The Heroine has Her Eyes on Me as Her Brother’s Wife - Chapter 3

I heard a sparrow’s cry from far away. Zion was so fast asleep that he didn’t hear the sound.

I checked my clothes and came out.

Even today, the forest was in a state of winter. My body trembled as the cold wind blew.

‘I wish I could have been born in the West.’

I sniffed at the cold North. The ice magic I have is not a valuable ability in the northern part of the world, which is filled with nothing but ice and snow.

But I, a hybrid, couldn’t go to another area with a child. What more could a hybrid with no status want?

“Oh, it’s cold.”

Even though I was born and raised in the north, I still found it cold. I’m not a pure wolf, nor a human being, but rather, an ambiguous existence.

I was complaining, but not resenting it, when something pulled at my clothes. Rachel looked up at me as she squeezed my hem. I bent my knees and opened her hood. Rachel, who was staring at me, asked with her eyes wide open.

“Benefactor.”

“……Just call me sister.”

“Then, Benefactor-sister, where are we going now?”

For a moment, her face was full of worry. I said, glancing at the basket hanging on my arm,

“I’m going to sell this.”

“But why am I coming with you?”

“Mhm, I think we should check your physical condition.”

“Why did you cover your face?”

“Ah, I’m a little cold.”

“So why did you cover my face?”

“Oh yeah. I’m afraid you’ll catch a cold. You never know.”

It was like a conversation between a Little Red Riding Hood and a wolf. I looked up ahead with a plausible glance.

Before going through the forest, I checked carefully to see if my face was well covered.

Done. After checking, I reached out to Rachel.

“Come on. Hold my hand.”

“…”

Rachel, who was looking at the hand that was sticking out, carefully gave up her hand.

“Let’s go.”

Rachel, blushing silently, nodded. I came down the forest, feeling the warmth in my hand.

***

The place we were heading for was the town square. Well, to be precise, it is a rare corner of the square. It was a secret place that only certain people know of. I mainly sold medicinal herbs there.

“V?”

“You’re here?”

“You’re early today, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. I got a pretty good one today.”

A familiar face looked at me and pretended to know what I was talking about. I waved my hand, making a husky voice. If I didn’t do this, I couldn’t help it because there were so much stigma around women.

After saying goodbye, I removed the cover of the basket. When I showed a weak but red-ended herb, the pedestrian’s face became noticeably brighter.

The brazier was a herb that could easily start a fire.

It is a rare herb that is hard to find in the northern part of the country with low temperatures, so it used to be traded at a very high price.

In fact, I tried to hide it a little more, and then call in regulars and sell it like you would in an auction, but… I couldn’t help it because I got greedy.

Damn it, I don’t like this. I shouldn’t have said anything.

“How much is it?”

“10 gold.”

“What?”

“You’re already surprised, man. It’s 10 gold per bunch. You can’t get a discount today even if you buy a bundle.”

The passerby’s face became blurred when I spoke in a firm voice.

No matter how regularly he buys, I can’t give him a discount.

“Well, there’s an easy way to make it cheaper, but…”

I blurted out the end of my words as if I were trying to be generous.

“What is it?”

Then, the passerby shined his eyes as if he had been waiting for this. I winked at Rachel, whom I had hidden behind me.

“Please look at her.”

“Huh?”

A passerby fixes his glasses and looks behind him. Rachel, who squeezed at the glances of the stranger, hid deeper behind my back.

“Who is it?”

“My little sister.”

“Sister? Why did you bring your sister here?”

The passerby smiled and waved at Rachel. It was a useless interest. I shook my hand quickly.

“Okay, come on and look at him. He’s your doctor.”

“Aren’t you exposing too much customer information?”

“Check her before I let your patients know I’m selling my herbs at a lower price.”

The passerby was silent at my words.

The doctor, who is skilled but without conscience, resells the medicinal herbs I obtained to patients suffering from sickness at a high price.

I felt like I wanted to intercept in the middle and sell the herbs  to them directly, but if the number of people I knew increased, nothing good was bound to come of it.

It was also beneficial for my personal appearance to be seen by only a limited number of people. That way, it was easy to keep secrets.

It was all because of this that I took the risk of bringing Rachel out. It was too dangerous not to go to the doctor.

Transparent skin, black hair like ebony, and red eyes. Besides, even the heat.

Whoever sees those features on her will recognise her as an outsider. It’s no different from creating the rumour myself.

“I can do that.”

The passerby, who sighed, bent his knees and sat down. As Rachel trembled, he smiled broadly as if to show that he was not a scary person.

“Hi. What’s your name?”

“…”

Rachel squeezed her body tightly by my side. I patted Rachel on the back and said, reassuring.

“It’s okay. He’s not a strange person. I think.”

“You think, Rani.”

The passerby murmured softly, but I lightly shrugged. There was nothing wrong with what I said.

“.. .”

As if my words relieved a little of her fear, Rachel appeared carefully.

Passersby looks at Rachel with a smile as if he was used to it. Of course, I’ll cover Rachel with a mask so that he can’t see her eyes.

“…”

The passerby was looking at Rachel and frowned slightly.

“Is she in bad condition?”

I asked carefully, pulling the mask down to the bottom of my eyes. As he was fixing his glasses, he laughed at his head.

“You said you don’t know why you collapsed? Besides, you don’t have any memories.”

“Huh.”

“I don’t know exactly, but… the post-traumatic events seem to be serious.”

“Then…”

“But don’t worry too much. Usually, in this case, the memories would come back within a few days. But the problem is…” He blurted out the end of his words. “You’re too young. What was the accident that was serious enough to lose your memory?”

“….You do not need to know.”

I hurriedly hid Rachel behind my back. I felt a gaze looking at me with a face full of doubt. I  shook the basket I was holding with pride.

“This is the end of the medical examination. Quickly choose.”

“… .”

“Aren’t you buying?”

At my urge, the passerby turned to the basket as if he couldn’t resist.

He, who bought today’s share of the furnace candle, stopped and looked at me before he returned.

“V.”

“……What.”

“I recently heard a strange rumor.”

He glanced at Rachel hiding behind him.

“The body temperature of that child is strangely high. It is rare in the North to have that high of a body temperature.”

‘Crazy. Did I get caught?’

I put on the mask again and said as if nothing had happened.

“It’s because she had a big fever a few days ago. I don’t think her fever’s gone yet.”

“……I’m just saying this out of concern.”

He spoke in a low voice as if to give out a secret spell.

“I heard one child is missing in the South. That’s…I heard she’s the younger sister of the head of the South.”

“…!”

“You know, the relationship between the South and the North.”

“Dang, of course I know! Dude, I don’t know about that either! I mean, I’ve got my own way of doing stuff, huh? I’m only one wolf!”

Because of my embarrassment, my original voice popped out, not the hushed one.

‘This is like a kidnapping situation no matter what the circumstance is!’

I felt like crying. What’s wrong with everything?

I pressed my hat deeper and cleared my throat so that it wouldn’t show.

“Anyway, I don’t know what that has to do with me.”

“… Be careful, I don’t know what you’re up to.”

The passerby who said so, disappeared far away. I bit my lips looking at his back. Argh! I want to scream.

Why would I save her with my own hands?

I had to send her back somehow. If I stayed like this, I felt like I was going to be killed by the dragons.

I was screaming inside for a long time, and I sighed. I thought I’d send it back, but there was nothing I could do right now.

‘Let’s go back for now.’

I sold out my share of herbs today and made a lot of money on my way, so today’s work was done here.

I turned to Rachel.

“……Huh?”

And I blinked my eyes.

The weak but warm energy had spread. It was just a moment, but I definitely felt it.

However, only the cool temperature in the northern part of the country touched my body as if it never happened.

What is it?

As I was only groaning, Rachel turned to me.

“Benefactor?”

In Rachel’s hand, who looked over my head, there was a bit of brazier.

She seemed to be sneaky. When did I get that out again?

I shook my head looking at the unique red leaves of the brazier.

“No, I must have seen something for a while. Let’s get back. Is there anything you want to eat?”

Rachel smiled broadly at my words and said,

“Anything is fine with me.”

“Well, then let’s eat something warm today.”

“Warm…”

“Oh, or is there something else you want to eat?”

“Oh, no, no. Anything is fine.”

Rachel smiled brightly and looked up at me. My face was captured in the sparkling red eyes.

Ok. Is it because of a heroine buff? Even though she was a child, her smile was so lovely.

‘OK. Let’s think positively.’

Although I was a wolf, it was true that I saved the child.

‘If it wasn’t because of me, she might have died.’

Besides, you’re protecting me even though I’m a wolf, so I don’t think I should kill you.

‘Don’t be discouraged. You got the title of a benefactor from the child. Even if you meet that dragon, you may be able to avoid the bad ending.’

I filled my mind with the most positive thoughts.

Rachel, who was looking at me, followed me. The child’s cheeks puffed up.