Fake Princess
CHAPTER 23
After we found all the nettle shoots, he reached out to help me stand up. A faint rash had already appeared on his fingers & palms.
“ Your fall is quite severe,” he said.
“ Are you injured?” I shook my head, suddenly realizing how dirty and sweaty my body was.
“ My body is used to my awkwardness,” I said grimly.
“ I don't get hurt easily.”
“ Introduce my name Jose william. My father owns the store,” he said, pointing to the only convenience store in Treb.
“ My name ..A-Amelia Muller,” I said, slightly stammered my name. Usually my face will be more blushing, but because Jose looks at me with a very friendly expression that I feel my lips my lips smile at him.
“ I came to stay with my aunt, Aunt Vania,”
“ Then I understand why you brought nettle,” Jose said with a laugh.
“ But I just found out that Aunt Vania has a niece.”
“ She doesn't know either,” I said.
“ My father died without telling him where I was, & I.. during this stay in the city.”.
His eyes swept across my face, and I saw him understand something. If he had just visited the city, he would have heard rumors about the fake princess and the place she was referring to. He even heard my real name. Jose shook his head and reached out to the main road.
“ Then, all this must be surprising, if you used to live in the city. Here we live rather... simple.”.
I feel relieved. For the first time, there were people who didn't look up to me about my past, not expecting to hear a story like what it was like to be a princess.
” I think you're lying,” he said, but casually.
“ There is nothing that Treb can offer to anyone who has seen the world. I've been trying to persuade my father that we rent a place in Kota & open a store, but he has a different perspective on me.”
Jose glanced at my bedcloth, then said, “ Your nettle has begun to wither. & if my judgment of mrs Muller is correct, he will not be happy if the sun breaks this plant,” Jose was silent, his forehead was slightly wrinkled, as if he was nervous.
“ Do you think he will let me visit you? I said that Treb was boring, but it's good that you know him as best you can. I can take you around if you want.”
“ Looks like fun,” I said.
Jose's eyes seemed to sparkle in the sunlight.
“ Then until later,” he said, then turned around & walked towards his father's shop, whistling.
The next day, while I was cleaning the bowl from the table, there was a knock on the door of the cottage. Aunt Vania, who was scooping my homemade stew, turned her gaze to me, then turned her head towards the door. I rushed to the door, trying not to bite her nervous lips.
“ Hello, miss Muller,” Jose said as I opened the door.
“ Who came, Amelia?” aunt Vania exclaimed, but before I could answer, she had already pushed back the chair and crossed the room. I thought I heard a pause in her steps, a small doubt, but then she was already beside me, staring at Jose with her lips tightly locked.
“ Hello, Jose,” he said.
“ I told your mother, her yellow wool has just finished in three days.”
I know I tend to shrivel a little when Aunt Vania looks at me that sharp, but Jose just shakes his head casually.
“ I didn't come because my mother told me to, Mrs Muller. Yesterday I met your niece, & I thought maybe she would take a walk around the village with me.”