“I didn’t think you could smile like this,” she said.
Hearing her murmur those words, I tilted my head. Wasn’t I always smiling? Well, at least my face muscles were. On the inside, I was constantly in despair, so if anything, it was mostly an expression of my resignation. It was only recently that I had been able to smile from the heart. I thought my smile still looked the same, but maybe Lady Maika was able to tell the difference. That was amazing. However, right now she was frozen.
“Maika? Are you alright?”
Was there something wrong with her? I got a little bit closer to look at her beautiful face and noticed that it had been flooded with an unhealthy-looking deep red. Was it this red earlier? She was also pressing her hands against her chest and looked like she was in pain.
“Have you caught a cold?” I asked.
That would have been bad. In this world—and in this village—the common cold was still a fatal illness. On top of their diets lacking in nutrients, medicine—which was a common commodity in the world from my apparent past-life memories—was virtually non-existent around here. As a result, catching a cold was akin to a death sentence.
“If you are not feeling well, you should not be outside. Let me take you home,” I proposed.
Upon touching Lady Maika’s shoulder, her small body (I say small, but she was taller than me) started shaking as if she had been shocked. Was there some static electricity? I didn’t feel anything myself, but given the dry air, it was possible.
“No, I’m fine!” Lady Maika was vigorously waving her hands in denial and took a step backwards. She looked at me and started playing with her hair. “You really don’t have to worry about me; I don’t have a cold.”
“Are you sure?”
Her face was still red, but maybe she was just flustered because I got too close. I figured she had no problem being around boys, as I had seen her play with some only the day before, but I guess I was wrong. Girls tended to mature much faster than boys.
“Well, I am relieved you are fine, but take good care. You are an important person, after all.”
Lady Maika was a very friendly and active young girl, but she was also the daughter of the village chief. As such, she was of great importance around here, and if all went well, she would become the next village chief. Given how cute and tall she was, it was no surprise that she was popular among the boys our age.
“I am important?” Lady Maika reiterated with a red face.
“Yes, very much,” I nodded in agreement.
Please be more aware of your own importance. I sometimes worry that you will hurt yourself when I see how rough you play.
“Uh... yeah... I guess...” Lady Maika mumbled and looked down.
She seemed to have some self-awareness, but after all, she was still a child, so it was natural that she wanted to play. She also seemed to like moving around more than the boys her age, so even if you told her to calm down, she probably wouldn’t listen.
I should probably take this book back home soon. While Lady Maika’s clouded face was slowly clearing up again, the same could not be said for the sky above. I wanted to avoid getting caught in a cold rain shower. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”
“Uh... uhm... No, I just wanted to say hi.”
“I guess I better get going then!”
I bowed my head and tightened my grip on the book before heading back home.
I wonder how much I can read until the sun goes down. I say reading, but I’ll probably end up having to decipher half of the letters. I can’t wait to be able to just purely read.