They Called Me Trash? Now I'll Hack Their World-Chapter 159: What. Was. That?

I stepped out of the house the next morning, yawning.

And the first thing I noticed were the looks.

Villagers going about their morning routines, carrying water, heading to the fields, kept glancing my way with knowing smiles and barely-suppressed amusement.

A few whispered to each other behind their hands when they thought I wasn’t looking.

I ignored them and started walking toward the less crowded outskirts of the village.

That’s when I heard it.

"Heard he got down on one knee right there at dinner—"

"No, no, the chief got down on one knee and begged him to marry her—"

"That’s not what I heard! Apparently she confessed to him first and he was so moved he proposed immediately—"

I sighed deeply.

The rumors had spread.

Of course it had. This was a small village where entertainment was scarce and gossip traveled faster than wildfire.

By tomorrow, there’d probably be different versions of the story, each more elaborate than the last.

I kept walking, heading toward the western edge where the houses thinned out and gave way to open ground before the treeline. Fewer people. Less chatter. Exactly what I needed.

I found a flat patch of grass, dropped and started doing pushups.

One. Two. Three.

The physical exertion helped clear my head, gave me something to focus on besides magical rings and marriage proposals and knowing smiles.

Twenty. Thirty. Forty...

I switched to other exercises, squats, core work.

When my muscles were burning and my breathing was labored, I finally stopped and sat cross-legged on the grass.

Closed my eyes and focused on my breathing, trying to quiet the chaotic thoughts spinning through my mind.

In. Out. In. Out.

The morning air was cool.

Birds called in the distance.

Slowly, the tension in my shoulders began to ease.

Better.

I’d been sitting there for maybe ten minutes when I sensed movement behind me.

I opened my eyes and turned my head.

Tessa stood about five feet away, wearing practical brown pants and a loose cream-colored tunic with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows.

Her hair was pulled back in its usual high tail, and her hands were clasped behind her back. She was smiling with barely-contained amusement.

"Did I disturb you?"

Rowan stood a few steps behind her, arms crossed.

"Yeah," I said flatly.

Tessa’s cheeks puffed out in exaggerated offense.

"How rude! I came all the way out here to check on you and that’s the greeting I get?"

I looked at her, then at Rowan, then back at her.

"What do you want?"

"Can’t a girl visit her fiancé without needing a reason?" She said it with enough sarcasm that I couldn’t tell if she was mocking the situation or leaning into it.

I closed my eyes again and tried to return to meditation.

Not happening.

I could hear her moving closer.

"You know," she said, her voice coming from much closer than before, "Most people would be flattered by the attention."

I kept my eyes closed. "I’m not most people."

"Clearly." Another step closer. I could feel her presence now, could tell she was standing almost directly beside me.

"So what are you doing out here all alone? Trying to escape your adoring public?"

"Trying to think."

"About what?"

"Whether it’s too late to leave the village in the middle of the night and never come back."

She laughed.

"You’re too honorable for that. You’d at least say goodbye first."

I opened one eye and looked up at her.

"You’re too close."

"So?" She tilted her head, her smile turning slightly teasing. "We’re engaged. I’m allowed to be close."

From behind her, Rowan made a sound that was almost a growl.

Tessa glanced back at him, then looked at me again and deliberately sat down on the grass beside me, close enough that our shoulders were almost touching.

"Don’t mind the third wheel," she said casually.

Rowan’s jaw clenched so hard I could hear his teeth grinding from here.

I sighed and stood up, brushing grass off my pants.

"Where are you going?" Tessa asked, looking up at me.

"To give Sira and the others the rest of their doses. It’ll stabilize them for a longer period."

I started walking back toward the village.

Tessa scrambled to her feet, clearly intending to follow.

Rowan’s hand shot out and caught her wrist.

"We still have work," he said, his voice tight. "You said you’d help finish it this morning."

I didn’t stop. Just kept walking.

Their voices faded behind me as I made my way through the village streets, back toward my room to collect the remaining vials I’d prepared.

The knowing looks continued. One elderly woman actually winked at me.

I pretended not to notice.

Retrieving the vials from my room, I headed to Agnes’s house.

The door was unlocked. I knocked anyway before entering.

"Come in," Sira’s voice called from inside.

The four patients were gathered in the main room, looking considerably better than they had even yesterday.

The dark lines had faded almost completely. Their movements were steadier. Color had returned to their faces.

"Young Master!" The younger woman smiled brightly when she saw me. "We were hoping you’d come by."

"Morning." I pulled out the vials. "Second round of treatment. Same as before, it might be uncomfortable, but less intense than the first dose."

I administered them one by one, watching through my debug vision as the compound reinforced what the first dose had started.

The reactions were milder this time, some wincing, brief discomfort, but nothing like the violent convulsions from before.

When I finished, they thanked me profusely again and I made my escape before it could turn into another emotional scene.

Agnes was sitting in the small side room that served as her private space, mending what looked like one of her mother’s dresses.

She looked up as I entered and smiled.

"All done?"

"Yeah. They’re responding well."

I sat down on the floor beside her chair, suddenly exhausted despite the early hour.

We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, the only sound the soft pull of needle through fabric.

Then Agnes spoke quietly.

"I heard you got engaged."

I let my head fall back against the wall.

"People are talking."

"The whole village is talking," she corrected gently. "It’s all anyone can discuss this morning."

"It was an ambush," I said flatly. "Chief Zen gave me a ring disguised as a thank-you gift. Tessa put it on my finger. Turns out it was the family engagement ring. The elders witnessed it. Now everyone’s planning a wedding."

Agnes’s hands stilled on the dress.

"That’s... quite the ambush."

"He’s strategic. I’ll give him that."

"Are you going to go through with it?"

I closed my eyes.

"I don’t know."

"Do you like her?"

Why did everyone keep asking me that?

"She’s competent. Smart. Good at what she does." I opened my eyes and looked at the ceiling. "But liking someone and marrying them are different things."

Agnes resumed her sewing, her expression thoughtful.

"Arranged marriages aren’t uncommon among nobility," she said softly. "Most are political arrangements where the couple meets maybe once or twice before the wedding. At least you have time to get to know her."

"That’s what Sira said."

"Mother’s wise." Agnes smiled slightly. "And for what it’s worth, Tessa’s a good person. Stubborn, outspoken, sometimes too blunt for her own good. But kind to those she cares about." She paused. "I think you could do much worse."

"That’s a ringing endorsement."

"Would you prefer I tell you to run?"

I thought about it.

"Honestly? I don’t know what I’d prefer right now."

We fell back into silence.

******

{Third Person POV}

Tessa and Rowan entered her house through the side door, the one that led directly to the family quarters rather than the main receiving area where her grandfather might be entertaining or working.

Before Tessa could take more than three steps toward her room, Rowan’s hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

Not hard enough to hurt, but firm enough to stop her.

"What. Was. That?"