emotions, I hugged Boraeng-i’s neck and rubbed my cheeks on him. Then I kissed him on the nose.

“I’ll feel sad without you too. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to think of you even if I leave. I’ll be right back!”

[Eung, thank you, Maria]

“Thank you so much.”

I gave him another big kiss of gratitude. Then we chatted a little more before I went back home.

◆◇◆◇◆

I unconsciously stopped walking when I’m almost in front of the house.

Then the door suddenly opened and I ran into someone. It was Rose, Maria’s younger sister.

I frowned for a moment then my eyes widened and I raised my voice.

“Isn’t that my dress?”

“It’s mine.”

Liar.

The clothes Rose were wearing is quite familiar to me even at first glance.

I washed it and hung it before I went to the restaurant yesterday, and that’s yours?

I just stared at her with a blank smile, then Rose snorted and walked away in the opposite direction from me.

‘Uwaa, this brat–‘

If we were inside the house, I would have really done it but were outside, I don’t want to become a spectacle for fighting my sister in the alley.

What can I do? As a generous older sister, of course, I need to hold it in.

“Haaah… “

I sighed on the empty alley.

For a 13-year-old, Rose has a very mature appearance. She was so matured that people who didn’t know us often mistook that she was the older sister. She’s an absolute western beauty.

But that’s just her appearance, her personality is trash.

She pretends to be nice and pretty in front of other people, but strangely enough, she only shows her true colors generously when she’s alone with Maria.

(t/n: oh, we have a Mielle 2.0 here)

At first, I thought she was really a nice kid. She burst into tears and hugged me, Maria, when she discovered that her sister had woken up.

But as soon as Aunt Mary left, her attitude suddenly changed.

“Why did you wake up? Just die.”

She glared at me so fiercely that I thought a laser was coming out of her eyes for a moment.

Since then, it has been literally a spectacle.

When she found out that I had lost my memory, she openly laughed at me and abused me like Cinderella’s stepmother.

(t/n: and she’s what? 13? Wtf girl ur already a biatch at 13? Wtf?)

What? You’re asking me why I’m just holding it in?

I absolutely did not!

Knowing that the original Maria was nice and gentle, I tried to bear it as much as possible at first, but her sarcastic manner every time she passed me really gets to my bones.

“Yaaah!!! “

Eventually I rushed like an angry bison and grabbed Rose’s hair, ready to ripped it out.

Rose seemed embarrassed by my sudden change of attitude, but she soon grabbed my hair as well and we began pulling each other’s hair.

What was more upsetting was her attitude after that.

“What’s going on here?! “

I turned my head to the source of the voice and I surprised to find Aunt Mary there. She looks surprised too.

“Mother…. Heuk….”

The sound of sobbing made me look in front of me. Tears were dripping from Rose’s eyes.

Her hands, which had been tearing my hair like a radish, had already returned to its place.

“Mother…. O-older sis… She suddenly… “

“No! It’s not like that!”

I had to sweat out my explanation with my hands shaking. And later, I found out that the reason why Rose is treating me like that is because Maria is not her biological sister.

After that, Rose and I had became enemies since that day.

Sometimes, Rose wouldn’t spare me and says sarcastic remarks like [The reason you’re alive must have been because you’re crazy huh?] and of course, I also didn’t lose and said, [That’s right, I’m crazy. What are you going to do about it?] as a rebut.

But I only do that once in a while.

It feels pathetic to have a childish argument with a kid who is only half my age after all. I almost let out another sigh.

Shaking my head, I opened the door late and entered the house. And as soon as I entered my room on the second floor, I lay down on the bed.

Originally, I had to learn letters by reading a book that was so damn difficult, but I didn’t want to do anything today.

I clenched my hands and look at the thousand pages that I still have to read while I’m still laying on my bed.

In fact, Maria’s life wasn’t that bad. To put it simply, it’s like a steady flowing stream.

When I wake up in the morning, I eat, do housework, help with restaurant work, study, eat and sleep and repeat.

It was so different from my original life when I was back in Korea. I’m originally active and outgoing, so I don’t usually stay home on weekends.

But there was nowhere to go and nothing to do here. That’s why I said that I would help out with the family’s restaurant business. I was wondering if it could relieve my boredom even just a little by doing that.

I can’t have a fun life here because the environment is so different. I also found it very hard to get attached to anyone or anything. It was safe to say that sharing stories with animals is the only thing I enjoy in this world.

‘…..do I have to keep living like this?’

An extremely ordinary, monotonous life, without anything new.

Thinking that I would live like this until I die scared me a little bit.

Sometimes, when I opened my eyes in the middle of the night, I feel the emptiness.

The more I think about the fact that I would never be able to go back to my old life, the more my desire to live a more lively life in this life grew bigger and bigger.

[Anyone who could cure the leopard, will be granted a wish. ]

In the meantime, what I heard was nothing short of a sweet rain on dry land.

How long as it been?

After thinking for a while, I made up my mind. I’ll go to Hardel, where the Crown Prince and the Leopard live!

[Lohin, year 26, month xx, day xx,

I heard good news today. It’s about thr Crown Prince of this country and his leopard… He’s looking for someone who could cure it, and I think I should to go see it.

Boraeng-i gave his support to me. It breaks my heart to leave Boraeng behind.

I’ll give you lots of delicious food when I get back!

I’ll go to Hardel by ship. I will check the date of the ship’s departure on the port tomorrow.

I will also go to the market tomorrow. I’m glad I saved a lot of money.]

-The Diary of Maria, who’s still having trouble with the letters.-

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