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“It’s done.”
When I lifted the dress I had just repaired, looked at it from front to back, and smiled, Grandma Hoenn stopped sewing and looked at it.
Sitting in her rocking chair with her blanket wrapped around her, she leaned forward and inspected it. My heart raced when I saw her adjust her spectacles and her eyes widen slightly. Then, after a while, she nodded her head in approval.
“As expected, you’re good.”
“My skills can’t compare to yours, Grandma Hoenn,” I grinned in response to Grandma’s benevolent smile.
Grandma Hoenn was a well-known seamstress in the border town of Cedria.
It wasn’t until half a year after I had settled in Cedria that I found work at Grandma Hoenn’s mending shop. Word of her skills reached the ears of the Lord’s wife, and she even took full responsibility for her dress repairs. I would watch her sew as if possessed that she didn’t notice how much time had passed.
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Grandma Hoenn stood from her rocking chair and examined the mended part of the dress. She said, “No matter how much I look at it, this doesn’t look like the skill of someone who’s only sewn once or twice. It’s elaborate and clean.”
“Well, in the past, I sewed for a business.”
“Looking at your skills, it’s worth making a career out of.” Grandma Hoenn smiled softly and stroked my hair.
Maybe it was because I wasn’t used to receiving anyone’s praise, but I couldn’t help but feel awkward whenever Grandma stroked my hair or cared for me the way she would her own granddaughter.
It was because the afterimage of my father remained in the fragments of my memory. The only adults I knew were loud, irresponsible, or violent, so Grandma’s friendly nature was foreign to me.
When Grandma Hoenn saw my reaction, she withdrew her hand in surprise. “What an unpleasant reaction. I should stop treating you like my granddaughter.”*
I felt as if I had embarrassed the innocent Grandma Hoenn due to my personal feelings, so I hurriedly grabbed her hand and put it back on my head. “It’s not like that, it’s simply because I’m not used to compliments.”
Grandma Hoenn tilted her head in surprise. She adjusted her slightly drooping glasses with her knuckles and asked, “Oh, doesn’t your brother compliment you?”
I shook my head. “Oppa is stingy with praise. Besides, when work comes in, he never comes home, so I have no idea where he is or what he’s doing. He always worried about me but doesn’t like it when I worry about him.”
Grandma stroked my hair again as she looked pitifully at me. I tilted my head slightly as I followed her hand.
The fabric that hung over my ears and covered my lips swayed. Grandma Hoen looked at the cloth and muttered to herself, “I want you to be comfortable when you’re here.”
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“It’s an ugly scar I don’t want you to see.”
“Did you say you were burned? How did that happen?”
Her voice sounded friendly, and a smile spread across my lips. I pretended not to hear her, savoring the warm touch. I felt like I was being childish for the first time.
“Come to think of it, you moved around quite a bit before settling down in this village, right? Oh my, you must have been very lonely.”
As I straightened my head, her hand naturally fell away. I shook my head and gave a faint smile.
“It’s okay, because I have Oppa. Not too long ago, he suddenly returned with a proud expression on his face while showing the famous garden in Cedria, right? He said he’ll show the green flower garden in spring and autumn and the horizon in summer.”
I ruminated on the memories and laughed.
“I heard that I was talking to myself once. I don’t even remember.”
“You don’t?” Grandmother Hoenn asked incredulously, her eyes widening.
“Ah
” When I avoided her gaze, I noticed that Grandma got flustered then changed the subject.
“I’m glad you like Cedria. Are you going to stay longer this time? With you, I’m not alone.”
“Your son and grandchildren will be disappointed if they heard you.”
“They’re useless. Don’t you know that? I only have one son, but he’s a carpenter who works in the Lord’s mansion and never visits me, and Yulina and Julian
”
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Grandma Hoenn waved her hand as if she didn’t need to continue. Her crumpled expression vividly revealed her affection.
Jingle–.
“Grandma, Grandma!” At that moment, someone burst into the shop.
Unlike usual, Yulina approached, stamping her feet like a needy child. Yulina was one of Grandma Hoenn’s twin grandchildren, a freckled little girl with sunset-red curls down to her shoulders.
“Grandma, Grandma! Have you finished mending Madam’s dress?”
“You didn’t even say hello first!”
“But I’m in a rush! Madam told me to hurry up, but I was late after wandering around the market
!”
“Anyway, when will you grow up? Wait for it. I’ve just finished it.”
Grandma Hoenn picked up the dress I had finished earlier and started to get up with a groan. I took the dress from her hand and let her return to her seat.
“Stay. I’ll bring it.”
I stood and put the dress in my hand on the hanger. Yulina, who lowered her gaze as if she was going to cry any moment, found me and called out loud, “Izenne! You’re here, too!”
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She jumped up to me and hugged me by the waist. I flinched in surprise for a moment, then looked back at her and finished her work with a smile.
“Haa, I told you to call her Unnie.“
Despite Grandma Hoenn’s scolding, Yulina didn’t care and tightened her hold on my waist and rested her chin on my shoulder.
“Hmm.” Her smile turned sneaky and deliberate as if something had occurred to her.
I ignored her and checked the pre-packaged dress. She followed closely behind.
“That’s fine, Izenne. Come with me.”
“What?”
“Actually, Julian was supposed to be my porter, but we fought earlier. How dare he call his sister ‘you[1]‘? ‘You.'”
“Aren’t you doing that to Izenne, too, tsk, tsk.”
When Grandma Hoenn clicked her tongue, Yulina narrowed her eyes and turned to her.
“Grandma, that’s that and this is this. Izenne is older, but she’s my friend.” After responding lightly to her grandmother, Yulina looked up at me with shining eyes. “Please, Izenne. Hmm? Madam needs it right away, but it’s too heavy for me to lift alone
 Hmm? Come with me.”
I put the dress I was examining on a hanger and stepped back, pulling away from her.
“No. I’m not even an employee, so how could I go to the mansion–”
“Hey, what’s the matter? You’re a full-time employee in the shop that mends Madam’s dresses. I didn’t ask you to come into the house. Just get in the carriage and arrive in front of Julian, who likes you, and make him go crazy for a bit–”
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“What?”
Yulina waved her hand, embarrassed by my question. The corners of her mouth lifted awkwardly.
“Ah, no, it’s nothing. Anyway, will you go with me?”
She bent her knees and looked earnestly up from below. I finally nodded because I couldn’t refuse her puppy dog eyes.
“Oh yeah!” Yulina lifted her hands over her head and jumped in place. She pointed her finger at the dresses hanging on the hangers. “Should I bring this?”
After I nodded, Yulina grabbed the hanger with both hands and lifted it at once. I stared blankly at her as she walked leisurely to the door, the clothes on her shoulder.
When I did not follow, Yulina looked back. “What are you doing? Let’s go, Izenne!”
She grinned, opened the door, and walked out. Grandma Hoenn, also staring blankly at the scene, came to her senses first.
“Strength is a trade, a trade. She’ll even carry the mountain.”
“Haha.”
When I laughed, Grandma Hoenn shook her head as if she couldn’t stop her even though she was her granddaughter.
Shortly after the carriage started, the dresses on the chair slipped as if they were falling to the floor. I had no choice but to crouch down and organize the items, but Julina followed and sat down next to me.
“Izenne, aren’t you uncomfortable? Can you take off the cloth that’s covering your face? I can’t see your face well,” Yulina said, touching the cloth wrapped around the lower half of my face.
When I shook my head with a smile, Yulina pounded her chest with her fist in frustration.
“Haa, what a waste of your face. If I looked like you, I’d go around exposing my face and telling people, ‘Please look at me!'”
[1] Yulina’s twin addressed her as ‘you’ or ‘너’, and it’s not really polite to do that.