Eros looked at his nephew, who had turned his back to him, which happened when he climbed onto the bed in his naked glory. Resting his head comfortably on the soft silk pillow, he pulled the blanket he had stolen from Mirabella's room to cover his lower body.
Kael, who was trying his best to pretend to sleep, couldn't help but want to feed his curiosity. He shifted his body and lay flat on his bed, staring directly at the ceiling.
"What were you doing in that lady's house?" he questioned his uncle.
"Wiping feet," Eros replied calmly, placing both arms under his head and closing his eyes to rest.
Kael snapped his head toward his uncle. His gaze was as sharp as an arrow, as if he wished to pierce his uncle's skull and check if it was the brain or mud that filled his head.
"If you wish to wipe feet, why bother going all the way there? I will be happy to lend mine," Kael said, sliding his one leg out from under the blanket and placing it on his uncle's thighs.
Eros' eyes narrowed at the feet resting on his body, but chose to ignore it. Kael felt displeased with his uncle's ignorance, so he threw off the blanket covering his body and suddenly jumped, landing on Eros' stomach.
Eros felt his intestines had been squeezed into paste and groaned in pain. He gritted his teeth, glaring at the little boy. He was beginning to regret letting him sleep in his chamber tonight.
Kael, satisfied with his revenge on the man who tattled to his sister, looked at the pain-filled face of his uncle and pitied him a little. His small palm rubbed Eros' flat, muscular stomach in an attempt to ease the pain.
"Tell me, why did you go looking for her?" he asked again, his hands continuing its circular motion above his stomach.
Eros sighed, letting him continue the massage. "She smelled like the Hall of Void," he answered vaguely.
Kael's eyes widened in disbelief. "Great-grandma's place?" he asked.
Eros nodded in confirmation. Kael's hands paused, and his brows furrowed in curiosity. He had heard from his father that his great-grandmother was also from the 'Hall of Void.' Although he had never seen her, his father had always said that she was a brave and mischievous woman.
"Then, is she my great-grandmother?" Kael asked curiously.
Eros shot him a look of disdain at the absurd assumption. Feeling offended by the gaze, Kael increased the pressure of his palm on Eros' stomach. Eros grunted in pain and tossed him to the side of the bed before going back to sleep. He felt that babysitting a child required more strength than ruling a kingdom.
Kael's curiosity was still not satisfied, so he tickled his uncle to get an answer. "Tell me who she is, then?"
Eros swatted his nephew's naughty hands away. "Go ask her if you want to know," he muttered against the pillow.
Kael pouted, but soon thought that it wasn't such a bad idea after all.
When the morning came, Mirabella blinked her eyes a few times before opening them wide. She raised the back of her hands, placing them on her forehead. Noticing a significant reduction in her body temperature and an improvement in her cough and sore throat, she was relieved. She had a vague memory of someone wiping her body with cold water last night. But she quickly brushed off the thought because, other than Gideon and Pipo, no one will be at home.
Rising from the bed, she went down to cleanse her face with the hot water that Gideon had already placed on the table.
Looking at the still warm porridge on the table, Mirabella smiled. It seemed that Gideon had left not long before. After taking a bath and changing her dress, she began to sweep and clean the house. Pipo, whose sleep was disturbed by a certain someone, is still sleeping in his bed like a dead log. She decided to wake him up at noon for lunch and let him rest a little.
Just as she finished eating her bowl of porridge, she heard a knock on the front door. Mirabella frowned, wondering who would visit her so early in the morning. She stood up from the table and went to open the door to see the visitor. Her eyes bulged out of their socket at the little girl standing in front of her house with a small flower in her hands.
Niece of Sindbad!
Mirabella blinked her eyes a few times, half wishing to see the girl before her would vanish magically, but when the little girl smiled, showing her cute little teeth, her heart softened and she opened the door wide.
Kael, who couldn't sleep well the previous night because of his restless curiosity, dressed himself in the same costume which he found repulsive once. He slipped out of the castle without anyone's notice and made his way here by himself.
Mirabella peeked her head out of the door, glancing side to side to check if the rude man from that day was lurking around. Upon seeing no one in the vicinity, she cautiously pulled the little girl inside and locked the door behind her.
Kael was dazed, looking at the woman before him. A part of her hair at the front was braided and tied to her back, leaving the rest to fall freely on her shoulder. She wore a simple plain cotton gown that reached just above her ankle. Her face was bare and free of rouge and rosy powders which he had seen many elite women like to wear.
Yet the woman before him glowed brightly like a sun, blinding his eyes. His hands unconsciously rose and clutched the woman's gown with his small palm. His black orbs shone with admiration, giving it a doe-like allure. Mirabella's heart melted at the scene. She noticed that the little girl had no absurd makeup on her face like the previous day. Her small face was fair, round, chubby and tender.
She bent down and gently brushed her fingers through her hair, which was braided messily into two uneven plaits. "What are you doing here alone? Where is your uncle?" she asked her as she led her to the chair in the hall.
At the mention of his uncle, Kael's face turned sour. He refused to answer and stared at her blankly. Mirabella sighed.
I forgot she can't speak.
"Wait here. I'll bring some fruit," Mirabella said, unsure if the girl had already eaten her breakfast. So she decided to cut some fruits for her and headed into the kitchen.
Kael, who was left alone in the hall, picked up the gown and stood up from the chair. He wrinkled his nose, letting the holes of the nose open wide. He sniffed the air for a possible fragrance of the Hall of Void that his uncle had mentioned, but he didn't smell anything strange.
He took a few steps forward to sniff the air again. Unknown to him, a part of the frill of the gown was stuck to the nail of the chair. Without realizing it, Kael moved forward only to hear a low ripping sound of the fabric. His eyes widened in shock at the noise. The gown he was wearing was stolen from the drying yard of Everdale castle. He planned to return to its place after using it for a while. Who would have thought, it would tear so easily?.
His face scrunched up in irritation and he forcefully tugged the gown. The mere slit quickly stretched and elongated, leaving a large gash in the garment, completely revealing his butt to once eyes. Pipo, who woke up just now, rubbed his eyes and descended the stairs, greeted with a pair of steamed buns and felt speechless.
Mirabella, who returned with the plate of fruits in her hands, also not spared from the taste of buns.
"Er…"
There was an awkward silence filled the room for a moment. After a few seconds, Kael sat down in the chair, facing away from Mirabella. He used both hands to hide his flushed cheeks from the two people in the house.
One person and one monkey, to be exact.
Mirabella couldn't help but smile slightly at the shy girl. She carefully mends the tear in the dress and made small patterns on it to make the tear less obvious.
"Here you go," she said, bending down to cut the remaining thread from the needle.
Kael looked sideways through the gaps in his fingers. He noticed that the tear was mended and there were colorful threads running in a criss-cross pattern, from the waistline to the bottom of the dress. The pattern doesn't look odd on the clothes .
Kael removed his hands from his face and stroked the pattern with his fingers. He quite liked the design and smiled brightly at Mirabella. He was relieved that she fixed the tear, but even more that the tear was not in the front of the gown.