AWDC Chapter 37
by VolareA year had passed since the tunnel was completed, and the aqueduct construction was three-quarters finished, while the reservoir was half done. The dam at the water source was over 90% complete, and water would likely flow through the tunnel in less than six months.
I was observing the aqueduct construction while contemplating the intake for the branch canals to the desert.
“Toma!” A voice called out to me from afar.
It was Tom. He was supposed to be building several lodgings within the village to improve the living environment for the swelling number of laborers.
I wondered why he had come all the way out to the desert, something he usually never did.
“Toma, Ilse-baasan is in trouble! Come home quickly!” he told me, breathless.
Apparently, Cathy had found Ilse collapsed near the entrance this morning.
I rushed back to the village.
“She was breathing just a little while ago,” Cathy said, her shoulders trembling, tears in her eyes.
Neighbors were crying in front of the house.
Grandma didn’t wait for me.
The other day, when I was about to leave for work, Grandma called out to me.
“How many days will you be gone this time?” she asked as usual.
It was her habit to always ask me that when I was about to leave the house.
“I think it will be about six days.”
“Is that so? Don’t get hurt,” Grandma always said the same thing.
That was my last conversation with Grandma.
She had been looking forward to being able to take a bath every day once the aqueduct was brought to the village. If only I had another year, or at least six months, I could have shown her the water flowing in the desert.
When we first met, I was still small, and Grandma seemed much bigger than me.
Then I grew up and eventually overtook Grandma in size.
Grandma watched over me with pride.
“You’ve already surpassed me, haven’t you? I need to make bigger clothes,” she would say.
Grandma would sew my clothes, neglecting her own, her eyes squinting with age.
Even the clothes I was wearing now were made by Grandma, her eyes tired.
(I was so indebted to Grandma.)
If Grandma hadn’t been there, I might have died in the streets.
If I hadn’t met Grandma back then, I don’t know what would have become of me. I couldn’t even imagine.
I regretted not being there when Grandma passed away, and I felt terribly sorry for her.
I just stood there, stroking Ilse’s small body.
Ilse’s funeral was held solemnly at the church.
Almost all the villagers attended because she had known everyone since long ago.
Even Lord and Lady Robertson and the Roy family were there.
In ordinary villages, it was rare for a lord to show his face at a villager’s funeral.
This showed the small population of Toriholi Village and the short distance between the lord and the villagers.
“Seeing everyone in the village gather, I can see how much Ilse was loved,” Lady Robertson said in a gentle and heartfelt tone when they returned to the mansion.
“Ilse and her husband were servants of our family from a long time ago, and they came with me when I left the capital and came to this village.
They didn’t complain about the unfamiliar farming work and helped me build the village together.
However, after coming to the village, perhaps due to the hardships, they lost their only son.
It was around the same age as Toma when he came to this village.”
“For Ilse, it must have felt like her only son had returned,” William Robertson said.
“Yes, they lived together so well, like he was her son or grandson.”
After losing her only son and being separated from her husband by death, I was worried about how she was doing, and then Toma came along.
Toma’s arrival was also good for Ilse.
I think it was God’s will.”
“It’s because Ilse was so kind that she received God’s grace,” Lady Robertson said.
“Just when she was looking forward to having more fun with Toma, who was like a grandson to her, it’s such a shame.”
“But the days she spent with Toma must have been happy,” William Robertson replied.
Toma was sitting blankly in the house without Ilse.
Until now, no matter how late Toma returned, Ilse was always there.
No matter how exhausted he was, Ilse always welcomed him gently.
But now, she wasn’t there.
Toma felt like he had been left alone in this world.
“I was just a child,” he remembered when he first met Grandma.
“I lost my memory and collapsed in the field. Grandma took me into her house and cared for me.
I had lost my memory and was of unknown origin, but she didn’t suspect me and let me stay.
If Grandma hadn’t been there, I would have died in the streets.”
“If it hadn’t been for Grandma’s kind heart, she wouldn’t have cared for a homeless child like me.”
“I was so lucky to have met Grandma.”
Various memories came flooding back.
She was happier than anything else that I was valued by the lord and got a job at the mansion.
“Toma is becoming more and more important,” Grandma said, her eyes narrowing.
“You need to find a wife soon,” I thought it was too early to talk about such things.
“It’s too early for marriage.”
“No, please get a cute bride soon. And let me see your baby’s face.”
For Grandma, who had lived alone, she wanted to live surrounded by a large family.
I wanted to make Grandma’s life easier and happier.
“But I couldn’t do anything for Grandma.”
For several days, I stayed inside the house, dejected and filled with regret.