I Sought the Villain But Ended Up with a Husband

Chapter 8

Leciel, who had momentarily forgotten about Kael’s presence, turned her head towards the bed where he lay down.

And there she saw Kael, who was quietly sitting up, watching her.

“You’re already awake.”

After living here and having adopted a decent lifestyle herself, it was surprising that he was up even earlier than her.

“I couldn’t sleep.”

Kael casually replied, leaning back against the chair as he looked at Leciel.

“I understand. They say sleep disappears as you age.”

“...It seems like you’ve already decided to treat me like an old man.”

Although he was older than a child, he hadn’t reached the age where he didn’t need to sleep.

“Well, you seem to have enough to live. Even when you’re sick, you always seem to have no need sleeping.”

“At least it seems better than yesterday.”

Even though there were still limitations in movement, Kael could feel that the extent of the injury had improved.

“Are you going hunting today?”

“I suppose so. With more people around, there’s a greater need for supplies.”

“I feel sorry for making your work increase.”

“Not really. I’d still go out every day even if I wasn’t hunting.”

“You’re diligent.”

It wasn’t easy to do this every single day without fail.

Kael sighed softly.

“What can I do? There’s no one else to take my place.”

Sometimes monsters helped her, but they only assisted in hunting, nothing more.

Everything else fell to Leciel.

“...Right.”

At Leciel’s response, Kael’s expression became complicated as he thought about her situation again.

Working to survive was natural for everyone.

Whether commoners or nobles, everyone had their roles to play and had to perform their duties every day.

However, Leciel was still young.

Thinking about how she struggled alone with that small body, he felt sorry for her again.

Of course, he had encountered children who had lost their parents and lived alone before.

But whether it was because of the difference between them and Leciel’s situation, Kael empathized more with her circumstances.

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Patients should rest quietly. What can someone who’s barely recovering help with?”

“But that doesn’t mean I can just rest and do nothing.”

Even though moving still hurt for him, he wasn’t completely immobile.

“No, you should just rest without doing anything. Even sitting like this is painful; imagine if you try to help.”

Still, seeing that the degree of his grimace was less than yesterday, it seemed like there was some improvement, but he couldn’t casually overexert himself.

“...I don’t recall groaning.”

“Every time you speak, you frown because it hurts.”

That was what a groan was, did it have to have noises to be counted as groaning?

At Leciel’s words, Kael made a strange expression.

He thought he was being discreet, but apparently, she could tell his condition.

He had thought she was quick-witted, but she seemed to have good observational skills as well.

Although he was quick to pick up on things, he seemed to have good observational skills beyond that.

Since he rarely expressed emotions, except for his son or aide, nobody else could discern his feelings.

“Anyway, if you really want to help, you could just keep me company in conversation.”

“...I didn’t think someone would use me as a conversation partner.”

He was too capable and difficult to approach.

“Well, anyway, there’s no need to look so serious. It’s not because of you that I ended up staying here, and I’m glad that I met someone else.”

Although she felt relieved that someone sympathized and understood her situation, she didn’t want him to sympathize too much to the point of making the person’s heart heavier.

That was not what she wanted.

“You’re positive.”

“Rather than being positive, I’m just stating the truth?”

“Right.”

Whether it was positive or negative depended on how one accepted the fact as it was.

Taking that into account, Leciel’s attitude was positive enough. She wasn’t pessimistic about her situation, and her perspective wasn’t crooked as well.

She was a great kid.

If it had been anyone else, he would never have been able to survive here as well as she was.

Aside from the difficulty of surviving, it wasn’t easy to live upright like the child.

When people faced seemingly insurmountable trials they couldn’t escape from, didn’t they easily give up on everything and become infinitely negative?

In that sense, the child was very strong.

She had a strong and clear spirit that didn’t waver in any situation.

Although he had met quite a few like her, she wasn’t the kind of person he saw often.

“Your concern is for nothing; you don’t have to feel sorry for leaving this place alone.”

Leciel didn’t rescue Kael out of pure intention to help him.

If Leciel’s situation had been different, and if she hadn’t missed people, she might not have bothered to rescue Kael.

She was already struggling to survive alone, why should she be responsible to save others?

It wasn’t like she owed anyone anything.

Just feeling the warmth of another person’s presence and having someone to be with was rewarding enough.

Therefore, she didn’t feel disappointed or think it was too much for Kael to leave the monster forest alone, leaving her behind.

It was just natural.

It was up to the person to choose whether to help others or not, and help couldn’t be forced onto the others.

Moreover, leaving this place with him was very dangerous.

So much so that he had to put his own life at risk again.

“Unnecessary worry. Do you think I’m so affectionate that I feel sorry for a passing child?”

“No. That’s why I said it’s an unnecessary worry.”

Leciel firmly denied Kael’s words without hesitation.

“You’re truly honest.”

“I’ve never been one to speak empty words.”

Leciel shrugged lightly and then began to move to prepare dinner.

Kael quietly watched her.

He knew why Leciel said he didn’t need to feel sorry for leaving her. She must have felt his concern and pity for her being left alone here.

So, she deliberately spoke coldly.

Seeing a child, who should naturally receive adults’ protection and concern, trying to be considerate of him instead was somewhat heartbreaking.

* * *

Today marked the fourth day since Kael had been with Leciel.

During that time, Kael had become quite friendly with her. And he really worked hard to be a good conversation partner.

Leciel was so talkative and continued speaking so tirelessly that one might mistake her for a lark.

It was the first time for Kael to talk to someone this much in all his life. But he didn’t show any signs of annoyance.

He understood the situation of the child who must have missed people and craved conversation.

In this way, he became Leciel’s conversation partner and moved around discreetly whenever she was away from home.

Each passing day, his wounds were visibly healing, and staying still was getting uncomfortable.

Although he wasn’t completely free to move, he was in a much better condition compared to before. At this rate, he felt he could leave the monster forest without any trouble in a day or two.

So today, as usual, after loosening his body lightly, Kael noticed Leciel returning and went out to greet her.

Even if she pretended otherwise, he knew she was very happy whenever he welcomed her.

Opening the door and stepping out, Kael was momentarily speechless at the unexpected sight.