Georg has set off a journey to Flamme for my medicine as per my request. More than a month had passed and he still hasn't come home. I wonder if Miss Flora chased after Georg out of love, or simply came to visit.
If the former is true, the vitality of a maiden in love is amazing.
"Marie, you're spacing out. Keep walking forward."
Klaus called out to me with a bitter voice.
"Please forget that dumb woman."
"…Haa."
I nodded and said nothing further. Now is not the time to worry about Miss Flora's travel purposes. Let's concentrate on the matter at hand.
First of all, this water. What should I do?
"Say, brother… mind taking this to the kitchen-"
"O~i, lil' Miss!"
I looked up at Klaus when another voice interrupted me. The source of the voice was a sailor coming down the stairs.
‘Little Miss?' Was he talking to me?
The man who came running over to us was the sailor who was on the deck a moment ago. He stopped with his waist now right in my face. He had dark skin and rough copper red hair, with scary looking eyes of the same colour that I don't dare looking straight into. He seemed to be in his mid-30s.
When you're looked down upon by such a towering man you would naturally feel intimidated. I unknowingly hung my head down. Surprisingly, he gave me a gentle smile.
"Thank you, Miss."
"Eh…?"
My eyes flew wide open in surprise at the unexpected words. I wonder why he thanked me? When I tilted my head as if confused, the sailor wryly smiled back.
"You told the spoiled lady back there that she shouldn't waste water."
The sailor scratches his cheek awkwardly.
"Since it's my responsibility to tell people these things, I'm sorry you had to deal with her instead."
"No!"
I panicked and shook my head.
"I jumped out without thinking… rather, haven't I caused you more trouble?"
There's no mistake that the atmosphere on deck back then was terrible. I'm surely also at fault and I don't deserve to be thanked or apologised to.
"Not at all! If lil' Miss didn't interfere like she did, the situation would have been much worse."
His big hand gently stroke my head that was still hung over.
"You are a brave and kind child. I'm sure your brother is very proud of you."
"Yes, I am… but I cannot take my eyes off her since she always get herself in troublesome situations."
Klaus said with a bitter face.
In contrast to me and Klaus who also had the same bitter face, the sailor gave a cheerful laugh. I couldn't keep up with the situation.
"You are a good brother and sister."
"Yes."
"Is that so…?"
Comparing between Klaus who smiled and I who made a doubtful look, the sailor affirmed once again that we were indeed 'really close siblings.'
"I'm Paul, may hear your names?"
Like that, we also introduced ourselves.
The sailor, Paul, seems to serve as the kitchen staff aboard this ship. I decided to entrust the lemon water with him since he works in the kitchen but it somehow turned out that we will get a tour of his workplace.
The kitchen was narrower than I thought. Since there are kitchen utensils and rations all over the place, it feels like we're interrupting their work. The two sailors who were already inside were wide-eyed in surprise and looked to Paul for an explanation.
"What's going on, Paul? There's a cute customer with you today."
"I was wondering what you were doing. So you were flirting around, huh?"
"It's a wonderful achievement, you better praise me!"
"Shut up, idiot! We're busy around here. Go back to work already!"
With Paul stretching out his chest proudly, some boos were thrown his way.
"I know already. But before that… Eh? Where did my apples go?"
Paul with the barrel under his arms, sensed that something was wrong.
"Oh, you mean the ones that you bought for the goddess, right?"
"I ate them."
"Why?! Do you have a rabbit with you, Kurt?!"
So he thinks that guy has a rabbit hidden somewhere? They say all petite men are stupid. So that's the guy called Yang.
"Well, a selfish girl like that can't possibly be the goddess. Instead of offering it to her, I'd rather eat them myself."
The young blondie, Kurt, licked the remaining juice off his thumb with an evil smile plastered on his face. Yang watches on with amazement.
"It's common for rumors to be far from reality. I think you're hoping for too much Kurt."
"No, the real goddess is absolutely different. I'm sure she's more humble and quiet. A kind-hearted princess is definitely out there somewhere!"
A~h. This guy is beyond help.
I realised I felt a bit distant. The meaning behind the goddess name is straying further from the truth. His dream was crushed. Not once, but twice.
I wonder, what did Miss Flora do? It seemed she gave bad impressions even to the people not on the deck earlier.
"You guys, stop it. You're in front of our guests."
While calming down the two who were in the heat of discussion, Paul scratched his head.
"Speaking of which, I was thinking of giving the lil' Miss some of my apples, you know?"
"Eh?"
Kurt's face turned blue after Paul told him so.
"Sorry about this, lil' Miss. I went through all the trouble of bringing you here but it seems I have nothing to give you."
"It's fine. Please don't worry about it. Rather, if you're busy, would you like a helping hand?"
"Thank you, but I can't let you do that much. Just the thought is enough. Why don't you go upstairs and enjoy the view together with your big brother?"
I offered my help while looking at the barrels full of potatoes and carrots, but was reluctantly refused. There's no doubt that there's not enough manpower… If it's just peeling, I can do it too.
"…If you don't mind, can you let her stay here for a bit longer?"
Klaus spoke up after keeping silent all this time. He was making a face as if he's pondering over something.
To Klaus' surprising words, I looked up at him with my eyes wide.
"I want my sister to stay away from that woman as much as possible."
"Why not relax in your room, then?"
"Unfortunately my sister is the type that just can't sit still."
"Oh, I see!"
Paul came to an understanding.
I'm quite certain that there's something to be retorted here, but considering my actions so far, I can't deny it. Actually, I don't want to stay in the same room alone with Klaus. It would be great if you give me something to do during my free time.
"Could I ask this of you?"
"Yes, of course."
"I will help too."
Klaus added, nodding next to me with a smile.
"Brother, please sit still and be quiet."
Klaus widened his eyes. You have to make sure he doesn't do anything unnecessary.
He was giving me a look as if asking 'Why did you say such a thing?'
You don't even realise how bad you are at cooking. This guy…
TN: Comment below if I got anything wrong. Will fix it as soon as I can. Also I realised that the bit about the apples is a bit confusing. Don’t worry, it confused me too.