Chapter 156 – Not Exactly Similar
This startled me.
“What’s wrong, ma’am? Are you feeling unwell?”
She shook her head while crying even further.
“Forgive me, dear. I-I didn’t mean to cry. But…”
Her gaze focused on me through her tears.
“It’s just… You look so much like him… I’m sorry, you don’t need to mind me.”
I understood who she was talking about. I was warned not to touch on the topic since it was sensitive in this village but what could I do if she opened the door first? I waited until she calmed down a little, using her hands to clear her teary eyes. I thought it might help to talk about her lost husband instead of keeping everything inside.
“May I ask about him?”
She nodded and unsuccessfully tried to smile.
“My husband wasn’t a bunny like it is common, but an ox. He actually didn’t look anything like you.”
As far as I knew, oxen were quite a large species. It was hard to imagine a big ox being together with a small bunny but it seemed they had made it work.
“It’s your personality that is so similar. He was also very outgoing and friendly, always smiling and joking around. You could have been brothers from parents of two different species and no one would have found it strange. Oh, I miss him so much…”
Her tears reappeared as soon as she was done speaking. I came closer and tapped on her back awkwardly, not knowing what else I could do. Empty words of comfort didn’t mean much in these situations. After sniffing for a while, she settled down once more. She watched me with a certain amount of hope.
“He always hugged me inside his big arms whenever I felt upset.”
It was obvious what she wanted me to do but I couldn’t help hesitating for a second. Eventually, I carefully took her small body in my arms, where she wiggled until she was comfortable, her pleasant grassy smell filling the space in front of me.
“Yes, that’s the feeling. So warm and secure. Thank you, my dear…”
She closed her eyes in appreciation. We kept the position for some time until I felt her breathing becoming steady. She had fallen asleep, just like this, maybe tired from experiencing such intense emotions. I carried her to her room and tucked her into the bed. When I was sure she wouldn’t wake up, I quietly left her home.
I hadn’t dared ask how her husband passed away. Yet, there was a high chance it hadn’t been a pleasant death, considering bunnies’ unfortunate history. It might be better to avoid the topic unless she spoke of it herself.
I visited a couple more houses after that. By then, it was time for lunch. One of the goals of this event was to eat as much food as possible before it turned bad, but having eaten all morning, I had no room for anything more. Bunnies didn’t seem to have that problem, engulfing food continuously throughout the day. Suuru and I had to force ourselves to fit in a little bit of food not to appear unpolite but we could already feel the effect of overeating on our inflated stomachs. I probably never ate that much since coming to this world.
Right after lunch, Suuru was taken away again while Kuini was the one to invite me. She didn’t have a home of her own so the best she could do was to take me to her room. Just like all the other bunnies, she offered me her homemade cooking, as if we hadn’t just finished lunch. I could only give her a wry smile while sightly biting into a soft and mellow cake.
“It’s delicious, Kuini.”
“My Lord, you don’t have to force yourself to eat. I can see that you’re full.”
“Full to burst, haha. But I should at least taste it since you put in the effort to prepare it.”
She turned her head away like usual.
“It’s because you’re like this that so many bunnies are interested in you.”
“Oh, really? Who?”
It wasn’t like I didn’t know but having another point of view couldn’t hurt. Kuini pouted a little bit.
“I’m not telling.”
“Fine. But not all of them are interested in me in that way. I was in Mrs. Fitak’s house just before and she told me I reminded her of her husband. She’s just missing him.”
“That’s wrong, my Lord. You should never underestimate bunnies. We’re very open when it comes to this.”
“Hoho? What about you, then?”
Despite just affirming the opposite, she blushed a little.
“I… Me too, of course.”
There was a moment of silence when I neither confirmed nor denied her claim. I switched to a more comfortable topic after that.
“Anyway, how are you doing these days, Kuini? We don’t have a lot of time to talk usually so you can tell me everything now.”
“I also wanted to talk to you more. I’m doing fine, there’s not much to say. My day-to-day life is very boring. Just farm work, preparing meals with my mother, taking care of Zoke and Tilen, and sleeping.”
“What about a hobby?”
“Hobby?”
“I mean a pastime, a leisure activity.”
“I like taking care of the house whenever I have some free time.”
I wasn’t sure if I could call that a hobby. The main issue was that there wasn’t much to do in a village like this one. People usually met with one another when they were bored. It was also possible to play some simple games. As for books, they were a lot rarer since they were expensive.
From what I heard, some of the bunnies were cautious toward Kuini due to her eyes. As such, she didn’t have many people to hang out with outside of her family.
This gave me an idea. I took a game set out, one of the most popular games in the outer world, and showed it to her.
“Did you ever play this?”
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