The Protector [ENGLISH]

➷ 7

BELINA

I didn't like being out at night.

After Adrien was too far away for me to see, I entered the house with nervous steps. I couldn't find my aunt in her bed or anywhere I looked and I was worried. Maybe I made a mistake by leaving. Moreover, there was no healer in our village. Where was she then?
I took a deep breath, told myself to calm down this time and went back to the kitchen. I just saw a piece of parchment that I hadn't noticed before pinned to our dining table. It was my aunt's handwriting, she wrote not to worry. She wasn't sick at all, she must have just caught a cold, and when she woke up she noted that she felt better.
When I relaxed, I decided to empty my bags, which I threw on the table. I carefully separated the herbs I bought and placed them in the closet. She might need it when winter comes. I saved some for us.
I, who hate not knowing what awaits me, was excited and happy to be with him. The only problem was waiting for my conversation with my aunt. This was more challenging for me than fighting evil in the castle beyond the realm.

I didn't have anything to prepare. Waiting idly had put me in a very tense mood. I was walking quickly around the garden.

When my aunt came home, it was already past our bedtime. This time, I was the one who ran to her as soon as I saw her. I asked her where she had been all day. Despite her note, I was worried. While my aunt was changing her clothes, I heated up the potato soup left over from the day before, took our bowls to our table, and my aunt began to explain. Today, she went to Aunt Merla's for the last time before the wedding. When Deni asked her to come, she couldn't upset them, and while she was there, she helped a little with the preparations at the wedding house. She said that they also conveyed their thanks and greetings to me. She looked really good, it was time for me to talk. No matter what I tried to do to start the conversation, it would be inadequate, so there was no need to wait any longer.

"Adrien is back." I burst out. "Auntie, I couldn't tell you until it was finalized, but..."

Talina stopped drinking her soup and slowly put the spoon in her hand into the bowl. I haven't touched the food in front of me yet because of my excitement.

"Auntie, Adrien proposed to me." I continued even though Talina had a cough when I said this. There was nothing slow about this job. "I said yes."

"Belina!" She looked so uneasy that her confused eyebrows were raised up and she looked a little scared. "Are you serious?"

"His mother and father are in Resiae, he wants me to meet them, Auntie. With your permission, we will set out." I said, in a voice that was unresponsive and devoid of emotion, just like Adrien. If I told my aunt what happened, she would doubt my sanity and would never let me.

"Aren't you in a hurry, Belina? When he left... I mean, I thought... Your heart was broken." She didn't know what to say, maybe different questions were competing with each other in her mind. She was again interrupting her own sentences with other things she had to say. "I see you as my child, Belina. I don't want you to make mistakes. But if you want to go, I can't stop you."

"Auntie, I have loved him since the first day I saw him."

"True." she agreed. "He couldn't take his eyes off you either, I understand. So why tomorrow?" she asked. "What's the rush?"

"I can't wait to start my life with him. But we will return from Resiae with his family and have the wedding in the city. Maybe we will live in the city together, Auntie, and plan our wedding together."

"Dear daughter." Talina said, her eyes brimming with tears. "So you are determined to leave immediately. I don't know what to say. You are my everything." she said. She didn't know that we weren't related by blood, she wouldn't have changed if she had known. It was pure love in her heart.