Next One Is a Babe

So, Cindy told Hazel their plan. “We’ll probably stay for a little more than two days before heading back. Ian has other things to handle.”

“Got it.” Hazel nodded.

Cindy and Ian had been out for quite a while, and they were tired from walking. Cindy was the first to head to her bedroom, where she freshened up and changed her clothes. When she came out, she found Ian and Hazel chit-chatting. It seemed like Ian was the one who started the conversation—he was telling Hazel about his engagement plan.

Hazel was rather shocked, as they didn’t usually have engagements in the village. Hazel lowered her cutlery and addressed Cindy in a stern tone the moment Cindy walked out. “Do you guys know each other well enough?”

Before they could respond, Hazel sighed and turned to address Ian. “You may not understand our culture, but your act of following Cindy back to her home already tells the neighbors that you’re going to get married to her. If you guys ever get a divorce, Cindy’s reputation will be affected. She might be able to marry into another family, but the villagers will definitely gossip and talk bad about her.”

Cindy had told Ian about this matter, so he knew all about it even before he arrived. Since he knew what it meant for him to be there in Cindy’s house, he gave Hazel a straightforward answer. “I understand. I’m going to take full responsibility for her. I wouldn’t have come all the way here if I weren’t sure about this. I came because I wanted to ask for your approval, Mrs. Selby. That way, we’d be able to proceed with the plans we’ve made.”

Since Ian had brought up the topic of their engagement, it was clear that he had plans of staying with Cindy. Hazel nodded as she looked him in the eye. “We don’t do engagements, but you can go ahead if it’s something you guys want. I won’t stop you.”

Ian felt much better now. Since Hazel had given him the green light for his engagement with Cindy, he knew that things would be less challenging when he asked for Cindy’s hand in marriage. A broad grin formed on Ian’s face as he thanked Hazel a few times.

However, Hazel only turned and glanced at Cindy without saying anything. Cindy only needed to glance at her mother’s face to be able to tell what was going on—it looks like she has something she wants to tell me, Cindy thought.

After that, Ian no longer said much to Hazel, so the topic eventually died off before the couple returned to their room. Ian didn’t get much sleep the night before, not because he couldn’t sleep in unfamiliar places, but because he was too excited to be at Cindy’s hometown.

When they returned to her room that afternoon, he changed into a fresh set of clothes before resting on the bed. “I get so drowsy after having a large meal,” he mumbled.

“It’s fine. You can just take a nap since we don’t have much to do,” Cindy offered as she took her shoes off to get into bed beside him. “It does feel nicer to sleep after having a good meal.”