Chapter 8

Every day, I carry and move this body around, yet I always get startled after I wash my face and I look at myself in the mirror.

If I were Judith, I would put my best smile forward and put my hand on his; I didn’t want anything to do with him though, so I lowered my head, trying to hide my face.

Unaware of my feelings even a tiny bit, he continued to speak to me.

“Excuse me, I was in too much of a haste. I apologize.”

“No apology is necessary. I was rushing myself.”

I didn’t even think about grabbing his hand, I simply bounced back up on my own.

He must’ve seen my ruined dress and asked in a worried tone.

“Wait a minute, My Lady. Your dress…”

“Ah, it’s alright. It’s not your fault. I have a very urgent matter to attend to, so I must go now…”

As much as I didn’t want his concern, I said what I needed to say, bowed once, and simply took off.

But then, oddly enough, I felt his stare on my back.

“Surely, he’s not following me…”

I wanted to turn around and confirm, but I was hesitant to make eye contact with him. So I tried my best to ignore his stare, and proceeded to hide among the crowd of people.

Fortunately, as if he read my mind, that man didn’t follow me.

I safely arrived at the apothecary and was able to get a discount on Luca’s medicine with the herbs I gathered.

“What? That medicine is for Luca?”

The medicine man looked at me with such disbelief.

As if I was talking nonsense, his piercing glare cut through me but I awkwardly laughed it off.

I got used to those reactions of skepticism.

Feigning my callousness, I raised my chin up as I declared,

“Since Luca’s sick, you should give me a better deal for his medicine so I can also afford some sausage to help him recover faster. Besides, you haven’t been able to get many herbs as of late with everyone else getting ready for the May Day Festival.”

“What the… alright, fine.”

His laugh rang empty, ever still dumbfounded.

No matter his reaction, I grinned to myself as I got paid more.

With that money, I entered the butcher’s shop and bought some sausage.

I had carrots, turnips, and bouquet garni at home, so I decided I’ll cook some pot-au-feu.

Bringing back an abundance of medicine and meat, a sense of satisfaction swelled inside me and there was joy overflowing in my stride.

At that moment, women around my age gathered around the corner of the village and spotted me, wanting to chat with me.

“Huh, Judith?”

“Why are you here?”

“Why, what’s wrong?”

Unaware of the situation at hand, I quickly inquired.

One woman stormed out from the crowd, her eyes filled with vicious jealousy bore through my body.

She was Lea, whom Thomas mentioned earlier.

She should be attending to that aristocrat, so why is she here?

I wasn’t sure how she reacted to my own reaction, but I saw Lea’s entire face dropped as if her pride was damaged.

Perhaps trying to hide her emotions, she rushed in a feeble attempt to continue speaking normally.

“A while back, I was trying to flirt with that young aristocrat, but he was only interested in where you lived and quickly disappeared afterward. So, I thought you hooked up with him and took him to your house, but, I guess it’s not true?”

“What? An aristocrat?”

“Yeah. A gentleman with a nice build in officer uniform. He did look somewhat intimidating and brusque but… You don’t know?”

There was no reason for some man to visit my house…

“Wait a minute.”

Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

My face turned pale.

Is it possible that Rüdiger is coming this May Day?

But without a doubt, the original story mentioned that Luca left for Winterwald when he’s 10 years old…

A realization struck me.

‘Oh, Judith Maybaum, you crazy witch! How could you not even know your nephew’s age!?”

I assumed that there was 1 year left, thanks to Judith’s memory.

Judith really did believe that Luca was 9 years old.