(Risking My Life) Proposing to Miss Hazel - Chapter 103

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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 103

“Mmm, it’s so delicious!”

Baron’s pistachio rose-flavored ice cream was truly delicious.

The nutty richness of nuts and milk, the honey-sweet and chewy texture, and finally the fragrant rose scent that gently enveloped my nose. If there was technology to preserve ice cream from melting, I’d want to sell this flavor right away.

The combination of pistachio and rose flavor might seem unfamiliar, but there wouldn’t be a person in this world who’d dislike this ice cream after tasting it. If there were, I could send them to the next world.

“Baron, you should try it quickly too. This is the first time I’ve tasted something like this, but it goes together much better than I thought.”

“That’s a relief.”

He just kept looking at me steadily with a face that seemed full even without eating. His satisfied eyes moved up and down slowly.

I know those eyes very well. And I don’t particularly like them.

When there’s something delicious, we should share it. It’s no fun if only I eat it deliciously.

“Hurry up and eat it together. At this rate, it’ll all melt.”

“I am eating.”

“What do you mean eating? Earlier…”

All you did was wipe what was on my lips and eat that.

I swallowed the embarrassing words along with the ice cream and glared at Baron sullenly. It was silent pressure for him to hurry up and take a proper bite.

“Even if you glare at me like that, I’m not scared at all.”

“…Tch.”

“You’re just cute.”

“…Ah.”

Really, if only he couldn’t speak.

Baron gave me 9/10ths of the remaining ice cream, then carefully scraped together the ice cream left in the container.

Soon a spoonful was filled with ice cream. He didn’t put even that in his own mouth but pushed it right into mine.

I really didn’t want to accept it, but the spoon’s trajectory was too accurate to avoid.

“Hmm…”

When I glared up with resentful eyes, he rolled up the corners of his mouth triumphantly as if satisfied. So I was twice as resentful.

Like that, the ice cream disappeared into my mouth without a chance to melt. It seems like about one spoonful went into Baron’s mouth too.

It’s absolutely not that I fed Baron ice cream, but during some kind of tussle, my spoon ended up hitting his front teeth and I had no choice but to give him some ice cream too.

That’s all that happened. Nothing else occurred. Really.

Anyway, the ice cream was delicious, and perhaps because the ice cream was delicious, my work flowed smoothly too.

Ariel Reeve (age 23) in the painting was holding a cat that resembled her and smiling primly.

The woman I drew seemed far from a glamorous actress or model, but she was still beautiful and, above all, looked peaceful.

I wondered if this is what Ariel would have looked like if she had been born and raised in Ruden Village.

Thinking it would be nice if she had been born as the daughter of Maria, who had wanted a daughter her whole life, I even drew a cherry cake that resembled her in the corner.

“It’s good.”

Baron, who had been watching the painting, quietly added his impression.

Warm sincerity was conveyed through his plain, unexaggerated impression.

It was good. It was just the right amount of praise, like an early summer breeze that was neither too hot nor humid. I met his eyes while breaking into a bashful smile.

“I’m thinking of calling it the Ruden Village series.”

Baron tilted his head slightly as if telling me to say more.

“I drew it thinking of Ariel as a person from Ruden Village. I’ve hardly met anyone except people from Ruden Village, but our village people are warm, aren’t they? I wondered if perhaps my warmth comes from the village…”

Baron’s eyes widened as he listened to my disorganized story. It was a surprised face I rarely saw.

“Miss Hazel really… surprises me.”

“Why?”

“Even calling you a genius seems insufficient now.”

“Oh… don’t praise me too much. I don’t even know the customers’ reactions yet.”

I said that, but I couldn’t hide my feeling of floating high in the sky. At this rate, it wouldn’t be strange if I played rock-paper-scissors with the clouds.

Eventually the sun turned to sit behind my back and the sky was dyed pink. It was around that time that the painting was almost complete.

I put down my pencil on the ground and looked at the painting from a slight distance.

“Hmm…”

“Is it finished?”

“The cat is a bit clumsy. I guess it’s because I drew it without looking.”

“…”

Baron didn’t deny it.

I was going to try to be optimistic if objective Baron said it was okay, but I guess that won’t work.

“I’ll catch one of the cats wandering around the village and draw while looking at it.”

“Shall I catch one for you?”

“It’s okay. Cats approach me even when I just sit still. I don’t want to scare them unnecessarily.”

“Am I scary?”

I glanced at him as if asking if he really didn’t know. He pursed his lips primly.

Even his trivial emotional expressions looked charming. This is why handsome men are troublesome.

“You’re not scary to me. Though you were a little scary at first.”

“What… was scary?”

I was the one surprised by his question that seemed genuinely unaware. I gently conveyed the reason so he wouldn’t be hurt.

“Well, I didn’t know your age, where you came from, what kind of person you were, but you were good at everything, and you’re too big, and also…”

“Also…?”

“You’re, you’re handsome.”

His eyebrows, which had been frowning as if shocked, relaxed pleasantly at the last comment.

He brushed the corner of his mouth that held a hint of laughter with his fingertips and pointed to himself as he spoke.

“I’ll be turning twenty-five soon.”

“Ah…”

So he’s about three years older than me.

When I nodded, he rattled off his information as if there was nothing to hide.

“And I’m from the capital. I also stayed briefly at the Shire Barony.”

“Hmm…”

As expected, he’s from the capital.

But Shire… Shire.

I felt like I’d heard it somewhere, but I couldn’t remember at all.

***

“Hey you, don’t you know today is the regular meeting day? Everyone was waiting just for you.”

Bill boldly retorted to Monica’s nagging.

“What could I do when Hazel asked me to pick all the lantern flowers scattered on the back mountain? I’m only 5 minutes late, why are you being so harsh?”

Paul laughed heartily and joined their conversation.

“I wondered why this guy was raising his voice to his wife for once, but he’s using Hazel as an excuse.”

Anna, sitting next to Monica, chimed in as if she’d been waiting.

“Exactly. How can you scold someone when they mention Hazel’s name? Geez, just hearing Hazel’s name makes me feel good.”

Everyone gathered nodded as if in agreement.

Franz, Monica (+Bill), Anna, Paul, Maria, Martin, Carson, and Rupert. They were all benefiting from Hazel’s grace.

Actually, it didn’t matter if they didn’t benefit.

Hazel was lovable just by breathing, and she was everyone’s daughter who warmed the village just by existing.

So protecting their daughter was natural. No matter how fearsome the enemy, they couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

A week ago, right after the lord’s army had visited.

Monica, who was no different from Ruden’s implicit village chief, summoned all 8 representatives from each district of the village and held the first emergency meeting.

Everyone knew the meeting topic without anyone saying it.

‘How to escape from Lord Cromwell’s exploitation.’

There were two reasons why Ruden had no choice but to be exploited by Lord Cromwell until now.

First. Ruden has no ‘military.’

Even if it was positioned like a natural fortress where external invasion was difficult, as long as civil war continued, an army to protect themselves was necessary.

However, Ruden had an absurdly small number of young men, and lacked the money to hire mercenaries from outside.

The fact that most mercenaries had unclear origins was also a problem. If handled carelessly, it could bring misfortune upon the peaceful village.

The second was ‘roads.’

Having to depend on Cromwell Castle for trade routes.

Ruden had no difficulty being self-sufficient when it came to survival. Trade was only necessary to enjoy the benefits of civilization and earn money to pay taxes.

It wasn’t that there had been no attempts to create other routes besides going through Cromwell Castle. The problem was that without an army, there was no way to deal with bandits and thieves.

So the Ruden Villagers were content with the oppressive peace that tightened around their throats with each passing day.

Even though they knew well what kind of freedom the Benu Citizens enjoyed, they tried not to dare covet it.

That is, until Count Cromwell mobilized his army to recklessly disturb their precious village.

Once the Lord pointed his blade at innocent villagers, they could no longer settle for precarious peace.

To protect their loved ones, it was time to endure change, even if it was frightening.

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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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