Chapter 345: He is interesting
Clink. Clink.
Hearing his daughter sharpen her blade, Kalish decided this might be the only opportunity he would get to speak with her.
"I have barely seen you sitting in one place for so long recently," he said, taking a seat on a nearby tree log.
Ilya hummed. "I don’t remain on the move all the time. You can blame your own work for that as well."
"But during this trip, I thought we could spend a little more time together."
Ilya let out a quiet sigh. "Trust me, it is better for me to stay out of that carriage. That way, you can have some peaceful time with the other two."
Kalish lowered his head.
"You still don’t like your mother, do you?"
Ilya shook her head. "I don’t dislike her. But the same can’t be said about her."
"She doesn’t hate you, child." Kalish paused, searching for the right words. He wanted to reassure her, but he refused to offer comfort built on a lie.
Ilya merely shrugged. "Well, she definitely doesn’t like seeing me. So I’m making sure not to annoy my new mother any more than I have to."
Her voice lowered.
"Though it feels like I’ve already failed at that."
Kalish hummed at that before asking, "Speaking of which, I never thought I’d see you defending someone else."
A faint grin curved across his lips.
"Tell me, do you actually like that boy? What was his name again?"
"Luke."
Ilya’s hands stopped grinding the blade against the crystal. She stared at the ground for several moments before finally speaking.
"He intrigues me."
"Is it his appearance?"
The moment the question left his mouth, Kalish felt ridiculous. He knew his daughter better than anyone. Surely, something as simple as appearance could not be enough to catch her attention.
But Ilya answered without hesitation.
"Yes, actually. He has that murderous edge to his smile that makes my heart race."
"Uh, Ilya?"
Kalish stared at her, completely taken aback by the confession.
The girl merely shrugged. "You asked. I answered. If you don’t want to hear it..."
"No, carry on."
Kalish answered far too quickly.
For once, they were having a conversation like this. He had no intention of letting it end so soon.
Ilya hummed before she holstered her dagger.
"There is no doubt he is a good hunter. More than that, he has the courage to speak his mind without hesitation. Back then, I actually heard how Mother was turning things against him. Those guards..."
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
"I sent them to see how he would react."
Kalish was taken aback. "And I was praising their readiness just now."
He shook his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"I also noticed that Luke’s first reaction to the sudden arrival of those guards wasn’t to apologize or try to escape the situation."
His gaze hardened.
"He was already looking for the most efficient way to deal with the warriors."
Ilya nodded. "And that’s what makes him different. If Baldon was telling the truth, then it’s safe to assume he doesn’t care about currying favor or earning rewards."
She paused, her eyes narrowing slightly.
"A free man with a will of his own. You don’t see that often these days."
Kalish chuckled. "That’s certainly true."
Even the chief of the village had been trying to get on Kalish’s good side. Yet when Luke had been asked whether he was responsible for killing the beast, he had not even considered denying it.
He had simply admitted the truth without hesitation.
After a brief pause, Kalish asked, "Do you want me to talk to him? He is young, and he shares your interest in hunting."
Ilya’s lips curved into a faint smile.
"I have a feeling he would reject me immediately, even if you offered him half of our resources."
Kalish gave a wry smile. "Reject my daughter, huh? He would have to be blind or crazy to do that."
"Can’t say anything about the first one, but he definitely is crazy."
Her eyes gleamed as a dangerous, predatory grin spread across her lips.
"And I like crazy."
For a moment, Kalish felt as though he were looking at his wife rather than his daughter.
That same ferocity. That same predatory glint. The same instinct to pounce on a challenge rather than retreat from it.
He could only sigh.
"Well, we have only a day. We need to leave by tomorrow. Whatever intentions you may have toward him, you have only one day to sort them out."
Kalish soon rose to his feet, but before he could leave, he heard Ilya call out.
"Father..."
He hummed and turned toward her. "Yes?"
"Can I have my meal outside? I found a good place that serves some weird bread."
Kalish shook his head immediately.
"No. You aren’t avoiding your brother and mother anymore. We’re having tonight’s meal together, and that’s not something you can argue about."
Ilya sighed as she watched him walk away.
She was genuinely reluctant to spend time with them. It was not as though she wanted to ruin anyone’s mood, but she knew how easily their presence together could turn uncomfortable.
Still, some things were unavoidable.
Her gaze drifted into the distance as she murmured,
"What about you, Luke? Do you have a difficult situation waiting for you at home too?"
....
"Ahahah!"
Laila burst into laughter, while Monica giggled and Ginna smiled as they listened to Luke’s tale about trying to fish with a rope.
"Even you could make such a silly mistake?" Laila asked, wiping the tears from her eyes. The thought of Luke seriously attempting to catch a fish by tying a knot in a rope was simply too ridiculous.
And the string of failures that followed only made the story more hilarious.
"Well, we aren’t born knowing everything," Luke admitted without the slightest shame. He had never been particularly good at catching those slippery creatures, and apparently, that had not changed much over the years.
Ginna smiled. "Well, I failed plenty of times when I first started hunting too. I cried so many times because I thought I was absolutely terrible at it."
Monica nodded, eager to share her own experience.
"I was terrible at lighting a hearth when I started. I’d inhale so much smoke that I’d end up coughing until I cried."
Their conversation had gradually turned into a collection of embarrassing memories and old stories, shared freely now that only the four of them remained awake in the house.
Gustav and Lex were outside. Terek and Zuri had gone on their recreational trip, while Dalia was asleep in her room.
That’s why Ginna was here in the first place.
Luke sighed and leaned back against the wall. His gaze moved between them before he spoke.
"Well, that’s all in the past. What about the future?"
Laila and Monica exchanged a glance. After a moment, Monica spoke.
"Luke? Is this about moving out?"
Luke nodded.
"That too. But there’s something else I need to talk to you about. Something I can only tell people I trust..."
His eyes swept across the room.
"And all of them are here."
The words immediately silenced the room.
The warmth and laughter from moments ago vanished as each of them turned their full attention toward him. Whatever Luke was about to say, they could tell from his tone that it was not something to be taken lightly.