NOVEL NEXT Chapter 273: Are You Even Allowed To Say That?
Nina looked at me with a hesitant gaze, as if she were looking at an anomaly, and slowly said as she pointed her finger at me,
"Kafka, you...Are you even allowed to say such forward things to a person who's almost double your age? Don't you feel that there's something fundamentally wrong with saying such words to someone like me who's probably around your mother's age?"
"Why shouldn't I say such words, Miss Nina? Is there a rule in this town that says that I can't praise a woman for her beauty and appreciate her gorgeous looks?" I asked with a heartfelt gaze, which stumped her as there really wasn't such a rule, and she only asked because it was such a surreal experience to hear the words I said coming from a kid like me.
I then continued saying, "...And if you do say that there's such a rule, I'm sorry to say that this will be our last time meeting, since it would be impossible for me to stay in a town like this that has pretty ladies everywhere and not give the praise they deserve, which simply goes against my very principles."
Nina's lips parted when she saw my rather dramatic performance, and she looked to the crowd of ladies surrounding her with a little smile on her face, like she was saying, 'Would you look at this guy?'.
But to her surprise, she didn't see them staring at me suspiciously, like she thought they would since what I said was a little too good to be true.
And she found that they were actually looking away coyly while twiddling with their fingers like shy little girls when most of them were already over the age of 50, thinking that my words were directed at them as well, since I looked towards them when I said such cheesy words.
She didn't expect that such obvious flattering would actually work on the ladies, and she looked at me as if she were wondering if I put some kind of charm on them.
"Auntie Keller..." She called out to Miss Keller, who wasn't really that affected since she was already used to me saying such things, while closely keeping her eyes on me.
"What is it, Nina?" Mrs Keller asked with a helpless smile on her face as she looked at how the ladies around her were behaving, when some of them even had grandchildren of their own.
"Don't you think that this boy is actually a lot more dangerous than the three grown men on the floor?" Nina asked, not caring that I was right in front of them and listening to everything.
"So you've finally realised...I already figured that out the moment he left my shop that day and made me feel all shy and embarrassed, even though I'm already so old." Mrs Keller said as she looked at me with knowing eyes, which made me let out a chuckle.
"...And I can tell with certainty that if I were twenty or thirty years younger, I wouldn't have hesitated to fight off every other girl in this town to have him all to myself."
"...Don't you think so as well, Nina?" Mrs Keller gave Nina a mischievous side eye.
"Hmph! No matter how good he is with words and knows how to make a girl happy, he's still a kid who's still in his diapers in my eyes, so I don't see that happening anytime soon." Nina said with her lips curled up, like she saw it all as a joke for her entertainment and nothing more than that.
She then looked at me with brimming energy in her gait and a bright gaze in her eyes, like she had great expectations for me, and said,
"Keep up the good work, kid!
No, I mean Kafka...Even though I know that you are simply saying such compliments about me so that I have a better impression of you and are playing the smart game to get into everyone's good side, I want you to keep your praises coming whenever you see me since it makes me feel much better about myself when you call me pretty, even though I know that you really don't think so."
Hmm? Why is she willing to accept the praise but not the truth behind it, almost as if she thinks that it's impossible for me to find her attractive?
I thought it was because of the age gap at first, but seeing how clear she was about the matter, like she herself didn't believe that she was a good-looking woman, I realised that there was some other reason behind it that made her unwilling to believe in her own gorgeous looks.
Even Mrs Keller and the ladies on the side shook their heads when they heard what Nina said and looked to be having the same thoughts as me; the only difference being that they seemed to be used to her saying such degrading things about herself so casually and also knew why she was being so harsh to herself, unlike me, who was oblivious to the matter.
Before I could say to Nina that I wasn't joking like she thought I was and tell her that I really thought that she was pretty, she decided to drop the topic and move on to what to do with the imbeciles who were resting up in peace seeing as to how we were having a chat.
"Since I have a better understanding of you now and now know that you're quite a decent boy who's been raised right, I think I can trust you a little bit more now..." Nina patted my shoulders in a rather heavy handed manner that made the ladies at the side sigh at her brashness, and she seemed like she was telling me to be proud that I had gained her trust.
She then continued saying, "...So could you now tell me why you stopped me earlier and didn't let me go forward to teach those bastards who don't know their place a lesson for talking too much?...You also don't have to call me Miss Nina since I don't really like formal talk and can simply call me Nina like you're addressing your big sister."
"Then, big sister Nina..." I addressed her as she said, which made her look at me weirdly.
"You don't need to add the big sister part...I only said that as a joke." Nina said awkwardly. "As much as I would love to have a little brother like you who I can order around and make you do chores around the hot spring, it would be a bit weird if someone I knew saw you calling me big sister when I'm old enough to be your mother." Find joy at m-vl_em|p,yr
"I see..." I nodded my head and continued saying, "Then Nina, the reason I stopped you from thrashing them is actually quite simple, and it was so that you didn't go to jail due to assault charges."
"Huh? What are you talking about?...How can I go to jail when they're clearly in the wrong here?" Nina asked with an absurd look on her face and thought that I was joking with her. "Don't tell me that you actually believe what that idiot said and think they have the ability to throw me in jail?"
"Well, as much as you think that guy is an idiot, I actually think that these guys are quite smart with how they've done everything and have made it so that the one who would be having a hard time is you..."
I said, which made Nina look at me with a doubtful gaze, while the guy who I kicked was now resting on the sofa and had a haughty look on his face when he heard my words, knowing that he was safe while Nina herself was in danger.