Chapter 100
Matthew didn‘t answer Veronica. He only felt that what she had said just now was full of holes, not least because the Larsons were directly related to her previous kidnapping. He wasn‘t interested in this matter back then, nor did he want to get to the bottom of it, but now… he really wanted to know what had happened.
After a while, Veronica got bored with sitting around, so she returned to the village chief‘s home and lay down in bed to sleep.
Melissa was already asleep. She was probably in a good mood; even in her sleep, she seemed very happy with a smile on her face.
Veronica didn‘t know how long it took before she finally fell asleep. The next day, however, she was woken up by Melissa. “What did you do with Matthew last night? I waited for you at home for such a long time, but you never came back.” Sitting cross legged in bed with her chin in her hands, she stared inquisitively at Veronica, eager to get the answer from her.
“We went to watch the moon,” Veronica muttered with her eyes closed.
“What? You watched the moon with Matthew?” Melissa cried out involuntarily as bitter jealousy surged up within her.
Veronica‘s sleep was scared away at once by her shrill cries. Sitting up in bed, she glared angrily at Melissa, chiding, “Aren‘t you wasting your breath by saying that? You wanted me to help you ask him out, which I did. If I didn‘t make up an excuse to convince him that I really had something to talk to him about, how am I supposed to ask him out again in the future?”
“Oh, you‘re right. Uh, in that case… Why does he indulge your every whim? My brother and the others said he‘s indifferent, cruel, and merciless, but I can‘t help feeling that he‘s treating you very differently.” Melissa spoke her mind right away without reservation.
“Why do you think he‘s nice to me? Because his grandmother likes me and because I‘ll be his sister in the future, that‘s why.” Veronica prodded Melissa‘s forehead hard with her finger. Then, correcting the latter, she said, “Also, you‘re really blind. Which eye of yours sees him indulging my every whim?”
“Ouch! It hurts…” Melissa massaged her forehead, which ached from being prodded. She muttered, “The way I see it, he‘s very nice to you.”
“Go visit an ophthalmologist if something‘s wrong with your eyes!” Having gone to bed late last night, Veronica was vexed when she saw it was only about five in the morning. After throwing back her quilt, she got out of bed and walked out.
The village chief and his family were preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
Veronica went over and greeted them one by one before washing up. After straightening herself up, she noticed that it was still early, so she walked out of the yard.
Irran instant, what came into sight was the cloud–shrouded sky. The pond‘s surface was covered with mist, whereas the flowers and plants on the roadside were wet with beads of glittering dew. In the gentle breeze, dewdrops rolled down the leaves and fell into the soil. With singing birds, sweet–smelling flowers, and the wispy mist, the beautiful country scene looked just like a fairyland.
Enjoying the scenery very much, Veronica strolled around the village in slippers to experience a different early morning.
After heading all the way southward from the village chief‘s home, she arrived at the rice field at the southern end of the village, where an ancient millstone still existed. Just when she felt curious about it, a limping man dressed in shabby clothes with a mask on his face walked past her with the aid of a stick.
Drawn to the man‘s eccentric way of dressing, Veronica looked sidelong at the stooping masked man, who was also looking at her. His copper mask covered his forehead down to his mouth, revealing only a pair of eyes so that no one could tell what he really looked like.
“Good morning, mister… Aaah!”
Just when Veronica was staring at the masked man, Melissa suddenly turned up and greeted the masked man cordially, only to be taken aback the instant he withdrew his gaze and turned to look at her. The man‘s frosty eyes seemed imperturbable, but they gave an eerie feeling, as though he was hiding many things.
Frightened, Melissa ran to Veronica‘s side and tugged at her, not daring to speak for a long time. It wasn‘t until the stooping man hobbled out of their sight with the aid of his stick that she beat her chest with a sigh of relief. “Oh, God! I was scared to death. Why is there such a man in Dawnpol Village?”
Shooting a cold glance at her, Veronica asked, “Why are you following me?”
Being honest and frank by nature, Melissa replied right away, “Hehe, I just thought I
might be able to run into my Prince Charming if I follow you around. And besides, didn‘t you say you‘d ask him out once more for free if I hired you to do so for me? You haven‘t done it yet.”
Veronica couldn‘t find it in herself to loathe such an honest and frank lady when she saw how innocent and simple–minded she was. “Just be patient. I‘ll try my best to arrange it.”
The two ladies then strolled around the village before returning to the village chief‘s home for breakfast.
In the morning, they went up the mountain again and started carrying the goods, getting busy for the whole day. Since Dawnpol Village was the outermost village from the mountain, everything had to be moved to the village first before being transferred to other villages.
There were a lot of goods, so it took three full days to finish moving all of them. As a result, Veronica was exhausted. Seeing how hardworking and capable she was, Melissa heaped praise on her. Furthermore, she attentively wiped Veronica‘s sweat away and handed her drinking water in a groveling manner.
When Hendric saw this again and again, he was really pissed off. Angrily, he glared at Melissa, saying, “Why have I never seen you being so nice to me? I‘m your father!” Consumed with jealousy, he detested Veronica even more. He couldn‘t help thinking that this woman wasn‘t as simple as she seemed. Not only was Xavier very nice to her, but Melissa liked her as well.
Melissa curled her lips at him. She replied, “Dad, Veronica‘s my bestie now. Since she‘s nice to me, I have to be nice to her too, of course.”
Hendric felt so hot that he kept fanning himself with a fan while wiping the sweat off his forehead with his sleeve. “Am I not nice to you, then?” he questioned.
“I‘m not saying that you aren‘t nice to me, but my relationship with you is definitely different from my relationship with my bestie, right?” Melissa took a bottle of mineral water and handed it to Hendric with a snort.
Hendric‘s anger subsided a lot at the sight of this move. The next instant, however, he saw Melissa take another bottle of mineral water and walk toward Veronica. Not only that, but she even thoughtfully uncapped the bottle for Veronica, saying, “Here, Veronica, drink some water.”
Veronica had resisted Melissa‘s excessive attentiveness at first, but she got used to it after a few days.
At the sight of the scene, Hendric turned green with envy, but he could do nothing about it.
Veronica was sitting in the chair for a rest when Melissa sat down beside her and asked, “Veronica–uh, no, Roni—when will you help me ask my Prince Charming out again? I miss him so much.”
Upon hearing her words, Veronica, who was drinking, immediately spat out all the water in her mouth and began coughing nonstop. “Pfft! Cough... Cough...”
“Hey, are you okay?” Melissa patted Veronica on the back before wiping the latter‘s mouth with a towel. She asked caringly, “How did you choke on water?”
After several coughs, Veronica felt somewhat better. Only then did she say, “Why would you miss him? You see him every day, no?”
“Well, that‘s because=”
“Get your butt over here at once, Melissa!” Hendric was infuriated when he saw Melissa, whom he had always doted on and spoiled like a princess, following Veronica around and waiting on Veronica attentively.
“Oh, Dad, you‘re so annoying! Why interfere when I‘m chatting with my bestie? Hmph!”
