I Became the Keeper of a Suspicious Forest - Chapter 26
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 26
Ponia and Sionel left the cave as soon as dawn broke.
They planned to enter the cabin before Chad woke up.
The atmosphere between the two walking side by side in silence was now distinctly different from before.
Ponia, who had already noticed this change, called out to him after a brief hesitation.
“Sionel.”
“What?”
“Well…”
However, after drawing out her words, she closed her mouth.
“Never mind.”
“Why start talking and then stop? Tell me.”
See? Normally, this person wouldn’t have cared whether she spoke or not, but now he was even asking again.
“Is there something you want to do?”
Ponia finally voiced the words that had been circling in her mouth. When he had asked yesterday, she had wanted to ask back but couldn’t.
“No. Don’t tell me.”
“Why?”
“Because I think I know what your answer would be right now.”
What he had to do immediately after leaving the forest was all too clear.
It wasn’t a particularly pleasant thought for him either, and it certainly wasn’t an answer she wanted to hear.
“I’ll ask you again later. When you become a little happier than you are now.”
“That won’t happen.”
“Want to make a bet?”
Ponia raised her pinky finger and held it out to him.
“I’m confident I’ll win.”
Sionel furrowed his brow.
“Are you a child? Making a pinky promise?”
“So you won’t bet?”
Sionel couldn’t understand that confident expression at all.
Again.
This forest keeper sometimes spoke with certainty about futures that even he wasn’t sure of.
Looking at those green eyes speaking so definitively, as if it would surely happen, made it seem like it really would, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
Sionel intertwined his pinky finger with hers.
“Don’t make excuses later.”
“Yes, yes, we’ll see.”
“When will you ask?”
“Hmm… in three years?”
Instead of wondering ‘Will we even be able to see each other in three years?’, he asked a different question.
“Why three years specifically?”
Ponia thought for a moment.
‘Alright! I’ll confess again in three years!’
She hadn’t kept her first promise with Sionel.
If she were to make another promise with Sionel, she wanted to attach the same condition as their first promise.
‘This time I’m going to keep it.’
“Because I like that number.”
‘By then, Sionel will have met Lana too.’
Thinking of a reason he could never know, she felt almost a sense of privilege and couldn’t help but smile.
“You absolutely can’t forget this time.”
“This time?”
“I’m telling you to remember it well.”
Ponia moved his hand up and down. Sionel sighed.
“You’re really not even a child.”
“I’m more mature than I look. I think deeply, beyond my years.”
That wasn’t what he meant at all. However, Sionel couldn’t refute her words.
‘I’m more mature than I look.’
Because someone else’s image overlapped over her innocent smile.
A young noble lady who had stood before him in a completely different environment, in completely different attire, speaking in a youthful voice.
He pulled back the finger that was about to slip away, gripping it firmly again.
“Just now….”
“Why?”
But before someone’s face could fully emerge, the hazy scene disappeared. Only the forest keeper’s face remained, looking at him without understanding.
“…Never mind.”
Only then did he let go of Ponia’s hand.
That can’t be right.
Ponia is a commoner. There’s no way a noble lady would do forest keeper work like this.
Ponia, who had been looking at him with curiosity, suddenly raised her head and grabbed his arm.
“Now let’s hurry.”
More time had passed than expected. Chad always woke up before her, so today too….
“…This is bad.”
Ponia stopped abruptly.
“What, is the repairman already out?”
“Yes.”
He was stretching while looking around various parts of the forest.
“Good. I wasn’t planning to just hide in the cabin anyway.”
“It’s not something you can think about so simply. If Chad tells Jerome that someone else is living in the cabin with me, it’ll be exposed that I violated the contract.”
‘How much is that penalty fee!’
Ponia, who had been biting her lips, turned to look at him with a pale face.
“Let’s get our story straight!”
Laughing, then getting angry, then suddenly changing and rushing at him. This was far from the virtues of a noble lady.
‘See. I knew it couldn’t be right.’
Convinced that the vision he saw was nonsensical, Sionel brushed away even the slightest doubt.
“What do you want to do?”
“I have a good idea.”
Sionel, who had been busy finding fault with and denying everything Ponia said, unusually listened attentively.
It hadn’t been long since he reconciled with her, and now he was willing to respect what she had to say.
After hearing all of Ponia’s plan, Sionel left one comment.
“No.”
So there should be limits to that respect too.
* * *
“Oh? Nia!”
Seeing Ponia coming out of the forest, Chad waved his hand happily. Then he noticed the man next to Ponia and approached in surprise.
“Nia, who is that person next to you?”
Ponia looked at Sionel, but he showed no intention of introducing himself.
“I’ll introduce him.”
Ponia forced the corners of her mouth upward.
“This is my cousin, Sio.”
“Your cousin…?”
“Due to circumstances, he’s staying at the cabin with me.”
Hiding her pounding heart, Ponia tried her best to remain calm.
An ordinary commoner wouldn’t know the face of the Devonham Duchy’s heir, but the ducal house was the empire’s foremost family.
His real name would also immediately bring the ducal house to mind, so this level of precaution was necessary.
“I heard from Jerome that Nia was alone in the cabin.”
As expected, questions followed.
“Well….”
Ponia took one more step closer to Chad.
Looking at Sionel’s fierce expression beside her, she felt she couldn’t possibly speak. She made the most pitiful expression she could manage.
“Sio has been weak since childhood and needs someone to take care of him. But our relatives can’t pay attention because of work…. So he’s staying with me.”
“But Jerome didn’t seem to know?”
There it was. The most important issue.
“Maybe he just forgot for a moment? I told Jerome beforehand. Jerome took pity on the situation and gave permission.”
Ponia answered Chad’s question immediately without taking a single breath.
She had to end this conversation quickly. The longer it went on, the more obvious it would become that this was hastily made up.
“Jerome is really considerate, isn’t he?”
Ponia sought agreement from Sionel. He sighed at her urging face.
“Ah, yeah.”
His expression clearly showed he was dying to avoid this.
Since she had forced this method from the beginning, this reaction meant he was making quite an effort.
“Nia.”
Chad, who had been watching Sionel intently, lowered his voice. His face became quite serious, making Ponia tense with anxiety.
Could he have noticed something?
“I’ve been thinking this from the start.”
“…”
“Nia is really a good person!”
Chad showed a good-natured smile and naturally took her hand.
“I think I’ve met a good connection here.”
Should she be relieved that he passed it off so easily, or should she warn him that he has the perfect personality to be scammed?
As Ponia smiled to match the mood, Sionel wedged himself between them as they had grown closer.
“Back off.”
“Sio? Was it? Nice to meet you. You can just call me Chad.”
Despite the blatant hostility, Chad smiled and extended his hand.
Watching Sionel stare silently at the hand, Ponia felt a familiar sense of foreboding.
“Don’t call my name.”
Sionel didn’t betray her premonition.
“Fix the cabin, then get lost.”
As expected.
Telling her future right-hand man to ‘get lost.’
‘Should I be grateful he didn’t attack him?’
…Well, this could be considered a successful meeting.
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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