Chapter 6 - This Is Our Home From Now On
Chapter 6 – This Is Our Home From Now On
Chapter 6 – This Is Our Home From Now On
“I’ll cancel yesterday’s offer to be my servant.”
Last night, Kiel recalled the sweet voice he heard in his sleep.
“Haah. Should I just leave you behind?”
As soon as he heard it, he thought of the dream last night and unwittingly shed tears.
He had dreamed of going back before salvation and returning to his old repetitive life where he wished to take his own life.
“I can eat it.”
But there was no way he would do that.
Kiel, anxious and desperate, refused to let Bella abandon him.
“And I’ll grow deliciously.”
The atmosphere became strange,
‘Haah. Why did I say?’’
‘Maybe it’s because I’m in a hurry. There’s no way this makes sense.’
Bella laughed, thinking he was rather cute.
***
Bella didn’t know how to react at first.
“Do you know that word?”
‘What should I say?’
Zhanbar responded first while Bella hesitated.
“Well, I’d love to eat—”
“Zhanbar.”
“Oh, the princess wants to eat you.”
“One more word, and I’ll really kill you.”
Bella crouched down on her knees to be on eye-level with Kiel.
“Say ‘ahh’.”
“Cats can’t eat people,” Zhanbar laughed, needlessly annoying Bella.
“Hey, I didn’t tell you to laugh.”
“I just did.”
Bella looked back and sliced Zhanbar’s body in half to silence him. Now that he was in two parts, he wouldn’t be able to talk.
“You can eat later,” Bella said to Kiel. His eyes looked sad, but his voice remained steady.
He pulled at the hem of Bella’s dress.
“Take me with you.”
Bella froze as if time had stopped, and tears welled in her eyes.
After Kiel’s mother died, he was left to his uncle and abused. In the end, he was sold to a strange sorcerer.
The pain was real for this child.
Bella couldn’t help but think about what a terrible person she was. She ought to return her police badge.
As tears flowed down Bella’s cheeks, she wiped Kiel’s face.
“You can eat whatever you want,” Bella smiled.
‘He’s going to be the crown prince. Why should he be kept as a slave?”
“You don’t have to serve me.”
“I can do the laundry and clean. You need a servant, not a prince.”
Kiel spoke quite eloquently, although he was rather quiet around Bella at first.
“You’re a good speaker, aren’t you?”
“I won’t talk if you don’t want me to.” Kiel covered his mouth with his small hand, making a corner of Bella’s heart ache.
She could tell he had been horribly abused.
His words and actions constantly touched Bella’s heart.
‘Yes, I hope you don’t have to endure too many hardships living like this.’
Having Kiel tag along would add a little more responsibility to Bella.
‘You don’t have to have a tragic backstory. It’s just a romance novel anyway.’
Bella sorrowfully squeezed Kiel’s hands within hers.
Then, Zhanbar, who had reattached his upper and lower body, said, “Princess, are you crying?”
“……”
“Are you crying for joy at the thought of eating this kid?”
***
Bella needed to find a house.
She was going to stay here for ten years and didn’t plan to live on the streets without any money.
Fortunately, the demon searched every corner of the world and found a lot of money.
When Bella left her room and entered the inn’s restaurant, the innkeeper rushed out to greet her.
“Lady, there’s no other inn as big as ours, is there? Would you like to stay another night?”
“Is there any real estate nearby?”
“Property?”
He looked quite surprised. “Why?”
“Ahem.”
Someone behind Bella coughed.
“Little lady, do you live here?”
Bella turned around to see a red-haired man raising one eyebrow and folding his arms.
“There’s a lot of mana here, so there’s a lot of travelers, but few people live here.”
Bella ignored the man and asked the innkeeper again, “Where is the real estate?”
“As the man said, there’s not much of a real estate—”
The innkeeper pointed to the permit hanging on the wall.
“You left it to me.”
“Show me the property.”
The innkeeper scratched his head awkwardly and laughed.
“There’s only one house on sale right now.”
‘Should I go to another city and look for a home?’
Then, a quick-witted employee brought a bunch of papers and put them on the table.
“This is the house of the late author.”
It was a two-story mansion with a wide garden just by looking at the picture.
There were eight rooms and two bathrooms on the floorplan.
“It’s 30 gold.”
Bella was lost in thought for a moment because she couldn’t figure out how much the amount was.
‘I’ve got 70 gold.’
“Hey, isn’t there something wrong? Why is it so cheap?”
30 gold is cheap.
“A mansion like this is a standard 100 gold, isn’t it?”
Bella didn’t need such a big house, but wouldn’t it be important to find a cheap house?
Although this novel was mainly about love, Kiel needs to be able to do basic training in a large garden.
“Let’s go see it first.”
The red-haired man looked at Bella and said, “What do you see in that house? Lady, you don’t know the world. It looks like a house with a problem.”
“Hey, you’re not going to be living there, so stay out of it.”
Fortunately, the innkeeper was also angry on Bella’s behalf.
* * *
Bella could tell why the house was cheap just by looking at it.
The mansion was so grim, and people were reluctant to look at him.
The front door was in terrible shape.
Bella nervously squeezed Kiel’s hand and walked to the front door of the mansion.
When Bella opened the door, sunlight spilled into the dark mansion, revealing lots of dust and cobwebs,
“Ahem. How long has it been vacant for,” Bella asked the innkeeper as she touched the dust with her hands.
“A long time.”
Upon pushing the door open, Bella saw a large hall with several rooms on both walls.
‘It’s a lot bigger than I thought.’
The mansion wasn’t bad except for the gloomy atmosphere. Frankly speaking, it was very pleasant compared to horseback riding.
“I want to stay here if that’s okay.”
Bella couldn’t believe such a house of this size was only 30 gold.
Bella looked down at Kiel, who was holding her hand. When she made eye contact with him, he immediately looked away.
“Are you scared here?”
Kiel shook his head.
“Well, I’ll buy this house then.”
The innkeeper was rather surprised, unable to believe the house actually sold.
“Please fix everything for me. I’ll pay you extra.”
The innkeeper couldn’t shake the discomfort he was feeling.
“From now on, this is my home.”
Kiel looked around in a daze, unable to believe Bella was really taking him in.
Bella squatted down and stroked Kiel’s head.
“You’re living here from now on.”
Bella was going to have to live here for ten years, and in seven and a half years, Kiel would be going to the Imperial Palace at 15.
“Zhanbar, from now on, you must call Kiel ‘Master’ and call me ‘Miss’.”
“How can I call the princess ‘Miss’?”
“Don’t interrupt me.”
“Yes, Miss,” Zhanbar said with a ring of sarcastic laughter.
***
The mansion had been vacant for a long time, so it took a while to get people to clean up the place.
In the meantime, Bella continued to stay at the inn.
“Princess, I—”
“Miss.”
“Miss, what should I do?”
Zhanbar seemed strong, so Bella brought him along. But the more time she spent with him, the more he pissed her off.
“I’ll give you a special mission.”
“Okay!”
“Wait here. You can’t move a step. It’s an incredibly important mission.”
‘How stupid.’
“Let’s go buy some clothes, Kiel.”
Bella headed to the shabby store. At first, she was only going to be one or two pieces for Kiel, but…
“Oh, my God. You’re so pretty!”
Kiel wore a cute blouse, making it obvious that he was a nobleman.
‘No wonder he’s the main character.’
His amber eyes and blonde hair elicited a protective instinct in Bella.
“Would you like to try this on, too?”
In a daze, Kiel accepted Bella’s clothes and headed to the fitting room.
As he stood in front of the mirror, he realized just how young he was. He sighed quietly, so Bella wouldn’t hear him.
‘If you don’t need a servant, why would you keep me?’
Since she was buying him expensive clothes, she must plan to keep him for a long time.
Why was she buying him such nice clothes?
“I’ll grow up nicely.”
Kiel bit his lip and rested his forehead against the wall.