Zhao Yun, who was behind me, was pulled up by Leng Yu. She looked at Leng Yu and said, “Th-thank you.” Leng Yu only nodded coldly in response.
Then she turned to thank me, “Thank you, Master. Master, you’re really amazing, you handled that so easily.”
“I suppose so.” If I couldn’t handle it, that would be a real problem. I rolled my eyes, complaining inwardly, “Seriously, you’ve really never seen the outside world before, have you? Ever since we came down the mountain, you’ve been like this.”
Zhao Yun lowered her head and nodded lightly. “Mother said that Father was conscripted by The Court not long after Yun was born, and he never returned. Not long after that, the village was often attacked by Bandits, so Mother took me and escaped into the mountains. We’ve lived there ever since… So, for as long as I can remember, I’ve always lived in the mountains.”
I see, so she really did lose her father at a young age.
After that, Zhao Yun raised her head, one eye shining through her bangs as she said, “But, Mother said, when Father was young he often did chivalrous deeds and was a somewhat famous hero in the area. Even before he joined the army, he told Yun, ‘When you grow up, you have to become someone who won’t lose to Father.'”
“……” Staring at that sparkling, hopeful eye, I fell silent for a long time before speaking softly, “That’s just an irresponsible thing to say.”
“Eh?” Zhao Yun froze, looking at me in confusion.
“It’s better not to take it too seriously. Your father too—precisely because he had a reputation, he was forcibly conscripted by the army, wasn’t he? And as a result, didn’t he just leave you and your mother alone?” I didn’t hold back as I continued.
Zhao Yun couldn’t really accept that. Of course, how could she accept someone denying the father she’d always admired but never met? “E-even if that’s true, but…”
“To satisfy your own desires and bring misfortune to your child, even hoping your child will walk the same path—if that’s not irresponsible, what is?” I interrupted Zhao Yun, my tone turning rather nasty. Only when Zhao Yun was on the verge of tears in front of me did I finally stop my hurtful words.
The atmosphere instantly grew heavy. The frail Zhao Yun wiped her eyes in front of me, crying softly and weakly repeating, “It’s not true, it’s not true,” in powerless rebuttal.
And me, for some reason suddenly losing my temper, didn’t comfort Zhao Yun as I usually would, but instead buried my expression in shadow, lowered my head and said nothing.
Leng Yu, standing beside me, noticed my clenched fist and let out a soft sigh, reminding me, “Making your adorable junior sister cry, Young Master really is awful… Aren’t we still supposed to go shopping?”
Bing Qiao tugged at my sleeve to change the subject. “That’s right, Young Master. If we don’t hurry, Master will be worried. If we don’t finish before noon, we won’t have enough time to get back.”
Having followed me since childhood, Bing Qiao and Leng Yu naturally understood me, so they weren’t surprised by my neurotic reaction just now—only showing rather helpless expressions.
“Yeah.” I replied softly, lowering my head and turning to walk ahead. They pulled Zhao Yun along and followed after me.
We stayed silent for a long time. On the road, after Bing Qiao’s comfort, Zhao Yun finally stopped crying and spoke to me in a low voice, “I’m sorry… I think I said something that made Master angry.”
“It’s not your fault. I was just thinking of something else.” I knew full well I’d lashed out at Zhao Yun because of my own values, and I felt disgusted with myself. I was so ashamed that I couldn’t even get out the apology that was on the tip of my tongue…
Seeing my gloomy expression, Bing Qiao whispered to Zhao Yun, “Sorry, because Madam isn’t here, whenever Young Master gets involved in these things, he gets a bit agitated.”
This kind-hearted little Zhao Yun didn’t mind my harsh words at all, even worrying she was at fault herself. Hearing Bing Qiao’s explanation, she relaxed a bit. “Madam is…?”
“Madam is Young Master’s mother, a beautiful and wise woman, and the one who saved me and my little sister.” Speaking of my mother, Bing Qiao couldn’t help but smile.
Beautiful and wise… Is she really talking about my mother, who cries at the drop of a hat?
“Oh, so Master is missing his mother,” Zhao Yun suddenly realized.
Leng Yu quietly added, “That’s right, after all, Young Master still wets the bed.”
“Hey, I heard that! And I do NOT wet the bed!” Unable to bear it anymore, I finally shouted.
After we finished our shopping, it was already noon. Since it would take half a day to walk back, time was a bit tight.
So, even though we were exhausted and hungry, we didn’t stop to eat. We headed straight to the meeting spot with the old man as agreed.
On the way, seeing Zhao Yun struggling to carry clothes and other things with her thin arms, I silently walked over and took the large pile of clothes from her, hoisting them onto my own shoulder.
“Eh?” Zhao Yun was suddenly relieved of a huge burden and was caught off guard.
“It looked heavy, so I helped you carry some.”
“Th-thank you, Master.”
Watching me walk silently ahead, Bing Qiao covered her mouth and snickered.
“What are you laughing at?” Of course, I heard her laugh and couldn’t help sounding annoyed.
Before Bing Qiao could answer, Leng Yu said coldly from the side, “Young Master really is stubborn, obviously wanting to apologize for earlier.”
This little brat… Compared to her diligent older sister, this younger one really doesn’t act like a maid at all.
Though I was a bit irritated and ignored them, Zhao Yun actually smiled happily because of it.
Soon after, we met up with the old man. He wasn’t as cruel as I thought—in consideration of our heavy loads, he actually bought a horse and put all our things on it.
Though we still had to walk back…
By the time we returned to the mountain, it was already evening.
Yun’s Mother took the things from us, and the four of us kids collapsed on the ground, unable to move.
Mistress complained to the old man for a while, then took the ingredients we bought and went to cook, saying she wanted to reward us. She seemed to be planning a rather lavish meal. The journey had indeed been tiring, but if we could eat Mistress’s cooking, it was all worth it.
After dinner, Mistress pulled out a piece of clothing from our purchases, excitedly dragged Zhao Yun into her room—clearly something she bought especially for Zhao Yun, since her old clothes were so ragged.
I’d wondered earlier why Bing Qiao suddenly went off to buy something else; now I realized Mistress must have secretly asked her to buy new clothes for Zhao Yun.
Mistress really does love children.