Chapter 173

173 Stay at Home

“You like her, right?”

Hearing Owen’s words, Kai’s cheeks slowly turned red again.

“Who the hell said that?! I didn’t!” Kai denied quickly, but Owen certainly did not believe it that easily.

“You know, your face and demeanor really show that you’re fascinated with Kalea,” Owen said still trying to get Kai to admit it.

“Being fascinated and being in love are different! Besides, Lea is really pretty, you think so too, right?”

“Yeah, but it’s still different if it’s you. You like her.”

“Lower your voice, what if someone hears it?”

“There’s no one but the two of us, you idiot.”

Owen smiled mockingly at Kai who could no longer deny his words. It was not a year or two that he had been friends with Kai, he had known the man with the scarlet hair since childhood. Kai was not a man who fell in love easily, Owen’s friend was indeed quite popular among the village girls due to his friendly and energetic nature. However, no one had really caught Kai’s attention and even made his face as red as it was. As such, it was quite a funny sight for Owen as it was the first time seeing his little friend being clumsy and shy when faced with a woman.

.....

“Honestly, you must be really happy to have a girl living with you, right?” Owen teased endlessly.

“S-stop it, don’t think of me as a pervert. I really mean well to her anyway, no pun intended!” retorted Kai slightly dodging Owen.

“I don’t think so, really~”

“Can you continue working after this?” asked Kai suddenly making Owen stop teasing him, Owen frowned a little confused.

“Huh? Why, where are you going?”

“To follow Lea, I don’t want her to come back here,” Kai replied as he took off his gloves on the wooden chair. “Just for a little while. I’ll bring the drinks you ordered here later.”

“So, why doesn’t she come here anymore? She seems really happy to see us working,” Owen asked still not understanding why Kai seemed to be holding the girl back.

“I don’t want her to get tired again, it’s already quite a distance from home to here. Then I’ll go there first!” Kai took off running, leaving Owen shaking his head at Kai behavior.

“Either it’s in his nature to care about people, or Kai really likes her,” Owen muttered, continuing his work to help Kai. “But I’m sure the second option is true. Haah, Kai, Kai, it turns out that your type of woman is a city girl, huh?”

On the other hand, Kalea who had finished making strawberry smoothies was tidying up the kitchen before returning to meet Kai and Owen. Before that, Kalea thought of giving the drink to Ilene as well. She brought one glass of strawberry smoothies topped with oatmeal to Ilene’s room.

Kalea knocked on the door until she heard a response from inside. After that, Kalea opened the door with a sweet smile on her face.

“Oh, Lea. What’s up?” Ilene asked kindly.

“I made some smoothies, would you like some? And I’m sorry for borrowing your kitchen,” Kalea replied as she walked over to Ilene and placed the drink on the table next to Ilene’s bed.

“Oh, thank you. I must have troubled you.”

Kalea shook her head quickly and said, “Not at all.”

Kalea’s hazel eyes glanced at a stack of books beside Ilene. “Do you read books every day?” Kalea asked.

Ilene followed the direction of Kalea’s gaze, which was still looking at her books. With a friendly smile that never faded, Ilene nodded. “Because I can’t do anything other than this, haha. My only consolation is reading novels,” Ilene replied, laughing softly.

To be honest, Kalea felt very sorry and wanted to help. Although she had no idea what to do for Ilene. Ilene was a good woman, even accepting the existence of Kalea who was a stranger to the Egner family.

“Isn’t there any way you can get better?” Kalea asked, making Ilene a little surprised. Kalea felt bad for making that sweet smile turn into a bitter smile.

“Kai took me there before, but the hospital couldn’t do anything else. They can only give me medicine to suppress my immune system. It’s an inherited disease from our mother,” Ilene replied with a quiet laugh. “I don’t want to stay in the hospital for too long, so I prefer to be treated at home,” Ilene continues.

Kalea gradually understood the Egner family’s situation. She held Ilene’s hand with a serious expression. “If there’s anything, you can ask me for help, Sis.”

Ilene blinked, soon laughing at Kalea’s behavior which she found funny. “Thank you, Lea. I’m really touched by that.”

“I mean it ....”

“Alright, alright. I’ll keep your words in mind.”

After that, Kalea excused herself to go see Kai again. She closed the door to Ilene’s room, walking to the dining table where she had placed three drinks. She was a little confused that Kai had come.

“Why are you here? Is there something you forgot to bring?” Kalea asked.

Kai shook his head, his emerald eyes turning to the drink Kalea was carrying. He took possession of it, making the brunette girl even more astonished. “I’ll carry it for you. You don’t have to go there anymore, Lea.”

“Eh? Why, I really just messed up your work, didn’t I?” asked Kalea.

“Lea, my work is very boring. Plus it’s very hot there, I don’t want you to get tired,” Kai said, trying to explain so that Kalea would not misunderstand.

“Who said it’s boring? Your work is very interesting! Look, the fruit you planted is now a delicious drink!” Kalea replied, pointing to the drink she made earlier. Kai could not argue, even though he had not tasted it yet, the smoothies he brought now did look very delicious especially in the hot afternoon like today.

“For today you don’t need to go there anymore, okay? I’ll be home before the night, so wait for me at home,” Kai said with a tone that was so soft, plus his gaze that soothed the heart.

And for some reason, Kalea felt like it was a scene between a husband and wife when the husband took permission to work and told his wife to stay at home.

“If you obey, tomorrow you can see many of Owen’s farm animals. You can even ride his horse!” Kai said again, trying to persuade Kalea.

Horseback riding, huh. Kalea suddenly thought of Arthur who taught her how to ride a horse.

“Can you ride a horse? If you can’t, I’ll teach you.”

Kalea smiled slightly and then shook her head slowly. “I can. Alright, I’ll wait here. Be careful with the drinks. I’m actually not sure the smoothies will stay cold until there.”

“No problem, Owen and I will drink it. Thanks, Lea!” Kai exclaimed as he smiled broadly, showing his rows of neat, white teeth. Kalea just smiled back. She waved goodbye as Kai started to walk out of the house, back to the garden.

Kalea sighed, she was really happy to be in the garden but Kai kept telling her to stay home.

“Doesn’t he know the condition of my stomach?” Kalea muttered as she held her not-so-big belly. Not to mention she kept wearing oversized clothes to cover her belly. Kalea shook her head, her thoughts must be wrong. “No way, it’s definitely not because of that.”

Kalea went upstairs to her room, taking a little rest as Kai had said. She sat by the window overlooking the mountain scenery that looked close to the vast expanse of grass. She closed her eyes enjoying the wind that blew her hair gently. Really, she was really comfortable in the village. It was as if the burden that she had been carrying had evaporated from her body because now her heart and mind had truly become calm.

However, the expression on her face slowly became sad. Suddenly she thought of Zeline. She felt guilty for not saying anything to the blonde girl, wondering how Zeline felt after learning that she was the one who ran away from Arthur. Zeline must have been disappointed in her, but she should have understood what made Kalea finally leave Arthur’s life.

And Kalea felt that her quiet life would not last long because sooner or later Arthur would find her. However, it should be noted that this would only happen if Arthur cared about her a little. Because if he does not, Arthur will never look for her again.

Kalea hugged her body, she kept telling herself not to miss Arthur, she must get rid of that feeling as soon as possible. Arthur was not the man for her, in any way. He was not a man who could be owned by one woman, and Kalea knew that from the beginning. However, she foolishly ended up loving Arthur.

“Damn it, please get out of my mind. I really wanna hate you,” Kalea muttered, closing her eyes and biting her lower lip.