His Petite Luna

Chapter 3 Good assist, Ismael

LEON'S POV

Everything about the girl was suspicious. I couldn't believe my mother easily believed her and actually made her live in our house.

Mother is desperate for a bride. A bride I don't need. And looking at the little girl she bought, I am more determined to prove she's not who she says she is than get excited to finally have a bride.

I watched as she and Clara stood in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes. I asked her earlier about herself and she was quick enough to answer my questions. This is a well-constructed lie she has. Something that she had practiced and told people a lot of times.

When I saw her fishing earlier, she had impeccable skills. I could tell she was trained before from her fishing move that a normal fourteen–year–old shouldn't even possess in the first place. She did say that her father's a teacher and perhaps that's true. But I am determined to find that out for myself. Her last name's Darien. I know a lot of prominent families but Darien doesn't ring a bell. And the village she mentioned was quite far from where we are. I am not even sure if I know the place.

"Stop questioning her, will you?" Mother stood beside me.

"You want me to just accept a complete stranger inside our house?"

She faced me but thankfully, she didn't slap me across the face. "She's just a little girl. Since Ana came here, she'd been a great help. She's frightened enough of your mean stare. Don't frighten her with your words."

Before I could even say something, she walked away. I sighed and sat in my seat where Ismael was.

"Mother's right, Leon," he said. "Ana had been truly helpful." He said that without looking at me but at what he was doing. But something else caught my attention.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

Ismael looked up and met my gaze. "Writing. I need to practice handwriting—"

"What are you using?"

He looked at what he was holding and he smiled at me. "Oh, this? Ana said charcoal is good to use for writing. It's cost-effective too. Each family would burn wood. The wood that hadn't been burned thoroughly would become charcoal. Since I started using charcoal to write, my mother doesn't need to buy too much ink for me. It costs a lot."

My eyes narrowed as I looked at Ana who was talking and giggling with Clarisse. "Interesting."

"And we thought Clarisse was hopeless in reading and writing but Ana taught her and now she's starting to read and write. She's spending more time with Ana than playing with me," he said, laughing.

"You seem to be really fond of her," I said. Ismael, Clarisse, mother, and Carla seem to be so fond of Ana.

"Ana...she's been helping us here, Leon. She's really knowledgeable when it comes to herbs so she went to the mountain and collected some so we could sell them to the herb shop in the county. Mother likes her because she didn't even need to do that but she did it anyway. She earned money and fed us ever since she stayed here. I am really thankful to her. Like mother, I also hope you would stop being mean to her."

I looked at Ana who was bending down her head, doing the dishes and mother was patting her head. She looks like a pitiful puppy.

Was I wrong?

Did I just accuse her of being someone dangerous when she just helped such a poor family?

"The villagers really like her too."

My brows raise at that as I look back at Ismael. "They do?"

He nodded. "They like how knowledgeable she is with herbs." Ismael's pleasant face changed into something else and I could have sworn his grip tightened on the charcoal.

"What's the matter?" I asked.

"Old Agatha hit her and Clarisse before," he answered and I furrowed my brows.

"That old shrew did what?"

"I guess she got jealous that Ana and Carla were selling a lot of herbs in the village so she followed them into the mountain. She tried to steal their herbs that day, but later on, her hand swelled like a pig's feet. She came here and accused Ana to have poisoned the plants causing her hand to turn out like that. She wanted to hit Ana, but mother showed up and hit Old Agatha ."

"Mother did?" I thought she only hits me.

Ismael nodded. "That was the first time mother fought with someone. "

I didn't say anything. Ana was done doing the dishes and she was not playing with Clarisse.

"Mother really likes her, Leon."

"Mother should marry her, then, instead of me."

"If you don't want her as your bride, at least be nice to her. She doesn't have anywhere else to go. Both her parents are dead and she doesn't have any family left. She'd be alone. I told mother I also want a bride like her but we can't afford another one."

I was about to say that with her skills, she can definitely survive being alone but I decided to shut my mouth.

I glared at Ismael. "Stop thinking about getting married and continue writing," I said and jerked my head to his half-full slate.

He clamped his mouth but then moments later, he said, "Ana also offered to help me find a better school in the county since my school in the village could not teach me more."

I froze in my seat as I heard it. I looked at Ana who was grinning from ear to ear while listening to whatever my mother was saying. How can this girl be doing all these things for my family?

I nodded at Ismael, "Stop relying on Ana. I'll find the school for you."

Ismael looked down. "Will there be cheap schools in the county, though?"

"Schools in the county are never cheap."

He bit his lip. "But the money we earn from the herbs is only enough for this family to get by. How can I pay for the school?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll find a way."

Ismael's eyes glinted with hope as he looked at me. As if on cue, we heard our mother's voice. "Ismael, come practice your writing with Clarisse."

My brother was quick to stand and go to where Clarisse is. I guess Ana was off to bed. I saw my mother walk to me and sat in the space where Ismael was sitting earlier.

"If you're going to tell me again not to be mean to her—"

"That's not what I was going to say, Leon."

I looked at her and then she went on, "Where did you go for the last three months?"

I pursed my lips. I practiced what I needed to tell her on my way home but it was still so hard to voice it out. However, I need to.

"My friend needed a ghostwriter. It was earning well so I decided to keep doing it. I need to save money too for Ismael's new school."

She nodded. I don't know if she believed me or not but I could only hope for the former. She has to believe me. She can't know that the reason I was away for three months was because I had to take care of Caspian's body at the war camp. Caspian, Clarisse's father, and my older brother.

I received news one day telling me that he had died. So I took it upon myself to take care of his body. I didn't want to tell mother or even my brother's wife. I can't. I don't know how to even say it to them.

"You know, Ana was also helping Ismael find a school too." Her eyes became sad. "I know she came from a rich family and living here with us must be something of a whole new experience for her but never once I heard her complain. She's a pure soul, Leon. What happened to her was unfortunate."

I looked at my mother and realized how much she adored Ana. Ana's experience really struck a chord inside her. I know Ana is obviously someone from a wealthy family and it's crazy to think how her status changed quickly when both her parents died.

I sighed and I look at her. "She's helped you a lot around here while I was gone," I said and my mother nodded.

"Fine," I groaned. "I will not be mean to her and I will not send her away. But there is one thing I can't promise you, mother."

I saw how her smile dropped. I stood and looked at her before I went on, "I will not be a source of a good joke by marrying that little girl."