Captain – Chapter 460 – A Cub That Has Suffered Too Much

Except for the sound of rain, all was silent.

Roy didn’t know how to describe what he felt when hearing the woman’s apologetic words.

He only felt as if he had returned to that lightless world. His vision, no, even his breathing was blocked by the heavy black fog, making it difficult to breathe freely. A long-forgotten sourness shot straight up to the bridge of his nose.

“Child?”

Noticing his unusual emotions, the woman’s brows, already lowered due to embarrassment, drooped even lower.

“No, I’m sorry, ma’am.”

Hearing the woman’s gentle call, seeing that well-hidden anxiety in her gentle features, Roy came to his senses and quickly put on a timid expression, pinching the hem of his clothes as he said: “I saw you from a distance earlier and thought you looked familiar. I couldn’t distinguish clearly for a moment, which is why I mistook you.”

Hearing this, the woman sighed slightly in relief and said “It’s alright.” Instead of immediately continuing with her work, she asked with concern: “You must have moved to the neighborhood recently, right? I don’t think I’ve seen you before in my memory. Are you lost? Do you need…”

“No, no, no.”

Feeling the increasingly heavy raindrops, Roy shook his head and smiled: “My parents and I moved here recently, but I know how to get home. Don’t worry about me. Instead, I’ve delayed you.”

“How about this, let me help you carry the wooden bucket.”

“Oh, child…”

Seeing him about to act on his words, the woman was about to refuse, thinking that a bucket full of milk was surely too heavy for a child who looked only eight years old. But before she could say anything, she saw Roy steadily pick up the wooden bucket, showing no signs of strain in his expression.

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“Let’s hurry, ma’am. If it gets rained on much longer, it won’t be drinkable anymore.”

Coming out of her bewildered state, the woman smiled helplessly, picked up another wooden bucket, and said: “Thank you very much. If you find it too heavy along the way, just let me know.”

“I won’t, don’t worry.”

After making this casual promise, Roy followed the woman’s pace toward the other side of the pasture. In the increasingly heavy and misty rain, the two figures looked so harmonious, as if such a scene had often appeared in the pasture long ago.

And that was indeed the case.

Roy even knew that there weren’t many cows in the pasture, and the milk they produced wasn’t sold as a commodity. Most of it was processed by the mother and child as part of their wages.

So their destination was that simple, narrow, yet incredibly warm wooden cabin.

That place he missed, but which had long since withered beyond recognition.

Finally back at the cabin, they had barely put down the buckets, not even having time to catch their breath, when the woman began adding firewood and lighting a fire, preparing to pasteurize the milk or make some easily preservable cheese.

Because the cabin was so small, the distance between the fireplace and the bed wasn’t very far.

Roy hopped back a little and sat on the wooden bed which, despite being covered with a mattress, still hurt to sit on. Watching the woman working hard to boil the milk, showing none of the delicate temperament of a young lady from a noble family, he remained silent for a long time before tentatively asking: “Ma’am, have you always lived alone?”

“Yes.”

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The woman continued her work while responding gently.

If she had seen the boy casually sitting on the wooden bed, acting completely at home, she would probably have been quite surprised.

“Then where is your family?”

Not satisfied with this answer, the captain asked with feigned curiosity, secretly thinking especially your husband and child.

Hearing this question, the woman’s movements finally paused, but she quickly regained her composure: “My family lives very far away. Even after leaving Loriton, it’s still a long journey.”

She was referring to the Wilson family near the imperial capital, which she had never returned to since leaving.

Perhaps not wanting to directly face this question, the woman answered very calmly, not noticing anything unusual, not wondering why a completely unfamiliar child would ask such a question.

“I see…”

Hearing the deliberate calmness in his mother’s voice, Roy lowered his head slightly, sitting on the edge of the bed that was a bit high for him, swinging his legs aimlessly, not probing further.

Listening to the slight sound of burning firewood and the rain outside the window, the captain suddenly felt much more at peace, thinking that being able to see his mother again was enough. Other matters, such as this being an illusion, everything being fake, or demanding that she recognize him, didn’t matter.

Sitting quietly like this was just fine. He only hoped time could slow down a bit more.

Let him stay a little longer.

Time flowed second by second. After who knows how long, the woman finally finished her tasks. After storing the milk and cheese, she turned around and was momentarily startled looking at the boy on the bed, as if seeing some vague, untouchable images in his thin figure.

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Very old images, like yellowed pictures.

“I actually… had a child about your age.”

For some unknown reason, after hesitating for a moment, the woman came to the wooden bed, sat beside Roy, and while stroking his rain-soaked pale golden hair, spoke softly.

“Is, is that so?”

Hearing this, even Roy was stunned, but he quickly recovered, looking up slightly at the woman, his eyes full of hope as he asked: “Then why isn’t he by your side?”

Lost in thought, this time the woman didn’t notice his emotional fluctuation. With a somewhat distant gaze, she said: “I can’t remember. I only know that he should have gone to a very distant place.”

After a pause, the woman lowered her head slightly and added quietly: “Just like his father.”

After she spoke, the room fell into a brief silence, with only the increasingly loud rain seeming to cover everything.

“Look at me, why am I telling you these things.”

A moment later, the woman smiled bitterly, driving away that strange emotion, and looked at the boy who was somehow downcast: “It’s getting late. If you don’t go back soon, your parents will worry.”

This was a hint for him to leave.

“The rain is so heavy, why don’t I take you…” Seeing Roy lowering his head in silence, his body trembling slightly, the woman asked with concern, worried that he might have caught a cold from the rain.

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But before she could finish, the captain interrupted her in a hoarse voice.

“Do you really not recognize me?”

What going to a far place, what like that dead man, I’m right in front of you.

“Child, what did you say?”

Seemingly not having heard his question clearly, the woman asked cautiously, afraid she had said something wrong.

Tightly clenching his fists, Roy strongly suppressed the unexpected sourness in his heart and that emptiness of being forgotten by his closest kin. He jumped down from the bed, walked a few steps to the door, and replied sullenly, “Don’t worry, I’ll go back by myself.” But after pushing the door open, he still couldn’t help looking back.

“I’m sorry for troubling you today, ma’am. I’ll…”

The four words “come see you again” seemed stuck in his throat, impossible to say. The captain knew such a promise could never be fulfilled. After an apologetic smile, he didn’t say anything more.

The wooden door closed gently, and only she remained in the cabin.

Even after the footsteps had gone far away and could no longer be heard, the woman still stared in that direction, slightly frowning, not understanding that strange feeling of both inexplicable familiarity and absolute unfamiliarity that had conflicted extremely when facing that child. But what made her feel even more bewildered was…

Why did that child’s smile before leaving look worse than crying?

Just like a young beast that had suffered too much.