7
After Elena took Jayden in as a housemate, their life settled into a simple routine.
They ate three square meals a day and spent their afternoons reorganizing the general store.
Thanks to Hans spreading rumors that Elena had deceived everyone, customers had stopped coming entirely, which allowed them to clear out all the merchandise and work at their own pace.
“Move this.”
He nodded.
“Clear this away.”
He nodded.
“Wipe this down.”
He nodded.
Now that he’d graduated from guest to housemate, Elena felt no hesitation in putting him to work.
She wasn’t charging him anything to stay and was providing free meals.
There was no reason ‘not’ to.
For the first few days, Elena had remained on edge.
No matter how readily she had taken him in, he was still a stranger, and she couldn’t let her guard down completely.
But Jayden showed no sign of any ulterior motives.
If anything, he seemed to lack the very ‘will’ to do anything at all.
He did as he was told, but if left to his own devices, he would simply sit and stare into space.
‘It’s not quite the behavior of someone weary of life….’
In any case, once Elena concluded that Jayden was fundamentally passive, she relaxed completely.
She had no intention of digging into his past.
She wasn’t curious about other people’s private affairs to begin with, and what good could possibly come from the life of a man who had lived without even a name?
It was best not to pry.
No, it was best not to even listen if he tried to tell her.
Keeping a healthy boundary was a wonderful thing.
But spending so much time together in a confined space, she inevitably began to learn things about him.
‘He’s no different from a child who grew up alone.’ He often acted in ways that defied common sense, like how he initially only recognized cherry tomatoes as food, or how he’d throw a punch without a second thought.
It wasn’t because he was stupid.
His actions stemmed from genuine ignorance.
He learned quickly when taught, and for everything else, he followed her lead.
It meant there was plenty of room for him to change.
Elena decided to teach Jayden about the world and how to live in it.
“Jayden.”
“What?”
“It’s polite to use formal speech with people you don’t know well.
You should use it with me.”
As a bonus, she decided to teach him some manners.
Jayden tilted his head.
It was a clear sign he didn’t understand, but she knew better than to be fooled.
After a few days, she’d caught on.
‘He only reacts this way when it’s something he dislikes or doesn’t want to do.’ He’d respond instantly to a call for dinner but would conveniently pretend not to hear when she told him to wash up.
After that happened a few times, Elena had made him promise to bathe regularly, and he’d kept to it since.
‘He must really hate using formal speech.’ Jayden continued to stare at her, feigning incomprehension.
But Elena had no intention of backing down.
From the moment she realized he wasn’t a noble, his informal way of speaking had grated on her.
She’d tried to tolerate it, assuming he probably spoke that way even to his former master.
But on reflection, if they were to live together, shouldn’t he follow the rules of the house?
Elena had no intention of tolerating his impudent speech any longer.
As Jayden just blinked at her, Elena offered a sweet smile.
“From now on, please use formal speech with me.
Understand?”
“…If I get to know you well, can…
may I stop using formal speech then?”
“No.
You may do so only with my permission.”
“Will you give me permission later… please?”
“No.”
Jayden said nothing.
Besides, wasn’t it far more pleasant to hear a handsome man speak politely?
Even if she knew his polished exterior was just a facade.
Elena had a clear preference for formal speech.
And so, she taught him basic common sense and worked on correcting his bad habits.
“No more nodding.”
Jayden, about to nod out of habit, froze mid-motion.
“It’s not a good habit.
Use your words to express yourself.”
He again stopped himself from nodding and opened his mouth.
“…I understand.”
“Well done.
Keep doing that.”
One thing she’d learned since they started living together was that Jayden was excellent at following orders.
He’d pull weeds under the blazing sun without complaint and move heavy loads without a word.
“You worked hard today.
You’re very good at your work, Jayden.”
When Elena praised him, secretly proud of his obedience, he would just stare at her intently.
‘Is he expecting a pat on the head for being good?’ His eyes seemed to sparkle, and she unconsciously raised her hand before letting it fall.
During the day, they worked on the store.
When it grew too dark, she would help Jayden with his studies.
Since it was impossible for her to teach him everything, Elena had decided to enlist the help of books.
But when she pulled one out, she hit a snag.
“Jayden, do you know how to read?”
“No.”
“I’ll teach you.
There are many things you can learn from books.”
Elena taught Jayden his letters, and he learned with astonishing speed.
He picked it up so quickly that he was already stumbling his way through children’s books.
‘Come to think of it, this is strange, too.’
Elena had never really questioned how she had learned to read, or why her house was filled with so many books.
But it was odd.
How many people in a remote village like this were literate?
In the nearest town, you could count the number of readers on one hand.
Yet here, most people her age could read.
It was because her mother, while teaching Elena, had also taught any other children who wished to learn.
She had likely hoped it would help Elena make friends, but that had been a lost cause.
‘My mother was certainly no ordinary woman.’ She was, in fact, quite remarkable in many ways.
The older Elena got, the more she realized how mysterious her parents’ true identities were.
“What’s this?” Jayden asked, pulling her from her thoughts.
He had found a word he didn’t know while reading.
“A wolf.”
“The wolf ate the mother rabbit?”
She thought she’d given him a fairy tale, but the content was surprisingly graphic.
Elena found the illustration and pointed.
“Yes.
This animal is the wolf, and this one is the rabbit.”
“The rabbit looks delicious,” Jayden remarked, offering his literary critique.
The rabbit in the children’s book was drawn to be adorable.
‘This kind of thing can’t be fixed by teaching.’ Elena knew Jayden’s perspective was unique, but she decided to let it go.
As he accumulated more common sense, he would surely get better.
“You’re right.
The rabbit does look quite delicious.” And honestly, she couldn’t disagree.
Jayden nodded enthusiastically.
They had been running low on meat lately.
After Elena had put Hans in his place, the villagers’ attitudes had soured once more.
She could live without customers, but obtaining certain necessities had become difficult.
‘Namely, meat, or meat, or perhaps, meat.’
The village had professional hunters who supplied the community, and their leader was none other than Hans’s father.
The hunters avoided her before she could even ask to buy from them.
It was obvious Hans’s father had put them on notice.
The man’s petty nature was clearly inherited.
She knew for a fact that the hunters sold some of their catch on the side.
‘They could have just sold it to me secretly.’
“Worthless hunters.”
“Are hunters worthless?”
Only after hearing Jayden’s question did Elena realize she’d spoken her thoughts aloud.
He was staring at her intently.
“Use formal speech.”
Elena corrected him first.
“May I ask…
are hunters worthless?”
“Yes, they are.”
“Why?”
Jayden was a fast learner.
He picked up anything she taught him almost instantly.
The fact that he consistently forgot to use formal speech could only be deliberate.
Instead of answering, Elena simply fixed him with a look.
“…Please tell me why?”
Only after hearing the polite speech she wanted did she reply.
“Because they won’t sell us meat, so we have nothing to eat.”
Shock flooded Jayden’s face as the truth dawned on him.
His entire demeanor darkened in an instant.
“Worthless hunters.”
His eyes were so murderous that if a hunter had been standing before him, they wouldn’t have been left in one piece.
Perhaps because he’d starved for so long, Jayden had a ferocious appetite.
If Elena had been alone, there would have been no shortage of meat.
But Jayden’s incredible appetite had devoured all their preserved stores of bacon and sausage.
Their hens’ eggs vanished as soon as they were laid.
It had gotten so bad that she’d considered venturing outside the village to hunt herself.
“Jayden, do you know how to hunt?”
“Hunt?”
“Catching animals in the mountains.
They’re all meat.”
“I’ve never done it… before.”
She’d had high hopes, given how quick he was with his fists, but he’d never hunted.
He was so useful and yet so useless at the same time.
“…Let’s forget about hunting, then.”
“I think I can hunt.”
Jayden was practically vibrating with motivation at the thought of eating meat, but Elena refused.
With his physical abilities, catching an animal would be no trouble.
Even demonic beasts and monsters probably wouldn’t pose a significant threat.
The problem was that a novice would have trouble even finding prey.
Not knowing the mountain trails was another issue.
He could easily get lost.
Jayden only had the body of a capable adult; inside, he was still naive.
She couldn’t send him out alone.
“No.
Jayden, don’t even think about going hunting without my permission.”
Jayden remained stubbornly silent.
“Answer me.”
“…I understand.”
She was hesitant to go herself.
The only time she’d ever left the village was to search for traces of her parents.
In the end, Elena gave up on the idea, and Jayden became incredibly sullen.
He looked so dejected that she was seriously considering wringing a chicken’s neck for him.
Just then, Jayden’s head whipped around.
His fierce gaze prompted Elena to follow his line of sight.
Belatedly, she sensed a cautious presence approaching.
‘An intruder?’
Someone was sneaking toward the house, moving silently into the yard.
The fact that they’d already been detected meant they weren’t much of a threat.
‘Not a thief.’ For all its faults, the village was strangely free of crime.
With so few people, everyone knew that condoning a criminal meant you could be the next victim.
Any wrongdoer was swiftly driven out by the unified community.
This intruder, therefore, must not know the village rules.
‘In that case….’
Elena’s gaze instinctively fell on Jayden.
He was watching the door, but he didn’t seem tense.
After he’d moved in, she had been wary of potential pursuers.
But Jayden had been living a remarkably peaceful life, free of the fear and anxiety that plagued fugitives.
He ate, worked, studied, and slept, thoroughly enjoying his new life.
Gradually, Elena had dismissed the idea of pursuers, starting to believe he was truly free.
But now someone was creeping toward their house in the dead of night.
It seemed their target was Jayden.
‘What should I do?’ Should she side with the intruder and hand Jayden over, or team up with him and fight them off?
The intruder reached the door.
As her mind raced, a small voice came from outside.