Episode 5

Theo blinked, dumbfounded by what he hadn’t expected.

 

“I‘m not a criminal.”

 

“Don’t worry, he’s not a criminal.”

 

Theo opened his mouth to ask about his suspicions, but Hestia was quicker.

 

“.…...”

 

“It’s true, everyone has things they can’t talk about, and I’m not going to ask you anything about yourself, so you shouldn’t wonder about me either.”

 

Hestia cut Theo’s still-suspicious glare firmly.

 

“Now, then, rule number two: you get changed and cleaned up, and I’m going to wash the quilt in the meantime.”

 

She scrambled to her feet.

 

“I‘ll get the bath ready in a minute.”

 

Hestia rolled up her sleeves and grabbed a bucket from the doorway.

 

“I…….”

 

Theo’s voice trailed off into a small whimper.

 

Hestia turned and looked at him, wondering what was going on.

 

Theo looked sheepish, wondering what was so embarrassing,

 

“What if I call you ……?”

 

He stammered, his bangs covering his eyes.

 

Was that even a question?

 

Puzzled, Hestia stared blankly for a moment before answering.

 

“Sister.”

 

Hestia’s mouth quirked up in a mischievous smile at the short word.

 

“What?”

 

Theo’s eyes widened as if he had never heard the word before in his life.

 

He hesitated, then ran his tongue across his parched lips as if he were about to make a big decision.

 

“Nu, nu…….”

 

He tried to form the unfamiliar word.

 

“Anything, except sister, whatever you want to call me.”

 

Fortunately or not, Hestia interrupted Theo. Her face was plastered with a wicked grin.

 

“I‘ve got a kid who talks to me like I’m his sister until my ears burn.”

 

Shaking her head in annoyance, Hestia shrugged her shoulders and headed out the door.

 

Left alone in the deserted house, Theo took a deep breath, feeling dizzy and lightheaded, as if a storm had just passed.

 

A mixture of regret, relief, and fear swirled through his head as he realized what he had chosen to do.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

A deep forest not far from Hestia’s home.

 

The dense undergrowth shook so violently that it seemed as if a gale was blowing,

 

“Sister!

 

Pot!

 

A large, silver wolf leaped out in front of Hestia, his eyes flashing.

 

Hestia’s eyes darted around quickly in surprise, and when she saw no one else, she breathed a small sigh of relief.

 

“Lu, I’m not listening to you again, come out when I call you! What’s the good of being seen? You’re home. Mr. Gu. I’ve told you many times that you’re going to get into trouble if you keep coming out like this.”

 

He sounded stern.

 

The way she set the bucket down on the ground and put her hands on her hips, she looked like she was scolding him, but there was genuine concern in her voice.

 

“You’re wrong…….

 

Roo’s ears flopped down and his bushy tail drooped to the floor.

 

Roo’s fierce eyes flicked downward, and he looked at Hestia through slanted eyes.

 

Ugh. Hestia let out a low sigh and reached out to stroke Roo’s head.

 

“.…..You do this every time because you know I’m weak to this, don’t you?”

 

It was the same request for what seemed like the umpteenth time, but the ending was always the same as it was now.

 

The silver fur curled fluffily between Hestia’s fingers. She stroked him for a long time, loving the way it felt.

 

Roo’s tail wagged in response to Hestia’s touch.

 

“Speaking of which, fetch me some hot water.”

 

Hestia asked, taking advantage of Roo’s improved mood.

 

“We went there yesterday, and it was so hot, I don’t want to go back!

 

Roo stopped wagging his tail and buried his head in Hestia’s arms.

 

“She needs to be bathed, and her blanket needs to be washed. Someone’s got a house full of people.”

 

Roo’s burrowing stopped instantly.

 

The only sound was the rustle of the bushes in the wind.

 

“Look. You don’t have anything to say, then get going.”

 

Hestia set the bucket she’d been carrying on the ground and turned on her heel, heading back toward the house.

 

The bucket disappeared without a trace before she could break through the bushes. Only the roar of the beast shook the forest.

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

While Lu went to fetch water, Hestia went to prepare dinner in the garden behind the house.

 

“Hestia!

 

Luwa’s high-pitched, urgent voice rang through her head.

 

Hestia stopped walking and looked down at her feet.

 

“I heard Lou got into trouble again.

 

A light brown bunny rabbit perked up its ears and looked up at Hestia.

 

“Hi, Finn. Well, technically, I hit the ball right back at Roo.”

 

Hestia had been responsible from the moment she’d given Theo another option instead of sending him straight to the village when he woke up.

 

Hestia bent her knees and smirked.

 

“Then how did you know already?”

 

She hadn’t even spent an hour with Theo yet, less than a day.

 

“How did I know, Lou came up to me and bragged about it, saying he saved a little human child!

 

Finn wrinkled his nose like a little black beanstalk in pathetic disbelief.

 

“It was a good thing he saved her life anyway, so don’t be so hard on him.”

 

Hestia’s voice was soothing.

 

“It’s not like the humans found us out, and I don’t want Lou to be hurt.

 

Finn winced as if he’d remembered something painful,

 

“Except for Hestia, of course, because she’s special!

 

His eyes flickered to Hestia.

 

Special. Special…….

 

She swore it wasn’t the special she wanted. Hestia’s light brown eyes flickered in and out of self-help sadness.

 

I’m not talking about resonating with the spirits. It was a mockery of my cursed life, frozen in time forever.

 

‘Hestia…….’

 

Finn recognized Hestia’s emotion instantly and rubbed his face against her frozen hand.

 

“Thank you, Finn.”

 

Hestia smiled brightly at the small, but very warm gesture.

 

“Lou should know that Finn thinks of her like this.”

 

Hestia hastily pushed aside the creeping sadness.

 

“He’s so immature for being a spirit, and he has a lot to teach me!

 

Finn gave him a stern look, his short tail twitching wildly.

 

“You’re so upset.”

 

Sensing what Finn wanted to say, Hestia gently patted him on the back.

 

Finn’s expression and words were filled with worry and fear. Worry that Lou would have an accident, and fear that something bad would happen to him.

 

Hestia’s touch lifted Finn’s spirits, and he suddenly stood up on his hind legs.

 

“Oh, I’ve got a present for you!

 

And with that, he pranced off into the bushes where he’d come to leave his brief words.

 

Finn emerged a moment later with……. in his mouth.

 

“Ta-da!

 

He bit into a blueberry branch full of berries.

 

“Huh? The blueberries are already bearing fruit!”

 

Hestia’s eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected gift, but then she smiled broadly and accepted the blueberry branch.

 

“It’s nice to see Hestia happy, it makes all the hard work worth it!

 

Finn bounced around Hestia’s feet.

 

‘Huh? Looks like Roo’s back already, I’d better go catch him before he runs away, see you later, Hestia!

 

And with that, Finn darted off into the bushes, his majestic black eyes shining.

 

When Hestia arrived home after gathering dinner from the garden, she found two buckets of smoke, just as Finn had said.

 

Hiss.

 

Opening the old, mossy door, Hestia’s eyes searched for the boy inside.

 

The silence that the boy had created weighed down the entire house like a weight of iron.

 

She wondered what the story was.

 

She wondered if the suffocating heaviness would consume him.

 

“A child.”

 

But at Hestia’s faint call, the weight of the boy’s silence began to crack and crumble.

 

“.…...”

 

Only then did Theo snap out of his endless downward spiral of thoughts and slowly turn to face Hestia.

 

“Come here. Let’s go wash up.”

 

Standing in the doorway, leaning her head against it, Hestia gently beckoned to Theo.

 

Theo blinked at Hestia, surprised that she acted as if she knew him from before,

 

“.…..I’m not a child, Theo.”

 

She added, sliding down from her wobbly chair.

 

“Yes, Theo.”

 

Hestia gave him a curt nod and continued.

 

“The bathroom’s outside.”

 

Hestia jerked and tilted her head toward the outside.

 

Carefully placing the blueberry branches she’d brought with her on a shelf by the door, she led Theo outside.

 

Theo’s mouth dropped open as he stepped outside with Hestia for the first time.

 

“Ah…….”

 

Hesitantly, Theo stopped in his tracks and slowly scanned the landscape around him in awe.

 

“Um……. I told you, it’s out in the middle of nowhere.”

 

Hestia, sensing Theo’s distress, rubbed the back of her neck with a smirk.

 

“Even so…… I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”

 

Theo was still stunned.

 

There was nothing around. The landscape was almost jungle-like enough to make him wonder if there was even a hut.

 

It was so dark inside that I thought it was almost sunset, but at first glance, the strong sunlight shining through the shade of the trees made me think it was still midday.

 

How on earth can anyone live in a place like this?

 

I mean, am I even human in the first place? The primal question flashed across my face.

 

“I am a human being, so don’t look at me like that. I don’t live here because I like it, and I’ll be moving soon.”

 

Reading the look in Theo’s eyes, Hestia made a non-excuse and held up a bucket of water.

 

“The bathroom is here. Come on in.”

 

Then she opened the door to the bathroom attached to the side of the house.

 

But Theo stood still, his eyes narrowed, and he made no move to enter the bathroom.

 

“Won’t you come in?”

 

Hestia urged, and Theo slowly opened his mouth in disbelief.

 

“No way…….”