(Risking My Life) Proposing to Miss Hazel - Chapter 54

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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 54

 

A spiteful, angry voice.

 

Seeing them call us ‘devil’s children,’ they seemed to be natives of Cromwell Castle.

 

Felix pushed me behind him and stepped forward to the counter.

 

“Hazel, just stay still. I’ll handle this.”

 

Just then, the door opened and middle-aged men and women with nasty expressions came pouring into the shop.

 

As soon as they entered, they coughed theatrically and waved their hands around wildly.

 

“Ugh, look at all this dust. Cough, cough.”

 

“Selling purification water in a place like this. They have no conscience.”

 

Exaggerated gestures. Malicious words.

 

These were intentional actions meant to intimidate and displease us.

 

There’s no dust in our shop. Felix cleans and polishes the wood until it shines every day.

 

So we mustn’t fall for such cheap provocation. Neither getting angry along with them nor forcing ourselves to appease them would be wise.

 

Any emotional reaction would only become food for them. This was wisdom I’d inevitably learned from living as a general store owner.

 

When I firmly grasped Felix’s arm, he patted the back of my hand reassuringly.

 

Felix raised his voice in a businesslike but intimidating tone to greet them.

 

“Welcome!! This is Golden Sundries Shop!!”

 

The people, overwhelmed by his beast-like roaring greeting, instinctively stepped back.

 

Well done, Felix!

 

People like that are bullies who prey on the weak, so there’s no surer way to deal with them than seizing the initiative. Felix, with his beast-like instincts, seems to understand this truth instinctively.

 

“What, what? Didn’t they say this place was run by just one little girl?”

 

“I definitely heard her brother wasn’t attached to the shop.”

 

“I told you. These days they’re running it together.”

 

“There’s two of them and four of us. Anyway, we have the numbers.”

 

The people who had hesitated for a moment came into the shop again with venomous expressions.

 

Felix rolled up his sleeves with an expressionless face. The sound of him removing his wristwatch followed with a click. As he flexed his forearm muscles, thick veins stood out menacingly from his fingertips to his elbow.

 

“What can I do for you. Are you looking for something?”

 

He tilted his head sideways and greeted the customers with a murderous voice.

 

The customers’ eyes, which had been blazing with anger, rolled downward. Only the man standing at the front kept his eyes open and looked straight at Felix.

 

The man raised his voice loud enough to lift the roof, veins bulging in his neck.

 

“I’m the chairman of the Cromwell Castle Merchant Association over the mountain there, and I came because it seems you’re operating illegally.”

 

“…?”

 

Illegal operation? My mind went blank for a moment at such an absurd claim. Felix let out a hollow laugh and calmly asked back.

 

“How is it illegal operation? We pay taxes to the Lord faithfully every month.”

 

“Ah, well. If you’re paying taxes to the Count, then broadly speaking you’re Cromwell Castle people, but you haven’t joined the merchant association yet, so it’s illegal operation.”

 

“….”

 

What is he saying, how annoying.

 

From start to finish, it’s nonsense not worth listening to.

 

The Cromwell Castle Merchant Association had never accepted merchants from Ruden Village before.

 

Since joining the merchant association came with tax benefits, the adults in our village had knocked on the association’s door many times.

 

But they either flatly refused, saying Ruden Village people weren’t qualified to join the association, or demanded membership fees higher than the taxes.

 

Yet now they come to us making trouble about illegal operation and whatnot.

 

The reason they’re doing this is probably—.

 

“I heard you’re doing business with the Bashar Merchant Guild.”

 

As expected. Word had spread that the Bashar Merchant Guild was passing through Cromwell Castle and doing business with the trading caravan. They came to take a cut, thinking Benu’s money was flowing into our shop.

 

The woman behind the chairman glared at me spitefully behind Felix and continued speaking.

 

“I heard you’ve been selling flowers that we used to throw away as trash to ignorant city people since long ago? I was so dumbfounded when I heard that story. Really, children without parents have no business ethics.”

 

Crack, the sound of Felix grinding his teeth pressed down on the air menacingly. The woman flinched in surprise and unconsciously bowed her head deeply.

 

The chairman cleared his throat to organize the atmosphere and spoke in a somewhat subdued voice.

 

“Ahem, ahem, what I want to say is, even though you’re children who grew up without parents, we’ll accept you, so join the merchant association even now. I’ll make the commission cheap. Just half of half of your sales….”

 

Felix firmly cut off the chairman’s words.

 

“No.”

 

“What, what?”

 

“I said no, so please leave. Okay?”

 

The Cromwell Castle merchants looked at us with incredulous faces, as if they truly hadn’t expected us to refuse.

 

The woman at the very back tapped the chairman’s back.

 

“Just go. Don’t talk to them anymore. Those lowly things will obviously just stab us in the back even if we show them kindness.”

 

“Right. Let’s go show them what’s what. They need to learn how scary the world is to grow up.”

 

“Hey, you guys will regret this later, but it’ll be too late. We were going to pity you for not having parents, but… tsk.”

 

I’m not scared of their threats at all, and of course I won’t regret it.

 

But to curse orphans about being parentless three times in front of them.

 

Even knowing I shouldn’t react emotionally, my hands trembled.

 

Felix was also on the verge of exploding.

 

“Ha, shit.”

 

Felix firmly grasped my trembling hand and roughly swept his hair back with his other hand. Murderous intent flashed in his sharply extended eyes.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

BANG!

 

The shop door opened roughly and Monica entered the shop.

 

“Who said our Hazel and Felix don’t have parents!”

 

Bill followed behind her with a herb-gathering sickle slung over his shoulder.

 

“Hazel, daddy’s here!”

 

Someone thrust their hand forward next to Bill.

 

“Here’s one more of Hazel’s dads!”

 

“Here’s a mom too!”

 

Those were Uncle Paul and Maria’s voices.

 

“Then I’ll be Felix’s dad!”

 

“Franz, can you take responsibility for those words?”

 

Tears welled up suddenly.

 

I shouldn’t cry in front of those bad people, but I felt like I’d collapse and cry loudly if anyone just touched me.

 

Tap, tap, tap.

 

“Move aside.”

 

With the sound of tapping the ground with a cane, Albert appeared. Monica and Bill stepped back behind the old man.

 

“Grandpa came too.”

 

Albert glared with eyes more murderous than Felix’s and pointed at the merchants with his cane like he was targeting them.

 

“You bastards worse than vermin. You’ll pay the price for running your mouths carelessly, both in this life and the next.”

 

“Gulp…!”

 

“Get lost before I bury you in the back mountain.”

 

***

 

I cried a lot that day.

 

I cried while being held in Felix’s arms, cried while being held in Monica’s arms, and cried while being held in Maria’s arms.

 

I didn’t want to cry, but the tears wouldn’t stop. I don’t know what was so heartbreaking.

 

Recently my life had only happy things. I’m not weak enough to be swayed by one sentence meant to hurt me.

 

It was heartbreaking and painful.

 

Felix’s hand holding mine trembled as much as mine, which made it even more so.

 

And I was grateful.

 

Knowing how precious the villagers’ warmth was, how valuable their hearts that readily embraced me and Felix as their children, I cried from sadness and cried again from gratitude.

 

After barely stopping my tears, I returned home with swollen eyes.

 

Our House’s dining table was filled with warm food.

 

I cried while eating stew, cried while gnawing on chicken legs, and cried when I accidentally chewed on a carrot.

 

Felix silently comforted me on such days. He didn’t forget to tease me mischievously in between.

 

“Your nose is running. Blow it and let’s eat meat.”

 

“*Sniff*!”

 

“Our Hazel blows her nose so well.”

 

“Am I a child?”

 

“You are a child. Your crying face is exactly the same as when you were seven.”

 

“If I’m a child, then you’re a child too.”

 

“Why, do I look exactly the same as when I was twelve?”

 

“No.”

 

Not exactly the same, but a little similar.

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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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